All Thoroughbred Racehorses Share A Single Ancestor
From Secretariat to Seabiscuit, it turns out that all thoroughbred race horses were all related. They shared a single ancestor in the mid 17th century, whose "speed gene" was a genetic aberration:
Emmeline Hill of University College Dublin led a team that analyzed DNA in 593 horses from 22 modern breeds, as well as museum specimens from 12 historically famous stallions. Modern genetics have become sophisticated enough that they could tell, with considerable precision, what the horses had in common.
"The results show that the 'speed gene' entered the thoroughbred from a single founder, which was most likely a British mare about 300 years ago when local British horse types were the pre-eminent racing horses, prior to the formal foundation of the thoroughbred racehorse," said Hill in a prepared statement.
Ansel Adams Photos Of Los Angeles In The 1940s
Everyone knows Ansel Adams was a master of landscape photography, a master of black and white naturalist photography, and one heck of an innovative artist. What most people don’t know, however, is that Ansel also enjoyed documenting life in the city through the lens of his view camera.
Flavorwire has posted a gallery of images that were commissioned by Fortune Magazine in the 1940s, in order to document Los Angeles’ aviation industry as only Ansel Adams could.
See what the City of Angels used to look like, compared to what it has become, by taking a fascinating trip back in time through these magnificent photos.
Suggested soundtrack music-Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, or Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition by The Merry Macs.
Link –image credit: Ansel Adams
Water Powered Alarm Clock
If you can’t stop hitting the snooze button in the morning, then you might want to look in to getting one of these water powered alarm clocks, which was created by Austrian design studio Vera Wiedermann to help wake up chronic snoozers.
The water clock uses a drip system to count down the time until the hammer is released and a loud chime sounds, and the only way to get some more time in the sack is to fill it up with water all over again.
So, unless you figure out how to refill this sucker while sleepwalking, it should get you up and going better than anything with a snooze button. And it’s nice looking too, made out of glass, copper and cord, so it won’t clash with your style or reset itself when the power goes out.
What Space Invaders Would Look Like In Real Life
This is a CGI model of what a Space Invader from the classic video game might look like in real life. It was created by digital artist Tom Carruthers, and looks super icky.
If they’re just flying alien head things then what are they shooting at us? Spit, or even worse?! YUCK! Head behind the barrier, or prepare to wipe alien blech off your screen!
Link –via Obvious Winner
Super Alfred E. Neuman Action Figures
What, me worry about DC Direct’s upcoming crossover action figure line, which features MAD Magazine’s gap toothed spokesman Alfred E. Neuman dressed up like DC’s most beloved superheroes?
No way, because these figures look awesome, even if you’re not a fan of the freckled face chuckle head.
And this is one of those creative and funny crossovers that makes me wish they would create a comic book series, The Many Faces Of A.E. Neuman perhaps, to go along with the toy line. Now that’s what I call a mind bender!
Freddie Wong And The Fire Flower
Freddie Wong’s special effects videos have turned him in to an internet sensation, and rightfully so, because the guy has some serious compositing and visual fx skills. In this video the king of movie makeovers finds an old book that teaches him the secret of the Fire Flower from Super Mario Bros., with delightfully disastrous results for an unlucky pedestrian.
–via Rampaged Reality
Godzilla Was A Real Gentleman
If you’ve seen the films, then you might not know it, but when the cameras weren’t rolling, Godzilla was actually quite a well-mannered gentleman adored by the women on the set. Just look at this lucky lady being accompanied by this studly ladies man
Link Via The Mary Sue
Mamma Mia! That’s A Weird Beer
Love pizza and beer? Well then, why not combine them with Mamma Mia! Pizza Beer? It’s brewed with basil, oregano, tomato and garlic flavors…yummy?
Link Via Laughing Squid
Image Of Chairman Mao As Pop Culture Icon
I’m quite certain that Mao never wanted his image to become an icon of pop culture, especially because of the rampant commercialism associated with popular art, and the fact that his image is often used in a tongue-in-cheek manner, poking fun at corporations and at Mao himself.
But pop artists from Andy Warhol to Kozik have enjoyed using his smug visage in their works for decades, and even if Mao himself crawls out of his grave and starts chomping on brains, the flood of works featuring his image will never end. There’s a nice little gallery of Mao inspired artworks at the link below, from flashy to antiquated and everything in between. The revolution lives on!
Link –via JazJaz –image credit: Romero Britto
RIFT Plans To Break The World Record For Virtual Marriages
Wanna get your MMO romance on and help set a new world record? Well, if you happen to play RIFT, then get married in the game on Valentine’s Day and you can help them set a Guinness record for most virtual marriages in a 24 hour period. Personally, the fact that you can incorporate a corgi into your virtual wedding is a huge selling point for me.
Link Via Geekosystem
Settlers of Catan: The Star Trek Version
I haven’t yet checked out Settlers of Catan, but it seems like a blast and those that play it certainly enjoy it. That being said, I can’t help but feel like maybe I’ll continue to wait to play the game until March, when the Star Trek version of the game is going to be released. After all, two great things can only be better when combined right? On the downside, it’s only going to be released in Germany.
