Original Ostrich Helicopter

In the past I posted about a man who turned his dead feline Orville into a modern helicopter.

Since then there have been strange developments in the field of Animal Aeronautics. In July 2013 inventors in the Netherlands released their Original Ostrich Helicopter at the annual Zwarte Cross Festival. The helicopter was made from the carcass of a male specimen that died of disease on an ostrich farm. The ostrich copter has four rotating propellers, is radio controlled and is much larger than its counterpart Orville.

The inventors reasoned that this original piece of art and technology would be a good selling item for their company. I personally think its a bit creepy…but I judge no ones taste in aerial devices or art. The Ostrich copter is a mix of both. Once you get past the ideal that you’re looking at a motorized flying corpse. You can appreciate the engineering and technological skill it took to get an Ostrich to fly.

Below I posted a video of the new Ostrich copter, if you like strange flying devises, check it out.

Chicken Dinner Date

Chicken Dinner Date is a short, romantic, comedy about a guy trying to impress a girl by making her dinner. The film is based on a screenplay written by Writer/Producer Benn Flore. I finished editing the project days ago but the soundtrack took awhile.

I never appreciated how much influence a soundtrack has on a movie. Different sounds help convey the emotion of the story, other sounds set the pace. I've been on a few movie sets and more video sets than I can count, but I've never seen all the components that go into making a movie until now. This project gave me a whole new appreciation of the craft.

Below is the movie trailer, check it out, leave a comment and if you like it tell a friend.

Semen the Superfood

If the title didn't deter you...then the information in this article will prove quite interesting.

Researchers in Australia discovered that in some species of animals the female voluntarily consumes the sperm of the male. The reason they do this is because semen is highly nutritious. The study was conducted on squids but the finding are cross-species. This means that the results are applicable to other species of animal... including humans. The results showed conclusive evidence that semen is a Superfood.

This information may be new to some people but research into the medicinal properties of semen have been going on for years. Last year I posted an article about a different study conducted by psychologists at the State University of New York at Albany. Who published a study in the Archives of Sexual Behavior looking at the potential role of semen in alleviating depression in women. The researchers presented evidence supporting an earlier hypothesis that the hormones in semen have a mood-boosting effect on women.The article is called Sexist Science and it's based on a study done back in 2002.

So what makes semen a Superfood? Contrary to urban myth it does not provide only protein. The average male ejaculates about a teaspoon of semen. In that semen are over 200 separate proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Naturally the specific nutritional value is determined by the diet of the male, but all semen has nutritional value.The amount of protein in that ejaculation is roughly equivalent to what you would get from two egg whites. What makes semen a Superfood is that in one teaspoon you get all your daily required amounts of copper, zinc, calcium, vitamin C, fructose,  and 7% of your required amount of potassium. It's an all natural superfood that's healthier than taking a multivitamin.

For more information check out the video below.

Lisa Frank Art

I first heard about Lisa Frank art from my woman. She has been a big fan since her teens.

Lisa Frank, is an American artist and designer who made extremely colorful and creative depictions of real and imaginary animals. In the 1980s and 1990s, her designs were used in school supplies (lunchboxes, backpacks, etc) as well as toys and stickers. Her work was popular among girls of all ages. Lisa Frank is the owner of Lisa Frank Incorporated which still makes products world-wide and releases a quarterly magazine named "Lisa Frank."

I recognized her work because my sister had a binder with a unicorn by Lisa Frank when we were kids. The reason I never knew who Lisa Frank was is because I'm not a twelve year old girl...and I'm not gay.  The type of art she makes has a universal appeal, but it sells more to the aforementioned groups of people. 

Once I got past the rainbow bright color scheme I began to appreciate the fine detail and creativity of her work. Every piece is well drawn, brightly colored and given a child-like quality which is generally termed "cute".  Check out some of her work below, and if you're looking for gifts for your girlfriend, wife, or daughter check out her website. www.lisafrank.com/

Water Bears Live in Space

Water Bears also known as Tardigrades are micro-organisms found in trees, moss, water and many other environments. They are classified as Extremophiles which means they thrive in physical or geochemical extreme conditions. Tardigrades can withstand heat over 120 degrees Celsius (240 F), freezing cold between 200-300 degrees below zero, x-rays, radiation, and they are the first animals to survive in space. Many scientists speculate that Tardigrades may be of extra-terrestrial origin transported to Earth by meteorite or asteroid. This is one of the reasons hypothesized why they can survive space travel.

Tardigrades were given the name water bears because they resemble bears with their round, caterpillar, bodies, tiny claws and multiple feet. Tardigrades have a nervous system, muscles, digestive system and brain, which makes them different than most insects. They’re covered in a dense exoskeleton which can harden and protect them when placed in an environment with little food or water. When this happens Tardigrades go into a state of cryptobiosis which is a form of suspended animation, where they can survive for over a hundred years.

