May 1, 2018

New beetle named after astronaut André Kuipers

Filed under: Science by Orangemaster @ 11:58 am

A new species of water beetle discovered during a trip to Borneo arranged by scientists at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines and a Dutch firm, Taxon Expeditions, has been named after Dutch astronaut André Kuipers. On the same trip, another beetle was named after American actor Leo DiCaprio for his environmental activism.

When determining a new species of beetle, scientists need to dissect the male genitalia in order to distinguish one variety of water beetle from another. “An internal membranous sac in the male is covered with spines, though whether these aid stimulation during sex or have another role is unknown.”

Kuipers also has a planetoid named after him.

(Link: theguardian.com, Photo: NASA)

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February 12, 2013

An original take on duvet covers for adults and children

Filed under: Design by Orangemaster @ 4:33 pm

Designed in Amsterdam and made in Portugal, SNURK (Dutch for ‘snore’) sells playful duvet covers for adults and children. Their first design was called Le Clochard (French for ‘homeless person’), which we wrote about a few years ago and features a print of a cardboard box, with close to 40% of the proceeds going to various European foundations that help homeless youngsters.

Their astronaut duvet cover aimed at boys and princess one aimed at girls are both on pre-order.

If I were still a little girl, I would have gone with the astronaut one, like in the picture. The idea that the company suggests girls should dream of a prince (passive), while boys have space ambitions (active) unfortunately makes me itch.

(Link: www.blessthisstuff.com)

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