The Shape of Your Brain

What Does the Shape of Your Brain Say About You?

It turns out that the shape of the brain actually matters, with certain personality traits linked to the size of various areas of our noggins. 

Darwin Award candidate

"Bravo star and fitness instructor Greg Plitt did NOT die from stumbling on a railroad track  ... he was fatally struck by a train after trying to outrun it ... to prove the effectiveness of an energy drink.
Law enforcement sources say ... they have reviewed video of the accident and it shows Plitt standing on the tracks as the train barrels toward him. Shortly before the train reaches Plitt he assumes a runners stance and bolts down the track...
And law enforcement tells us they found multiple energy drink bottles near the track and authorities think Plitt may have been hopped up from the caffeine. We're told he was shooting a commercial for the product."

The United States' "Persian rug" stamps

In the nineteenth century, "revenue stamps" were purchased and used to pay taxes on a variety of items and transactions - mortgages, deeds, cigarettes, wine, oleomargarine, life insurance, playing cards, etc.
Concerned about fraudulent cleaning and reuse of such stamps, the Bureau of Internal Revenue in 1871 issued a new set of stamps (the "Second Issue') with elaborately detailed designs and colors and a special paper which incorporated silk fibers.   A most interesting article (pdf) in the American Philatelist offers more details:

The original tax schedule included several open-ended rates, and stamps were created that were, in principle at least, adequate to pay them. For example, a deed for real estate whose value exceeded $20,000 was taxed in multiples of $20 (at $20 for the first $20,000, plus an additional $20 for every additional $10,000 or fractional part thereof ), to be paid by $20 Conveyance stamps. In practice, though, this proved unwieldy. For a property with a $200,000 value, a total of 19 $20 stamps would be required; and for $500,000, 49 stamps.
When the First Issues were replaced by the Second Issues in September and October 1871, the $200 denomination (Scott R132) was retained and a $500 (Scott R133) added, to further facilitate payment of large taxes, on deeds or mortgages for amounts exceeding $500,000, or estates exceeding $1 million. To foil counterfeiters they were printed by a complicated tricolor process, the world’s only engraved tricolor stamps, considered by many as the most beautiful stamps ever printed. The abrupt repeal of the documentary stamp taxes effective October 1, 1872, ensured that these stamps would be as rare as they are beautiful: just 446 $200 stamps were sold, and 210 of the $500.

The article at the link has several awesome photos of multiples of these stamps being used on documents (deed for a silver mine, for example).

Photos for this post are of nonperforated die proof singles for these issues; I found them in The Stamp Collecting Forum.

In 1965 this dress shocked a nation

Jean Shrimpton wore this white shift dress to Derby Day in Melbourne in 1965.

In 1965, textile manufacturer DuPont de Nemours International engaged Jean Shrimpton, then the world's highest-paid model, to travel to Australia to be a judge in the 1965 "Fashions on the Field". Her fee for the two-week visit was £2,000, an enormous sum, equivalent to at least a year's wages for the average Australian man. Even The Beatles had been paid only £1,500 for their tour of Australia in 1964.
 It has been said that Shrimpton, more than any other model of the 1960s, can lay claim to having been the world's first supermodel... It was expected that when attending Derby Day, she would be wearing a beautiful hat and accessories, including gloves and stockings, which were de rigueur for the ultra-conservative Melbourne establishment.
The garment Shrimpton and Rolfe developed for Derby Day was a simple white shift dress. However, DuPont had not supplied enough fabric to complete the intended design, so at Shrimpton's suggestion, Rolfe improvised, by finishing the hemline a daring 4 in (10 cm) above the knee. Shrimpton later claimed to have told Rolfe that "nobody's going to take any notice…" She also later told The Australian Women's Weekly magazine "I always wear my day dresses above the knee."
Her skimpy outfit contrasted starkly with the conservative attire of the other racegoers, and she was openly scorned by them, particularly as she was defying protocol by wearing no hat, stockings or gloves. As well as being the target of catcalls from men and jeers from women, she was surrounded by kneeling cameramen, all shooting upwards to make the dress look even shorter.
Conservative Australia was shocked. Former Lady Mayoress of Melbourne, Lady Nathan, accused Shrimpton of being "a child," and even prominent Australian model and columnist Maggie Tabberer was critical. Radio stations and newspapers published editorials for and against the outfit, and Shrimpton defended it. "I don't see what was wrong with the way I looked. I wouldn't have dressed differently for a race meeting anywhere in the world", she was reported as saying at the time.
The controversy quickly spread to Britain, where the press angrily defended Shrimpton.  According to the Australian analysis, Shrimpton's Derby Day appearance was the moment when a global youth culture began to shape young Australians' sense of style.  A reviewer of that analysis has claimed that all the young girls wanted to be like "the Shrimp": free, cool, and elegant."

