The latest comic from Lunarbaboon is a palindrome. The panels can be read from either direction. But it also makes me wonder whether we should start to worry about Chris, the cartoonist. He's had several comics lately that may be a cry for help.
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Suddenly, a Cat Dad
So... I JUST FOUND A CAT THAT IS NOT MINE AND IT HAS HAD BABIES UNDER MY BED. pic.twitter.com/83ktBHGgT5— Paris Zarcilla (@ParisZarcilla) May 30, 2018
In case you want to shut the world out and wallow in the universe of warm fuzzies, here's a photo-heavy story for you. Paris Zarcilla found a strange cat under his bed that had just given birth to kittens. He's fallen deeply in love with them.
To my cat sons and daughters, I'll be the hero you deserve, but not the one it needs right now (because of mama cat). So I'll hunt for you, because I can afford it. I'll be your silent guardian, your watchful protector. Love, #CatDad pic.twitter.com/JkaUpGzXCP— Paris Zarcilla (@ParisZarcilla) May 30, 2018
Well, "fallen in love" doesn't do it justice. Zarcilla has discovered a new plane of existence and uses words like "nirvana" and "fatherhood" and "the hidden depths of my own capacity to love." He is obviously suffering the effects of either oxytocin or toxoplasmosis. I'll vote for oxytocin. There's nothing like a tiny new family member (or five) to make one's outlook change. Read the entire thread here, and bookmark Zarcilla's Twitter feed for updates. (via Metafilter)
Miss Cellania's Links
The Little Hero. A familiar yet delightful story.
The Story Behind the Most Decorated Military Unit in U.S. History.
How Dangerous Are the Northwest’s Volcanoes? America has more volcanoes than you realize, but scientists are keeping an eye on them.
The Robot Revolution: Coming to a Restaurant Near You. Students from MIT have already opened a restaurant where robots prepare entire meals in a bowl.
How 1960s Film Pirates Sold Movies Before the FBI Came Knocking. Before DVDs or even VHS tapes, you could watch illegal copies, if you had a film projector.
The Symbolism of Hand Amputations in Star Wars. They are both Freudian and a handy plot device.
A Newly Discovered Victim of Mt. Vesuvius Was Crushed by a Huge Stone. While it looks gruesome, his death was obviously quick.
16 Genius Restaurant Menus That Are Straight-Up From The Future. Some are designed to give you useful information before ordering, while others are just fun.
A blast from the past (2010): Outlaws as Folk Heroes.
Tweet of the Day
How to pronounce 'ukulele':— T'Other Simon (@TOther_Simon) May 24, 2018
The first 'u' as in 'guilty'
The 'k' as in 'knee'
The second 'u' as in 'build'
The first 'l' as in 'could'
The first 'e' as in 'give'
The second 'l' as in 'salmon'
The second 'e' as in 'pie'.
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
What to Do in Case of a Knife Attack
A police department in China has a helpful public service announcement on how to handle an attacker with a knife. (via Digg)
The Symbolism of All Those Hand Amputations in Star Wars
If you've been following the Star Wars saga, you've no doubt noticed how many times someone's hand gets lopped off. And occasionally a leg or two. It's easy to do and not have the victim bleed out, because a lightsaber cauterizes the wound instantly, which is also handy to avoid a lot of blood on screen. A surprise in the new movie Solo has even more implications for the survivability of severe amputations. This video from Screen Prism does a deep dive into amputations and the psychological symbolism they have. (via Laughing Squid)
Miss Cellania's Links
Royal Beauty Secrets of the 19th Century. An empress has to keep up appearance, even when she doesn't want to. (via Strange Company)
Inside the Pro-Trump Effort to Keep Black Voters From the Polls.
J.K. Rowling Sketches And Plot Outlines For Harry Potter. (Thanks WTM!)
In Istanbul,D rinking Coffee in Public Was Once Punishable by Death. Ottoman sultan Murad IV didn't object to the drink so much as the cafes that served it.
