In an amazing display of honor and integrity possibly extinct amongst American businesses, Toyota Motor Corp. CEO and President Akio Toyoda declined to accept an award from the Japanese Government for the Prius model’s energy efficiency. The Prius was one of 3 products selected this year to receive the Grand Prize for Energy Efficiency and Ecological Quality from Japan’s Trade Minister.

Referring to the recent voluntary recall of 437,000 Prius for possible brake problems, Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco said, “We declined to accept the award because we thought it was not appropriate.” Toyota made the decision to recall the Prius amongst the recent recall of a total of 8.5 million other Toyota autos after receiving only 200 complaints total in both the U.S. and Japan of the hybrid experiencing a braking delay in very specific cold weather conditions over very bumpy roads.

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Now that Avatar has shattered every record in the book and has become a global phenomena, the time has come for research and studies! Why is it people are feeling depressed and/or suicidal when leaving the theater? Actually, according to research about “Awe”, a movie like Avatar should find the majority of viewers feeling creatively juiced, socially connected and perhaps even a little spiritual.

Elicitors of awe include mountain ranges, cathedrals, powerful leaders, music, scientific theories, encounters with God, natural disasters, and James Cameron films. For me, Avatar induced awe in response to both the exhilarating fictional world but also the artistic and technical achievements I knew were required to create that world.

In a 2007 paper, Michelle Shiota, along with Keltner and Amanda Mossman, reported experimental findings on the effects of awe. In one study, people described recent experiences of either awe or happiness. Reliving an awe-inspiring event was more likely to make people to go outside for a hike after the experiment, or to do something creative like play an instrument or write. Further, subjects instructed to recall a recent encounter with beauty in nature said they felt the presence of something greater than themselves and felt connected with the world around them. Another group of subjects, after staring at a 25-foot Tyrannosaurus skeleton for one minute were more likely than people who stared at an empty hallway to use universal terms such as “a person” or “an inhabitant of the Earth” to describe themselves; they saw themselves as members of a larger group.

In regards to the sadness subjects reported in that study, the authors write, “It is not impossible that the discovery of the limits of the self during a self-transcendent emotional experience may produce some negative emotions.” Hence post-Avatar suicide-watch? If watching acrobatic cat people uplink their ponytails and fight giant exoskeletons in 3-D for two and a half hours doesn’t make you want to run outside and play or at least write some erotic Na’vi fan fic, I think you have bigger problems back here on Earth than just not having a tree house and a hot blue girlfriend.

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It came to light earlier this week that Artie Lange of the Howard Stern Show was rushed to the hospital for undisclosed reasons. Howard Stern refused to comment on what happened as the family of Artie Lange wanted privacy and official statements to come from them. Since then, there has been much speculation as to what happened to Artie. Likely outcomes were a heart-attack or drug-overdose. Now, the New York Post is reporting that Artie had attempted suicide in a very gruesome way by stabbing himself 9 times.

Troubled comic Artie Lange landed in the hospital after stabbing himself nine times in an apparent suicide attempt, sources told The Post. Lange’s frantic mom called 911 Saturday morning after she entered his Hoboken apartment and found the bloodied funnyman, a law-enforcement source said. Lange sustained six “hesitation wounds” and three deep plunges. A source close to Lange’s management team confirmed that the Howard Stern sidekick stabbed himself, adding that his mother had come to visit him that day to drop off food. Surgeons managed to save Lange despite heavy bleeding. “We all have our demons,” Stern said on-air this week, referring to Lange’s past battles with addiction. “Artie has given this show tremendous moments of great comedy. He’s a tremendous contributor. He is a good man. Don’t forget how great he is.”

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Most people will tell you that Hitler killed himself in a bunker when it became apparent his dreams of empire were about to be shattered. Though there has never been direct evidence to back up this claim, some thought the skull that went on display in Moscow back in 2000 proved once and for all that Hitler committed suicide. Problem is, DNA analysis has proven the skull belonged to a female, which, unless there was something about Hitler none of us knew, leaves us wanting for actual evidence of this long-standing rumor/myth.

From Daily Mail:

According to witnesses, the bodies of Hitler and Braun were wrapped in blankets and carried to the garden just outside the bunker, placed in a bomb crater, doused with petrol and set ablaze.

In May 1945 a Russian forensics team dug up what was presumed to be the  dictator’s body. Part of the skull was missing, apparently the result of the suicide shot. The remaining piece of jaw matched his dental records, according to his captured dental assistants. And there was only one testicle.

A year later the missing skull fragment was found on the orders of Stalin, who  remained suspicious about Hitler’s fate.

Just how and when he died is now shrouded in mystery. Mr Bellantoni said it was  unlikely the bone was Braun’s, who was 33.

‘There is no report of Eva Braun having shot herself or having been shot afterwards,’ he said. ‘Many people died near the bunker.’