Pop Culture

We’ve always found products of Japanese designs to be fascinating. Recently, we came across yet another idea rooted deep in the Dotonbori Canal in Osaka, Japan, that could very well give way to one of the world’s largest swimming pools! … .

Om nom! Cassius the Croc, the world's largest crocodile in captivity, turned 110 this week. Just be thankful that you are not the cake:Far North Queensland keepers of the world's largest saltwater crocodile in captivity sang the old croc Happy Birthday before giving him the 20kg meat cake topped with candles."He destroyed it in about 30 seconds," Marineland Melanesia croc wrangler Billy Craig said. "It's one of the biggest meals he's had - we decided to spoil him."Cleo Fraser of NT News has the story: Link

It is what it says. Useful.

(YouTube link)A classic skit. Some people have no idea how offensive they are until you turn it around on them. And the real kicker is that turning it around often doesn't even get the point across. -via Daily Picks and Flicks

Trolltunga is an odd rock protrusion jutting out over Ringedalsvatnet, a lake in southern Norway. The name means "the troll's tongue." Would you be willing to sit on the end? He promises not to eat you.Link -via TYWKIWDBI(Photos: Steinar Talmoen, Jan Skrodzki

Sugar isn't always sweet, especially when Darwin's involved. Entomologists at North Carolina State University showed that when glucose is used in roach-bait poison, cockroaches evolve to dislike sweets:Glucose sets off bitter receptors in roach taste buds, causing roaches to avoid foods that bring on this taste-bud reaction. This aversion has a genetic basis and it eventually spreads to offspring, resulting in increasingly large groups of cockroaches that reject glucose and any baits made with it.In normal German cockroaches, glucose elicits activity in sugar gustatory receptor neurons, which react when exposed to sugars like glucose and fructose – components of corn syrup, a common roach-bait ingredient. Generally, roaches have a sweet tooth for these sugars. [...]Glucose-averse roaches that were forced to taste glucose refused to ingest the sugar, akin to a child who spits out her bitter-tasting food.Link

A hedgehog in Bude, Cornwall, England, was taken to the vet because he was so big and round that he couldn't walk or curl up. Veterinary staff were puzzled, because the huge hedgehog was of normal weight. An x-ray revealed that the animal was, indeed, inflated. Veterinary surgeon Adam Revitt said he had never seen a case of "balloon syndrome" before.Balloon syndrome occurs when bacteria gets into a wound and gives off gas that becomes trapped under the skin, Mr Revitt explained.He added: "This is the first case I had ever seen. It is uncommon. There are very few things published about it."Without the treatment it couldn’t breathe and would probably have died."Revitt used a syringe to slowly deflate the hedgehog over about five minutes. The animal is now on antibiotics and is recovering nicely. Link -via ArbroathPreviously at Neatorama:A similar case from 2007.

Cassette Is Not Dead refurbs cassette tapes into handsome lamps. They operate on a barter economy -- send them 40 homemade mix-tapes and they'll send you a wallet made from one tape; send them 80 pre-recorded tapes and they'll send you a box lamp. Alternatively, you can buy the lamps for cash. cassetteisnotdead.com (via Yanko Design)

If Klein Bottles - which have neither an inside nor an outside surface - aren't confusing enough for your, check these glass Klein bottles made by Alan Bennett for the Science Museum in London:A single surface model made by Alan Bennett in Bedford, United Kingdom. It consists of three Klein bottles set inside each other to produce, when cut, three pairs of single-twist Mobius strips. A Klein bottle has no edges, no outside or inside and cannot be properly constructed in three dimensions. (Source)A single surface model made by Alan Bennett in Bedford, 1995. It consists of a sphere with three interlinked loops the equivalent of three interconnected Klein bottles. (Source)A single surface glass vessel made by Alan Bennett in Bedford, United Kingdom. It consists of a triple loop Klein bottle which when cut gives a pair of five-twist Mobius strips. (Source)View those and many more neat Klein bottle images over at this Dark Roasted Blend post aptly titled Topological Marvel: The Klein Bottle in Art - Thanks Avi!

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