Clipmarks | cakebelly's clips

Phil Nicol (on Graham Norton)

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:07:01 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: A song about stalking through the medium of Norwegian Trip Hop

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

A rare audience with Sir Christopher Lee

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:55:05 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: Interview in full at source.

Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

Brian Viner meets Sir Christopher Lee

Christopher Frank Carandini Lee CBE; it was a mouthful even before the announcement of his knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours List last month, shortly before his 87th birthday, for services to the dramatic arts. Unofficially, Christopher Lee remains the king of the franchises, the only common denominator between the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Star Wars series, the Bond films and the Hammer horrors.

By the estimation of most movie buffs Lee is the most prolific actor alive, possibly in cinematic history, with more than 350 big-screen credits to his name. Nor is there any sign of him slowing down. He plays a Spanish psychiatrist in the forthcoming Triage, one of four 2009 releases graced by his distinctive basso-profundo tones, if not always his aristocratic features (one of them is the animation Monster Mania, which he gleefully describes as "extremely funny"). And he has already signed up to do two more films next year.

US nuns on the run from Vatican inquiry

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:44:04 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: more (full at source): Pressure on the nuns, whose numbers in the US have dwindled in the last four decades from 180,000 to just 60,000, has grown however since the launch of a so-called Apostolic Visitation ordered by the Vatican. With interviews and questionnaires, this is a formal inquiry into the activities of women's religious institutions being conducted by Mother Mary Clare Millea, an American nun who lives in Rome.

In addition, a so-called doctrinal assessment has been ordered by the Vatican into the course being followed by an umbrella group of women's religious orders in the US, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which may not have been toeing the line on issues such as the primacy of the Vatican.

Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

By David Usborne in New York

American nuns could be said to have their habits in a twist in the face of two investigations by the Vatican into whether they have come to espouse lifestyles and views on the Church that may just be a tad too modern. Except that many don't wear habits any more. They wear regular clothes, even jeans.

Many nuns have stretched beyond the cloistered life to enter professions like teaching, the law and social work, and often eschew convents in favour of living alone. But, for the Vatican, it seems that American nuns may have strayed a bit too far from the traditional path.

There was a warning shot in March when the US Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a decree telling Catholics that they should desist from practising Reiki, an ancient Japanese healing technique increasingly favoured by nuns involving the laying-on of hands, and very far from the traditional approach that Rome seems to prefer.

Are Planets 'Living Super-Organisms'?

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:03:31 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: more (at source): He wants to find out if the continents will merge again in 250 million years to form a single super-continent; how meteorites change the chemical composition of the Earth; and what the connection is between the temperature of a planet and its magnetic field, which protects plants and animals from being bombarded with cosmic radiation, which in turn influences the rate of mutations and thus the development of new forms of life.

Clip Source: www.disinfo.com

Daily Galaxy: Japan's Maruyama Shigenori, one of the world's leading geophysicists, is working on a global formula for a new field of study that would include dozens of disciplines collaborating to produce an overall picture of the Earth. As he connects the links from astronomy to life sciences, an outline emerges of an all-encompassing image of entire planets which appear as living super-organisms.

Shigenori believes that expanding the study of life sciences to the core of our world and the depths of outer space will help us find distant relatives of our own Earth — planets that could also sustain life.

Maruyama is creating a new institute called the Center for Bio-Earth Planetology will be launched in 2009 and fully dedicated to creating a new conception of life in space.

Intaglios - Geoglyphs in the Desert

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:27:43 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: Best seen at source

Clip Source: www.americanparagliding.com

In 1931, George Palmer, a local pilot, discovered these huge figures outstretched across the desert pavement on the terraces above the Colorado River near Blythe, California. Archaeologists call these kinds of earth figures "geoglyphs" or "intaglios" (in tar yoe).

Geoglyphs can be found in three forms: one is where designs or features are created by aligning stones together; another method involves the scraping away of the desert pavement gravels exposing the ligher colored sands to create the designs or features; and finally the designs or features are tamped into the desert pavement forming an indented image. The "Blythe Intaglios" were created by scraping away the desert pavement.

Archaeologists cannot be sure how old the geoglyphs are, since dating techniques have not been developed to date these types of features.

