After a 450 year lapse in eruption, Chile’s Chaiten volcano spewed ash and lava more than 12 miles into the sky. The eruption prompted evacuations, with some people fleeing to neighboring Argentina.

Rodrigo Rojas of the National Emergency Office said the situation had deteriorated suddenly.

“Today the volcano is erupting with pyroclastic material on a different scale,” he said.

Luis Lara, a government geologist, said he did not expect a catastrophic collapse of the volcano, but “the eruptive column could, and that is sufficient material to be displaced down its sides and into areas nearby”.

I’m going to ride the coattails of Ryan’s post regarding Bill Bramanti’s ridiculously awesome PBR coffin with a little story of my own. Two years ago, I worked summers with my dad remodeling kitchens and bathrooms, building kitchen sets for an appliance showroom, doing general construction here and there (yes, girls can use power tools). One sticky hot afternoon, we made a dump run. I love going to the dump; it’s fun to throw things off the back of the truck and try to break as much as possible, plus you never know what other random shit you’ll find. This was a special day, for as we were backing the truck into the unloading spot, there on top of a heap of garbage, was a shiny, powder blue, cadillac of a coffin. I turned to my dad and asked in horror, “Y-y-you d-don’t think th-there’s someone IN THERE, DO YOU?” One of the guys working there heard me and laughed.

“Nah, that was a coffin that had been ordered for somebody, who ended up not liking the color. There’s a law against returning coffins so they’re just throwing it away,” he told me.

HOW WASTEFUL, right? Well, this company has the solution. Turn ‘em into couches! For a mere $3,500 you can have this Dodger blue beauty:

We at Coffincouches.com have the mindset of thinking “Green” and we know it is different but we strongly believe in recycling. Our niche happens to be 18 gauge steel coffins which we collected from local funeral homes primarily in Southern California. It is a health and safety law that funeral homes cannot resell used coffins to the general public. We approached funeral directors with the attitude of recycling. These coffins are not used for burial due to slight cosmetic inconsistencies. They are reconfigured and modified resulting in a finished product - a unique one a kind coffin couch. If you notice (although it may be too small) the six cast iron heavy duty legs are embossed with the universal biohazard insignia. The reason we utilized this sign was because safety was our utmost concern. If you are not aware, once a human body is placed in a coffin it is considered biohazard tissue. The legs have the embossed insignia for precautionary reasons in the event body fluids are exchanged on these coffins. Perhaps you would feel safe knowing that you are in designated biohazard scene! Ha!!

Yves Behar, famous for inventing the Bluetooth Jawbone design and other gadgets, has created a water for kids that could potentially change the bottle water for kids market. Y Water gives options of four different kinds of water, including Muscle, Brain, Immune and Bone drinks.

The bottles are visually stimulating as well as 100% organic, being made of material that is biodegradable, as well as reuseable for entertainment purposes. Children are encouraged to build “Y Knots” out of the bottles, to further their own creativity.

More information can be found HERE and pictures after the jump. (more…)

Turns out, people ate other people back in the day!

Scientists from England, Australia, and Papua New Guinea say that cannibalism is the most likely explanation for their discovery that genes protecting against brain diseases that can be contracted by eating contaminated flesh have long been spread throughout the world.

A growing body of evidence, such as piles of human bones with clear signs of human butchery, suggests cannibalism was widespread among ancient cultures. The discovery of this genetic resistance, which shows signs of having spread as a result of natural selection, supports the physical evidence for cannibalism, say the scientists.

“We don’t in fact know that all populations did select. The selection may have occurred during the evolution of modern humans before they spread around the world,” said Simon Mead, a co-author of the study from the Medical Research Center with University College, London.

Click here for the full report. If you had to eat a human, which ethnicity would you think tastes the best? I think I’d want to eat the flesh of someone from Latin descent. I bet that would be the tastiest meat.

After commissioning a study last year that found the majority of the carbon footprint of a major rock tour is created by showgoers traveling to and from the show (download the report here), Radiohead are asking fans coming out for their summer US tour to consider alternative means of transportation. Here’s the press release:

On the eve of their 2008 tour, which begins this Monday in West Palm Beach FL, Radiohead are appealing to fans to think about how they travel to and from shows.

Last year, the band commissioned carbon footprint analysts Best Foot Forward to calculate the carbon generated on their two previous US tours. The report showed that fans’ travel to and from the shows accounted for the greatest proportion of the CO2 generated during each tour, something now widely accepted across the industry.

Following the report’s recommendations, Radiohead are encouraging fans to consider public transport where available, or increased carpooling for shows outside city centers. Gig goers can compare the CO2 generated by different methods of transport by visiting an online calculator on Radiohead’s website. Some of the venues have also helped by offering incentives to fans coming by public transport or in a full car.

After the tour, the band will invite ticket holders to submit information on their methods of travel so further research can be done on carbon emissions and methods to reduce them.

Radiohead’s production team will also be posting information on how the band are trying to reduce their own carbon emissions on tour without compromising the quality of the shows.

For more info, go here, and for the tour dates, take the JUMPPPPPPPP

(more…)

Tomorrow is the first Saturday in May, which means it’s time to bust out your widest brimmed hat and celebrate the 20 galloping three-year olds of the Kentucky Derby! Go, ponies, go! Which noble steed will stand tall and proud, draped in a blanket of roses, posing for pictures in the winner’s circle at Churchill Downs? Will it be Big Brown? Colonel John? Or an upset??? Regardless, you betta be boozed up on the traditional Kentucky Derby drink: The Mint Julep!