How could the professor, Dr. Roy Hinkley, build all those useful gadgets and not be able to repair the Minnow? There's a perfectly reasonable explanation, and it's not just plot armor.
Friday, February 20, 2026
The Professor of Gilligan's Island
A Dog Competes in Olympic Cross-country Skiing
The eyes of the world were drawn to an Olympic preliminary qualifying round in the women's cross-country skiing event in Tésero, Italy, on Wednesday. A large dog joined in the race and was even caught on Omega's official timekeeping camera as he crossed the finish line.
The dog was identified as a Czechoslovakian wolfdog named Nazgul, who belongs to a family who runs a local bed and breakfast. His owners speculated that Nazgul wanted to follow his family as they left for a different Olympic event, and broke out of the house. While the wolfdog surprised and unnerved some of the competitors, his presence did not affect the results of the heat, since the qualifying skiers had already crossed the finish line. That's a good dog.
Miss Cellania's Links
USA wins gold in women's figure skating. See Alysa Liu's free skate routine.
With an Experiment in Their Basement Photo Lab, Two Brothers Created a Paint That Outshines Them All. (via Damn Interesting)
In Defense of Bar Soap.
The Incredible Elephant Stables of Hampi.
Movie Heroes Who Are Actually Kind of Horrible If You Think About It. Movies count on you not thinking about it.
A Unique Property For Sale In Pennsylvania.
A powerful tribute dance performed in Washington, DC. (via Everlasting Blort)
"[W]hat if i told you, through the power of forensic analysis, we are closer than ever to knowing the exact Far Side cartoon that is making Sting smile in this iconic photo." I'm impressed with what people do in their too much free time. (via Metafilter)
Hitler’s Greenland Obsession. After creating an economic mess with ill-advised tariffs, Hitler looked north in pursuit of resources and national security. (via Damn Interesting)
Gâteau Gato, the Chocolate Cat Zoetrope
Gâteau Gato means "cat cake," but this is much more. Artist Alexandre Dubosc created a beautiful chocolate zoetrope that displays animated cats! Yeah, how could anyone combine chocolate cake, cats, and animation and not have a winner? You'll recognize Maneki Neko playing the piano, Felix, Nyan Cat, Yin-Yang Cat, and Grumpy Cat on this cake. There are other cats, plus mice, fish, and a big cat head on top with teeth! Notice the different language spellings of the word "meow" as well. (via Laughing Squid)
Microwave
Inventor of the microwave: This machine will cook dinner faster than a stove or oven. Consumer: How hot does the food get? I: Very hot, like the surface of the sun. C: Oh wow, that’s incre– I: But only some of it. C: Come again? I: The rest stays frozen.
— kottke.org (@kottke.org) February 17, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Thursday, February 19, 2026
The Cameraman on the Ice
Every time the Olympics roll around, there are new technologies to show us the action up close. You've seen camera drones following skiers and sledders down the course. In figure skating, we now have a camera man on the ice! Jordan Cowan is a former competitive ice dancer who now carries a steadicam onto the rink. No, he's not skating around during Olympic competition, but only approaches the competitor when their routine is through to see their reactions up close. However, Cowan is out on the ice during practice routines and exhibition performances. Check out some of his work at his YouTube channel.
Chain of Command
Colonel Sergeant is confusing enough, but someone in the comments also pointed out commander lieutenant general Admiral. (via reddit)
Owl in Trouble
Mike and Brian got close to take a picture of an owl, but the owl couldn't move because he was tangled in fishing line. That poor bird must have been so exhausted and frightened! This is why it's always a good idea to carry a knife out in the woods.
Humanoid Robots Dancing with Children
The annual Spring Festival Gala is a "must see" TV production in China, broadcast on the eve of the Lunar New year. This year's show featured dancing by humanoid robots developed by several Chinese robotics firms. The robots danced, flipped, jumped, and performed martial arts moves. They were joined by a group of children dancing onstage, which was impressive due to the danger it implied. This performance was designed to impress the world, but Western roboticists emphasize that dancing robots don't need to have situational awareness in order to adapt to changing conditions like industrial robots would. But they can sure put on a show. (via Laughing Squid)
Why Do Cameras Do This?
Now that panoramic photos are widely available on phones, you see weird camera effects more and more often. Destin Sandlin of Smarter Every Day explains the rolling shutter effect and why it happens. Wait until you see what the effect does to a fidget spinner, a guitar, and a spinning coin! (via Everlasting Blort)
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
American Obituary
U2 released a surprise six-track EP today called Days of Ash, no doubt to coincide with Ash Wednesday. The song "American Obituary" is about Renee Good. Bono said he started writing it the day after she was shot by ICE agent Jonathon Ross. The other songs on the EP deal with subjects like Ukraine and Gaza. U2 is planning to release an album later this year (their first since 2017), but these songs couldn't wait.
Get a Big Dish of Beef Chow Mein
The person who posted this didn't even know the reference, and went in a totally different direction. (via reddit)
The Fat Problem
We know that being overweight is bad for our health, but Kurzgesagt tells us why down to the molecular level. And it's not just one thing, but an entire constellation of effects that excess fat can have on us. Carrying more weight than is healthy will screw up every organ in your body sooner or later. If you think of a hundred ways to die, 99 of them are liable to be due to excess fat. It's pretty scary, especially right after you've splurged on a fast food meal. However, it's better to understand what's going on than to just die in ignorance.
The horror is somewhat assuaged by the googly eyes on our cells and organs when they are under stress, and by the forces of evolution that are illustrated by opossums. This video is only 9:12; the rest is an ad.
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