Here's a link-heavy look at the state of capitalism in America. It's problem that goes way beyond the current administration.
Why You Should be Reading the Privacy Notices Choking Your Inbox. New GDPR regulations were supposed to simplify agreements, but that's not what happened.
13 Quirky Destinations for Your Summer Road Trip. Make lasting memories in a place you'd have never thought of.
Why Rachel Carson Didn't Like the Organic Food Movement. The woman who sounded the alarm on DDT had nothing against chemical fertilizers.
A Brief History of America’s Appetite for Macaroni and Cheese. The comfort food is simple, delicious, and most of all, cheap.
Witness the 2018 Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling Carnage
The annual Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper%27s_Hill_Cheese-Rolling_and_Wake in Gloucestershire, England, was this past weekend. People who have lost their minds chase a rolling wheel of cheese down a hill. The hill is a lot steeper than you'd think from the camera angle, but when people start running, you'll get an idea. They really aren't so much running as falling, and there were quite a few injuries: cuts, bruises, and at least one dislocated shoulder. There's also a video featuring closeups of certain participants set to a musical soundtrack here.
(via Tastefully Offensive)
Tweet of the Day
In Roseanne’s defense, it’s hard to know the difference between racism that gets you fired versus racism that gets you elected President of the United States.— Brian Sproul (@bcsproul) May 29, 2018
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Miss Cellania's Links
How the U.S. Army Botched Feeding Its Female Soldiers in World War II. The brass preparing for the new Women's Army Corps did not understand women.
The Trump effect: New study connects white American intolerance and support for authoritarianism. The research suggests that when intolerant white people fear democracy may benefit marginalized people, they abandon their commitment to democracy.
5 People Who Straight Up Survived The Unsurvivable.
Attention, America: We’ve All Been Saying "Gerrymander" Wrong. The politician that the word is named for pronounced it with a hard "G".
Genesis Tour Manager Recalls His Role in One of Rock’s Most Embarrassing Moments. It had to be one of the inspirations for This is Spinal Tap.
One Woman’s Journey from Coma to Consciousness. She spent five months aware but unable to communicate, then recovered to tell about it.
Amelia Bloomer Did Not Invent Bloomers. In fact, she suspected that they were a distraction from more important battles.
The Trump administration is now seeking to criminally prosecute everyone crossing the border, including asylum seekers, whose children are taken away.
According to a study, half of all high school students graduate with an A average. How does a selective college choose among thousands of applicants when they're all perfect?
A blast from the past (2010): The Scientists Behind the Movies.
Tweet of the Day
vagina dentata— Meg Elison @ Wiscon (@megelison) May 27, 2018
what a wonderful phrase
vagina dentata
ain't no passing craze
it means no penis
for the rest of your days
it's a phallus-free
philosophy
vagina dentata
Monday, May 28, 2018
Real Life Spider-Man Rescues Child
Hero climbs up outside of Paris building to save child dangling from balcony. This guy Peter Parker as in Spiderman! Humanity still exists.— ᵈᵉʷᵃ ᵏˡᵃˢᶤᵏ ᵃˡᵉˣᵃᶰᵈᵉʳ (@Dewa_Klasik) May 28, 2018
Mamoudou Gassama (22 years old from Mali) scaled 4 storeys in 30 seconds to save child dangling. Good job brother, wakanda forever! pic.twitter.com/jJavpXDAGu
On the fifth floor of an apartment building on the outskirts of Paris, a 4-year-old boy had fallen from the balcony railing, and was hanging on by his hands. People on the street heard him crying and 22-year-old Mamoudou Gassama instantly sprang into action. He didn't even pause to put his Spider-Man costume on, but climbed all four floors in 30 seconds to lift the child to safety.
