Sky Burial & Self-Mummification

Sky burial or ritual dissection was once a common practice in Tibet. A human corpse is cut into small pieces and placed on a mountaintop, exposing it to the elements or the mahabhuta and animals – especially to birds of prey. In Tibetan the practice is known as jhator (Tibetan: བྱ་གཏོར་), which literally means, "giving alms to the birds."

Tibetan sky burial in China (w/photos)
Sky Burial (Alternate Description)

Scattered throughout Northern Japan are two dozen mummified Japanese monks known as Sokushinbutsu. Followers of Shugendô, an ancient form of Buddhism, the monks died in the ultimate act of self-denial.

Self-Mummified Buddhist Monks

...Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw / With ravine, shriek'd against his creed

Insects with modified body structures and embedded micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) have survived to adulthood in a US Defense Advanced Reseach Projects Agency (DARPA) programme.

Cyborg insects 'born' in DARPA project
InsectLabs

Baka wa shinanakya naoranai

Haishaku, a critter found in the upper lungs, has a nose that opens directly into its chest. People infected with Haishaku hate pleasant smells and foul smells, but are fond of strong, fishy smells. Other symptoms include extreme sadness and a craving for spicy food.

Mythical 16th-century disease critters

Lets just be friends

Dongzhong

Chinese Students Attend School in a Cave

Resonance

The eye is a coward

De Slag in de Olmelil Vallei
A war of bows and arrows in the heart of Kenya's crisis

Tokyo Mule

Lemongrass
Sake
Vodka
Fresh lime
Ginger
Lychees
Ginger Beer

ratio of 2:3 of sake:vodka
Muddle thin slice of ginger, squeezed lime, vodka, sake, short strips of lemon grass, lychee and some lychee juice in glass. Top up with ginger beer and ice, garnish with longer strip of lemon grass.

Fish

Electrodes sense "bioelectronic signals" emitted whenever the fish inhale through their gills. The information is fed into a computer programmed to recognise their normal respiration rates.

A screen displays the information. If the computer ever detects that at least five fish - a majority of those on guard - are breathing abnormally and are in distress, it will automatically trigger an alarm and order gates to close, shutting off the flow in canals carrying water to Sydney.

Sink or swim: eight fish who guard the health of millions

stupid universe

The Universe, Expanding Beyond All Understanding

When there is an original sound in the world, it makes a hundred echoes

The Art of the Shiv
Chechen Self-made weapons

I liked things better when I didn't understand them

[Nadia] set down lines as if she were swiftly tracing round an outline, moving here and there, until the figure emerged to the astonishment of the onlooker. Unlike all young artists, her production did not appear to be governed by the previously drawn lines but by a very strong image of the finished product.

20 Most Fascinating Prehistoric Paintings
Cave Art, Autism, and the Evolution of the Human Mind (pdf)

When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.

AOL Search Log Special, Part 1
AOL Search Log Special, Part 2
AOL Search Log Special, Part 3

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'

I don't think I'm alone in finding this artificial genocide eerie. The outcome, of course, is chilling; but what is at least as spooky is that such complicated—to say nothing of familiar—social patterns can be produced by mindless packets of data following a few almost ridiculously simple rules. If I showed you these illustrations and told you they represented genocide, you might well assume you were seeing a schematic diagram of an actual event.

Seeing Around Corners

The Scene in Tehran

The weakest goes to the wall

(The original Spiegel gallery is deleted, so a few images can be found at each link)
http://wtnrradio.com/news/story.php?story=138
http://yagosweb.blogspot.com/2007/03/microscopic-photos-of-smashed-bugs.html
http://www.stegerphoto.com/interviews/newscientist_volkersteger.html