Mimas and Saturn, captured by the Cassini spacecraft earlier this month. Simply gorgeous.

[Via Found]

I'd heard that the citizens of Hartlepool once hung a monkey, but the story of Erwin and the hanged elephant was new to me:

It was 1916, and things were changing fast. World War I raged in Europe. Dadaism, ripe with comic derision and irrationality, took hold in artistic circles. Freeform jazz took hold of the American music scene. Margaret Sanger opened the first birth-control clinic. It was a good year for scapegoats. It was a good year to hang an elephant. [...]

[Via MetaFilter]

Bears doing handstands to mark their territory. My dial-up connection made the streaming video unviewable, but I think the still image shows you all you need to see.

[Via Boing Boing]

Because it's that day again:

• Rotterdam's Erasmus bridge looks spectacular by night.
• I love the way this image of a seagull captures the textures of the feathers.
• Noah Grey's shot of Rosamond's Cat is exquisite. Is that eye really a different colour, or is it a trick of the shadow falling on the right side of the cat's face?
• The title says it all: "What da ya mean, BIRDhouse?"

I don't think this first paragraph of an AFP article requires any comment:

JAKARTA (AFP) – A landmark bridge in Indonesia's Sumatra island may collapse because too many people are fond of urinating on one of its steel pillars. [...]

OK, I can't resist asking: how many is "too many", exactly?

[Via die puny humans]

I saw The Incredibles again last night. It was every bit as much fun second time round. In fact, I appreciated a few details even more on a repeat viewing: the way that some scenes would have made a beautiful double-page spread in a comic, the fantastic Bond movie-worthy soundtrack, Holly Hunter's oh-so-sexy voice, the gorgeous, energetic end credit sequence. Especially that credit sequence, a little masterpiece all by itself. (I'm listening to the end credit music, freshly downloaded from iTunes Music Store, as I type this. Quality stuff.) The whole thing has the feel of a future classic which goes straight onto my "Must buy on DVD" list. The only possible reason to dislike The Incredibles is that it's made the job of making superhero comics adaptations about five times as difficult: established franchises like X-Men and Spider-Man will be OK, but something like the Fantastic Four film (which already has a fair few strikes against it) is really up against it now.

While I'm on the subject, this post at Design Observer enthuses at great length about the mix of design styles alluded to in The Incredibles, with occasional asides about the forthcoming Robert Zemeckis/Tom Hanks seasonal storybook adaptation The Polar Express. It looks as if the design community finally has a superhero to call its' own in Edna Mode.

[Design Observer post via plasticbag.org]

An article at Nature Online reports that two European scientists have written a paper proposing the establishment of conservation parks on Mars, protecting seven areas they've identified as being of special interest.

Let's put to one side for the moment the practical problems involved in enacting this sort of scheme and getting every entity – be it a nation state, corporate body, multinational agency, gang of libertarian-leaning tech billionaires and who knows what else besides – which might one day try to mount an expedition to Mars to sign up. Isn't the real barrier to compiling a list of sites worth protecting that we simply don't know which parts of the red planet are going to be of outstanding geological and scientific interest? Sure, you can identify the bits that look spectacular from orbit or which look interesting by the standards of geological formations on Earth, but the fun part of exploring other planets is discovering the limits of the knowledge set we've developed from a sample of one planet. I'm not saying conservation parks are a bad idea, just that we'll need a lot more on-planet experience before we can figure out how to decide where to put them, let alone actually decide where to put them. Which is not to say, I repeat, that they're a bad idea in principle.

The trouble is, I'm not quite clear on what the intent is behind the proposal. Is it to preserve some parts of Mars from whatever colonisation efforts the human race may launch half a century from now, or to stop even current exploratory efforts from polluting the Martian biosphere? The Nature article I linked to above paraphrases a comment from Charles Cockell, one of the proponents of the idea of conservation parks, to the effect that "the crashes [of unmanned probes like the Mars Polar Lander on the Martian surface] are as irresponsible as dropping robots over the Antarctic," which suggests that the concern is to preserve a pristine biosphere – that's "pristine" as in "Of, relating to, or typical of the earliest time or condition; primitive or original", rather than merely "Remaining in a pure state; uncorrupted by civilization". But the Nature article goes on to claim that:

The scientists are keen to see these areas explored, but say that the environmental impact of human activity must be limited. They suggest rules such as "no spacecraft parts to be left in the park", and would allow access only along predefined routes, like hiking trails in terrestrial parks.

It's a shame that the content of Space Policy, the journal where the article proposing the parks is to be published, doesn't appear to be freely available online. I'd like to know how the authors suggest that Mars can be explored so those footpaths can be mapped out.

[Via Slashdot]

After what seemed like a longer than usual break, Jeff Vogel has produced another Story About the Toddler:

Cordelia is now pretty much toilet trained. It just sort of happened. She started using the toilet properly. We stopped putting diapers on her. Sometimes she has accidents, and we heap shame and disgrace on her in the way the books say you shouldn't. The authors of those books have achieved some sort of pure, utterly peaceful zen state where someone pissing on their nice leather couch doesn't bother them, but we haven't.

Writing in today's Guardian, David Stubbs applauds the example of David Lee Roth (who is now training as a paramedic) and says he'd like to see more successful pop musicians try for a second, more mundane, career:

[...] Music should be more like football was in the 1960s and 1970s – glamorous, high-profile career one year, plumber, publican or insurance salesman the next. Money's the problem. Sting, for instance, would make an excellent greengrocer, I'm sure of it. But with his millions, could we rely on his whim to become one? The answer is for Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell to step in and declare that the past, present and future earnings/royalties of UK pop stars be confiscated, forcing them to do a Roth and eke out interesting livings in Civvy Street. [...]

