I always thought Hobo Nickels were a bit of a punch line, but now that I've actually seen some, I'm thoroughly impressed. Apparently, the tradition of taking Buffalo Nickels and carving new designs into them began with hobos, who traded the beautifully altered coins for food, supplies and favors, but also carved them to commemorate the world around them. Interestingly, coin collectors do value modern versions of the folk art, though the older coins, which have been circulating since the... READ ON
Check out these phenomenal creations available at GadgetStorm. Dubbed "Wallet Essentials", the Visa-size metal cards fit nicely in your pocket, and can be pulled out in case of emergency. Different cards have different uses: bottle openers, metric wrenches, picture frames, ice scrapers, combs, fold-out cufflinks and dice (just in case you're hoping to lose all the contents of said wallet in a spontaneous game of sidewalk Craps). In any case it should definitely appeal to the Boy Scout in... READ ON
I know this is going to come across completely ignorant, because while I know crystal meth is bad for you (a little fact I picked up by watching Six Feet Under and Geraldo), I had no idea that it mucked up your teeth this much! The pic to the left is of The Pogues' singer Shane MacGowan's distinctive smile, which is often attributed to his use of the drug. So, what causes meth mouth? It's supposedly due to the corrosive acids used to produce the substance, and whether meth is smoked,... READ ON
With CNN reporting that Paris Hilton has apparently sworn off boys and taken some sort of vow of celibacy (that's hot!), it strikes me that Paris might be blossoming into the genius we always knew she was. Seriously, consider all the geniuses who've given up sex, and focused on their resumes instead: Nikola Tesla: Genius behind AC current, the real brains behind the radio (take that, Marconi!), and notorious lover of pigeons. Celibate. Isaac Newton: Gravity, a giant of physics and... READ ON
I saw this MSN article via our good friends at Neatorama, and found it hilarious. I've often thought that my tiny Toyota could double as a sauna, but never an cooking device! Ingenious. Click here to get the full... READ ON
I saw this outdoor campaign at Advertising/Design Goodness, and decided that what would really make everyone's day is some good old fashioned giraffe facts. Who's with me? So this is what I've plucked from the tender, and occasionally warped, branches of UselessKnowledge and Wikipedia. Enjoy!: * Thinking that its parents were a camel and a leopard, the Europeans once called the animal a "camelopard." * The gait of the giraffe is actually a "pace," with both legs on... READ ON
Somehow, I'd never heard about this, but I saw links to it from Digg and Newsweek, and thought it was too fascinating not to report on. Apparently, this guy Ron Avitzur was working for Apple and his project got canceled, but he decided he wanted to keep working on it so he just kept showing up for work. (He refers to people secretly working on "dead" Apple projects as skunkworks, and I'd love to find out about more of them.) Anyway, he worked for 6 months on it, sneaking into the... READ ON
It's amazing to me how public spaces have been transformed over the past few years. I feel like when I was younger and walking around town, I'd see people and be forced to acknowledge their presence—whether it was with a smile, or a nod, or a "hey, what's up?" But with more and more people using cel phones as they walk, or listening intently to their iPods, everyone seems trapped in their personal spaces while traipsing out in public. Does anyone agree with me? Like... READ ON
According to the New Scientist Inventions blog (one of my new favorite web hangouts), the National Institute of Environmental Health Services is attempting to create fish that'll light up like fireflies when swimming through polluted waters. Because fireflies glow when an enzyme in their stomach oxidizes, the NIEHS hopes to implant those same traits into the eggs of zebrafish. Then, other genes would be manipulated to make the fish sensitive to specific pollutants. As a result, the fish could glow... READ ON
In my continued search to bring you things that 10-year old boys are interested in, I present to you the robot suit. Kiss all those gym workouts and strength training regiments goodbye, all you need to do is strap on one of these babies and you're set! The robo-exoskeleton, unfortunately named HAL (Hybrid Assisted Limb), can help wearers lift up to 10 times what they could before, and also aids in mobility. The suit was developed by Professor Yoshiyuki Sankai of Cyberdine, Inc, and it sounds... READ ON
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Lyme disease is named for Lyme, CT, where several cases were identified in 1975.
