Several weeks' worth of links

These have accumulated since before the blogcation.  I have to get rid of them, or else they will multiply in their folders like coathangers in the closet.

In an emergency, cats can receive transfusions of dog blood.  "It may sound wacky, but it's science. Cats don't have antibodies that reject dogs' blood, so a transfusion may buy enough time for the cat to regenerate its own red blood cells. But only one transfusion can be done because a second dose of dog blood will be the death of the cat."

An upcoming book details how a call girl operation was instrumental in the Watergate investigation.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation publishes bicycle maps of Minnesota.

Those who are sick and tired of repeatedly being urged to "support the troops" will want to read this Salon op-ed piece.  Those who aren't, won't.  (After the piece was published, the author received death threats.)

How to get rid of drain flies.

The state of Texas plans to convert some roads from pavement to gravel.

Those who do not live with a cell phone constantly in our hands will appreciate the
viewpoint this woman has on her life.

A list of famous people who play Dungeons and Dragons (Stephen King, Matt Damon, Jon Stewart, Billy Crystal...).

Women are buying and selling positive pregnancy tests on Craigslist.  It doesn't take much imagination to guess how they are used.

The melting of the Norwegian glaciers continues to yield amazing artifacts, including an Iron Age pullover sweater.

A list of ten hidden treasures that haven't been found yet.  If you find one, you have to split it with me. (Although I suspect some have been found in the past, not reported publicly, and served to establish a family's fortune).

Side-by-side video comparison of the train ride from London to Brighton in 1913, 1983, and 2013.

A lengthy discussion of CrossFit training and its relationship to American militarism.

How debt collection has "morphed into a predatory system... for well-financed, out-of-town companies that turned $500 delinquencies into $5,000 debts — then foreclosed on homes when families couldn’t pay."  Here's the Reddit commentary thread.

Ulysses for Dummies boils the unreadable book down to a series of 18 cartoon panels - which are still uninteresting.

The etymology of the word aloof is complicated and interesting (for those interested in etymologies).

Five imgur images explain how to moonwalk.

Humorous airplane announcements by pilots and stewardesses.

A graphic of the world's oldest trees.

Photos depicting the dystopian legacy of 9/11.

Forbes reports that despite the financial crisis five years ago, the richest Americans are now richer than they ever were.

NASA is recruiting volunteers to study the effects of microgravity. "Successful candidates will stay in a tilted bed 24 hours a day as part of the 70-day project, where they can play computer games, surf the internet or watch TV."

So far, in 2013, more Americans have been killed by toddlers than by terrorists.  "In the first part of this year, 11 people were killed by children aged three to six years old — more than the four people killed at the Boston Marathon bombing."

Maryland has no natural lakes.  Virginia has only two.  (Minnesota has over 11,000 - but that's another story).

"Jerk cats love knocking sh*t over."

Photos of Gunther von Hagens' plastination models of human anatomy.  They seem even more dramatic than the original ones years ago.  Note: this link shows dissected human genitals.

Photos of a dog with severe gingival hyperplasia.  Note: many readers will find the images quite disturbing.

"A small-town Midwestern dealership in Pierce, Nebraska sold Chevrolets to local families and first-time buyers for 50 years until its husband and wife team finally closed their doors seventeen years ago. Since then, a staggering inventory of 500 surviving cars, new & used, have been stored away, undriven for decades."  A photoessay at the link shows the cars before they were auctioned to the public.

Mermithidae parasites of spiders are awesome.

Cashel Man is the world's oldest bog body.

A family raises a cute little baby bunny rabbit, then releases it to join its mommy. A neighborhood hawk has other ideas.

During their explorations for oil, Exxon used deepwater sonic mapping techniques in shallow water, killing a hundred whales.

Samuel Clemens' creation of the "Mark Twain" name was not a simple matter of overhearing riverboat captains.

A series of "vanishing area puzzles."

Photos from the UW Arboretum and the neighborhood this past week.