Glow-in-the-dark cats and other amusements
Monday, December 17, 2007
I have a few random stories/videos to share that I found last week:
Glow-in-the-dark cats
This was interesting: South Korean scientists clone cats whose genes have been altered so that they glow in the dark. Because of the red fluorescence protein in their skin cells, these cats look reddish under ultraviolet light. View reports via Slashdot and USA Today. Here’s an MSNBC video: Dec. 14: Cloned cats that glow in the dark. Also, from Korea: Red Fluorescent Cat Cloned. Is it a hoax?
Otters holding hands
Here is a YouTube video of two otters in the Vancouver Aquarium. It’s really cute.
Are there four or five tastes?
NPR reports about food and your taste buds: Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter . . . and Umami. All hail MSG!
Airport security carry-on rules
Here’s an AP story for you to enjoy: Man chugs liter of vodka in airport security line.
Bloody, creepy screensaver
A gamer friend shared the following with me. It’s the download link for a very cool blood-splatter and shadows screensaver: Official Gears of War Screensaver. You can only see the skull-shaped game logo at the end of the animation sequence if you’re paying attention.
Cubicle etiquette
Check out this Cube Etiquette video from the series Cube News 1. The ironic part is that if you send this video out to your coworkers some afternoon, you will most likely hear it being played across the office at least four or five times before the end of the day. Why? Apparently many cubicle dwellers aren’t aware that their speakers have volume knobs. Or that magical objects like headphones exist in the world.
(True story: I once knew a coworker who tried using the subwoofer air port tube (the hole) in his desktop speaker set as an electric pencil sharpener and even asked to have his “sharpener” replaced when he failed. It was mind-blowingly awesome.)
Anyway, this Cube News 1 video is pretty funny. Sending it to your beloved coworkers and observing their responses is quite like an office litmus test of inconsideration.