"I just climbed up and thank God, God helped me. The more I climbed the more I had the courage to climb up higher, that's it," he added.French president President Emmanuel Macron later met with Gassama, an undocumented immigrant from Mali, and said he would be made a naturalized French citizen. (via reddit)
He said that the boy was crying when he hauled him to safety and had also suffered an injured foot.
Firefighters arrived to find the child had already been rescued.
"Luckily, there was someone who was physically fit and who had the courage to go and get the child," a spokesperson said.
The Clean Out
I'm not a hoarder, I'm really not. I downsize and clean out regularly, so I know exactly how it is. Last fall, I had three cordless drills. I sold one, then the second one got stolen. Yeah, I had a third, but the charger and batteries for that one were stolen, too. I asked for a new drill for Christmas, and got it. But the newer model from that brand has a different charger, so now I have various other power tools with no charger. No one will buy them without the vintage charger that workls for them, so they're trash. Or should I hold onto them? This comic is from Death Bulge.
Tweet of the Day
AYOOO I AINT THINK MY SCHOOL WOULD PUT MY QUOTE LMAOOO pic.twitter.com/g0xH5Q7CWo— B.🇭🇹🦋 (@bbernierxo) May 21, 2018
(via Buzzfeed)
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Tweet of the Day
Our hotel pool in Vietnam...booking.com VS reality 😂🤣😂 we’ve been done there pic.twitter.com/lElDjxzFwd— Jenny Kershaw (@jennykershawx) May 12, 2018
(via Buzzfeed)
Saturday, May 26, 2018
Watch Your Step
KLAS-TV in Las Vegas was doing a live report from Lake Las Vegas. Photojournalist Chris Benka was walking along the dock, following the reporter's boat, and wasn't watching his feet. Luckily, the water wasn't all that deep. The camera is okay! Oh, yeah, he's okay, too. In fact, he kept on rolling that live footage. (via Digg)
World Record Stack of Waffles
You know when you get a press release to cover a Guinness world record attempt for tallest stack of waffles & expect it to be some big commercial thing & then it's just a guy's house? This is SO MUCH BETTER. Follow along, #Denver! Things might get weird! pic.twitter.com/xcxqZCMJZM— Elizabeth Hernandez (@ehernandez) May 26, 2018
Today was a momentous day in Denver. Spencer McCullough and Cory Trimm invited all their friends and a few professionals to attempt the Guinness World Record for waffle stacking. Elizabeth Hernandez of the Denver Post was dispatched to cover the event. She is preparing a proper article for the Post, but first posted a Twitter thread as the event unfolded.
Land surveyor Dustin Hoaglin laughed when he heard about his services requested for a waffle record stack measurement but then he figured he had a bunch of fam in town for his son's graduation & decided it sounded GREAT to do this— Elizabeth Hernandez (@ehernandez) May 26, 2018
The previous record was 5 centimeters. Friends flew in from out of town, and total strangers joined the fun. Hernandez' enthusiasm grew as time went along, and you have to wonder how grim her other assignments are.
THE RECORD IS BROKEN THE RECORD IS BROKEN I REPEAT HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE, THIS IS THE TALLEST STACK OF WAFFLES EVER RECORDED *IN THE WORLD* (without official confirmation from Guinness but with official confirmation from a, uh, measuring tape)— Elizabeth Hernandez (@ehernandez) May 26, 2018
The stack was 67 centimeters! You can witness the drama unfold in her Twitter thread.
(via Metafilter)
How to Get Rid of a Bear
Both of these comic panels from Scandinavia and the World https://satwcomic.com/bear-whisperer are true stories. The Canadian method is here and the Finnish method is here. (via Metafilter)
Tweet of the Day
What a way to make a living. pic.twitter.com/iT1BPXjYgp— T'Other Simon (@TOther_Simon) February 17, 2015
(via Buzzfeed)
Friday, May 25, 2018
Hugh Jackman Recognizes a Reporter
At a film festival in Zurich a few years ago, an intrepid reporter caught up with Hugh Jackman and was surprised to be remembered. (via reddit)
Miss Cellania's Links
Analyzing Trump's Breakup Letter to Kim Jong Un.
