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Marti

The lesser known facts of the Apollo 11 moon landing

By Space and Aliens

How the Apollo 11 team decided who walks on the moonOn hearing of Neil Armstrong’s death, I decided to delve a little bit into the life of the first man to walk the moon. I was excited to discover he was an engineer. Shying from the lime light, in a rare interview in 2000 he described himself as

‘I am, and ever will be, a white-socks, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer.’  

RIP 5 August 1930 – 25 August 2012

What everybody ought to know about the creation of the universe

By Evil aliens

Evil pink aliens planning the earth's ultimate demiseRemember the recent Higgs boson discovery cartoon?  This was a follow up cartoon involving our characters of the month – the evil pink aliens.

Have you not entered the August Name the Evil Pink Aliens Competition yet?

Well the good news is that you still have time left, as it closes this Friday.

The bad news (What, there’s bad news? I thought I’d subscribed to a fun-loving cartoon website) is that we’ll be taking a break from the monthly competition for a while.  Don’t miss out. Click now.

Warning: Extreme grafitti hitting the streets

By Animals

Giraffiti: Vandalism at extreme height

You may recall a previous cartoon on the Mensa Invitational Word Play Competition, where I drew the new word Hipatitis.  Well, it’s taken me that long to come up with another one from this competition – Giraffiti.  The cartoon was so obvious, it flashed in my mind as soon as I read it. My dilemma then started when I had to actually find an example of this extreme graffiti at soaring heights. This is the best I could achieve in the end, after weeks of searching (just a casual eye whilst driving the streets of Melbourne – I do have a life you know). It eventually occurred to me, that for a graffiti artist, you simply can’t erect your scaffolding to create your next piece of work, as it would obviously draw unwanted attention.

If you find an example of giraffiti in your city, I would be really grateful if you would share it with me.

Is your home possibly more dung beetle friendly than you initially thought?

By Dung Beetles

Dweller dung beetle sourcing its latest egg laying locationI thought it time to explore a few more traits of the delightful dung beetle. The first time I introduced Doug dung beetle’s dweller dung beetle cousin I provided some insight into the life of the dweller versus the roller.  Dweller dung beetles don’t really set up residence in dung (well not the adult that is). Instead, they see it as the ideal incubating location for their offspring and lay their eggs deep within a nicely sized dropping of freshly laid dung.

After completing this cartoon, I began to wonder how close to the possible truth this cartoon could be. I mean, I know dung beetles eat dung (derr!), but more importantly, whose dung? My research lead me to this article which summarises the research of some scientists who took it upon themselves to discover what different types of dung, the dung beetle enjoys. But to summarise, given the opportunity, dung beetles actually prefer exotic poo and human and chimpanzee poo is top of the list.

So now you’ve been warned. Keep your eyes peeled next time you enter your bathroom.

What the boss gets up to while you’re out of the office

By That's life

Sneaky bosses readjusting your work life balanceI’m convinced this is what one of my former bosses used to do, but he wasn’t as cunning as this one. Alot of the work was passed on via the Blackberry after hours (curse that invention). I  suspect the evil deed was executed from the comfort of his armchair at home too!

How has your boss managed the fine art of delegation to you or a colleague?