If you're a rodent out in the forest, there's nothing more frightening than a hungry owl. They stare at you with those super predator eyes and glide in silently for the kill. Under a thick blanket of snow, however, they can't see you.
The great grey owl will find you anyway. These birds have superpowers, and they can hear voles moving underneath the snow. They have excellent hearing, and their whole face is designed to enhance that ability. We need special effects to detect what the owl can hear. They also use physics to fine-tune their attack on a fast-moving vole they cannot see. The owl's survival depends on it.
This nature sequence is from the CBC show The Nature of Things, from a series called Secret World of Sound. If you're interested, you can see how they got this amazing footage in a behind the scenes video explaining the acoustic camera. (via kottke)
Friday, October 16, 2026
An Owl Uses Sound to Hunt Under the Snow
The History of Domino's
The original title of this video is How Domino's Became #1 With Bad Pizza, but I'm not using that because many folks like Domino's pizza. I haven't eaten one in I don't know how long and besides, pizza is like sex. Anyway, Domino's is the number one pizza chain, and often it's the only name people can remember. Most of that is the work of Tom Monaghan, who founded Domino's in 1960 with his younger brother Jim. Success came from hard work, streamlining the restaurant's menu, delivery, and inventing of the pizza box. Name recognition came, too.
In the last 60 years, there have been many Domino's Pizza news stories that you will recall once you hear them again. Not all were detrimental to the company. but they all add up to a pizza place that everyone knows, even if they don't particularly care for the pizza.
Miss Cellania's Links
When Gilded Age New York City went to war against banana peels. (via Strange Company)
Legends Haunting Cemeteries. (Thanks, WTM!)
A Calvinesque and Hobbesian look at the midterms. The latest from Tom the Dancing Bug.
The Werewolf Trials That Predated the Salem Witch Trials By 200 Years.
R2D2 got teabagged at the Quebec Comiccon. An embarrassing episode.
The Zenith Balloon Tragedy of 1875. Like Icarus, they flew too high.
A Blast from the Past (2013): The Haunted Hospital.
Pumpkin Killing
Tennessee YouTube member hickok45 showed us how to carve a jack-o-lantern with a handgun (twice), and how to chop down a Christmas tree with a shotgun. Here, he presents the many different ways you can destroy a pumpkin after you're done with it. The chosen methods tend toward the violent, which is no surprise. Some men really do love their their power tools and weapons! But somehow I doubt if he expects you to emulate his skills with a light saber. His favorites are shown a second time in slow motion.
This is actually hickok45's fourth video in the Pumpkin Killing series. You can see more pumpkin mayhem in parts one, two, and three. (via Viral Viral Videos)
Zombies
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Paid Vacation
You will not be surprised that that United States has no mandatory paid days off for workers. But you might be surprised that we are the ONLY nation with over a million people that does not mandate any paid days off for workers. Gig work doesn't have any paid time off at all. In radio, most stations I worked for gave you a week's vacation if you lasted a whole year. However, they always made you feel bad for taking it. And you had to work extra hours for anyone else who took one, so we paid for it during the year and management wasn't out any cash. The rest of the world doesn't expect everybody to work all the time forever.
Stop Wearing So Much Black
A cat notices that humans are wearing black all the time now. What has happened to make us give up color? The cat has several theories, none of them good. Is it a statement of rebellion? Camouflage against the dark times? Maybe it's ennui, nihilism, or just plain exhaustion. Salem knows a thing or two about wearing black, but he can't change that, and he doesn't look at himself in the mirror anyway. But while the cat notices everything, he also has hope for the human species.
Octopus Chases a Laser Light
The ROV (remotely operated vehicle) Hercules was down 323 meters (1059 feet) in the Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary west of Hawaii, looking around for researchers aboard the EV Nautilus. A small octopus was just doing octopus things when the ROV's measurement lights became clear on the ocean floor. What did the octopus do? It chased the lights, just like a cat would chase a laser toy, much to the delight of the scientists watching it.
That's only the first two minutes of this video. There are other clips of small octopi looking for hidey holes and changing their colors. And as usual, the most delightful part of Nautilus' videos are the remarks from the researchers, who do this all the time and still find wonder in watching deep sea creatures in a their natural habitat. (via Metafilter)
If Driving Was Taught Like Sex Ed
The way we teach sex education in American schools is so weird that you can’t compare it to anything else, but if we did, it would be weird. Don’t do it, if you do it, don’t enjoy it, but don’t do it. (via Buzzfeed)
When All the Billionaires Exploded
Click to the right to see how this story plays out. I've always said that just being a millionaire is a sin, because hoarding more money than you can possibly use while some people don't have enough to live is the worst thing you can do. In this story we finally convince people that excessive wealth is not good for them personally.
