A new study proves that organizing activities where a group of people move in unison can create more concrete leader-follower relationships and be used as a tool for helpful cooperation or evil deeds.

In the experiment, participants were instructed to either walk in sync with an experimenter, out-of-step with them or simply alongside them at their own pace. They were then asked to gather as many bugs as possible in 30 seconds and put them into a device where they were told they’d die.

Those participants who walked in step with the same experimenter who later instructed them to kill the bugs put approximately 54 percent more bugs into the device than did those in the control condition. They also put 38 percent more bugs into the funnel than did participants in the coordinated but asynchronous condition and twice as many bugs into the funnel as did participants who walked in synchrony with a different experimenter than the one who instructed them to terminate the insects.

Synchronized action is used as a tool for many institutions including but not limited to: religious rituals, military exercises and Supermaning dat ho.

[Science Daily]

That was the challenge for one biologist who discovered that this plant, Philcoxia, was indeed consuming worms.

Yet it doesn’t seem to have any orifices to trap the organisms, or lures to bring the creepy crawlies out of the dirt to their doom. No, the Philcoxia does things the easy way. It grows sticky leaves under the ground to trap the wrigglers and slowly digests them.

Yummy.

The picture below shows a close-up of the worms trapped underground in the leaves.

[Discovery]

The folks behind MatterPort, a hack using a Microsoft Kinect to create instant 3D renderings of items by taking pictures of them at various points, say that this does for 3D scanning what pictures did to painting. And they are not far off.

The technology is nothing short of amazing and could revolutionize how we categorize real world information. In short, every physical object on the planet could be categorized and searchable.

Kurzweil says it’s time to start 3D scanning the world, we couldn’t agree more.

[MatterPort via Kurzweil]

“Mutants. Since the discovery of their existence they have been regarded with fear, suspicion, often hatred. Across the planet, debate rages. Are mutants the next link in the evolutionary chain or simply a new species of humanity fighting for their share of the world? Either way it is a historical fact: Sharing the world has never been humanity’s defining attribute.”   – Professor X

Due to an interesting quirk with trade tariffs, Marvel found itself having to take the stance that the X-Men and other mutants are not human. Toys that are imported into the United States are taxed higher (12% versus 6.8%) if the toys are classified as “dolls” – which are toys that represent humans. In order to save some money, Marvel found itself arguing the position that toys like Wolverine are “representing animals or other non-human creatures (for example, robots and monsters).”

“While fictional characters in the Marvel Universe — the heroes at least — typically argue a position that says mutants and humans are not really different, and should be afforded the same rights, in the real world the company’s position is somewhat contrary.

In the non-fictional world, our world, Marvel is taking the position that mutants are not humans at all. But this isn’t an ideological or a moral stance. Instead, it is a financial one. Toys manufactured in other countries and imported into the US are subject to taxes, but those taxes are lower if the toys represent non-human characters.”

[slashfilm]

Sure it already has a beloved animated incarnation, which precede the upcoming epic live action version, but why not whet your whistle with this lost gem. Buried like so much treasure guarded by a fierce dragon is this 1966 animated version of the Hobbit, just discovered yesterday.

Enjoy!

Listen kids. If you are reading this and you only know of Peter Parker and Spider-man because of the Sam Raimi films, let me break something to you.

Peter Parker didn’t start shooting webs out of his wrists as part of an overnight biological evolution after being bit by a radioactive arachnid. That’s just Hollywood fantasy. The real story is that the brainy Parker, having already woken up with super strength, agility and uncanny Spider Sense decided to augment his new natural gifts with his own scientific concoction. A sticky, strong, spider silk-esqe substance which he then shot out of home made mechanical dispensers triggered by a specific hand gesture.

The mechanical web shooters reinforces a key element of the Spider-man mythos. Peter Parker is a socially awkward kid because he’s a genius level science nerd. This matters! This is important! Yes! I am still furious about this 9 years after the first Spider-man movie came out!

Also, 50 years after the character was created scientists have finally caught up with Peter Parker and recreated spider silk by transferring key spider genes into silkworms which are far easier to farm the substance out of.

So they worked out a way to transfer the key spider genes responsible for the strong thread making into the silkworm.

The scientific breakthrough could open the door for large-scale production.

The silk could be used in many medical applications including artificial ligaments and tendons, as well as tough wound dressings.

It is also said to be strong enough that it could be used as a new material in manufacturing bulletproof vests.

Or shooting Mysterio in the face so you can make fun of his helmet.

[Sky]

Over 10,000 years ago a creature stalked the Tibetan landscape. 10 foot tall, weighing in at over 1,200 pounds, this lumbering herbivore moved like a massive version of a modern Orangutan. His name was Gigantopithecus and his species is a likely starting point for the Yeti and Bigfoot legends propagated even today.

And the blood of this noble creature stains the honor of our evolutionary ancestry.

Before we get to that, let’s back up a bit. Gigantopithecus has been on our radar since 1935 when a German paleoanthropologist was sold a far larger than normal molar at a bizarre in Hong Kong. Since then, a variety of dental records have been gathered to give us a better idea of what this massive beast was. As to the question of how it went extinct, there are a few theories.

Zhang’s team suggested the rise of the Tibetan plateau 1.6 million to 800,000 years ago altered the climate of South Asia, ushering in a colder, drier period when forests shrank. Other factors could have exacerbated this crisis. Gigantopithecus‘s neighbor, Homo erectus, may have over-hunted and/or outcompeted their larger ape cousin.

Homo erectus, a key link in the chain of life that brings to this point today, reading The Internet instead of working. They killed Gigantopithecus. They killed the Yeti.

