A sampler of some items of interest from various internet sites. Click on the links provided to access the items for a more detailed look . . .
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50 Badass Elderly People That Are The Epitome Of Cool
Source:
Bored Panda
From a smashing sense of humor to incredible skills, enviable physical shape, and the most youthful mindset, there’s a lot to learn from these badasses who may not have turned back time, but figured out how to get the most out of it.
A Grandpa Got A Cochlea Implant Tattoo To Become Like His Grandson
Nearly Every Day This Elderly Women Stands With This Sign Up, Facing The Traffic
My 86yo Grandmother And Her Handmade Needle Point Chair. 25 Years In The Making And 14 Threads Per Inch
Old Man Sideways Holding Onto A Vertical Pole
Bonus item from me . . .
I’m tossing my father in law, Noel, into this collection. He is 91, still living independently, still studying, going to the shops each day and still staying active. Yay for the Day to Noel.
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55 Weird Stories About How Famous Things Got Invented
Source:
Cracked
The Bicycle
The bicycle was invented following the summer of 1816, when a massive volcanic eruption caused worldwide famine. People couldn't feed their horses and killed their horses for meat, so Baron Karl von Drais invented a new form of transport.
Jacuzzis
Jacuzzis weren't decadent luxuries originally. Candido Jacuzzi invented the device to treat his son's rheumatoid arthritis.
Telephones
Though we all know Alexander Graham Bell as the inventor of the telephone, Elisha Gray submitted a patent for the phone the very same day as Bell. At the time, neither of them had an actual working phone, but Bell won the patent war, so he got to continue tinkering.
The Pill
The birth control pill was invented by John Rock, a devout Catholic who earlier ran a clinic that taught Catholicism-approved birth control methods. He thought the church might embrace his new invention. He was wrong.
Doorknobs
Doorknobs were invented much later than you'd think -- Black teenager Osbourn Dorsey invented it in 1878. Before that, people could only latch doors shut with heavy bars.
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New Device Allows Man With Paralysis to Type by Imagining Handwriting
Source:
Smithsonian Magazine
An experimental brain-computer interface has allowed one man who is paralyzed below the neck to gain the ability to type by thinking about handwriting, according to research published on May 12 in the journal Nature.
The man became paralyzed after a spinal cord injury in 2007, and joined the research project at Stanford University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute nine years later, Ian Sample reports for the Guardian. After years of development, the man can use the device to write up to 18 words per minute when connected to the system, with 94 percent accuracy on each letter. When the scientists added autocorrect to the program, its accuracy improved to 99 percent.
The device uses two sensors called microelectrode arrays placed near the part of the brain used for handwriting, just under the surface of the brain. The arrays could measure signals from about 100 neurons.
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This Kid Made His Own Cozy Atmosphere During Reading Time
Source:
Twisted Sifter
Earlier this week, a grade 3 teacher in Cincinnati, Ohio shared this amazing photo of one of her students setting a cozy atmosphere for himself during reading time.
Not sure if the headphones are just for noise cancellation or if he’s actually listening to the fire, hopefully he gets to hear that delightful crackle!
Don’t know why, but this just puts a big smile on my face, this kid’s a legend!
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Anschlussdenkmal: The Forbidden Nazi Memorial
Source:
Amusing Planet
The Anschlussdenkmal, or Anschluss Monument, in the Austrian town of Oberschützen, is a Nazi monument erected to commemorate the bloodless coup of 1938 by which Austria was annexed into Nazi Germany.
The monument was designed by Styrian architect Rudolf Hofer and was made to appear like a temple with pillared arcades. A two-meter high gilded imperial eagle stood inside the rectangular structure on a high pedestal on which were engraved the Nazi inscription Ein Volk! Ein Reich! Ein Führer! (One People, One Empire, One Leader) and a large swastika. The sculpture itself was surrounded by fire cauldrons.
It is the largest remaining Nazi memorial in Austria.
The Anschlussdenkmal as it appeared after its completion.
The Anschlussdenkmal was erected shortly after Austria’s annexation. During the Nazi era, the monument was used for a number of ceremonies and political rallies. After the end of the Second World War and the fall of the Nazi rule, the imperial eagle that stood in the middle of the building was demolished. The base inscription and the fire pylons were dismantled. Only the stone pillars remained.
There were repeated discussions about tearing down the monument, but this never happened because of the complicated ownership structure of the land the monument stood on, among other things. In the years that followed, the building was used in different ways, mostly as campfire sites and in photo shoots, but in general, it was considered taboo because of its origins. There wasn't much talk about the building in the community, until 1997 when the municipality attached a plaque to the memorial. The inscription on it read:
Erected in 1939 as a memorial for the annexation of Austria to National Socialist Germany. May this site be a memorial for us today and in the future: against dictatorship, against violence, against racism - for democracy, for peace and for the protection of human rights!
Municipality of Oberschützen, 1997
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50 “Absolute Unit” Posts That Show Just How Big Things Can Get
Source:
Bored Panda
There are units, and then there are absolute units. If the latter doesn’t ring a bell, it may be because the odd-sounding term comes from internet culture, where people use it to refer to a large, round animal or object. But in order to get to the essence of what being an absolute unit entails, one has to see a real example of it . . .
This Baobab Tree Is Said To Be 6000 Years Old
An Absolute Tank
Absolute Units Of Garlic Cloves
This Avocado
Goliath Tiger Fish
Elvis From Australian Reptile Park Is An Absolute Unit Of A Saltwater Crocodile
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