Why Are Our Brains So Big, Anyway? A new study points to what we needed to think about the most.
Seventy-Five Years Ago, Women Baseball Players Took the Field. The short-lived All-American Girls Professional Baseball League proved women could play, but it was far from equitable.
If there were a kind of a fireman's pole from the moon down to the earth, how long would it take to slide all the way from the moon to the earth? Randall Munroe ponders this adventure in excruciating detail. (via Metafilter)
Life Inside Texas' Border Security Zone. Billions of dollars have been spent making it a police state, with residents constantly under surveillance.
Remembering the ‘Saurian Monster’ That Terrorized 1880s New Zealand. In a nation that has few predators of any size, the attacks caused a sensation.
Camels Can Eat Long-Needled Cactus. They've adapted to a desert diet, but watching it might make you feel nervous.
Medical Mystery: Something Happened to U.S. Health Spending After 1980. (via Metafilter)
Xena: Disney Warrior Princess.
A blast from the past (2012): Four Feline Photographers.
Tweet of the Day
The airport is a lawless place. 7am? Drink a beer. Tired? Sleep on the floor. Hungry? Chips now cost $17— Alyssa Limperis (@alyssalimp) May 23, 2018
MIss Cellania's Links
The Duckmaster Rules the Roost at the Peabody Hotel. The ducks have been the stars of the show for 85 years.
Our Nation's Leaders Analyze the Data on USA's Gun Violence.
Guy the beagle was on the euthanasia list in a Kentucky animal shelter in 2015, but he took a detour through Canada and now he is part of the royal family. (Thanks, Bill!)
Remembering One of the Most Violent Days in the History of the U.S. Senate. A passionate but insulting speech brought out a congressman's wrath -and his cane.
Investigating One of the Oldest Private Detective Agencies in Paris. The Duluc Détective is still in business after 105 years.
Why Does Harrison Ford Love Indy And Hate Han? He's been willing to play older versions of both characters anyway, plus Rick Deckard.
Pterodactyls Probably Didn’t Fly Like We Think They Did. A new study theorizes they resembled birds more than bats in flight.
Rollin' on the River: Pittsburgh Shanty Boat Life. Thousands who couldn't afford land or rent lived in homemade barge houses. (via Metafilter)
How Succulents Took Over Instagram—and Then the World. They make a perfect garden for the Millennial lifestyle.
Tweet of the Day
I’m so excited to be part of this administration and I’d like to suck in as many people as I can. Where should I start? #sinkholes— White House Sinkhole ⚫️ (@HouseSinkhole) May 22, 2018
Yes, there's a sinkhole opening up at the White House lawn. Engineers blame the swamp (really). A new Twitter account takes on the persona of the sinkhole and updates us on its mission to swallow the White house and possibly all of Washington, DC.
Famous #sinkholes in history. I aspire to be like these sinkholes someday. @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/9a7Pt4cGL9— White House Sinkhole ⚫️ (@HouseSinkhole) May 22, 2018
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Life is a Highway
You know every one of these vehicles, don't you? This clever graphic is from John Atkinson at Wrong Hands.
Tips for Cooking for One
This video from College Humor contains a little NSFW language. When you find yourself living alone, it is tempting to just eat your favorite food all the time. That gets old. Eventually you resort to sandwiches and cold cereal, and when you realize that cold cereal leads to dirty dishes, your diet become just sandwiches and chips. You might be tempted to whip up an entire meal fresh from scratch, but don't do it. Rationalize not doing it by telling yourself it's too time-consuming so that you don't have to think about how very alone you are. So very, utterly alone. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Miss Cellania's Links
'Jesus never charged a leper a co-pay': the rise of the religious left. Count me in.
Vulture Ranks Every Star Wars Movie. Ten mini-reviews to justify the rankings include Solo without giving away too much.