Why Community Banks Are Dropping Like Flies Across America

Why Community Banks Are Dropping Like Flies Across America

How New Immigration Laws Are Putting Some Sex Workers at Risk

How New Immigration Laws Are Putting Some Sex Workers at Risk 

If a woman thinks ‘she has the right over her own body… no, that’s not true’

Arkansas pastor: If a woman thinks ‘she has the right over her own body… no, that’s not true’

Stonehenge BBQ

Stonehenge Builders Hosted Barbecues

The ancient builders of Stonehenge may have hosted massive barbecue cookouts where thousands of revelers feasted on meat.

Mushroom Downpour

Mushrooms Promote Downpours

Spores released by mushrooms promote rainfall, finds a new study that has scientists rethinking the importance of fungi to humans and all living things

Lack of Poop

General Lack of Poop Hurting Gardens

Smaller land animals today mean smaller piles of poop -- which leads to less natural fertilizer for the earth's plant life.

Earth News

New Energy Storage: Caves Full of Compressed Air

Some worry that the project will make nearby seawater too salty 

Why Sand Dunes Make Burping Sounds

They're not being rude. It's a natural process triggered by vibrations. 

Palau's Ocean Sanctuary

Pacific's Palau Creates Huge Ocean Sanctuary

The tiny Pacific island nation of Palau created a vast marine sanctuary the size of Spain.

Common Ancestor

Primate-Ape Common Ancestor Was No King Kong

Our earliest ancestors were more like a slow furry loris than an imposing King Kong, suggests a new primate fossil found in Spain.

Rapid Post-Dino Diversity

Tiny Bird Fossil Hints at Rapid Post-Dino Diversity

The skeleton dates to about 62.5 million to 62 million years ago, making it the oldest modern bird in North America alive after the dinosaurs.

Killing Cod

Unusual Warming Kills Gulf of Maine Cod

Unusual warming in the waters off the northeastern United States has killed off vast numbers of Atlantic cod. 

Animal News

Dolphins Prime Suspects in Attack on Whale

The three-year-old female pilot whale found on Scotland's Isle Of Skye had to be euthanized.

Atlantic Puffins at Increased Risk of Extinction

Declining food sources, pollution risks contribute to their trouble.

Abused Alcoholic Monkey in Chile Beats Addiction

Nicolas, a tufted capuchin monkey, gets help at a primate treatment center.

Could Some Vultures Disappear from Africa?

Widespread poisoning and targeting by poachers are decimating their numbers.

Fish Use Cry for Help to Escape Predators

The distress call creates chaos and a chance to get away.

Animal Pictures

The Daily Drift

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Today in History

1570		A tidal wave in the North Sea destroys the sea walls from Holland to Jutland. More than 1,000 people are killed.
1772		The first Committees of Correspondence are formed in Massachusetts under Samuel Adams.
1789		The property of the church in France is taken away by the state.
1841		The second Afghan War begins.
1869		Sheriff Wild Bill Hickok loses his re-election bid in Ellis County, Kan.
1880		James A. Garfield is elected the 20th president of the United States.
1882		Newly elected John Poe replaces Pat Garrett as sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory.
1889		North Dakota is made the 39th state.
1889		South Dakota is made the 40th state.
1892		Lawmen surround outlaws Ned Christie and Arch Wolf near Tahlequah, Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). It will take dynamite and a cannon to dislodge the two from their cabin.
1903		London’s Daily Mirror newspaper is first published.
1914		Russia declares war with Turkey.
1920		The first radio broadcast in the United States is made from Pittsburgh.
1920		Charlotte Woodward, who signed the 1848 Seneca Falls Declaration calling for female voting rights, casts her ballot in a presidential election.
1921		Margaret Sanger and Mary Ware Dennett form the American Birth Control League.
1923		U.S. Navy aviator H.J. Brown sets new world speed record of 259 mph in a Curtiss racer.
1926		Air Commerce Act is passed, providing federal aid for airlines and airports.
1936		The first high-definition public television transmissions begin from Alexandra Palace in north London by the BBC.
1942		Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower arrives in Gibraltar to set up an American command post for the invasion of North Africa.
1943		The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay in Bougainville ends in U.S. Navy victory over Japan.
1947		Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose flies for the first and last time.
1948		Harry S Truman is elected the 33rd president of the United States.
1959		Charles Van Doren confesses that the TV quiz show 21 is fixed and that he had been given the answers to the questions asked him.
1960		A British jury determines that Lady Chatterly’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence is not obscene.
1963		South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem is assassinated.
1976		Jimmy (James Earl) Carter elected the 39th president of the United States.
1983		President Ronald Reagan signs a bill establishing Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.
1984		Serial killer Velma Barfield becomes the first woman executed in the US since 1962.
2000		First resident crew arrives at the International Space Station.

