Remember when Pluto was a planet? Me neither, I drink too much. And, I don’t know if we can really trust anything NASA tells us anymore, but these are allegedly the most detailed images of Pluto ever taken. As you can see, we still have a long ways to go. NASA today released the most detailed set of images ever taken of the distant dwarf planet Pluto. The images taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope show an icy and dark molasses-colored, mottled world that is undergoing seasonal changes in its surface color and brightness. Pluto has become significantly redder, while its illuminated northern hemisphere is getting brighter. These changes are most likely consequences of surface ices sublimating on the sunlit pole and then refreezing on the other pole as the dwarf planet heads into the next phase of its 248-year-long seasonal cycle. The dramatic change in color apparently took place in a two-year period, from 2000 to 2002. Jesus, a two-year period? Somebody rocket that dwarf planet some sanitary napkins! New Hubble Maps of Pluto Show Surface Changes [nasa] via Most Detailed View of Pluto to Date [gizmodo]

Whew — after an unquestionably robot-related catastrophic failure yesterday, Geekologie is back and ready to dance . Here, I’ll lead. And by lead I mean stand on your shoes while you shuffle me around the dance floor like a little girl. Okay, now make me fly like Baby at the end of ‘Dirty Dancing’. Whoa — whoa — wheeeeeeeeeee!! *CRASH* Wow, that was definitely NOT the time of my life. These are pens explaining sex. Blogging magic — I’ve still got it. Hit the jump for more, better ones (damn yeah I’m going for that extra click. DO IT!).

Listen, I don’t know much about guns except for the fact that mine just ripped through my Snuggie’s sleeves again, but apparently the US military is pissed after discovering some of the high-powered scopes used on military-issued rifles contain codes to passages in the Bible. The sights are manufactured by Michigan-based company Trijicon who have a £400 million ($656 million) contract to supply 800,000 sights to the U.S. military. A spokesman for Trijicon said the inscriptions had always been on the sights and began under founder Glyn Bindon, who was a devout Christian. U.S. military rules specifically prohibit the promotion of any religion in Iraq or Afghanistan. Lawyer and former air force officer Michael Weinstein said the inscriptions play into the hands of those who say the U.S. is on a ‘crusade’ against Islam. ‘It allows the Mujahedeen, the Taliban, Al Qaeda and the insurrectionists and jihadists to claim they’re being shot by Jesus rifles,’ he said. Embarrassingly for Pentagon chiefs, the sights are currently being used by Afghan and Iraqi troops. Wow, that is pretty embarrassing. Almost as embarrassing as the Buddha Bombs I’ve been selling the military for years. Who did you think that fat guy was?! U.S. military weapons dubbed ‘Jesus guns’ after being inscribed with secret Bible codes [dailymail]

You read correctly, Earthlings, Neptune and Uranus may have shimmering seas of liquid diamond ! With giant diamond icebergs floating around in them. Aaaand I just claimed both planets for my own. I’m gonna be rich as shit you filthy little peasants! The idea that there are oceans of liquid diamond inside Neptune and Uranus is not a new idea, said Tom Duffy, a planetary scientist at Princeton University. The new Nature Physics article makes diamond oceans “look more and more plausible,” said Duffy. More research on the composition of Neptune and Uranus is needed before a truly definitive conclusion can be made, however, and this kind of research is very difficult to conduct. I dunno. You can read a much more in-depth analysis of the data if you hit the link to the Discovery article, but it all sounds a little bit iffy to me. But is that gonna stop me from flying my spaceship straight through those bitches with my hands out the window? It is not. Diamond Oceans Possible on Uranus, Neptune [discovery] Thanks to wes g, who [insert joke about diamonds in Uranus here].

Now I know what you’re thinking , “What in the hell about this picture warrants a post on Geekologie?” And the answer to that, my friend, is everything . DON’T QUESTION ME! Look — a cell phone ! BOOM, relevance. Oh, and I think we can all agree: that’s one lucky girl. Picture [izismile] Thanks to gareth and Greg, who would both give their left legs to be that raptor for the remainder of the nap.

Safety vests are, by nature, garish. They’re orange or bug-guts green and usually have some luminescent stripes to accentuate you not getting hit by a car. But that’s what’s important right? Safety. Same reason I won’t blog without my crash helmet on. Hi-Vis is a set of innovatively designed, highly-visible vest collection, specially designed for road side safety. Unlike usual roadworker’s uniform like vests, the Hi-Vis collection comprises stylish sporting buttons, frills and collars that will effectively eliminate the shame of wearing them for the users. With its eye-soothing fluorescent green color along with fashionable black liner, these vests can easily become a selection for all motorists who is undergoing through an unfortunate break down. Other drivers can easily locate the wearer from enough distance that requires making a safe and perfect evade. Effectively eliminating the shame of wearing one? You’ve got to be kidding me. Although honestly, I’d wear a giant pink dildo with sparklers on my head if it means not getting hit by a bus. Hit the jump for some more safety couture.

The Looftlighter is an $80 incendiary device that never actually produces a flame . Instead, it produces a wave of hot air at 1,000° Fahrenheit. That’s hot. Could you tell I was trying to say that like Paris Hilton? Well I hope you liked it, because I’m gonna go drown myself now. Unfortunately, the Lofftlighter has to be plugged in, which means you’re gonna need a monster extension cord if you wanna set your neighbor’s mailbox on fire. But on the plus side, it does look like a curling iron , so you can melt your sister’s face off. Start fires with hot air with the Looftlighter [dvice]

So apparently HP webcams are racist and the facial-tracking software doesn’t work on people of color . This may or may not include green people. To prove the point, two coworkers, Desi (a black man) and Wanda (a white woman) put the cam to the test. Per Desi: As soon as White Wanda appears, the camera moves. Black Desi gets in there…uh — nope! No face recognition any more buddy! Damn HP, you sheisty bigots! And, not to start any wild rumors or anything, but I heard the built-in mic on MacBooks won’t pick up your voice if you’re Asian. You heard it here first! Unless Apple sues, in which case I copy/pasted it from another, less handsome blog. is this hp webcam racist? [technabob] Thanks to Zach, who’s convinced almost all computer peripherals are racist in one way or another.

No really, what the f*** is that?! Google Maps (see for yourself) Thanks to dr death, who, Jack Kevorkian reads Geekologie?!

No really, what the f*** is that?! Google Maps (see for yourself) Thanks to dr death, who, Jack Kevorkian reads Geekologie?!