To date science doesn’t know how Tardigrades evolve or what other species in the animal kingdom they’re related to. For more information watch the video below.

Animal Sex

Having sex with donkeys is a part of growing up for the boys in northern Colombia. There are numerous reasons given on why they do it. Some believe having sex with a donkey makes the penis grow bigger. Other people say having sex with an animal is the traditional way in many cultures, for a man to prepare for sex with a human woman. 

This is not something new or even indigenous to Columbia bestiality and zoophilia are in every culture in civilization. Columbia is a very religious country so the girls don't start having sex until their late teens or early twenties. Some parents interviewed were happy the boys were having sex with donkeys instead of girls because they couldn't get the donkey pregnant.

The video below is an expose on the local Colombian animal sex traditions along with interviews with the locals and a Ph.D author on the subject. Here's a spoiler for you...it ends with a man having sex with a donkey. 

Fantasy Art

I came across the art of Susan Seddon Boulet (1941 - 1997) by chance while looking for a postcard for my Grandmother. There is something ethereal and majestic in her paintings. Susan loved folk and fairy tales as a child in Brazil and the influence of those stories is reflected in her art.

A lot of her paintings use First Nation (Native American) imagery. I call them first nation because the natives were in America and Canada long before Columbus and his goons arrived and exterminated everyone. 

Susan developed a distinctive style characterized by using rainbow bright colors to paint Shamans, Fairies and Goddesses where dream-like forms emerged. She would blend these mythological creatures with wolves, deer, eagles and other animals in complex layers of oil and pastels resulting in beautiful images.

Susan Seddon-Boulet is widely accredited as one of the founders of the visionary art movement. She died in her Oakland, Ca home April 28, 1997 after a long struggle with cancer. She was fifty-five years old. Below is a small selection her art. If you want to know more about the artist or see more of her amazing paintings go to website www.turningpointgallery.com by clicking the link.

The video McDonald's doesn't want you to see!!!!

The video below is disturbing and might make you stop eating egg McMuffins. Undercover footage of McDonald's egg supplier Sparboe performing heinous acts of animal cruelty. I was always told that people just want the burger, they don't care how its made. This video shows how its made and its costing McDonald's millions in bad press. The group Mercy for Animals showed cases of animal cruelty at five facilities in Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado. Sparboe produces 300 million eggs a year, in regular, liquid, frozen and dried form, and ships them to restaurants and stores across the country.

Since this video was released McDonald's, Walmart and Target dropped Sparboe, one of the nation's largest egg suppliers. Bob Langert, McDonald's vice president for sustainability, said in a statement. "The behavior on tape is disturbing and completely unacceptable. McDonald's wants to assure our customers that we demand humane treatment of animals by our suppliers." Watch the video below to understand why.

Dolphin Speed Boat

I read this awesome interview on Popular Science talking about future water transportation. Some ingenious engineers decided to use nature as inspiration and made a speed boat named the Seabreacher designed after a dolphin. Not only does the Seabreacher look like a dolphin it also moves like one through the water and can emulate the dolphins ability jump into the air up to 18 feet. If you read my other article Animal Technology you know that this isn’t the first time designers used nature as inspiration. 

What makes the Seabreacher unique is that the engineers didn’t just take a few ideas from watching dolphins and add them to a speed boat. They tried to make a mechanical one. Its animal technology on steroids…take a look at the video below.

Animal Technology

As the 21st century grows more technologically advanced, science and medicine have found that some of the most complex problems have simple answers. Housing and energy are becoming big issues in most developing countries. Modern architects have turned to mother nature for their inspiration.

They have found that designing a building with a structure similar to a termite hill allows better ventilation and needs less electricity to power. Others found that the inner structure of a bee hive provided structural strength, conserves energy and requires less heat. These innovations are barely scratching the surface of what can be found from observing the animal kingdom.

Aside from architecture and engineering using animal designs for robotics has become incredibly popular. The robotic snake is considered one of the best technological achievements of the decade. It moves like a real reptile, is amphibious and can be remotely operated.

Most zoologist agree that if they had a robotic proxy animal in an environment the behavior of the animal being studied would be different. For example in marine biology when studying whales their behavior changes when humans are introduced into their environment. If they put a robotic fish with a camera in place of a person the whales behavior would be more natural and science could learn more about all aspects of their life.

The designers proposed that the robotic snake could be used for search and rescue as well as numerous stealth and surveillance operations. The military applications for this type of technology are enormous. Below I've placed videos of some amazing robotic animals that simulate the motion of their real-life counter-parts.