SOHO stands for Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. The SOHO Gallery has movies and animations on sunpots, solar flares, photon showers, and comets. This video of solar flares was made from SOHO’s images. Push Play or go to YouTube. dd to SOHO. -via Ursi’s Blog.

The American Museum of Natural History has a flash presentation for kids that explains how sea creatures use bioluminescence to hunt, attract mates, and defend themselves, with catchy sing-a-long tunes! Link -via Metafilter

I don’t understand the narration, but this is apparently a USB cable program for a shoe to make it dance at your command! Push play or go to YouTube. -via b3ta

Update: The concensus is that it's a fake, but it's still funny!

The average age of The Zimmers is 78. Lead singer Alf Carretta is 90 years old! Other band members are 99 and 100 years old. The single will be released on May 14th, with proceeds going to Age Concern, an advocacy organization in England. Push play or go to YouTube. Link to The Zimmers’ MySpace page for more information. -Thanks, Jan!

Hamlet for the Shakespeare-Impaired is a translation of the tragic play in modern language. For example, here’s Polonius saying goodbye to his son in the original:

And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!

The same passage in the modern version:

First, though, some advice. Think before you speak. Look before you leap. Be friendly but not vulgar. Be nice to your friends but don't brag. Don't fight. Listen to your elders. Don't be judgemental. Don't dress in tacky clothes because people often judge you by your wardrobe, especially in France. And above all, be true to yourself. Now, farewell. Go with my blessing.

Link -via the Presurfer

A neat little parlor trick you can use to impress your kids. It’s easier than getting ketchup OUT of a bottle! Push play or go to Metacafe. -via Bits and Pieces

The first X-ray photograph ever is still existant! Taken by Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen in 1896, it shows the inner structure of his wife’s hand. http://worldsfamousphotos.com/first-x-ray-1896.html -via Reddit

Sweet Memories is a very short film by Stine Mills, with some special effects help from her former boyfriend, Lasse Gjertsen. Push play or go to YouTube.

The Circus of Disemboweled Plush Toys is a virtual sideshow that is a bit gory, but smells better than the real thing. You can submit your own horror photos.

WARNING:
This special circus exhibit contains shocking documentation of Plush-toy Tragedies. Some viewers will be stunned; others appalled. Entry is not for children or the faint of heart! These gripping, real images may haunt you for all time. By clicking on the above image to enter, you agree to not hold Hanttula.com, the artists, or anyone else liable for what may result.

Link (Thanks, Jan!)

A mother and daughter who hadn’t spoken to each other in two years have a second chance after reports of Jennifer Jordan’s death turned out to be greatly exagerated. The police notified the parents of Jennifer Jordan of Casper, Wyoming, who had hearts tattooed on her lower back, that she had been killed in an auto accident. Yes, there are two such women in Casper. The mixup came to light when relatives called to offer condolences to Jennifer’s husband, who was in bed beside her at the time. http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2007/04/11/news/casper/3c44543f96181b8d872572ba00094850.txt -via Fark

Liquid Journey has a series of computer generative art called Beautiful Data. Click on the tiny squares at the bottom to see each page. Some are interactive art generators, one of which created this bonsai tree for me. Link -via Metafilter

Nikolas Schiller combines geography with art. He takes aerial photographs from the U.S. Geological Survey and transforms them into beautiful kaleidoscopes, quilts, and political statements. This one is named The Jefferson Mandala. You can see his work at his blog The Daily Render, in art galleries, and on the office walls of prominent geographers. Link to article. Link to website. -via Ursi’s Blog

You remember Weebles, the toy that wobbles, but it won’t fall down? Toys of that sort have been around for ages, but there is always some position in which it can get stuck. Mathematicians Gábor Domokos and Péter Várkonyi wondered if they could find a shape that will always return to upright.

They looked for objects in nature that might have such a property. While Domokos was on his honeymoon in Greece, he tested 2,000 pebbles to see if he could find one that would right itself, but none did. "Why he is still married, that is another thing," Várkonyi says. "You need a special woman for this."

The shapes they have found that come nearest to the goal resemble a turtle’s shape, which is a very useful adaptation for a turtle. The two scientists are now measuring turtles, which is slow work. They have offered a cash prize to anyone who can demonstrate a flat-sided polyhedron that is truly self-righting -$10,000 divided by the number of sides in the polyhedron. They believe the prize may turn out to be quite small, as many sides will be needed for such a shape. Link -via Reddit

A £45,000 grand piano was being delivered to the Two Moors Music Festival in Devon when workmen dropped it. Organizers had spent two years raising funds for the piano, which was to be the centerpiece of the festival’s classical performances. Artistic director Penny Adie said, “This was the Rolls-Royce of pianos and it is unlikely we'll get our hands on another one." Link to story. Link to slideshow. -via Arbroath

Rudy doesn’t like Babe taking over his bed. He’s not shy about showing his feelings. Push play or go to YouTube. -via VideoSift