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Mr. Sardonicus
In the 1961 Willian Castle gothic horror film Mr. Sardonicus, physician Sir Robert Cargrave is summoned by his ex-girlfriend Maude to a spooky eastern European castle to treat her new husband, Baron Sardonicus. The Baron suffers from a face paralyzed into an evil grin that interferes with eating and speaking -a result of his grave robbing incident. He rules his roost with cruelty, and Dr. Cargrave is drawn into his plans to cure his malady with experimental procedures because he's afraid of what may happen to Maude. (Thanks, WTM!)
Stutterer
Greenwood (played by Matthew Needham) is a lonely typographer who suffers from a serious stutter, and it makes his life hard. He's found ways around it to some extent, but everyday tasks are a constant reminder of his disability, like trying to get through to a customer service representative on the phone. His thoughts, however, are fluid and even poetic. The bright spot is that he's built a long distance text relationship with a woman named Ellie. Greenwood's anxiety blows up to eleven when she has an opportunity to travel to London and meet him in person.
The short film Stutterer highlights the inner struggles of those who suffer from a condition most of us don't understand. The film won an Oscar in 2016 for Best Live Action Short Film, plus a slew of other awards, and is only now available for all of us to see. I highly recommend it. (via kottke)
The Flintwhistle Job Interview
Finding a job these days means candidates must jump through many layers of hoops, including at least one humiliating "interview" with an AI agent because the company hasn't got the time or personnel for redundant, drawn-out hiring tasks.
Graham Dot Zip doesn't need a job, but he goes through the process to highlight the idiocy of AI interviews. In this one, he calls himself Chick Bongo and makes up corporate jargon to match what the agent is giving him. AI, knowing no better, is annoyingly agreeable and downright gullible. Graham mentions the word "flintwhistle" enough that the agent eventually incorporates it and even lies about offering it, first as a corporate strategy, then as a real whistle.
The whole series of such interviews is at Graham's YouTube channel, including the newest one in which he brings his own AI agent to the interview. (via Boing Boing)
Miss Cellania's Links
President Trump had reduced legal immigration more than twice as much as he had reduced illegal immigration. It's not about doing it "the right way," (which keeps changing anyway) but about racism. (via Metafilter)
Quebec Comiccon 2026 in Photos: Amazing Cosplay From the Show Floor.
Human Holes is a Wild Twist on Alien Abduction Stories.
The RFK Jr. Lament, a new song parody from Randy Rainbow. Contains NSFW language.
The Real Girls Who Inspired Stephen King's Carrie.
Watch five new Cheetah cubs on the Cheetah Cub Cam. Read about these cubs at Smithsonian.
The Death and Afterlife of an American Con Man. Jim Bakker’s vision of the future came to pass. Just not in the way the disgraced televangelist imagined. (via Damn Interesting)
Mark Zuckerberg presents "A.I. and U!" The latest from Tom the Dancing Bug.
Ten Hours of Street Harassment in Two Minutes
In 2015, Shoshana B. Roberts walked around Manhattan for ten hours (probably not all at the same time) with a guy in front of her carrying a hidden camera to record any interaction from strangers. That has been edited down to a couple of minutes in this video. This is the kind of thing women go through every day. Read about the project at Hollaback! If you go to the YouTube page, you’ll see that the majority of commenters do not believe this is harassment, and they are offended that it is portrayed as harassment. However, if you read the comments at Metafilter, it’s a completely different story. That’s why I prefer Metafilter to YouTube. Okay, that’s not the only reason, but you know what I mean. The comments at reddit are a mixed bag.
Stark
Stark has multiple rare conditions, but none that cause him any problems. They just makes him notable. But he's a cat, he still doesn't care.
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Death By Firing Squad
Jesse Welles has a few things to say about putting a military execution on public live streaming platforms. Whatever you think about capital punishment (I'm against it), making it into a spectacle is barbaric. Pete Hegseth says that a public execution will be a deterrent, but people already know murder is wrong, even those who do it. If you've ever met people, you know at least half will consider watching a firing squad blow someone away as entertainment, and will want more. It was true in ancient Rome, it was true in medieval Europe, and it was true during Jim Crow, regardless of the person's guilt.
When I was a child, there was a historical photograph of a lynching displayed at my local state park. The substantial crowd was well dressed for the time, and all turned to the camera to smile, even the children. The victim was barely a dark blob hanging from a tree. We may like to think we are better than that now, but recent history shows that we are not.