Pics: Recent Scenes from the ISS

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:22:41 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: Best seen at source

Clip Source: www.boston.com

Earlier this week, NASA released an amazing photograph of an eruption of Sarychev Peak Volcano, taken by astronauts aboard the orbiting International Space Station (ISS). Seeing that great photo prompted me to dig into the archives and see what other imagery I could find from recent NASA archives. Collected here are a handful of photographs of Sarychev Peak Volcano, and more, taken by astronauts aboard the ISS over the past few months. (35 photos total)

High above Russia's Kuril Islands, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) look down on erupting Sarychev Peak Volcano (plume in center, left) on Matua Island and its brownish ash mixing with cloud cover downwind on June 12, 2009. Part of the ISS, a Soyuz module, is visible in the foreground. (NASA/JSC) [Google map]

Circular Contrails are visible, east of Lake Nipigon, Canada. (NASA/JSC) # [Google map]

A few clouds in the sky above Arizona and its Barringer Impact Crater, at right. (NASA/JSC) # [Google map]

"There's a Mastodon in my yard!"

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:14:20 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly

Clip Source: www.sentinel-standard.com

By HOLLY SETTER

Annette Schneider stands beside the approximately 10,000 to 13,000-year-old mastodon femur discovered in her yard. Schneider said that with the tibia, the mastodon’s legs would be over nine feet long. Sentinel-Standard/HOLLY SETTER

PORTLAND - When Rich and Annette Schneider of Portland opted to dig a pond in their yard, they were only expecting to get a place to cool off on hot summer days.

On June 26, they got a lot more than they had originally bargained for.

Their excavator, Gary Martin, had unearthed a mastodon femur.

“At first he lifted it up (out of the site) because he thought it was an oddly shaped log and his wife collects them,” Annette Schneider said. “He took it home and power washed it. He looked at it again and said ‘That ain't no log.'”

The femur was just the first of dozens of complete bones and bone fragments to come out of the site.

Biological 'Fountain Of Youth' Found In New World Bat Caves

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:51:32 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: more (at source): Asish and colleagues made their discovery by extracting proteins from the livers of two long-lived bat species (Tadarida brasiliensis and Myotis velifer) and young adult mice and exposed them to chemicals known to cause protein misfolding. After examining the proteins, the scientists found that the bat proteins exhibited less damage than those of the mice, indicating that bats have a mechanism for maintaining proper structure under extreme stress.

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (July 1, 2009) — Scientists from Texas are batty over a new discovery which could lead to the single most important medical breakthrough in human history—significantly longer lifespans. The discovery, featured on the cover of the July 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal, shows that proper protein folding over time in long-lived bats explains why they live significantly longer than other mammals of comparable size, such as mice.

"Ultimately we are trying to discover what underlying mechanisms allow for some animal species to live a very long time with the hope that we might be able to develop therapies that allow people to age more slowly," said Asish Chaudhuri, Professor of Biochemistry, VA Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas and the senior researcher involved in the work.

Tags: bats, 'fountain of youth'

Ballpoint pen artist Shohel Otomo

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:37:55 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: plus a 'Transformer' for girls

Clip Source: www.pinktentacle.com

Ballpoint pen artist Shohei Otomo mashes up old and new in bold illustrations spiked with heavy doses of manga-style gore and perversion.

Sunglassed Geisha

Boss Batter

Onsen Ping Pong Geisha

Gurgling Heart

Extermination of Giant Carp

Portrait of a Far East Hoodlum - #1

Okiku Doll

SM Geisha

Clip Source: www.pinktentacle.com

Just in time for the 30th anniversary festivities comes this girlie Gundam, a jewel-encrusted RX-78-2 (apparently created by a Taiwanese fan) looking pretty in pink and lace.

Tags: ballpoint, shohei otomo, manga, art

All-purpose tanuki testicles (prints by Kuniyoshi)

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:33:57 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: Recently finished reading Tom Robbins' "Villa Incognito" (recommended) in which, one of the main protagonists, is a Tanuki (or rather 'The' Tanuki). So I found these prints even more amusing.

Clip Source: www.pinktentacle.com

In the mid-1840s, ukiyo-e master Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) created a number of woodblock prints showing legendary tanuki (raccoon dogs) using their humorously large scrota in creative ways.

