Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Monstrous Rats, Underground Rivers and Kids Who Can See in the Dark



(Above: Long-exposure photo of fireflies. More here. I wish I could buy one of these photos! So beautiful.)

Whew! I'm finished! (For the moment.) Time to get back to my year of adventure. Still gotta figure out what I'll be doing this week. But in the meantime, I have a few things I'd like to share. I've been hoarding links for quite a while now, and I need to start posting my discoveries here on the blog. (So I can clear out my cluttered bookmarks menu.) Watch out. There's a lot of weirdness coming your way!

1. This is pretty amazing. The boy in the video below can see clearly in perfect darkness. Apparently his eyes (which are a rather unusual color) also "shine in the dark" the way cats' eyes do. I don't think (as the title of the video suggests) that he's an "alien starchild." However, I do believe that he would make a pretty amazing cat burglar. Or superhero. Or spy. And I am very, very jealous.



2. Ever chuckle in disbelief when you hear tales of "giant rats?" Yeah, well, it's time to stop laughing. Several truly monstrous rodents have been discovered in New York in the past few months. Here's the proof. I've seen other pictures, but they were too gruesome to post. (Warning: The rat you'll see if you click the link is no longer among the living.)

3. A group of "Guerrilla Grafters" has been turning the trees that line public streets into fruit-bearing trees. Yes, this is possible. It's also illegal. And very cool.

4. Are you aware that there's an underground river beneath London? Wanna see some amazing pictures? (BTW, Retronaut is a pretty great site.) Some day I'll work the River Fleet into a book.

5. Made from 21% "snail extract," Super Aqua Cell Renew Snail Cream is a popular skin-care product on the other side of the globe. You'll be happy to know that the snails are "fed red ginseng" and "raised in Korea" in order to produce quality slime.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! Those links are pretty cool! I really enjoyed the video about the boy who can see in the dark! A little weird.

india6 said...

Those links were soooo coool!!! Wow Ms. Miller, you really find some great stuff to post!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

That was pretty awesome!! I wish I could see in the dark! That rat was kinda scary though..,

Chloe said...

Wow! When I watched taht video about the boy with night vision, I immediately thought 2 things:1)The iris color reminds me of "The Memoirs of a Geisha" book cover and 2)Night vision reminded me of Riddick from "The Chronicles of Ridick.
Actually, I think any person could be able to see in the dark, just not as easily as the boy in the video. For example, When I was in stage crew, my job was to work backstage and do scene changes. After a while, other backstage crew members and I were able to see where we were going, whereas the cast members couldn't and we had to direct them.

rubysoho said...

Wow... this is a bit late, but all of these are just so cool! The rat made me want to vomit a little though ha, but I was gasping and had my eyes glued to the screen with the undergroud river. Sorry, be right back, swimming to London.