Sex Bomb
Imagine you've traveled to a market fair somewhere in Jolly Olde England around 1500. Among the farmers and craftsmen selling their wares, there are also jugglers, puppeteers, and singers to keep the crowd around. A four-man choir performs a cappella in harmony, but what are they singing? It's Tom Jones' 1999 hits "Sex Bomb" which was a big hit in Europe, but was never even released in the United States.
German music theory professor Jonas Wolf has a particular thing for Renaissance music. He has made a hobby of translating modern music pieces into different historical styles. This one is a one-man project, with Wolf singing four parts. While the song is quite pleasant, the real interest is the incongruity of the tune and the subject matter. However, from what I've read, performers in the Middle Ages could get pretty bawdy at times. (via Metafilter)
Kitchen Tools for the Blind
People who are blind can become very good at negotiating the world by touch, but that presents real hazards while cooking, specifically sharp knives and burning heat. Kevin Chiam designed some kitchen products to mitigate these dangers during his final year at the National University of Singapore. You can see that if these came to market, sighted people would use them, too. Chiam explains the design behind the products at his website. (via reddit)
Monday, October 12, 2026
Midnight Rider
Gregg Allman performs with Bonnie Raitt, Aaron Neville, and the Neville Brothers in 1989.
Cat Models
Grandpa Yoshitaka is well-known in Japan and has gone viral elsewhere for his lovely photographs with his cats Chouchou and Miko, and their beloved predecessor Wolf out in nature. Yoshitaka always has a beaming smile that competes with the cats. Or almost always. Getting two cats to get along long enough for a photo shoot in a flower garden isn't always easy. When they are good, they produce serene and beautiful images, but when they are bad, they are just funny. We know how hard it is to get cats to go with the program, and the fact that they manage to get so many good photos is a real accomplishment. You can see years worth iof these photos, the good ones and the ones with cat spats, at Instagram.
Packaging
Cat on the Catwalk
A cat strutted her stuff on the catwalk during a fashion show in Istanbul. Watch her graceful strides as she shows off a classic fur coat. Granted, she gets distracted by the models passing by, and has to stop for sudden grooming needs, but that's what you'd expect from a feline fashionista. (via Tastefully Offensive)
Sunday, October 11, 2026
Pete Hegseth Addresses the Crew of the Lincoln
I just got back in town, and I missed Saturday Night Live completely. But here is the opening skit from last night featuring Colin Jost as Pete Hegseth.
Cats Take to Abandoned Puppy
Irresponsible pet owners often dump kittens or puppies in random places when they can't find homes for all of them. The lucky ones will be found by people who care. This abandoned puppy has no idea what happened to him and where his mother went. The house cats, who might have a real problem accepting a grown dog or cat, recognized a baby in distress and are quick to comfort him. My cats are like this. They take months to accept a new adult cat, and they don't think much of dogs. But put a kitten in the mix, and my toms and queens, all fixed, run to dote on a new kitten. I bet they'd be the same with a puppy.
We Finally Know More About Humanity’s First Civilization
The scientific consensus is that human civilization started about 12,000 years ago. yeah, we don't really know for sure, but that's how far back the evidence we have goes. For the purpose of this video, Kurzgesagt assigns that point to be the year zero. This is when the first stone settlements were built, which left us traces of their history. From there, they progressed to religion, agriculture, trade, and war, in that order as these civilized people traveled to the ends of the earth. Then came climate change and the flood, causing many communities to relocate to survive. Those who did survive flourished, leading to larger cities, governments, and written language. Kurzgesagt only covers the time between the first human settlements and the first written evidence of history. This video is 15:40; the rest is an ad.
Bride of Resistor
Last week I posted Mr. Resistor, a 1994 animation by Mark Gustafson. Here is the sequel, Bride of Resistor, which Gustafson unveiled in 1997.
Spell Check is Important
Juice xkcd.com/3308/
— Randall Munroe (@xkcd.com) October 8, 2026 at 6:49 PM
[image or embed]
Saturday, October 10, 2026
The Crawling Hand
The 1963 science fiction horror film The Crawling Hand involves an astronaut infected with an alien microbe or something. The astronaut is blown to smithereens early, but his disembodied arm is found, and it's still controlled by alien life. Somehow, the space agency avoids any publicity about the astronaut's death, but his fingerprints are found at the scene of a murder. There are two teenagers in love, an unexpected pop song, and Alan Hale, Jr. (the Skipper) is the town sheriff. The Crawling Hand was later featured on MST3K. (Thanks, WTM!)
