Futuristic credit card ads from the ’70s

21 Jan 2009

Sanwa Bank ran some funky magazine ads for the JCB card in the early 1970s.

Vintage JCB card ad --

Date with Miss Venus... Travel to Mars... Brain transplant... Space restaurant... Vacation home on the moon... Time machine... Rent-a-rocket... Life extension medication... All OK with the JCB card!!?

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Vintage JCB card ad --

"I'm back from my reconnaissance mission. This is Earth money."

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Vintage JCB card ad --

Cash has disappeared from Earth?

Fifth-Dimension Treatment – Tatsuyuki Tanaka

20 Jan 2009

Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
[+]

GIRL: Not yet?

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Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
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GIRL: Are they really going to do it?
BOY: I'm telling you, they'll do it. Watch.

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Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
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DOCTOR: So... what seems to be the problem?

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Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
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PATIENT: Uh, it's just some pain in one of my back teeth. Uh...
DOCTOR: Mmm hmm.

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Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
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DOCTOR: I see. The root of your pain does not exist in our dimension. Kishikawa-kun, go get the usual stuff.
NURSE: OK.
PATIENT: Huh?

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Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
[+]

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Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
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DOCTOR: This machine will expand your body into the fifth dimension. Then we'll get rid of what's causing your toothache.
PATIENT: Huh?

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Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
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Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
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PATIENT: Uh... I think it's just a cavity. What the hell is this?
NURSE: Please don't move.

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Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
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DOCTOR: Just relax. This is a long lost technique from the Golden Age that I managed to get my hands on. Trust me.

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Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
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NURSE: Here we go!

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Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
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PATIENT: Naaaa...

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Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
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NURSE: Heave-ho! Heave-ho!
DOCTOR: Looking good. Looking good.
PATIENT: Everything's starting to look distorted.

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Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
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PATIENT: I... I can see little people.
DOCTOR: That's fine.

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Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
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DOCTOR: Kishikawa-kun. See the toothache spores sprouting up over there? Cut them off.
NURSE: OK.
PATIENT: Oh, that feels nice.

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Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
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NURSE: Doctor. The handle is stuck. It won't turn back.
DOCTOR: Again? It's such an old machine.

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Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
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NURSE: What should we do?
DOCTOR: Just leave it. It'll come unstuck eventually.
GIRL: Wow.
BOY: Amazing.

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Fifth-Dimension Treatment --
[+]

PATIENT: Doctor!!!
DOCTOR: Don't worry. Don't worry.
GIRL: Fifth-dimension treatment!
BOY: Yeah!

[Published in Cannabis Works (2003) // Scans via Digik Gallery]

Security firm proudly uses imitation Yahoo logo

16 Jan 2009

Yaroo Security logo --

The company logo for Yaroo Security, a security guard firm based in Tokyo's Katsushika ward, looks suspiciously like the one for Japan's most popular search engine. In this video, a camera crew visits Yaroo headquarters to ask about the resemblance.

A company spokesman flatly denies that their logo is an imitation of Yahoo's, although he admits, with a smile, that the logo designers did refer to it a little bit. Later in the interview (edited out), the spokesman explains that the name "Yaroo" is a play on the word "yaru" (meaning "do") -- a reference to their do-anything style of business.

Kintore-Z: Dysfunctional exercise robot (video)

15 Jan 2009

Kintore-Z is a childlike robot athlete that falls apart when it over-exerts itself. Skip 50 seconds into the video to see what happens after too many push-ups.

The robot -- whose looks are said to be loosely modeled after Astro Boy and Mazinger Z -- was the 2007 winner of the annual Baca RoboCup competition, which aims to recognize Japan's stupidest and most useless robots.

Video: Ove-Naxx – Ovekeyashiki

14 Jan 2009

Video artist The RP (a.k.a. rokapenis) created this fanciful promo video for Ove-Naxx, an Osaka breakcore/raggacore artist whose quirky sound incorporates elements of everything from dancehall to death metal and J-pop, along with bits of Latin American music and farm animal noises.

More videos on The RP's website and YouTube channel.

Yasufuku 2.0: Prize bull cloned 13 yrs after death

08 Jan 2009

Yasufuku-go --

Japanese scientists have successfully cloned a prize beef cow more than 13 years after it died, it was announced on January 6. The legendary steer -- named "Yasufuku" in his first life (1980-1993) -- is regarded as the father of Hida beef, a high-quality meat from Gifu prefecture famous for its marbled texture and rich flavor.

During his 13-year life, the prize bull's sperm was used to sire 40,000 calves, helping to establish Hida as a high-class brand of beef. It is believed that more than 30% of the nation's Japanese black cattle can trace their roots back to Yasufuku.

To produce the clones, researchers from the Gifu Prefectural Livestock Research Institute and Kinki University (Osaka prefecture) employed a somatic cell nuclear transfer method using the nuclei of cells extracted from the bull's testicles, which had spent 13 years in deep-freeze. The first clone of Yasufuku was created in 2007. In all, four clones of Yasufuku have been born, although one died from complications after birth.

