This video offers up some creative hacks that enable smart phone users to get more flexibility out of their phone cameras. Included are a zoom lens technique, panoramic shot ideas, underwater, macro and more. Via Laughing Squid.
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Moms teach us so much about what we'll need to know later in life. For a dog, that means a ton of carefree playtime. This compilation video features dog mothers of various breeds playing with their young offspring and seemingly having a grand time doing so. Via Tastefully Offensive.
This is a video series I can only imagine exists because some geek guy found a genie in a bottle who would grant him one wish. Beautiful blond twins Camille and Kennerly play twin electric harps, while dressed in various costumes. Here they play an entertaining Star Wars medley. Previously they've done Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, and rock anthems like Crazy Train and Sweet Child o' Mine. Via Viral Viral Videos.
In a collaboration between YouTube channels NurdRage and Carsandwater, a red-hot ball of nickel is dropped into liquid nitrogen. NurdRage narrates the action, and the result is chemicalriffic.
The CSI Fingerprint Examination Kit instructed kids to dust for fingerprints. The kit included fingerprint dust, which the kids could spread all over household items and look for prints. Sounds like a fun and educational activity, does it not? Except the fingerprint dust was more than a little toxic. In fact, it was seven percent asbestos. The asbestos was the deadliest type, proven to cause lung cancer in as few as one exposure. Its a shame the kit wasn't packaged with a Law and Order kit to show the children the basics of filing a lawsuit.
Read about more dangerous recalled toys here.
A 24-year-old African elephant named Semba gave birth to a female calf on August 20th at Reid Park Zoo in Tuscon, Arizona. The as yet unnamed calf weighed in at 245 pounds. The calf took her first breath and stood up within minutes of her birth. This footage shows the calf taking her first wobbly steps in the enclosure, as Semba looks on, lending a trunk to help stabilize her. The mother and baby have been given a private area of the enclosure in order to bond, which is imperative in the early life of the calf, particularly in the first 48-72 hours. Via Nothing to Do with Arbroath.
Why was Star-Lord's ship in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie called the Milano? While it was an American cultural reference, it wasn't named after a Pepperidge Farm cookie. No, the Milano in question was Alyssa Milano, Peter Quill's childhood crush. Director James Gunn confirmed this fact on Twitter. Makes you wonder who's the real boss of that ship. Watch the video for six more little known Guardians of the Galaxy facts. Via Tastefully Offensive.
YouTube user "Papa" handmade a hovercraft for his delighted children. Shown in this video is his second attempt at the project, made out of a polystyrene insulation board, a hand vacuum and a rope for steering. It looks like hovercraft 2.0 is getting the kids' seal of approval. Via Viral Viral Videos.
Microsoft employee Christopher Wilcox and his wife Anna Piechowski live in Redmond, Washington. In late June of this year they had a Doctor Who-themed wedding that was anything but the typical themed wedding. The level of detail and design is impressive. The planning that was behind such a production is monumental.
The ceremony and reception were filled with details evoking Doctor Who. The bridal gown was a likelness of Amy Pond's wedding dress and the groom was outfitted in a pinstripe suit like that of David Tennant's 10th Doctor. The bridesmaid's dresses were Doctor Who blue and the groomsmen dressed as a variety of characters from the series.
The bridal party gifts, invitations (sealed with a wax stamp Seal of Rassilon), table settings, wedding cake and card box were all painstakingly designed and produced in Doctor Who fashion. Of course, no Doctor Who event is complete without a TARDIS, and the Wilcoxes model, made by the bride's father, was flawless.
Wilcox posted photos of the bridal party and accessories to Imgur. See many more photos and get additional info in this article.
Table setting
Each table number corresponded to a different doctor
Invitations
TARDIS, made by the bride's father
If you're a married man and you feel frustrated by the lack of intimacy with your wife, you might want to stop short of wishing you were single again. This Buzzfeed video cites some interesting data from two informal polls of single men. Some of their answers may surprise you. Via Huffington Post.
Image: Marina Cano
There's a good reason why mothers often say they're going to pull a "mama bear" on someone or something hurting their children. The fact is, mother bears of all species sacrifice for and strive to teach their young with a ferocious intensity. Polar bear mothers, for instance, will protect and defend their cubs to the point of risking their own lives. The mother polar bear works hard to help the cubs survive in the unforgiving environment of their habitat. She leads her cubs to sea ice for the first time often with the cubs on her back through deep snow. Travel is slow with frequent stops for rest and nursing. For approximately 30 months, the mother will teach the cubs to hunt and stalk prey, as well as to swim and navigate through the often harsh conditions.
See more pictures of mama bears and their cubs here.
Image: Sergei Gladyshev
Image: trolljenta
Image: Anton Belovodchenko
Image: Sergei Gladyshev
Do you like a nice, hot piece of corn on the cob with butter and salt, particularly during the summertime? Chef John at Food Wishes demonstrates a way to cook and shuck a piece of corn so that it's silk-free, all in under five minutes. Via 22 Words.
Dreamworks animator Daniel Hashimoto, featured previously on Neatorama, is back with volume two of Action Hero Kid, a project he makes with footage of his son James. Follow the adventures of James the superhero kid, his father (also known as "Hashi"), and his wife Mandy on Facebook.
Sailor on board the HMAS Melbourne holding two ship's cats, 1917
Image: Australian War Memorial
During WWI, it is estimated that 500,000 cats were brought to the trenches, and many more served on Navy ships. They helped the military by killing rats and other vermin that spread disease, and were sometimes used as gas detectors.
As one amazing story goes, a cat named Pitouchi was born in the trenches. His mother was killed when he was still a kitten. A Belgian soldier, Lieutenant Lekeux, adopted Pitouchi. As recounted in the book Soldiers in Fur and Feathers by Susan Bulanda, Pitouchi went on to save Lekeux's life in the following way:
"As Lekeux reached a spot near the German lines, he saw that they were digging a new trench. He hid himself in a shell hole nearby to make a sketch of the German works. He was so absorbed in his sketch that he did not notice approaching German soldiers on patrol. When he finally realized his situation, it was too late to run.He decided to lie very still, hoping that the Germans would not see him, but unfortunately he heard one soldier say, "He's in the hole," so he knew he had been seen.
When Pitouchi heard the German say that, he jumped out of the hole onto a piece of timber. The Germans were startled and fired two shots at Pitouchi. However, as frightened as he was, Pitouchi was not hit, and he jumped back into the hole with his beloved Lekeux.
The Germans laughed and joked that they had mistaken a cat for a man and left. Lekeux finished his drawings and returned to the Belgian lines with Pitouchi on his shoulders."
See more great photos and information here.
Officers of the U.S. 2nd Army Corps with a cat they discovered in the ruins of Le Cateau-Cambrésis
Image: Pictorial Record of the 27th Division
Ship's cat aboard the H.M.A.S. encounter
Image: Wikipedia
British soldier playing with mascot
Image: Illustrated War News, Vol. 7, London, 1918
Pincher, the mascot of the HMS Vindex, sitting on the propeller of one of the sea planes carried by the ship
Image: Wikipedia
This video from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows three years of solar activity during solar maximum, the peak of the sun's activity during its normal, 11-year cycle. The clip is compiled from two images per day in the three-year span. Remarkable solar events in the video include two partial eclipses of the sun by the moon, the largest flare of this solar cycle, comet Lovejoy, and the transit of Venus. Via NASA Little SDO Facebook page.
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