Prints of Darkness
Simon's Cat confronts his scariest nemesis yet, the infernal monster that is the household printer. It's a rare scene in which the loser isn't Simon himself, although his documents may be shredded by the time he finds them.
The Logistics of NYC Waste Management
New York City has 8.5 million people living within the city limits, which are in a relatively small area compared to other large cities. Manhattan has more than 70,000 people per square mile, stacked atop each other in tall buildings, all producing garbage everyday. Where does all that garbage go? Up until 2001, it was taken to a landfill on Staten Island, but Fresh Kills was never adequate or safe. And you can't just dump all that trash in the ocean.
New York City employees more than 9,000 people to deal with garbage, and there are thousands more working for private companies under city contracts. They collect trash every day, compact it, load it onto huge containers, and send it by train to far-flung parts of the country. Half as Interesting explains the complex logistics of dealing with trash in a system most New Yorkers know little about, and don't want to think about. The video is only 5:45, the rest is an ad.
A 5-Year-Old's Questions for Google Home
A father who is totally embracing modern technology discovers that Google Home had saved a year's worth of data, including his 5-year-old son's questions. He is charmed by his son's curiosity about the world, and appreciates the funny parts.
Rowan's questions are adorable. On the other hand, it's a bit creepy to think that all these commands to an app are recorded for someone else to find, and for Google to analyze and market.
My children came to me with incessant questions about the world throughout their childhoods, which I tried my best to answer, even if I had to look it up. As a result, they thought I was the repository of all the world's wisdom. They know better now, but I wouldn't trade that experience for all the chocolate. (via Laughing Squid)
Cheat Day
Friday, October 09, 2026
The Biggest Ball of Twine
In 1989, Weird Al Yankovic included a song called "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota" on his album UHF – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff. The song was not in the movie, and was never released as a single. But it referenced a real story.
In 1950, Francis A. Johnson of Darwin, Minnesota, started collecting sisal twine from hay baling. He rolled it into a ball that became enormous, and made the papers. But then Frank Stoeber of Cawker City, Kansas, decided to give Johnson a run for his money, and the race to get into the Guinness Book of World Records was on. You might even call it a war.
Drunk History gave Patton Oswalt all the Scotch whisky he could drink and had him tell the story of the world's biggest ball of twine. It features special appearances by Colin Hanks, Seth Green, Steve Agee, and Weird Al Yankovic. Oswalt kept up pretty well considering, until he was asked to give us the moral of the story. At least he tried. This video contains NSFW language.
Blue Planet III
It's rare that a trailer for a TV show can stand on its own as a beautiful short film, yet that's what our first look at the upcoming BBC series Blue Planet III is. You should put this on full-screen mode. The effect is both relaxing an awe-inspiring.
Blue Planet III will premiere before the end of the year in quite a few countries, although exact dates haven't yet been announced. The series will have six one-hour episodes focusing on the real blue part of our world, earth's ocean life, narrated by the legendary Sir David Attenborough. Four years of filming went into the project. This trailer features music by Hans Zimmer sung by Jade Thirlwall. (via TYWKIWDBI)
The Coffeemaker at Work
The Introverted Attorney illustrates how the coffeemaker at his office sounds the way he feels first thing in the morning. It doesn't want to work, either. (via Neatorama)
Miss Cellania's Links
38 Extremely Rare “Once-In-A-Lifetime” Photos That Completely And Totally Scrambled My Dumb Little Brain.
Astronomers May Have Found the First Direct Hint of Planet Nine. (via Damn Interesting)
When you try "pspspsps" on a wild cat. NSFW language.
The 10 Most Popular Pop Culture Halloween Costumes of 2026, Ranked.
Nobel prize in chemistry awarded for work on mirror-image molecules.
Neal Agarwal has a new game out called Spend Elon's Money. You can buy lots of expensive items, but that will barely make a dent. More about it here. (via Boing Boing)
15 Women Share How They Know a Man is a Creep.
“Has No Friends”: Amazon Is Keeping Amazingly Detailed Records on Its Customers and They Are Downright Insulting. My info there is mundane, but wrong because I buy gifts for other people. (via Fark)
Why 2000 People Died Fighting Over a Bucket
Wars have been fought for a lot of dumb reasons, but when political, religious, or ethnic tensions are inflamed, it only takes a spark to light a conflagration. In medieval Italy, all those tensions were sprung into war by a bucket. To be honest, the two regions were already fighting, but the bucket incident blew everything up, drawing thousands of fighters to their deaths in the battle of Zappolino. It was called the War of the Bucket. Be aware that the last minute of this video is an ad, so it's not as long as it seems. (via Digg)