Han Solo was Almost in Revenge of the Sith. His part would have been too silly to believe.
Deep in the Honduran Rain Forest, an Ecological SWAT Team Explores a Lost World. The diverse biology is a bigger treasure than the lost city that lured explorers there in the first place.
Roxy, the Long Island Railroad Dog. He knew every train and its schedule, and how to get where he wanted to go.
How Gerrymandered is Your State? (via Nag on the Lake)
The 25 Toughest Colleges to Get Into in 2018.
24 Wildly Inappropriate Official Movie Tie-In Products.
Trump admits the reason behind his "fake news" cry.
Tweet of the Day
dough: a bread, an uncooked bread— rachel axler (@rachelaxler) May 1, 2018
ray: of sun that cooks the bread
me: a gal who eats the bread
fa: ther also eats the bread
so: da bread’s a kind of bread
la: vash is another bread
tea: a drink. anyway, bread!
that will bring us back to dough
(via Buzzfeed)
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
An Honest Trailer for the Star Wars Spinoffs
There were several Star Wars feature-length productions that are completely ignored in the Star Wars canon. They are Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure, Ewoks: The Battle of Endor, and The Star Wars Holiday Special. Fans would just as soon forget all of them. Screen Junkies produced an Honest Trailer for all three in one video, and it's about as honest as everyone else has been about the quality of these spinoffs. If you've never seen any of them, just watch the trailer, and be satisfied that these clips will be all you need to know that you're missing nothing of importance.
Miss Cellania's Links
The royal wedding called as a soccer match.
How The Gambia Learned to Grow Both Forests and Food. The trick is allowing communities to own, care for, and protect their pieces of the forest.
There Is Only One Trump Scandal. (via Metafilter)
Having Babies on Mars Is Going to Be a ‘Titanic Challenge.’ At least one scientist suggests that we start genetically modifying humans to withstand the rigors of reproduction beyond Earth.
Why Do Cats Blep?
Josiah Henson, the Real Inspiration for Uncle Tom’s Cabin. He settled in Canada, where he was free to publish his life experiences.
24 Things Princesses At Disney Parks Would Never Tell You. The job comes with strict rules and high standards, but doesn't pay well.
Meet Gustaf Broman, the 19th Century Con Man Who Attempted to Cross the Atlantic in a Log Boat. He never expected to succeed, as he had other plans for the trip.
19 Acclaimed Authors and Their Typewriters. Some of those machines are still around, and some are still in use.
Monday, May 21, 2018
The First Trailer for Mowgli
Although he's been kept busy appearing several blockbuster movies, Andy Serkis has been working on his movie Mowgli for the past five years. It is based on Rudyard Kipling's story of a feral child raised by wolves The Jungle Book, but is very different from either Disney version: it's closer to Kipling's original, there's no singing, and the story continues after Mowgli joins a community of people. Serkis also put his extensive motion-capture experience to work to film the animals in a new way.
We very carefully, in a long development period, designed the animals to fit the actor’s faces. So, the way we approached it was, if you take it on the left side, you’ve got an image of Christian Bale’s face, and then on the right hand side, you’ve got an image of a panther. We morphed Christian’s face over a series of images, backwards from the panther and towards Christian until we reached a sweet spot where somewhere along that spectrum you could actually see both. So, it was in the design of the animals. That was where the secret lies. And then, having the actors just play with Rohan Chand—this extraordinary young actor who plays Mowgli—to actually have them in the same space connecting with each other and emotionally finding the scenes together. So that really was something. that was the big difference. And I think when you see it, you won’t question whether these things feel alive.You can read the rest of the interview with Serkis at io9. Mowgli, starring Serkis, Christian Bale, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Cate Blanchett as various animals, opens October 19.