Catan players, are you interested in trying out the new version?
Link Via Geekosystem
Resident Evil 6 Is Full of “Revelaitons”
If you’re releasing advanced copies of your new video game, you probably want to make sure everything is perfect, lest the reviewers critique you for something that won’t even be in the final version of the game. Of course, while you’re probably focusing most of your energy on the game itself, it’s generally a good idea to at least take a good look at the box art and spelling, lest you release “revelaitons” to the world.
Link Via The Consumerist
Wacky Nintendo News Video Has Many WTF Moments
You may not know the name News Media Animation, but I’m sure the video they’ve created to discuss Nintendo’s 2011 economic fiasco will look familiar to you, as their wacky animated shorts have been showcased on TV shows and the interwebs many times before, mostly because their videos have some serious WTF factor going on in them.
Product of Taiwanese news animators with less than reliable sources of information, and a surreal sense of humor, the slapstick cartoon strangeness in these “news” vids never fail to crack me up.
–via Kotaku
Madonna’s AIDS Awareness Comic
Here’s a little nugget of retro goodness for ya, courtesy of BoingBoing-it’s a comic handed out at a Madonna concert at Madison Square Garden in 1987, warning youngsters about AIDS and urging them not to disrespect those who have contracted the virus. It’s a delightfully colorful fear mongering flyer public service announcement, and look! Free Madonna pinup!
Bat Infestation Under a Tile Roof
(Video Link)
A crew working for Istueta Roofing in Miami, Florida tore up an old tile roof. Below it, they found thousands of bats. It’s a good thing that the roofers didn’t try this in Gotham City.
Desert Rivers That Look Like Trees
From a distance, it looks like an illustration of trees, but it’s actually an aerial photo of seasonal rivers in Baja California. Adrianafranco Franco submitted the photo to My Shot, the National Geographic‘s online photography community.
Link -via My Modern Met
Cocktail: Alien Brain Hemorrhage
If you’ve ever spent time in an extraterrestrial prison hospital, you know that this is a pretty accurate description for some species. It’s made with peach schnapps, Bailey’s Irish Cream, blue curacao and grenadine syrup.
Cat Burglar
The Buena Vista Museum in Bakersfield, California, was the scene of a burglary Wednesday morning. A window was broken and two stuffed animals -a leopard and a dingo- were missing. Two blocks away, police found 55-year-old Henry Silvers, who had a stuffed dingo with him.
“I was just bored and decided I wanted to be a cat burglar,” Slivers told 23ABC in a jailhouse interview. “So I kicked in the window and tried to steal the lion but it was too heavy, so I stole the cat.”
“I took the leopard to my hotel. I then decided I wanted the dingo so I went back and took it. I took it to Jack In The Box because I wanted to have breakfast with it.”
23ABC asked Slivers what he was planning on doing with the dingo and he replied, “I was going to take it around town with me.”
Slivers told 23ABC he hadn’t taken his medicine for over a week.
Police found the other animal, an African leopard, in Silvers’ hotel room. Link -via Arbroath
Ghostly Images with Light Stencils
Light stenciling is like light graffiti, except that it uses stencils for greater control. Wittner Fabrice is a master of the craft and used his skills to create portraits in Vietnam. The people look like phantoms moving through the night.
Link | Artist’s Website | How Light Stencils Work
Fibonacci Numbers, Lucas Numbers, and the Way Plants Grow
(Video Link)
The highly entertaining Vi Hart is back with another episode of Doodling in Math Class. Her videos are fun to watch, clear and easy to understand, and express the joy of scientific discovery:
This pattern is not just useful, not just beautiful, but inevitable. This is why science and mathematics are so much fun. You discover things that seem impossible to be true and then get to figure out why it’s impossible for them to not be.
-via Make
Related: a wonderful cartoon by Abstruse Goose that makes the same point.
How To Remove Ads From Videos
(YouTube link)
This made all kinds of sense until the second time I watched and and found out that it is a “monetized” video, which means there is sometimes an unskippable ad before it starts. Go figure. -via the Presurfer
Key To My Heart Paperweight
Key To My Heart Paperweight – $15.95
Does finding the perfect Valentine’s Day gift weigh heavy on your heart? Get your sweetie the Key to My Heart Paperweight from the NeatoShop. This adorable heart-shaped ceramic paperweight has a metal key that says “Key to My Heart.” This gift is useful and heartfelt.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more Valentine’s Day fun!
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This Week at Neatorama
This coming Thursday is Groundhog Day! Get your Groundhog Day decorations out, put up the Groundhog lights, and let’s all sing Groundhog carols! Will the Groundhog see his shadow? Ya know, it doesn’t really matter, because whether he does or not, spring will be here in six weeks anyway. At least on the calendar. So we can say we’ve turned the corner on winter,and that’s what the holiday is all about. Happy Groundhog Day! Meanwhile, it’s time to catch up on this week’s best stuff from Neatorama.
Jill Harness collected 7 Amazing Stories of Lost and Re-Found Wedding Rings.
Eddie Deezen brought us The Origin of the Beatles Haircut.
