Friday, April 10, 2026
How to Speak Meerkat
In this segment from the BBC Earth series Natural World, Dr. Marta Manser studies the language meerkats use to communicate with each other. Yes, she's scaring them with a fake jackal. Sir David Attenborough makes it sound wonderfully dramatic. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Thursday, April 09, 2026
Tang
Neil Cicierega took a bunch of nonsensical Tang ads from the '90s and made them even more nonsensical. Were any apes harmed in the making of this? Well, not THIS video, but who can say about the original ads? (via Metafilter)
Gas Sign
The comments at reddit are mostly about the gas situation. No shortage of gas this time, because the US produces plenty of gasoline. The rest of the world, however, is having trouble getting theirs at all. Still, I looked at it as more of the effects of the tacos they sell.
How Snakes Swallow Prey Bigger Than Themselves
There are thousands of different snake species, and they all have a few things in common. They don't have legs, they are carnivorous, and humans are afraid of them. We have good reason to be scare, sine snakes can be quite venomous, the better to disable prey and vanquish threats. But all these different kinds of snakes have a wide variety of techniques for killing.
Some will eat another animal that's bigger than they are, and have developed some weird physiological tricks to get away with that. Despite one graphic in this TED-Ed video, we've never seen a case of a snake swallowing an elephant, but they have been known to consume an entire alligator or deer. Others specialize in one specific type of prey and have adapted both their anatomy and lifestyle to surviving off of it. There are reasons snakes have survived on earth so long, and why we are seemingly born to fear them.
Drone Light Show Sets Record
Drones have many uses, but let's not talk about war right now. For aerial entertainment, they are much safer than fireworks, and can light up the sky with intricate 3-dimensional images that are just breathtaking. The biggest show yet happened in Hefei, Anhui, China, on February 3rd, 2026. The Chinese company Guangdong EHang Egret Media Technology Co., Ltd. launched 22,580 and set a new world record for the "most multirotor/drones airborne simultaneously from a single computer (outdoors)." Since they qualified that, you have to wonder how many more were ever launched inside a structure.
Oh yeah, and unlike fireworks, these drones can be used again. (via Geeks Are Sexy)
A Cat Walks Into a Deli...
A cat walked into the deli-cat-tessen and admired the items on display at the meat counter. The clerk, who may be the butcher as well, went into his sales spiel and gave the cat a better look at a variety of offerings until the cat indicated what he most wanted. The cat probably thought he'd get away with not paying, but the deli got a viral video out of it.
Crisis
Well, I don't know about "solved." Iran is in a better position now than before Trump started the war, and the rest of the world is paying for it.Stable Genius Crisis Manager.
— Daniel Boris (@danboriscreates.bsky.social) April 7, 2026 at 8:40 PM
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Wednesday, April 08, 2026
Joan Crawford Slaps
Joan Crawford was a lousy mom but a great actress. She managed to land so many parts that harnessed her anger, and in that era of Hollywood, that meant physical anger. This is a compilation of Joan Crawford slapping people. Or getting slapped. Or punched. There's a moment in the middle that will make you laugh at all of it.
An Honest Trailer for Avatar: Fire and Ash
The 2025 movie Avatar: Fire and Ash is the second sequel to Avatar. Jake Sully and his family once again deal with the mostly evil humans who have invaded Pandora. Avatar: Fire and Ash was not as popular as Avatar: The Way of Water in 2022, but it was hella successful. The budget was maybe $400 million, and it grossed $1.4 billion. When your only competition is your previous movies, what does "success" mean, anyway? Screen Junkies found Avatar: Fire and Ash to be a bit repetitive, but it still looks gorgeous.
Miss Cellania's Links
Not What They're Paid For. Randy Rainbow's latest song parody takes on the entire Trump administration.
“Cognitive surrender” leads AI users to abandon logical thinking, research finds. Experiments show large majorities uncritically accepting “faulty” AI answers.
The quiet disappearance of the free-range childhood.
The unseen challenges of life on the Moon. (via Damn Interesting)
Roller skating can be art and comedy.
News you may have missed: Trump administration orders dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service. (via Metafilter)
10 Famous Science Concepts That Most People Massively Misunderstand.
What is wisdom, and can it be taught? Scientists are trying to name the qualities that make someone wise and figure out how to cultivate them
Aie Rama Rama
Every once in a while, it's good to take a Bollywood break and enjoy an over-the-top production number with joyous music and more dancers than Hollywood can afford. (via Everlasting Blort)
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