River fishing

Shelter from evening showers

Rokurokubi (long-necked monster) disguise

Net fishing

Making dashi (soup stock)

Weightlifting

Catfish mallet

Coming and going

Making mochi

Visiting Konpira, the guardian deity of seafaring

Boy’s festival

Cause of chronic abdominal pain

Shichifukujin (the Seven Lucky Gods) disguise

Fortune-telling tent

Shop signs

River crossing

Towboat

Seine fishing

See more of Kuniyoshi’s tanuki images at Kuniyoshi Project (1, 2).

Tags: testicles, tanuki, kuniyoshi

Dinosaur mummy yields its secrets

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:22:53 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: more at source

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

By Jason Palmer
Science and technology reporter, BBC News

A remarkably well-preserved fossil of a dinosaur has been analysed by scientists writing in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

They describe how the fossil's soft tissues were spared from decay by fine sediments that formed a mineral cast.

Tests have shown that the fossil still holds cell-like structures - but their constituent proteins have decayed.

The team says the cellular structure of the dinosaur's skin was similar to that of dinosaurs' modern-day descendants.

A member of the duck-billed hadrosaur family, the fossil was found in North Dakota in the US and has been nicknamed "Dakota".

Phil Manning of the University of Manchester and his collaborators have been employing a number of techniques to tease out as much information as they can from the fossil.

Microprobe studies showed tendon structure, preserved with silicon

"Creatures from the Sewer"

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:18:38 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly

Clip Source: deepseanews.com

[Video]

Dr. Timothy S. Wood who is an expert on freshwater bryozoa and an officer with the International Bryozoology Association. I sent along the video and this was his reponse…

Thanks for the video – I had not see it before. No, these are not bryozoans! They are clumps of annelid worms, almost certainly tubificids (Naididae, probably genus Tubifex). Normally these occur in soil and sediment, especially at the bottom and edges of polluted streams. In the photo they have apparently entered a pipeline somehow, and in the absence of soil they are coiling around each other. The contractions you see are the result of a single worm contracting and then stimulating all the others to do the same almost simultaneously, so it looks like a single big muscle contracting. Interesting video.

[Video]

Tags: yuk!, eeeww!, worms, sewer

Close Encounters of the Crab-Ball Kind

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:14:47 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly

Clip Source: www.environmentalgraffiti.com

For those carnivores among our readers who only think of crab cakes and crab burgers when hearing the word “crab,” consider this: Crabs are also artists. Yes, these humble crustaceans with the funny walking style make beautiful pictures out of sand. We’ve all seen them. Time to inspect how and why of this mysterious art works.

Crabs can be found in all the oceans around the world and one particular family, namely the sand bubbler crab (Dotilla fenestrate), are especially familiar because most of us will have admired their intricate artworks made out of little sand balls at a visit to the beach.

It’s a horse! At Ganapatipule beach in Maharashtra, India:

Sand bubblers can be found along the shores of the Indian and Pacific Oceans but also at beaches from East Africa to Hawaii, especially along Asian and Australian coastlines.

Tags: crab-art, bubbler, sand-balls

Very Cool Campers & Trailers

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:55:45 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly

Clip Source: weburbanist.com

Written by Steve on July 1st, 2009 - Topics: Environment, Travel, Urban, Various

Concept Caravan Captures Cubist Chic

Ford Airstream Evokes the Thirties

The Fold-Out Foldoub Trailer

252° Living Area Maximizes Your Mini

Colim Modular Camper

Put It On My T@B

Car Trailers For Motorcycles

Have Tent, Will Travel

GM Goes Mobile Bigtime

Tumblin’ Tumbleweed Homes

Capsule Caravan Really Gets A Round

Allotments: Grow Your Own

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:46:01 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: "Allotment gardens are characterised by a concentration in one place of a few or up to several hundreds of land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families. In allotment gardens, the parcels are cultivated individually, contrary to other community garden types where the entire area is tended collectively by a group of people.[1] The individual size of a parcel ranges between 200 and 400 square meters, and often the plots include a shed for tools and shelter. The individual gardeners are organised in an allotment association which leases the land from the owner who may be a public, private or ecclesiastical entity, provided that it is only used for gardening (i.e. growing vegetables, fruits and flowers), but not for residential purposes. The gardeners have to pay a small membership fee to the association, and have to abide by the corresponding constitution and by-laws. However, the membership entitles them to certain democratic rights.[2][3]"

Clip Source: dearcomputer.nl