Sunk again!

Visitors to an exhibition of Titanic artifacts were left with a genuine sinking feeling - after turning up to discover it was closed due to water damage.

 

I embrace you with all my heart.

100 years ago in French Algeria, on November 7th of 1913, author Albert Camus was born. The second son of Lucien and Catherine Camus, he was just 11-months-old when his father was killed in action during The Battle of the Marne; his mother, partially deaf and illiterate, then raised her boys in extreme poverty with the help of his heavy-handed grandmother. It was in school that Camus shone, due in no small part to the encouragement offered by his beloved teacher, Louis Germain, a man who fostered the potential he saw and steered young Camus on a path that would eventually see him write some hugely respected, award-winning novels and essays. In 1957, Camus was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, "for his important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times." Shortly after the occasion, he wrote to his former teacher.

 19 November 1957
 Dear Monsieur Germain, I let the commotion around me these days subside a bit before speaking to you from the bottom of my heart. I have just been given far too great an honour, one I neither sought nor solicited. But when I heard the news, my first thought, after my mother, was of you. Without you, without the affectionate hand you extended to the small poor child that I was, without your teaching and example, none of all this would have happened. I don't make too much of this sort of honour. But at least it gives me the opportunity to tell you what you have been and still are for me, and to assure you that your efforts, your work, and the generous heart you put into it still live in one of your little schoolboys who, despite the years, has never stopped being your grateful pupil. I embrace you with all my heart.
 Albert Camus
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Twitter shares jump to more than $45 as trading starts

Shares in the micro-blogging site Twitter opened at $45.10 each in the first minutes of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). That is a 73% jump from the initial asking price of $26 a share, and it means the company is now valued at a little over $31bn (£19bn). Trading in Twitter began more than an hour after the stock exchange opened.

 

Finland Owl Rescue ACTION!

“It had apparently fallen in by accident, but luckily a man in a kayak happened by and picked it up!”

“The poor bird tried to make its way inside the man’s life jacket for some warmth. It was then taken to shore at a nearby museum, and a museum guide took it home to dry overnight. The next morning all was well and the owl was released back into the wild!”

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Sorry, It’s Taken

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New ligament discovered in knee

The anterolateral ligament (ALL) may hold the key to common knee injuries, researchers say.

 Two knee surgeons in Belgium say they have identified a previously unfamiliar ligament in the human knee. Writing in the Journal of Anatomy, they suggest the fibrous band could play a part in one of the most common sports injuries worldwide. Despite glimpses of the ligament in medical history, this is the first time its structure and purpose have been so clearly established, they say. But experts say more studies are needed to prove its relevance to knee surgery. more

    

Image of the day

Dreams come true

Humans created gunpowder in search of immortality

Much Loved

The lovely work of Max Nixon via The Curious Brain.

 

The Etymology of Dude

For some time now, we have known the basic outline of the story of "dude." The word was first used in the late 1800s as a term of mockery for young men who were overly concerned with keeping up with the latest fashions. It later came to stand for clueless city folk (who go to dude ranches) before it morphed into our all-purpose laid-back label for a guy. What we didn't know was why the word dude was chosen in the first place. Now, we finally have the answer. Allan Metcalf (who wrote the book on "OK") reports in The Chronicle of Higher Education that a massive, decade-long "dude" research project has finally yielded convincing results. The project belongs to Barry Popik and Gerald Cohen, described by Metcalf as "Googlers before there was Google." Along with the help of other colleagues, they have been combing through 19th century periodicals for years, slowly amassing the world's biggest collection of dude citations. The latest issue of Cohen's journal, Comments on Etymology, lays out, in 129 pages, the most solidly supported account yet of the early days of dude.
 So where does dude come from?

 

Bookshop ad of the day

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Volkswagen Beetle Covered with Wrought Iron Gate Designs

The Croatian metal shop MG Vrbanus put three artists to work modifying this 1970 Volkswagen Beetle. It took them 3,500 hours of work to put in 5,000 Swarovski crystals and hundreds of pounds of wrought iron and gold leaf. The craftsmen began by sketching a design on the sheet metal body. Then they removed it, section by section, and replaced it with carefully planned designs inspired by metal fencing. The see-through body now exposes the machinery underneath. They executed their work with such precision that they could fit the original windows back into place without any trouble. via

Don’t resist, just come quietly.

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Voltron Hoodie

Completing the triad of 80s cartoon and toy perfection, Voltron proudly stood alongside G.I. Joe and the Transformers as the best ways for a kid to relax on a Saturday morning after a long week of school. And since the holidays are just around the corner, if you know someone still holding a candle for a childhood accompanied by five transforming robot lions, this detailed Voltron hoodie is pretty much the best thing you could put under the tree.

 

The Second-Chance Dog

The following is excerpted from Jon Katz’sThe Second-Chance Dog: A Love Story which is being published next week by Ballantine Books.

I heard the barking as soon as I pulled into the gravel driveway of the sprawling old farmhouse on a country road about five miles from my farm. The noise was coming not from the house but from a barn behind it. It was the deep-throated, door-rattling roar of the guard dog, and there was something undeniably frightening about it. A dog with a voice like that had to be huge and powerful. I had never heard a roar quite like it. None of my dogs ever barked in such a furious, almost panicked way. It was a bark to be taken seriously, very seriously, and I was reminded of the raptor in Jurassic Park busting out of its prison.

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The First Five Smart Home Appliances From Quirky and GE's Future-Store

What happens when a Fortune 500-ranked, 120-year-old company like GE partners with a four-year-old startup like Quirky?

Porkfolio, har har, was designed by a dad who wanted to create a more interactive piggy bank for his kid.

Today, six months after announcing a partnership, the companies launched their first co-branded products. 

 

Full Moon

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Wildlife photography by David Yarrow

David Yarrow is a self-taught 47-year-old wildlife photographer. He has travelled to some of the most remote spots on Earth for his new book, Encounter.

 

Ministry of silly squawks

Wildlife photographer Andy Rouse managed to capture the tiny bird as it walked along grass in a strikingly similar manner to the beloved Monty Python character - a civil servant who works for the fictitious Ministry of Silly Walks. Rouse, who has published 15 books and won several photography awards, started photographing the creatures in a bid to raise awareness of their decline in Britain.

 

One woman and her dog

Aki Yamaguchi's photographs of her dog have a tenderness and love that comes from the deep connection between woman and dog. They're also adorable.

 

Worshippers of Apple

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Boats Made from Aviation Fuel Tanks Left over from the Vietnam War

During the Vietnam War, the jets of the United States Air Force were equipped with expendable, external fuel tanks. When these metal-skinned tanks were used up, pilots dropped them where they were. Vietnamese civilians put them to good use. 

 

Zombie Protection

Croatia marks All Saints Day

Hundreds of thousands of people in Croatia have visited cemeteries on Friday. All Saints day is important in Croatian tradition, so many will on Friday and Saturday pay tribute to their dead.