The Five Stages of Watching A Star Wars Movie
Did you know there's a new Star Wars movie coming out Friday? Yeah, sure it's a "Star Wars Story," but fans are looking forward to Solo while trying to reserve judgment before they see it. When you go to the theater, see how many of these five stages illustrated by How It Should Have Ended are really true. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Lucas the Spider is a Giant
Lucas the Spider, from animator Joshua Slice, is a tiny but adorable little arachnid. He has seen a few adventures in the great big world. But now he has an opportunity to be a giant spider when he finds a cute little miniature village! Lucas soon learns that being a giant isn't any easier than being tiny, especially when you are young and inexperienced. (via Laughing Squid)
Miss Cellania's Links
Apartments Are Stocked, Toys Donated. Only the Refugees Are Missing. The flow of refugees to the United States has slowed nearly to a halt, demonstrating that what President Trump’s administration could not achieve by executive order, it is accomplishing by bureaucracy. (via Metafilter)
Napflix, videos that will put you to sleep. (via Kottke)
An Invisible Warship is at the Center of WWII’s Greatest Urban Legend. Secret experiments, magnetic fields, and conspiracy theories led people to believe the USS Eldridge achieved teleportation.
The Next Big Discovery in Astronomy Has Already Been Found. We Just Don't Know It Yet. Many important breakthroughs come from interpreting old data.
Richard Wilkinson is producing a series of insect illustrations based on Star Wars characters called Arthropoda Iconicus. Star Wars fans will recognize who inspired each of these insects, but non-Star Wars fans will be forgiven if they take them as real species.
The Curse of an Open Floor Plan. Do the benefits of a great room outweigh the disadvantages? (via Metafilter)
Don't Pay for a Spell to Remove the Impediment. Especially if the impediment is you! (via Strange Company)
The Army’s First Black Nurses Were Relegated to Caring for Nazi Prisoners of War. The military didn't want them, even during a nurse shortage.
Babywhale had a story about the perils of not knowing English and how her wonderful grandma rose to the occasion.
Sunday, May 20, 2018
TinyKittens Update
The nine kittens in the TinyKittens livestream are now quite energetic once they all got their eyes open. They've been moved to a larger nest, a playroom, actually, with all kinds of toys, including a giant shoe bed and a tiny camper. All nine of them squeezed into the camper at once, and when it got too crowded, Aura made a graceful exit. Aura is still being tube-fed, but she is growing and surprisingly healthy. Shelly, their caretaker, is trying to introduce the kittens to kibble, but they aren't all that impressed with real food yet. You can get regular updates at their Facebook page.
Meeting of the Mob
Trump meets his lawyers and his sons for a meal and the scene takes on the appearance of a Sopranos episode as a mysterious G-man keeps an eye on the proceedings. Ben Stiller returns to Saturday Night Live as Michael Cohen, and Robert De Niro plays Robert Mueller without a word. As usual, Kate McKinnon steals the show as Rudy Giuliani in last night's show opening.
The Real Reason Peppers are Spicy
Why did peppers develop their heat? Scientists once assumed that pepper plants produce capsaicin to deter animals from eating them. But that explanation doesn't quite hold up in nature. Birds aren't affected by capsaicin, which is why you should put pepper seeds in the birdseed to keep squirrels out of it. Hank Green tells us what we know so far about pepper evolution in this SciShow video. (via Digg)
Cats Quote the Movies
Today, the cats of the internet are quoting movies. Can you guess the movie from each one? Continue reading for more.
Binary Sunset Scenes
The twin suns of Tatooine and the music of John Williams appear when you need to really feel something in the Star Wars universe. It works.