The results -- which were scheduled to be published in the US journal PLoS ONE on January 8 -- suggest it is possible to "resurrect" animals valued for their high-quality meat, long after they have died. Some suggest the cloning method can also be used resurrect prize pigs and horses.

The rebirth of Yasufuku follows the recent success of another cloning experiment involving mammals held in long-term frozen storage. In November 2008, a RIKEN research team cloned a mouse from a carcass that spent 16 years in a freezer.

Teruhiko Wakayama, the RIKEN genetic engineer who led the effort to clone the frozen mouse last year, reacted to the news of the cloned frozen cow. "I was surprised to learn that the researchers found usable cells in the frozen tissue," said Wakayama. "[Their findings suggest] it is now possible to clone cows from delicious beef found on the supermarket shelf."

News of this latest cloning success comes as the Japanese government grapples with whether or not to allow cloned animal products into the food chain. The Cabinet Office's Food Safety Commission is currently looking at scientific data from a variety of Japanese and foreign sources in an attempt to evaluate the safety of cloned animal products. The commission is scheduled to present its decision to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare later this year. Lawmakers will then have the final say on whether or not to approve the sale of cloned meat to Japanese consumers.

In 2008 (between January and September), researchers in Japan are known to have created 557 somatic cell cow clones. In response to consumer distrust of cloned meat, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) currently requests research institutions to take voluntary measures to prevent cloned cows from ending up in the food supply.

[Source: Mainichi]

Devilish side of the sea angel (video)

06 Jan 2009

The clione, a.k.a. sea angel, is a cute, translucent swimming sea slug that glides gracefully through icy ocean waters by flapping a pair of appendages that resemble tiny angel wings. Don't let the innocent, angelic look fool you, though -- the clione is a vicious demon come feeding time.


+ A verdadeira face

The Clione limacina species preys on its shelled cousin, the sea butterfly (Limacina helicina). When the hungry sea angel spots a suitable target, it lunges forward and rapidly unfurls a halo of six hooked tentacles from its head, locking its prey in a death grip. Slowly, the clione sucks the victim's body out of its shell, swallowing it whole.

Next-generation space toilet ready in five years

05 Jan 2009

Space toilet --

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has teamed up with engineers from the private sector to develop a next-generation space toilet, which they hope to complete within the next five years.

Clean and easy to use, the envisioned space toilet is designed to be worn like a diaper around the astronaut's waist at all times. Sensors detect when the user relieves him or herself, automatically activating a rear-mounted suction unit that draws the waste away from the body through tubes into a separate container. In addition to washing and drying the wearer after each use, the next-generation space toilet will incorporate features that eliminate unwanted sound and odor.

Established last month, JAXA's space toilet research group includes engineers from the private sector. Participants reportedly come from an assortment of toilet and chemical manufacturers, as well as from the architectural and engineering firm Shimizu Corporation. Plans are to test working prototypes of the space toilet in Japan's Kibo lab aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The developers indicate their next-generation space toilet may also prove useful in earthbound settings -- particularly in hospitals with bedridden patients.

The current ISS toilet is a Russian-built, western-style commode that sucks waste away like a vacuum cleaner. Use of that toilet requires practice before heading to space, particularly because an improperly seated user has the potential to create a messy situation.

Chiaki Mukai, head of JAXA's Space Biomedical Research Office, is looking forward to the development of the new toilet. "Long-term stays in space place significant stress on the mind and body," Mukai says. "The toilet plays a crucial role in maintaining good health in space."

[Source: Yomiuri]

Pink Tentacle greatest hits – 2008

30 Dec 2008

Pink Tentacle, 2008 --

As the year draws to a close, it's time to look back at Pink Tentacle's most popular stories of 2008. Here are the top ten, in case you missed them the first time:

1. Scientists extract images directly from brain: New brain analysis technology allows scientists to read minds, perhaps paving the way for the development of a dream recorder.

2. Japanese custom scooters: Links to photo galleries of radical custom bikes.

3. Styrofoam dome homes: Cheap, sturdy igloo-shaped modular home kits made of expanded polystyrene foam.

4. IKEA decks out Kobe train: Photos of an IKEA ad campaign that transformed the Kobe Portliner Monorail into a moving showroom.

5. Edo-period monster paintings by Sawaki Suushi: Old-school horror.

6. Origami spaceplanes to launch from space station: Details of JAXA's plan to throw paper airplanes toward Earth from the International Space Station (see photos). In December, the space agency canceled their plans over safety concerns.

7. Bento lunches decorated as album covers: Magnificent bento art.

8. Monster octopi with scores of extra tentacles: Extraordinary freaks of nature.

9. Decorated trains of Japan: Photos of anime and manga inspired trains.

10. Man charged with dumping silicone girlfriend: Breaking up is hard to do.

Thanks for reading! See you again in 2009.