Our buddy at Neatorama posted this over the weekend and I thought we’d add some factlets to it:

Despite appearances, this is not a hummingbird — it’s a moth in a year-round Halloween costume, the “hummingbird hawkmoth.” This little guy:

• can visit 100 flowers in five minutes in search of nectar
• makes an annual migration across the Alps (if he’s from Southern Europe — the species is found all over the Northern Hemisphere in the summer)
• hums as he beats his wings, the better to imitate a hummingbird

The HHm has an equally odd relative called the Hummingbird Clearwing Moth — but the person who submitted the picture after the jump calls it a “lobster bug.” Check out why…

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Unlike my science-fictional counterparts, I’m not one of those solar-system-wide computer network monoliths, planted by a superintelligent alien civilization and designed to shepherd humanity into its golden age. Nope, I’m just a humble, naturally-occurring slab of rock – but at 235 feet tall, I’m among the largest in the world. Anyone care to guess my name?

OK, here are a few hints:

• I’m not the monolith Richard Dreyfuss once famously sculpted from mashed potatoes
• I’m situated 80 miles west of a city whose anagram is “plant rod.”
• The smaller rock formations near me are known collectively as “The Needles,” because you could fit a whole stack of ‘em inside my comparatively gargantuan self.
• Interesting, though admittedly not that helpful: the word “monolith” derives from the ancient Greek words for “lonely” and “stone.”

… and extra brownie points to anyone who can name the popular 80s movie in whose climax I am prominently featured.

Stephen Colbert continues his reign as King of Geeks this week; yesterday he took the title for coining the top television buzzwords of the year: “truthiness” and “wikiality.” We agree with Gawker about the general lame-itude of the proceedings (“Katie?” “Katrina?” last we checked, these were first names, not important-sounding technical words used to impress laymen), but we do like funny words, and we do like contests. So in that spirit, and also in David‘s spirit, this week for our contest we’re asking you to coin a new word. The rules:

Use it in a sentence. A real one, too, not “Mynewword is the-meaning-of-mynewword.”

Be relevant. Entries that relate to someone/something in the news will fare best.

Be funny. And if we have to explain this one, you’ll probably have to work a little harder than most.

You know the drill: Leave your answer in the comments or email us at tips-at-mentalfloss.com. The winner gets our brand-new Pluto-themed t-shirt. Also, we (and by “we” I mean “I”) will encourage the winning word’s entry into the general lexicon by using it once a day, all next week, right here on this blog.

Ever get frustrated with the grammar found in operating manuals that come with imported electronic gear?

Me shore does.

In fact, I generally find them about as frustrating as those pesky salespeople at Circuit City or Radio Shack, always trying to get you to buy their extended warranties for said gear. Well today I stumbled upon a site that commiserates by allowing you to post your more-often-than-not comical, grammatically incorrect finds for the whole blogosphere to read. It’s called ThisIsBroken.com, and last week they had a real lulu  – not for a piece of electronic equipment, but for a desk a reader named Chris bought at Target. Check this out:

Cautious: Please do not worry if still some smell from this fresh product when open it. As it is non-toxic and no dangerous while using. It will be gone in a few days after exposure in the air.

In Chris’s own words, “Not only was the English poorly translated, the desk smelled.”

Go check out thisisbroken.com for more, but here at mental_floss, we always love it when you share your grammar horror stories with us, too. So don’t forget to tell us first!

CNN is reporting that Australia might put their kangaroos on the pill to keep numbers down. Apparently, the kanga population around the nation’s capital has skyrocketed in recent years. In fact, Canberra finds the creatures especially problematic during dry spells, because they bounce over from the outskirts to snack on the city’s manicured lawns and golf courses. And while other means of curbing the population have been explored (particularly vasectomies for male roos, and injections for females), capturing the marsupials (to actually do the altering) is sort of a tricky and dangerous business. Instead, scientists are developing oral contraceptive pills that double as “irresistible treats” and plan on hiding them all across the countryside. The kangaroo pill should be out within  2-5 years, and some of the more vocal animal rights groups are applauding the option as humane. Kangaroos, on the other hand, have yet to speak out on the matter.

 

 

 

 

 

I just read a story over at LiveScience about polar bears experiencing genital shrinkage because of industrial pollutants:

Polar bears from northernmost Norway, western Russia and east Greenland are among the most polluted animals in the Arctic, as they feast on ringed seals and bearded seals. The blubber of these seals accumulates high levels of organic pollutants loaded with halogens such as chlorine. These organohalogens can act like hormones.

