Closer examination reveals this odd little dot is actually a tiny cartoon bumble bee.
My first thought: OMG! Let's pee on it! Which, apparently, is exactly what is intended. The urinals in Amsterdam airport have had little fly graphics on their urinals for a while now, and many sites on the internet quote a source as saying it has reduced spillage by 80%. (Pity the scientist collecting pee from the floor to measure it.)
These Sloan urinals are also flushless - no clean, fresh drinking water wasted to push your asparagus-smelling excretions to the sewer! The Sloan website explains how they work: a replaceable cartridge and seal allows urine to pass to the sewer but prevents any odor from coming out. It seems to work: these urinals didn't smell like anything at all, and there wasn't a urinal cake in sight.
And they're green! Each urinal saves between 15,000 and 45,000 gallons of water every year.
Check out sloanvalve.com for a fun animation explaining how they work.
Oh, and this whole thing got started when I saw a tie I liked and almost pissed my pants when I saw the Nordstrom price tag: $135.