[Smithsonian]

Andrew Smith was commissioned by Ripley’s Believe It Or Not to create this moving sculpture constructed from found items including railroad lanterns and an old bicycle.

Really amazing looking piece of art.

[YouTube]

South Korean military men find themselves all in a lather when female pop stars Girl’s Generation surprise them for an impromptu concert. We don’t have any information on where this took place, but you can’t deny that’s a toe tapper of a song choice.

Also, how many girls are in this group? 15? I think there are some that haven’t met each other yet.

[Washington Post]

Georgia-Bigfoot-body-in-a-freezer hoaxer and the “best Bigfoot tracker in the world”, Rick Dyer claims he received permission from the Canadian government to kill a Bigfoot and bring it back to America. Dyer says his team has permission to hunt for anything that has not been discovered yet in the Great White North. “In redneck terms, it’s basically saying we have permission to bring firearms into Canada to hunt for Bigfoot,” said Dyer.

I am 100% sure this will end well and won’t cause any problems at all.

[Bigfoot Evidence]

One of the more gruesome crypto creatures made a frightening return to Malaysia over the holidays. The Oily Man (Orang Minyak) is a supernatural creature covered in black grease that crawls into the homes of families and rapes virgin daughters.

According to a report in Malaysian newspaper The Star, there were multiple sightings over the Christmas holidays. One eyewitness saw it “crawling up the stairs of the house, just like Spider-man. When it reached the top it suddenly jumped onto the roof. I don’t think a human could do that. It then just disappeared… We can laugh and joke about it, but this is serious. All the families here have young girls.”

This is unique as far as crypto creatures go for one key reason. It’s a supernatural creature that operates like a home invader. It’s not out in the wilderness where humans rarely operate (Bigfoot, Chupacabra et. al.) nor is it trapped in a house with history beyond the previous owners like a ghost. Hell, even vampires normally have rules about private property.

But not the Oily Man, he just breaks right in like a common hoodlum and takes what he wants.

The legend has at times created mass hysteria, according to Wikipedia. With young unmarried women in student dormetories sleeping with sweaty men’s clothing so as to trick the OM into thinking they were with a boyfriend.

[Live Science]

Animal Planet series Finding Sasquatch gives us this web exclusive comparing various Bigfoot Calls. Our favorite it the one that might actually have been a real woman being murdered in the woods only it was incorrectly classified as a Sasquatch squeak.

[Cryptomundo]

Listen folks, let’s face facts. Space stuff is trying to get all up in our atmosphere all the time. Most of it burns up on the way in but some actually makes it to the surface of our precious Earth.

It would be really nice if we knew more about where it was coming from.

NASA would love to track all of it but they are busy setting up playlists for their new radio station don’t have the time.

Enter: you! Yes, amateur sky watcher you can help send valuable data to NASA and help track new meteor showers by downloading the new Meteor Counter app for iOS. You simply find a place likely to see some meteor action, lie down and use the intuitive interface to rate how bright each streak is. The time, date and location are immediately beamed back to NASA.

Pretty sweet, huh? Download the free app today.

[Meteor Counter App via Cult of Mac]

The future is now. Amazing exoskeletons will be sold to consumers with spinal cord injuries for training, under doctor supervision for now, how to walk upright with the help of the device.

Your job is to balance your upper body, shifting your weight as you plant a walking stick on the right; your physical therapist will then use a remote control to signal the left leg to step forward. In a later model, the walking sticks will have motion sensors that communicate with the legs, allowing the user to take complete control.

Take a look at this bad boy in motion below.

[Kurzweil AI]

Don’t try the cat meat hot pot while eating with Agriculture official Huang Guang. That’s what Chinese lumber billionaire Long Liyuan found out the hard way after he was allegedly poisoned. Long died in the hospital a few days later and and Huang is now being detained on murder charges.

Huang allegedly dropped some toxic herbs into the stew, the BBC reported.

Long, who ran a forestry company, was taken to the hospital after feeling dizzy and sick and later suffered a cardiac arrest. Huang and the third diner were hospitalized as well, though both survived. According to the New York Times, Huang had apparently eaten some of the poisoned stew himself to avoid suspicion.

Police detained Huang on Dec. 30, after discovering evidence that Huang had embezzled money from Long.

Cat stew is a local delicacy in South China.

[The Blaze]

And so was birthed, the Mars-er.

In a shocking new revelation surely set to explode into the national conversation as our 2012 election draws closer, a man has claimed that a 19-year-old Barack Obama teleported to Mars twice as part of a top secret government program.

Mr. Stillings’ statement, released at the same time, read: “I can confirm that Andrew D. Basiago and Barack Obama (then using the name “Barry Soetoro”) were in my Mars training course in Summer 1980 and that during the time period 1981 to 1983, I encountered Andy, Courtney M. Hunt of the CIA, and other Americans on the surface of Mars after reaching Mars via the “jump room” in El Segundo, California.”

The claims have been made by Andrew D. Basiago, a lawyer in Washington state who claims to have also been beamed to Mars twice. Among the unit of four college students he trained with was Obama’s appointed DARPA chief Regina Dugan.

Together, they were called Project Pegasus.

Responding to comment by Wired’s Danger Room blog a White House spokesman denied the story.

Officially, the White House says Obama never went to Mars. “Only if you count watching Marvin the Martian,” Tommy Vietor, the spokesman for the National Security Council, tells Danger Room. But that’s exactly what a secret chrononaut wants you to believe.

To be fair to the White House, Basiago claims that the CIA did their best to erase the memories of the expeditions from the minds of Project Pegasus’ participants. They might have done a better job with our future 44th president.

[Exopolitics via Danger Room]