This year's winners of the Ig Nobel prizes are a bumper crop of wild and crazy SCIENCE!, featuring sword-swallowing, knuckle-cracking, benefits of cow-naming, pregnant women NOT tipping over, a household use for giant panda poop (take that, Packham), diamonds made from tequila, a brassiere that can be used as TWO gas masks, "Ireland's Worst Driver", Icelandic banks, Zimbabwean currency, and a 'Peace Prize' earned by hitting people over the heads with beer bottles (and comparing the effects of empty vs. full bottles) (related inquiry)
posted by wendell on Oct 2, 2009 - 23 comments

More cute than you can possibly handle (via)
posted by desjardins on Aug 11, 2009 - 60 comments

"Because competent mating did not occur," the zoo statement said, veterinarians anesthetized both pandas on Saturday, collected semen from Tian Tian and inserted it into Mei Xiang's uterus. [previously 1 2 3]
posted by kliuless on Jan 18, 2009 - 39 comments

Forced to fight for other's amusement, it's a sad world for pandas. Either scuffling or denigrating themselves for food sources, are they approaching the downward slide of species extinction?
posted by Sparx on Dec 17, 2007 - 15 comments

The first 3 months of a panda's life, in photos (courtesy of the World Wildlife Foundation). Bonus link: a gaggle of pandas make for the most adorable news outtakes ever.
posted by jonson on May 31, 2007 - 34 comments

Against Pandas: "Pandas are endangered because they are utterly incompetent... Pandas are badly designed, undersexed, overpaid and overprotected. They went up an evolutionary cul-de-sac and it is too late to reverse."
posted by kliuless on Jul 2, 2006 - 57 comments

Panda, Inc. - National Geographic does pandas, including this surfeit of cuteness clip of Tai Shan and mom playing. Watch for panda mania to break out in the U.S. as we count down to Tai Shan's one year birthday. At 53 pounds, he is coming along nicely - see his progress in his photo album since birth. Meanwhile, in the wild, happy news that the panda population may be double what was previously thought. Yay! (via adorablog's great panda file.)
posted by madamjujujive on Jun 24, 2006 - 12 comments

I Like Pandas (flash), by Spümcø animator Jessica Borutski, from the Nicktoons Animation Festival (flash again), which is currently accepting submissions. Music by Plone. Not that Plone.
posted by ulotrichous on May 6, 2006 - 25 comments

Update: Tai Shan is not Butterstick.
posted by about_time on Oct 17, 2005 - 11 comments

Pandas! "You are watching live images of Mei Xiang, a giant panda, and her newborn cub at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. The cub was born at 3:41 a.m. on Saturday, July 9."

Details here. Warning: make sure you have a high tolerance for cuteness.
posted by sdrawkcab on Aug 21, 2005 - 26 comments

PandaCam: Bai Yun’s cub(male) is big enough that now there’s something to see on the webcam in her birthing den at the San Diego Zoo. She’s quite the attentive mother and he’s becoming quite the wiggly baby. You can also view videos here.
posted by lobakgo on Sep 26, 2003 - 12 comments

Panda Dog! I don't know what kind of dog it is (and I thought I was a dog-knowing expert) but I want one. If anyone can help me out with the breed (if it isn't a bizarre dog-panda hybrid) I would be really quite grateful...
posted by rikabel on Apr 5, 2002 - 18 comments

"If a Chinese cannot understand why Swiss people get so upset that they are eating St. Bernards, I would ask that same question: If Swiss people eat China's panda, how would Chinese feel?"

I expect they'd ask for a bite of the penis.
posted by dfowler on Mar 28, 2001 - 16 comments

Panda Porn: ``As part of the pandas' education, we make those which are sexually inept watch videos of other pandas having sex...''
posted by evhead on Apr 21, 2000 - 5 comments

A couple months ago, a panda was born at the San Diego Zoo. It was a big achievement and the team is chronicling the progress online. Also, thanks to the wonders of the web, you can see it live at the panda cam page. Right now, I'm seeing the panda tossing in its sleep.
posted by mathowie on Nov 1, 1999 - 0 comments