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Restaurant
This restaurant is in the District of Columbia, which also has eateries named Thaiphoon and Beau Thai. Residents say the pun names are inversely proportional to the food quality. They recommend Regent Thai, Baan Thai, or Little Serow. (via reddit)
Henri Le Chat Noir Says Oh, Revoir
After ten years of sharing his ennui and nihilism, Henri is retiring from making videos. He says he's retiring, but his farewell video makes it clear that he has given up on sharing his existential philosophy because no one one listened anyway. From Facebook:
Well, the time has come. My final video with the annoying thieving filmmaker is here. Now, I will finally be able to officially retire in peace and work on my philosophy without interruptions. I plan on writing the great feline-american novel. I thank all of you for your support and adulation.(via Tastefully Offensive)
Tweet of the Day
Whoa, we're halfway there…— Periwinkle Jones (@peachesanscream) August 22, 2016
Whoa-oh… pic.twitter.com/0o7i4h8M8l
(via Buzzfeed)
Friday, May 18, 2018
How Black Panther Should Have Ended
The busy minds at How It Should Have Ended found a bunch of the plot holes in Black Panther and applied real-world logic to them. That kind of thing can make a superhero movie dangerously short. It's a good thing they threw in some other superheroes to make things interesting: Captain America (at least I think that's him -he wears a star) and a couple others you wouldn't expect in a Marvel movie. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Michigan's First Police Cat
Troy, Michigan, recruited a kitten as a police officer. Pawfficer Donut was sworn in by two judges and everything! And the little guy got covered on The Daily Show.
Star Wars Puppeteer David Barclay
In the original Star Wars trilogy, aliens were puppets and animatronics instead of CGI. Dave Barclay was a puppeteer in those movies, starting with assisting Frank Oz with Yoda. He was also inside Jabba the Hutt. Here he talks about bringing the aliens to life. (via Laughing Squid)
Miss Cellania's Links
Lawfare on Flipping Michael Cohen. How it's done with organized crime figures.
16 Fashion Rules the Royal Family Lives By.
Listen to These Auditory Illusions When You’re Bored With Laurel and Yanny. Learn about five ways your brain affects what you hear.
Elizabeth Magie and the History of the Board Game Monopoly. What it became was a far cry from her original intention.
South Georgia Island Is Officially Free of Its Bird-Killing Rodents. The invasive species wrecked the balance of nature for 250 years.
Everybody Once Thought Stegosauruses Could Actually Fly. Early fossil finds led one paleontologist into wild speculation about the dinosaur.
The Truth About the First Academy Awards and the Dog Rin Tin Tin. He was a good boy, but not an Oscar winner.
Las Vegas is everything right -and wrong- with sports right now. Stadiums built with tax money rarely benefit the taxpayers.
A parenting hack for the ages.
True Facts: Ant Mutualism
When Ze Frank took several years off from his True Facts series, he was apparently stockpiling scripts for his return. This is his third video in the past month! And it's quite interesting, even past the snarky comedy. Leaf-cutter ants are farmers. They use plants to grow fungus to feed animals. This benefits both the ants and the fungus (but maybe not the tree so much) in an example of mutualism. Other ants use various insects in other mutualism schemes, some of which can be pretty gross.
Tweet of the Day
Michael Keaton closed his commencement speech at Kent State with "I'm Batman."— TODD SPENCE (@Todd_Spence) May 16, 2018
And this is why Michael Keaton is the best. pic.twitter.com/20H1B99aCl
(via Digg)
Thursday, May 17, 2018
Dirty Harry Potter
Daniel Radcliffe's new movie is called Guns Akimbo. This photo from the set inspired a lot of Harry Potter titles at reddit.
Harry Potter: The Sorcerer Is Stoned
Harry Potter and the Secret of One in the Chamber
Harry Potter and The Sorcerers Meth Lab
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stoner M16
Harry Potter and the Deadly Hollows
Harry Potter and the Ingestion of Unknown Drug
Dirty Harry Potter and the Chamber of Bullets
Harry Potter and the Order of the Glock
Harry Potter and the Goblet of “Fire at Will”
Strangest Things: The Golden Mysteries
Stephen Colbert brainstormed with a bunch of children to come up with the perfect new TV show. I'd watch it. Strangest Things: The Golden Mysteries stars Brooke Shields, Jason Segel, Kathryn Hahn, Michael Shannon, Hugh Laurie, John Oliver, David Tennant, Willem Dafoe, and Whoopi Goldberg.