The scientists found the higher the level of organohalogens in polar bear, the smaller testicle and baculum size and weight likely were. Ovary size and weight decreased as organohalogen levels rose as well…

Polar bears have among the lowest reproductive rates for terrestrial mammals. The scientists say reducing polar bear penis size would make sex less successful, upsetting naturally slow-to-grow polar bear numbers. Testicle and ovary shrinkage would upset polar bear reproduction too.

So could there be a more effective way to get people to care about the environment than by convincing the men on earth that this could happen to us too? I’m not saying it could happen, but it would get them listening.

I’ve still got the ninth planet galaxy’s most famous iceball on the brain today, partially because I can’t stop thinking about our fabulous commemorative t-shirt (have you pre-ordered yours yet? email us at tips-at-mentalfloss-com or leave a comment with your email address), and partially because of all the crazy things I learned last week while reporting this article on the solar system. Here are some assorted tidbits I found that didn’t end up in the final story:

• Europa, a moon of Jupiter, has a saltwater ocean which is probably 100 km deep, much deeper than the Pacific. There may also be volcanoes, which could be heating up the water at the bottom of the ocean — providing similar conditions to those that support life in deep-water ocean vents here.
• Scientists first figured out that the moon must have been a chip off the Earthly block by comparing the types of oxygen found in lunar rocks with the types found here at home. The oxygen istotope ratios (how much O16 there is compared to O18) are identical.
• The Earth has its axis tipped by 23.5 degrees, probably because of the same impact that broke off the Moon. Mars is also tipped by about the same amount. Uranus is tipped by a whopping 90 degrees, and no one knows why.

Also, here’s a great new mnemonic for the planets, courtesy of our latest contest winner, Wendell Wittler:

Many very easy mnemonics just seem unnecessarily nonsensical.

I noticed yesterday on IMDB that Paul Reubens (a.k.a. Pee-Wee Herman) turned 54 this past weekend. And then I realized it’s been 20 years since “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” debuted on CBS. And although both facts are hard to believe, the more surprising fact is that Pee-Wee is scheduled to return in “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse: The Movie” in 2007. That’s scary and funny. A few other surprising facts I learned on IMDB:

• When Reubens signed to do “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” in 1986, CBS agreed to pay him $325,000 per episode. That’s what an actor in a major sitcom would have made.
• Earlier in his career, Reubens made four appearances on “The Gong Show.”
• He was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps. (Can that really be true? IMDB says it is)
• During CBS’s five year’s of “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse,” Reubens never appeared for interviews as himself. He was always in character.

And you know the post-1991 Reubens story, so I’ll leave it at that. And I hate to admit it but if Large Marge is going to make an appearance in the 2007 flick, I might just go see it. Don’t tell anyone.

 

People magazine is reporting that Kevin Federline, husband of Britney, has landed a small role on CSI:

“It’s the first time I’ve actually had a speaking role,” he told the magazine.

Federline started filming this week in Los Angeles. He will play a menacing, arrogant teen who harasses investigators Nick Stokes (George Eads) and Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan) on a job.

So, amateur screenwriters: Assuming that K-Fed’s TV persona is based on his real one, what will his momentous “speaking role” actually consist of? Give us some lines, and we’ll petition CSI to include the best of them in the script.

Last week was an historic one for cricket enthusiasts around the world (I happen to be one of the three, by the way), as we discovered that a team can forfeit a game by sulking.

According to a fascinating article in this week’s Economist, “This happened towards the end of the fourth day of a match played in London between England and Pakistan. During the afternoon the umpires decided that the visiting team had been tampering with the ball, and added five runs to England’s score. In a huffy response, Pakistan refused to restart play promptly after the interval for tea. (Cricket still revolves around meals rather than the whims of television viewers.) After a while, the umpires decided that Pakistan’s tantrum had cost it the match.”

Of course controversary is nothing new to the game of cricket. In 1624, for instance, a cricket player was killed when he was hit by a bat in Sussex. More recently, in 1970, a South African tour of England was cancelled and South Africa banned from international play because of their apartheid policies. Then there was the Hansie Cronje incident in 2000. He was the South African captain who was banned from the game (for life) after he admitted to receiving bribes from bookmakers. Word on the street is, he and Pete Rose are now the best of chums.

For those who don’t know much of the history of the sport and want to learn more, after the jump, you’ll find an abridged timeline via cricinfo.com.
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