Woman Has Romantic Photo Shoot with the Love of Her Life: Pizza

Nicole Larson didn't settle for second best. She waited until Mr. Right came along and then snatched him up. And when it came time for the couple to get photos of themselves together to share with their friends and family, they went all out. Larson, a college student in Alberta, hired Miriam Ott to photograph her and her pizza together in romantic scenes.
Larson is usually a private person, but she decided to share these charming photos with her friends and, later, the world. You can see more of them at BuzzFeed. Hopefully we'll eventually get to see an engagement shoot from the loving couple!

Man Runs into His Exact Lookalike on Airline Flight

Photographer Neil Thomas Douglas was on a flight to Galway, Ireland when he noticed that the passenger seated right next to him looked just like him—nearly an identical twin! They took a photo and shared a laugh. Then, later that night, they bumped into each other a pub.
Have you ever met a doppelganger of yourself?

New development in underpants could put an end to builder's bum and plumber's crack

A Frenchman is hoping to revolutionize the building and services trade after inventing special underwear that caters for the infamous "builder's bum", the unfortunate moment when a tradesman or woman bends down and reveals the top end of their backside.

Adrien Herve-Pellissier, a 24-year-old man from Rennes in western France, thinks he has cracked the problem. "I'd seen a particularly bad example on the street in Rennes, and my friend who works in construction says he sees it all the time," he said.
Herve-Pellissier has now developed "Le sourire de plombier", a boxer short that keeps the builder's dignity intact. The product is simple, he explained. "The underwear has a large elastic band on it, you see, so when you squat down we don't have to see your arse." He says he is already looking into the possibility of shifting the business from the online world into shops.

He is also working on an alternative for women. "A lot of people laugh when they hear about the underwear, but in a positive way. I get a lot of encouragement from all kinds of people: men, women, young and old," he said. "I'm not changing the world ... maybe just a bit. It's not like I've found a cure for Aids - just for the builder's crack," he added.

Why Do They Call It 'Root Beer?'

Root beer is a dark brown sweet beverage traditionally made using the root or bark of the tree Sassafras albidum (sassafras) or the vine Smilax ornata (sarsaparilla) as the primary flavor.
Root beer may be alcoholic or non-alcoholic, and may be carbonated or non-carbonated. Most root beer has a thick foamy head when poured. Modern, commercially produced root beer is generally sweet, foamy, carbonated, and non-alcoholic, and is flavored using artificial sassafras.

E. Coli, Chipotle And America's Outdated, Underfunded Food Safety System

Over 20 cases are reported so far.

You Won’t Believe What Financial Advisers Are Getting In Return For Giving Seniors Bad Advice

While hardworking Americans lose $17 billion a year from retirement savings because of bad financial advice, meanwhile Wall Street’s shady financial advisers are raking in the bonuses and living the high life.

Read more 

Village divided over size of naked cemetery statue

Authorities in the canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, are to bring in new regulations over the size of tombstones and memorials after a two-meter high statue of a naked woman erected in a cemetery in the spring ruffled feathers in the local community. The white limestone statue stands in the cemetery of Vaumarcus at the grave of a 90-year-old woman who died in 2013.

It was sculpted by her husband and holds huge sentimental value for the family, the woman’s son says. But the memorial has divided opinion in the village to the extent of becoming a point of discussion at council meetings. “A statue of a naked woman in such a place seems inappropriate,” one local resident said. “And I don’t understand the intention – to provoke?”
According to Olivier Bovey, president of the municipal council, the problem isn’t the form of the statue but its size. “The nudity, which is normal for a statue, doesn’t matter, it’s the size which is unusual,” he said. “We would like the monument to be shortened. We feel it’s possible to shave 30-40 centimeters from the plinth without distorting the statue.”

The council is in contact with the family “and the dialogue is positive and calm,” said Bovey. The fate of this particular statue will be difficult to dictate, however, given it hasn’t broken any current regulations. But the authorities are now debating new rules to limit the size of such memorials in the future. “Above all we want to avoid a sort of height competition,” said Bovey or, in the words of one local Councillor, prevent the cemetery finding itself with “the Eiffel tower”.

