Fink's Links...

A bunch of clever clogs from the University of Copenhagen have proved that all people with blue eyes come from a single mutant ancestor, if not for that fluke of replication everyone in the world would have had brown eyes, interestingly if the error had completely turned off the gene, we would all be albino too...

Now with those lovely eyes, how about a nice collection of things you probably never set yours on before - starting with an airport on stilts...

Following the theme to a wonderful snap of a rainbow formed in the vapour trail of an aeroplane...


You've seen the airport on stilts now, so how about a "Jack-up Barge"? And yes, they do sometimes fall over...

...and just to save us from yet another cat picture, here's a rather scary looking Goliath Grouper (with groupies) to chase them off...

Back to the news to *gasp* in shock at the staggeringly stupid clever 92 year old man who suddenly decided to mention that he invented a device that boils water virtually instantly using sound waves...30 YEARS AGO...just imagine all the time/electricity that could have been saved(!), all the baths, showers, kettles, radiators...want double points for final irony? It costs £3.55 to manufacture...

Wired Magazine's Dave Bullock proves he has a better job than you when he tours and shoots the US Navy's armed robot research labs...(including a freaky ED-209-type encounter)...

Sticking with cutting edge weapons, Watch the US Navy test their shiny new 10.6 megajoule, Mach 7.5 railgun (which they hope scale up and eventually mount on board warships so they can conduct friendly fire from 200 miles away, hyper accurately)...great video...

The telegraph have an absolutely classic list of hilarious (and wrong) answers to TV quiz show questions, a couple of my favorites (for example) - Jeremy Paxman, during University Challenge asked the question "What is another name for cherrypickers and cheesemongers"? The contestant buzzed in and answered "Homosexuals", Paxman replied "No. They are regiments in the British Army who will be very upset with you"...Back in Bamber Gascoigne's day (same show) he asked "What was Gandhi's first name"? The contestant replied with "Goosey, goosey" and (not least) Ulrika Jonsson (On Dog Eat Dog) asked "Who wrote the Lord of the Rings?", the contestant answering "Enid Blyton"...*lots* more examples in the article... ;)

Woolworths earn themselves a sharply delivered FAIL when some idiot brands a children's bedroom furniture range "Lolita"...*slap*...

An EPIC FAIL now, some sea captain off the coast of Egypt manages to snip 2 fibres that provide up to 70% (although estimates vary) of the internet pipe for much of India and the Middle East - cue (more than usual) British call centre chaos - first day of disprution "was like a traffic jam" and unfortunately "repairs could take 12-15 days"...(bonus points - interesting global map of where these cables lay - which should be tattooed onto every helm's man)...

A special "Do not attempt to grow a brain" award goes to the bright spark who (when offered the theme "It gives you goose bumps" for this years Rio carnival) decided to build a carnival cart decorated with an ultra-realistic pile of dead, peutrifying Jews and featuring a dancer dressed as Hitler. Suffice it to say the Jewish Federation of Rio felt compelled to lodge an objection with the organisers...

And finally (to lighten the mood), if you aren't already sick of them (as may very well be the case by now) The Times has a great round-up of Jeremy Beadle's top wind-ups with plenty of links to Youtube copies (of murky copyright status)...the classic "Ice Cream Factory" had me absolutely crying with laughter (there is *nothing* on TV as funny as this at the moment)...

More linky goodness next week... ;)