How Squids Outsmart Their Predators
Cephalopods are weird. Squids get less publicity than octopuses, but they are really weird as well. The sea creatures have developed so many strategies for evading predators in the sea that we marvel how undersea life is totally different from the way land animals go through life. Ink! Jet propulsion! Chromatophores! Disconnected sensory systems! And squids have even more "superpowers" in this TED-Ed video. (via Digg)
Miss Cellania's Links
Bacteriophage therapy to fight superbugs (seen here) is not FDA approved, so very few patients in the US have the treatment, and they must get a compassionate waiver to even try it. Read about one such patient -who happened to be married to an infectious-disease epidemiologist, in an article at Mother Jones.
John Kelly's American Tales of Immigration.
I Don’t Know How to Waste Time on the Internet Anymore. Hey, Dave, I'm doing the best I can! (via Kottke)
Pulling Off the Perfect Power Nap. A half-hour nap is good, but a longer nap is even better.
Identical Twins Hint at How Environments Change Gene Expression. Studies of twins separated at birth are shedding new light on how nature and nurture work together to create who we are.
The Ultimate Senior Prank. Police in Cumberland, Wisconsin, got a call about a car that had driven through a wall into the local high school's principal's office, but then had a good laugh.
The Surprising History (and Future) of Fingerprints. Using them to solve crimes is a relatively recent innovation.
A lathe is a serious investment in money, time, space, and material. That's why we have WebGL Lathe Workshop, where you can turn a nice newel or chair leg online, for free! (via Kottke)
Researchers Uncovered Two Pages of 'Dirty Jokes' in Anne Frank's Diary. More evidence that she was a typical teenager.
Tweet of the Day
Thandie Newton at the Cannes Film Festival wearing a dress that has black #StarWars characters on it. #Solo pic.twitter.com/tVBTPhVx7B— Geeks of Color (@GeeksOfColor) May 15, 2018
(via The Daily Dot)
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Astrobiology
This is how science is done. It's the latest from Zach Weinersmith at Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.
My Kid's Summer Job
My younger daughter, the one I refer to as Gothgrrl on the blog, has always loved elephants. From a young age, she told me she was going to grow up and get a job taking care of elephants. I never told her she couldn't do that, but I said she might have to expand her focus to take care of all animals, if she wanted to work in a zoo or something. I guess she showed me. She is working on a degree in zoology, and is spending the summer interning in an elephant sanctuary in Thailand. She's the one in the middle. She found the place, got the job, received a grant, and made all the arrangements herself. I couldn't be more proud.
The Deadliest Being on Planet Earth
What kills more living things than anything else? A bacteriophage is not a bacteria; it's a virus that kills bacteria. As a virus, it walks the line between living and non-living. It kills trillions of bacteria every day. However, we are now looking at bacteriophages as something we can use for our own ends. Kurzgesagt explains it all to us.
Miss Cellania's Links
Trump Has Now Broken Every One of His Economic Populist Promises.
Poor cat.
The Truth Behind Jeff Goldblum’s Iconic Jurassic Park Shirtless Scene Finally Emerges. It wasn't in the original script.
A New Study Brings Us Closer to Understanding if Jupiter's Moon Europa Could Host Alien Life. Data from the Galileo mission two decades ago indicates water on the surface.
How to Make Perfect Fried Rice. Although it is "perfect," commenters suggest variations for different tastes anyway.
Trump White House quietly cancels NASA research verifying greenhouse gas cuts. And canceled a chemical pollution study.
The Ladies' Deposit: The 19th-Century Ponzi Scheme by Women, for Women.
Flopstarter is a crowdfunding site for ridiculously bad ideas. You can actually donate, but I don't know why you'd want to. (Thanks, Ken D!)