Ten Of The Most Haunted Theaters In The World

(Theatre Royale, Drury Lane)

The Phantom of the Opera left monster fans fascinated by the thought of a haunted theater, and yet when they attended a performance they found nothing but snoozing men in suits and a whole lotta singing.

But those who didn't get the Dickens scared out of them at the theater were simply in the wrong place, because there are theaters all over the world that are, by all accounts, actually haunted.

If it was a genuine Phantom experience they were after they should have attended the Paris Opera's Palais Garnier, which inspired the novel's setting when an apartment and a male corpse were discovered during renovation.

Read more about the ten haunted theaters here

Man assaulted girlfriend in dispute over toilet paper

Police said a dispute over toilet paper turned violent and ended with a man’s arrest.
Bryan Edward Alwine, 27, was arrested after police were sent to a home in Muncie, Indiana on Monday night. A woman identified as Alwin’s girlfriend said he pushed her “so hard that she flew,” a city police report said.
She reportedly landed in the street, striking her right knee and elbow on the pavement. The woman said she and Alwine had been “arguing this evening over toilet paper.”
She added that he “is very specific on what he likes to use.” Alwine, preliminarily charged with domestic battery, was released from the Delaware County jail after posting $5,000 bond on Tuesday.

'End of world' weapons man jailed for six years

A man who built up an arsenal of weapons in preparation for the end of the civilized world has been jailed for six years. Jeffrey Paul Lloyd, 37, from Gorseinon in Swansea, south Wales, had a home made pipe gun, pepper spray, knives, crossbow and an axe to defend himself.
Swansea crown court heard he ordered them online from Germany and Sweden using the internet currency Bitcoin. Lloyd admitted four charges of possessing illegal weapons and ammunition. The court heard the Metropolitan Police was monitoring the websites and tipped off South Wales Police, who raided Lloyd's flat on 26 March.
Ian Wright, prosecuting, said Lloyd was obsessed with the idea that the end of the world was close and civilization would dissolve into chaos. Lloyd's barrister Jon Tarrant said the defendant had not shown off the weapons in public although he had practiced firing the gun where no-one could see him.

But Judge Peter Heywood said Lloyd's position was made worse by his previous convictions for stabbing a girl in the back with a knife and attacking a woman with a hammer as she sat in the driver's seat of her car. "These were serious weapons and clearly the pipe gun was capable of being fired with lethal consequences," he said. "You have used violence.

Toddler abandoned at daycare nursery after staff mistook her for a doll

A father who arrived at a Chicago daycare nursery to pick up his one-year-old daughter found the building shuttered 15 minutes before closing on Monday.
Then Cornelius Jones heard screams through the locked door at the All Things are Possible for Kids center and called 911. Firefighters forced entry, but couldn't find little girl, Journee, in the dark nursery. "I was wondering where is she, where is she?" Jones said. "I hear her, but I couldn't see her.
"And one of the police officers flashed a light to the left and flashed it back to the right and that's when I saw her crawling towards us screaming and my heart just dropped." Journee's mother, Quanesha Borum, said the day center director apologized to her, but gave an explanation that she found unacceptable.

YouTube link.

"She told me that they thought Journee was a doll, but she's not that little to be a doll, so it's some excuses,” said Ms Borum. The Department of Children and Family Services is investigating the incident. Jones now wants the nursery closed. "If anything, it should be shut down. I mean nobody leaves kids behind, toddlers. I don't care how old they are, that's dangerous," he said.

The FBI knew Jared Fogle was a pedophile ...

FBI knew Jared Fogle was a pedophile — and let him continue molesting children for years anyway

Fogle pleaded guilty to having sex with two minors and possessing homemade child pornography, although there were many more victims.

Man on probation for impersonating a police officer arrested for impersonating a police officer

A man who is currently on probation stemming from charges of impersonating a police officer was arrested on Thursday for impersonating a police officer. The Mercer County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit arrested John C. Williams, 60, near his home in Ewing, New Jersey. Williams, who also goes by Johnny Fields, was being monitored on his prior charge of impersonating an officer. The Mercer County Probation Division, during a routine search of Williams’ vehicle turned up handcuff restraints and official Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office placards.
New Jersey State Police work attire, and an empty police pistol holster were also found, according to the sheriff’s office. William’s SUV with heavily tinted windows as found to be outfitted with police-type strobe lights front and rear, a working siren and police markings and decals on the exterior.
He was charged with illegal possession of personal restraints (handcuffs), receiving stolen property (which was reported to be Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office official business placards), and impersonating a police officer. His vehicle was impounded and he was taken to the Mercer County Correction Center on $20,000 bail.

