Here's What's Awesome: Melon Power, Amazing Translations

Not that this is a surprise to Here's What's Awesome readers, but I think we're on the cusp of the animal prosthetics trend. Last week we wrote about an elephant with a new prosthetic leg; this week Presurfer introduces Lucky the turtle, who has a new set of front legs that help him in "chasing his girlfriend around." Who am I to stand in the way of a trend? I said to myself. So I had Lucky the turtle pick out this week's awesome links.

And just like that, Gallagher becomes our new energy czar
We already live in a world where sunlight, algae and chicken manure are being used or investigated as energy sources, so why not add watermelons too? The melon sugars are well-designed to ferment and make ethanol, and there's a ready supply, since a large number of watermelons are tossed out each year on purely aesthetic grounds. It's likely Sledge-o-Matic will control your town's energy supply now, but that's a small price to pay for a cleaner, greener world... right? [CleanTechnica]

This great!
That phrase above is the new name of this column, according to Translation Party, a fun little site that takes an English phrase and converts it to Japanese... and then converts that phrase back to English, and then back to Japanese, etc. Since each translation modifies the original a tiny bit, you end up with a really unusual phrase after a while, making the site a little like a self-contained game of Telephone. Given this week's headlines, I chose my test phrase from Ted Kennedy's famous eulogy for his brother, Robert: "Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not." Translation Party gave me the following: "Man, I do not know why I continue. Why Please Please. Dream." Well said. [via DarkRoastedBlend]

Skate or Live
Daniel Pelletier is a skateboarder who happens to be paralyzed from the waist down. Absolutely ingenious.

[Neatorama]

Now it's your turn: share an awesome link in the comments, preferably one submitted by an animal with a cool new prosthetic. Or not.