Surreal Saturday: Flaming Pants Walking (YouTube)

I have no idea what this means but it seems entirely appropriate for finals week...

Surreal Saturday: Cupcake Cannon (YouTube)

OK. Cupcakes? Check. Cannon that shoots cupcakes with 125 psi pressure? Check. Camera that shoots slow-mo at 700 FPS? Check. Willing idiots? Check. Ready... (via Gizmodo)

Surreal Saturday: The Periodic Table Of Periodic Tables (Flickr via Neatorama)

Nothing more to say, really. Click on the pic or this link to get the full image... (via Neatorama)

Surreal Saturday: Coming Soon To A Dark Sky Near You... (MIT SENSEable City Lab)

Amazingly cool idea...

Surreal Saturday: Oil Navigates Maze; Rats, Mice Consider Forming Union (New Scientist)

According to a recently published paper with the unlikely title: "Maze Solving by Chemotactic Droplets", by the equally unlikely research group called the Grzybowski Group, oil droplets can, like rats trying to find cheese or wizards trying to find the Goblet of Fire, solve mazes all on their own. See the video below:

Surreal Saturday: The Pong Prom (Vimeo)

From the interestingly titled Department of Covert Athletics...

Pong Prom from Ed Keeble on Vimeo.

Surreal Saturday: Saturn's Hexagons... (DailyMotion Via Neatorama)

...is not the name of a rock band. Nor is it the name of a science fiction novel. It is even weirder than that.

It is a real phenomena on Saturn that the Cassini probe confirms has lasted for at least 20 years.

Very cool video on DailyMotion (via Neatorama) below along with very interesting possible explanation on Softpedia (also via Neatorama)...

The Mystery Hexagon on SATURN
by the-pho3nix

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Surreal Saturday: Wild Birds That Talk To Humans (YouTube)

I saw the video below and was absolutely amazed. It reminded me of Josh Klein's crow experiments and, frankly, a little bit of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds...

Surreal Saturday: Can People Distinguish Pâté From Dog Food? Apparently, The Answer Is... (Wine-economics.org via Marginal Revolution)

Image via Wikipedia

...no. Marginal Revolution points to this new bit of research from the scientists at wine-economics.org that pretty clearly states:

"We conclude that, although human beings do not enjoy eating dog food, they are also not able to distinguish its flavor profile from other meat-based products that are intended for human consumption."

In other words, "Open another can of Alpo, honey. Company's a' comin"!"

Surreal Saturday: Creme That Egg! (YouTube)

Posts have been light this week and will likely be light next week as I have been preparing for and will be attending a workshop on intel theory and intel communications at Los Alamos. Always have time for a good Rube Goldberg video, though...

Surreal Saturday: Molten Iron Throwing (YouTube via Neatorama)

Neatorama featured this video earlier this week of Chinese farmers who have -- for hundreds of years, apparently -- thrown molten iron against a big wall in lieu of launching fireworks for the lantern festival.

Surreal Saturday: Dolphins Teaching Other Dolphins To Blow Bubble Rings (YouTube)

Reminds me a bit of Josh Klein's TED talk last year on the intelligence of crows. Pretty cool.

Noise Only Teenagers Can Hear (Trainhorns.net)

Predictable jokes to the side (e.g. the sound of cash coming out of a wallet, the sound of pizza being delivered...), there are, apparently, sounds that are only audible to young ears.

Clever young people in the UK have turned this noise (which is also used as a deterrent in some stores) into a ringtone so they can fool teachers.

US students long ago learned to put their phones on vibrate to do much the same thing. I suspect it is the thrill of 10-15 students simultaneously getting a text message while in class as the teacher drones obliviously on that makes it worth the effort.

You can take the test yourself but you will likely need a teenager around to tell you what the noise sounds like. To be honest, if I concentrated quite hard on listening while in a quiet room, I think I heard a faint buzzing. In a normal situation, however, I am sure I would not even notice it.

• NB: This DOES NOT mean my ears are old, by the way. They are "mature" ears.

Created by Train Horns

Surreal Saturday: American Blugrass On Chinese Instruments (YouTube via Boing Boing)

Saw this first on Boing Boing. Must be heard to be believed...

Surreal Saturday: Deception In Pursuit Of Oryctolagulus Cuniculus (YouTube)

Stealth Technology -- English farmer style!

Surreal Saturday: B2 Bomber Cycle (Northrop Grumman via Danger Room)

Danger Room has been batting 1000 for the last couple of days. Not only did they break the story on the Palestinian rocket making video but they also have this unique post on the celebrations surrounding the 20th Anniversary of the B2 bomber. Check out the Northrop press release for full details and additional pics.

Surreal Saturday: The Invisible Rope (YouTube)

Interesting exercise in psychology...

Surreal Saturday: Auditorium (PlayAuditorium.com)

If you are looking for something different and profoundly odd and wonderful all at the same time, check out the new flash-based game Auditorium (Many thanks to Raph Koster's Website for blogging about Auditorium and to Lenny Raymond's Blog for pointing me to Raph's site...). Don't worry if you don't get it at first, you will (That moment of discovery is sort of what the game is about anyway). If you really get lost, scroll down the home page for a guide but I recommend you try it without the guide first.

Surreal Saturday: The Role Of Vitamin D In Beta Cell Function -- The Musical (Gonzolabs.org via NYT)

Apparently the American Association For the Advancement of Science sponsors a "Dance Your Dissertation Contest" every year at its annual convention. You can see last year's winner below or go to the Gonzolab website and see them all. Could a "Dance Your NIE" competition be next? (Many thanks to Rex for this enlightening tidbit and for the inspriation for the cheesy "Dance your NIE" joke!)