Police ordered to pay legal costs of more than $100,000 over toy dinosaur car stop incident

The police case against Rickey Caton started when he was forcibly arrested by two officers in New South Wales, Australia, after jokingly producing a toy dinosaur during a roadside car stop. It ended on Friday when a magistrate ordered the police force to pay more than $100,000 in legal costs after finding the matter should never have gone to court. The police are facing even more financial pain over the ill-judged prosecution, with Mr Caton and his friend set to launch a claim for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages for assault, wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution. "The [police] proceedings should not have been brought," Magistrate Mark Douglass told Kiama Local Court on Friday, as an inspector from the police force's Professional Standards Command looked on.

"The prosecutor failed to reasonably investigate relevant matters ... which might have suggested that the accused was not guilty." The magistrate was referring to the evidence of the third officer present on the night of the arrests, Lucie Litchfield, who said that far from assaulting police as her colleagues had claimed, it was Mr Caton and his friends who had been the victims of aggression. Ms Lichfield said that when police stopped Mr Caton and his mates in Queanbeyan in late December 2013 and asked if they had any weapons, the local father had cheekily pulled out the toy and declared "I've got a dinosaur – roaaaar!". She said one of the officers, Senior Constable Todd Finnegan, had subsequently forced Mr Caton from the car, pushed him to the ground and handcuffed him.
Her other police colleague, Senior Constable Patrick Hicks, had then crash-tackled Mr Caton's friend, Adam Antram into a retaining wall. The police prosecutors in the case were aware that Ms Litchfield had contradicted her colleagues' version of events, but they failed to question her about it and continued with the prosecution. On Friday Magistrate Douglass described her evidence as "cogent and compelling". Ms Lichfield said that the magistrate's comments had been "extremely satisfying". "If the police had done their job properly they would have questioned me about my evidence before it went to court," she said. Ms Lichfield says she was subjected to bullying and isolation at work after blowing the whistle and has since resigned from the force.

Magistrate Douglass upheld the application for legal costs by Mr Caton's barrister, Steven Boland, ordering the police to pay more than $100,000 after finding that the prosecution had been conducted in an "unreasonable manner". The police had strenuously opposed the costs application. Mr Caton and Mr Antram are expected to file civil claims next week against NSW Police in the District Court. It is understood that the men will claim that the police committed the civil tort of "trespass to a person" during the arrest and then concocted the assault claims in a bid to cover up their behavior. The men are expected to allege that police then pursued a malicious prosecution, deliberately ignoring the evidence of Ms Lichfield that contradicted her fellow officers' claims. The matter is now believed to be the subject of an internal police investigation involving the Professional Standards Command.

Drone Footage Of British Columbia, Alberta And Yukon

Drone footage of locations in Western Canada: British Columbia, Alberta and a dip into Yukon.

YouTube link

NASA Adds To Evidence Of Mysterious Ancient Earthworks

High in the skies over Kazakhstan, space-age technology has revealed an ancient mystery on the ground. Satellite pictures of a remote steppe reveal colossal earthworks - geometric figures of squares, crosses, lines and rings the size of several football fields, recognizable only from the air and the oldest estimated at 8,000 years old.
Two weeks ago, in the biggest sign so far of official interest in investigating the sites, NASA released clear satellite photographs of some of the figures from about 430 miles up.

Police called to deal with monkey performing gymnastics at side of German Autobahn

Police had some trouble luring a capuchin monkey after someone reported that it was "doing gymnastics" next to the Autobahn in western Germany. Two officers were a bit perplexed and skeptical about a report on Tuesday afternoon that there was a "monkey doing gymnastics on a guardrail" of the Autobahn near the Rheine-Nord exit. But when the officers arrived, they realized the report was completely true.
They discovered the little capuchin monkeying about on a soundproofing wall on the roadway towards Amsterdam. The officers called a nearby zoo to see if they were missing such an animal, but they were fully stocked. The officers then discovered that a family in the area had a licence to own the furry creatures.
Despite their best efforts at luring it with chocolate, officers were unable to entice the monkey down from a tree it had hopped into. In the end, they had no option but to call a licensed hunter who shot the creature with a tranquilizer dart. Once the anesthesia had taken effect on the monkey they were able to retrieve him. Police said it is still not clear how the monkey got onto the motorway.

Animal Pictures