The strangest thing happened yesterday: I found myself watching an ITV show for the first time in goodness knows how long. One that was pretty entertaining, to the point where I'll be looking out for next week's episode with some actual, honest-to-goodness enthusiasm. Mine All Mine, written by Queer As Folk scribe Russell T Davies, is the story of Max Vivaldi, a Welsh eccentric played by Griff Rhys Jones, who is convinced that his family owns most of the land on which Swansea is built. The thing is, it turns out that he may be right. The Vivaldi family are an lively bunch to put it mildly, and with lesser writing and acting this could have been an unbearably grating hour's TV. Happily, it turns out to be a spirited romp and a highly entertaining way to pass an hour on the next four Thursday nights.

(Actually, I think I can remember what the last ITV programme drama I followed was: The Second Coming, the drama starring Christopher Eccleston. Observant readers will notice a link between that programme and Mine All Mine.)

Incidentally, I think it says a lot about how ITV feel about an original drama series by one of the brightest writing talents to appear on the British TV scene in the last decade and there's no sign on it on the front page of their web site, or even on their drama or entertainment pages. Lots of soap opera, I'm A Celebrity Get Me My Career Back, sport and chat shows, but not a word about their shiny new five-parter. The first article about the show my googling turned up was, believe it or not, on the BBC America web site. Amazing.

Sometimes, after a hard day's work, it just gets to be all too much for some translators.

[Via Yoz Grahame]

Speaking as someone who has managed to resist the temptation to buy a mobile phone thus far, it's safe to say that ideas like this aren't going to entice me to join the majority any time soon:

[...] Going beyond the calendar feature common in many current mobiles, the "smarter smartphone" learns about people's preferences by logging calls and noting when application like cameras are used. Location-based functions allow the phone to keep record where you work and socialise. The phone also makes note of Bluetooth pairing bonds, in theory allowing it to build a profile of who you socialise with. This information would be sent to a server which processes data and returns suggestions or reminders.

Beyond predictive texting the phone is touted as a device that predicts what you will do. The New Scientist reports possible applications include reminding you not to drink too much the night before an important presentation. Some people might balk as the idea of being monitored – and nagged – by their personal technology. But US scientists reckon they've hit on a winner. [...]

Mind you, I did like Slashdot poster Imroy's suggestion for an extension of this technology:

Will it advise you not to ring your ex when you've had too many drinks?

[Via Slashdot]

I visit MacDesktops just about every day, as it's a reliable, frequently-updated source of desktop images and – crucually – caters for the somewhat non-standard 1,440 x 900 pixel resolution of my flat-panel iMac's screen. I don't generally post here about the images they supply because there's hardly a shortage of nice desktop images online, but yesterday I came across a real beauty: Mike "Hellboy" Mignola's take on Mr Incredible. Lovely.

(I realise that it may well be available online elsewhere, but I saw it at MacDesktops so they get the credit.)

Courtesy of Alison at bluishorange, a thought that completely failed to occur to me when I was watching The Incredibles:

I bet childbirth was no trouble at all for Elastigirl.

Is Grand Theft Auto: Lego City a work of genius, or what? (NB: 9MB Quicktime movie.)

[Via nik.angrycake.com]

If it weren't for the overseas shipping charges, I'd order one of these in a flat minute.

[Via dust from a distant sun]

Apparently the world's population of hermit crabs is suffering a housing crisis:

Right now, 30 percent of all hermit crabs on our shorelines are living in shells that are too small for them. In the springtime, when the animal has its growth spurt, this shortage skyrockets to 60 percent. Hermit crabs, whose own bodies provide only thin exoskeletons, must scavenge and appropriate hard-walled shells abandoned by marine gastropods for shelter. The problem is that there currently are not enough shells left on our beaches for hermit crabs to use. This situation is not only uncomfortable but dire. [...]

The good news is that the Hand Up Project has a solution:

[...] Based on what we know about the new needs of these animals in their current environment, the Hand Up Project proposes to manufacture alternative forms of housing, specifically designed for use by land hermit crabs, out of plastic. [...]

Am I the only person who thinks this article is an elaborate joke? It's something about the tail end of the article, where the author describes how the Hand Up Project proposes to pay for all those plastic shells:

[...] The funding needed to manufacture and distribute these shelters is significant. It is also significant that – notwithstanding the contradictions inherent in current scientific knowledge – this production is purely altruistic in its intent. The scope of the project is global, and accordingly, corporate funding has been targeted as a potential revenue source. The project is currently soliciting corporate and commercial sponsorship to fund manufacturing and distribution costs by licensing the houses for advertising. In exchange for financial support, each plastic shelter may be readily produced bearing a corporate logo. From this perspective, the longevity of these dwellings is also a plus, in that their existence will guarantee the perpetuation of advertising across a time-span best described as evolutionary. [...]

Somehow, to me, that notion just doesn't jibe. But I could just be too much of a cynic. (Or possibly not cynical enough…)

[Via Boing Boing]

It's that time of the week again:

• Lorraine Daley likes the idea of Makin' Nookie.
• Graham of Sensitive Light finally captured (an image of) the kingfisher he's been stalking for ages. Good job.
• Martine at frangipani pictured the strangest looking fish you ever did see.
• I wonder whether Noah Grey's visit to the Adventureplex was as much fun for him as it was for these kids.
• Peter Kaminski captured this beautiful pink contrail. (As it happens, Sam Javanrouh also caught a nice contrail this week.)

If you're in the market for a really accurate wristwatch, you can do no better than this.

[Via Found]

I like you. Very cute.

[Via Blog.org]