Many thanks to National Geographic for providing Joel Sartore’s Biodiversity Portraits, which we posted at the Neatorama Spotlight Blog.
Goodbye, Farewell, and A*M*E*N was this week’s offering from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader.
Mental_floss magazine told us 10 Secrets of the Vatican Exposed.
The Psychoanalyst Says Your Gut Says… was a bit of nonsense from the Annals of Improbable Research.
In the What Is It? game this week, the pictured item is a meat cleaver with an attached combination tool, which is for sale at eBay. The first person to identify it was Michael S. Gatlin, who wins a t-shirt for his efforts! Chuck Farkleycame up with the funniest answer:
Chicken
Pablo Picasso
1934
mixed media with cleaver
So Chuck wins a t-shirt from the NeatoShop, too! Thanks to everyone who played this week. See the answers to all this week’s mystery items at the What Is It? blog.
The most-commented-on post this week was Raising a Gender-Neutral Child, which is not surprising. Coming in second was Can America Make the iPhone? (Hint: It’s Not About The Labor Cost).
Earlier this week, we were offline for a while due to technical difficulties. Our tech wizard worked all night and most of the next day to get it fixed, and we really appreciate that. If it ever happens again, we will try to post updates on Facebook, Twitter, and G+ so you’ll know what’s going on. Be sure to check back often! And if you need your Neatorama fix in the meantime, those social networking sites are the place to be for fun stuff, discussions, and extra contests you won’t find on the main page. Visit them every day!
What Are Fighting Games Missing? Pac-Man And Middle Aged Mega Man, Of Course!
It’s a crazy concept, but Pac-Man and Middle Aged Mega Man are now part of fighting game history thanks to the upcoming release Street Fighter X Tekken! And, while Mega Man is fat and old in this game, and Pac-Man is piloting some clunky robotic body armor instead of simply chomping down on the opposition, I think they still make a colorful addition to the fighting game genre.
Combining a crazy assortment of characters into a fighting game worked for Super Smash Bros., so this doesn’t seem so far fetched to me. What does seem like a stretch, however, is the idea of a Pac person battling through a tournament full of fierce opponents without the aid of Power Pellets!
–via Destructoid
Misty Mountains Cold Never Sounded So Good
It’s impressive enough that ShadowCa7 decided to perform a musical version of J.R.R. Tolkiens “Over The Misty Mountains Cold/The Dwarven Song Of Old Wealth” and committed to doing all 27 verses, but the fact that she does all the harmonies by herself while playing acoustic guitar makes this a beautiful performance to behold.
It takes a bit of a commitment just to sit through the entire video, but it is so good from beginning to end, so throw up your hairy feet, pack a pipe and pour yourself a pint if you’re ready to go there and back again.
–via Topless Robot
Remixing Alien Theme Song On A Commodore 64
This is a crazy cool remix of the Alien video game theme song, a game which was released on the Commodore 64, appropriately being played on a Commodore 64, laptop and some other musical doohickeys. Add Southern Comfort as inspiration and a creepy green goblin looking mask and you’ve got old school awesome sauce. Makes me wish I still had my C64!
–via Obvious Winner
Could This Be The New Keyboard Cat?
No, this is definitely not the next keyboard cat, but Pancake could be part of KC’s band, like in the kitteh keyboard band of my dreams! In Pancake’s Meowsic Video, we see this tie clad little kitteh getting into some seriously heavy grooves, channeling Thelonius Monk on a kitteh shaped keyboard. It’s a meowsical delight!
–via BuzzFeed
The Oatmeal’s Delightful Valentine’s Day Cards
The Oatmeal is certainly the first site I think of for cards when I want to slide a note over to my secret crush at the Neatorama office. That’s why the site’s Valentine’s Day cards are just so darn wonderful… of course, that might also be why Zeon has a restraining order against me.
When Star Wars Meets Tank Girl
Falcon Girl is artist James Hance’s wonderful mash up of Princess Leia and Tank Girl. I don’t know about you guys, but I kind of want to see this become a whole comic book instead of just a cool poster.
Link Via BoingBoing
5 Doctor Who Episodes Based On Real Events
Did you know that the Daleks originated from Doctor Who’s take on the Cuban Missile Crisis?
The second serial presented on Doctor Who, a six-part story called “The Daleks,” was set on a distant world where the nightmare of 1962 actually came to pass; two nations, the Thals and the Dals, had been locked in an arms race for some indeterminate period of time, finally developing nuclear weapons, resulting in a full nuclear exchange between the two and irradiating the planet Skaro. The radiation was so severe that by the time our heroes arrive, the forests are petrified and full of mummified animals. Those who survived the exchange are now drastically mutated. The Thals have mutated full-circle, becoming a handsome race devoted to peaceful coexistence. They believe the Dals are either extinct or so horribly mutated that they cannot emerge from their frozen city. Neither is completely true; the Dals have mutated horribly, to the point where they have no skeletons and are no longer capable of independent life, but they have developed tank-like travel machines, equipped with life support and a formidable weapons system. They have become the Daleks.
For more interesting Doctor Who plots that originated from real events, don’t miss this great article on Mental Floss.
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