50% of America appreciates “tickle toys” according to a study funded by the maker of Trojan brand condoms published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine. 

From the AP:

Baby pythons escape during flight in Australia

Twelve non-venemous Stimson pythons were being transported Tuesday on a flight from Alice Springs to Melbourne in the plane’s cargo area in a bag inside a plastic foam box with air holes.

When the flight landed, it was discovered that four snakes had escaped from the package, a Qantas spokeswoman said in a statement.

A reptile expert searched for the 6-inch (15-centimeter) -long snakes but did not find them. It was not known if the snakes were still on the plane or if they had somehow escaped outside after the plane landed.

I can’t remember the last time I was this blown away. Someone posted this to the list at school with the heading “now that’s REAL talent”. And as I watched the video, I thought, “Ok, so someone is clever at arranging video sequences, and they created a big rubbery sock puppet that looks just like an elephant’s trunk. And they are creating the illusion that the elephant has the awareness to create a self-portrait on paper.”

And then I watched this one. So, umm. Wow.

I’m sure pet owners are less surprised by this than I am. But still, it’s crazy. Makes you wonder what they are thinking, and whether they wonder when we humans will finally get our shit together and stop destroying ourselves.

this is bizarre.

Fire balloon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

can you wrap your head around this? it is a compelling interactive visualization of the metric system on the logarithmic scale - going from sub-nuclear levels (10^-15meters) all the way to the scale of tens of thousands of lightyears (10^20 meters).
Woah.

It must be tough being filthy rich. You always have to worry who has more money than you, whether your kids are doing too much blow, whether you are making enough appearances at charity to not justifiably be called a greedy parasite, and of course, whether your spouse married you for the money, etc etc.

BUT, you shouldn’t have to worry whether or not there are mouse turds in your $1000 sundae. Alas, it turns out that the cliché petulantly proffered by the wealthy “it’s so hard to get good help these days” from time to time applies at the heretofore ultra-chic eatery Serendipity 3. That’s right, one of a few Hot-Shit Magnets in NYC got shut down for failing two — not one, but TWO — department of health inspections in the span of a month. From Yahoo:

An inspector spotted a live mouse and mouse droppings, fruit flies, house flies and more than 100 live cockroaches.” Both inspections revealed rodent and fly infestation and conditions conducive to pest infestation, including stagnant water in the basement,” the department said.

Mais quel dommage! Why is this such a shame, you ask?

People stand in line for hours outside the Manhattan restaurant, known for its extravagant and expensive desserts. Its $25,000 Frrrozen Haute Chocolate features top-grade cocoa, edible gold and shavings of a luxury truffle and was declared the most expensive dessert in the world
by Guinness World Records. The eatery also offers a $1,000 sundae named Golden Opulence requiring 48-hour advance notice.

I think some renaming is in order. Serendipity 3 should be “FailedHealthInspections 2″. Any suggestions for their $25,000 “Frrrozen Haute Chocolate”?

It’s always nice to start your day with some uplifting news. Turns out some researchers from Penn State that have been trying to increase the efficiency of hydrogen production using bacteria that feed on biomass (plant matter, food scraps, and on Mondays only, dogshit) have recently made a headline-grabbing breakthrough:

In laboratory experiments, their reactor generated hydrogen gas at nearly 99 percent of the theoretical maximum yield using aetic acid, a common dead-end product of glucose fermentation.

“This process produces 288 percent more energy in hydrogen than the electrical energy that is added in the process,” said Bruce Logan, a professor of environmental engineering at Penn State.

Can you imagine filling your gas tank with the leftovers from your picnic (assuming you had mostly vegetables)? The best part is this is not another one of those greenwashing stories á la “we-can-power-a-car-on-hydrogen-but-it’ll-take-another-20-years” variety; according to one of the team members, the technology is available today.

“The technology is economically viable now, which gives hydrogen an edge over another alternative biofuel which is grabbing more headlines”, Logan said. “The energy focus is currently on ethanol as a fuel, but economical ethanol from cellulose is 10 years down the road,” said Logan.

Pretty wonderful news. Let’s hope that enough information about the process gets out so people can start tinkering with this technology, and we won’t have to wait for the auto industry to investigate.

So it’s been said that we’ve just been through 28 years of the Bush/Clinton cabal. Let’s do the math:

Bush (selected) president: 2000 - 2008 = 8 years (barring impeachment?!)
Bill Clinton president 1992 - 2000 = 8 years
George HW Bush president 1988 - 1992 = 4 years
George HW Bush Vice President for Reagan 1980 - 1988 = 8 years
Total= 28 yearzzzz.

If Hillary clinton wins, or if Obama wins, that will extend the tally. Time for a change, people!

um. Holy Fuck? Evidently I am at a loss for words. Except to say that there was once a time when members of the public were sufficiently cowed by someone in power saying “No” that they gave up their cause, even if that meant abandoning a family member. Thankfully, times have changed. Not.

and I can’t organize my inbox. Unbelievable.