Lauren Davis

The New City Of Babel

To an outside observer, the city of Babiru looked chaotic. But when the only direction a city can build is up, its inhabitants learn the history behind every single story. Concept art by Nivanh Chanthara from his project Babiru. Chanthara is collaborating with Fred Rambaud on Babiru, which focuses on the survival of the people…

A Short Comic About The Time New York Outlawed Pinball

Pinball may seem today like one of the most innocent of pastimes, but in 1942, the game was banned in New York City. Why? And what happened to all those machines? This short comic by Julia Wertz has the answer. Over at the New Yorker, Wertz explains New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia’s vendetta against…

7 Real Life Forms That People Once Believed Were Hoaxes

The history of science has its share of biological frauds, cases where people fabricated an imaginary organism and passed it off as real, or lied about an organism’s behavior. Every now and then, however, a creature that is suspected of being a hoax turns out to be real. Top image: Berlin Aquarium mural of a…

Concept Art Writing Prompt: Unnatural Selection

We’ve got some kind of evaluation happening in this week’s Concept Art Writing Prompt, by artist Johannes Holm. So what’s going on? And what happens to the humans who are pulled out of line? Each week, we share an interesting image and invite you to write a story based on that image. Feeling inspired? Post…

​Stop-Motion Animation Explains How Ancient Romans Built Trajan’s Column

Trajan’s Column in Rome commemorates Emperor Trajan’s victory over Dacian Wars in 155 bas relief scenes. This stop-motion video outlines the current theory on how the towering structure was built. National Geographic put this animation together with director Hans Weise and art director Fernando G. Baptista. You can read more background on the column and…

Trying To Stop Words From Changing Their Meanings Is “Literally” Useless

Lately, it seems that there are few words in the English language that stir up as much semantic ire as “literally” does. As more and more people have been using “literally” to mean “really,” some English speakers fret that the meaning of the word will change. But the truth is that it would hardly be…

Watch Sansa Stark Make Up Game Of Thrones Fan Fiction On The Spot

Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark on Game of Thrones, gets put on the spot in this video. She’s asked to describe an episode of The Real Housewives of Westeros, and it includes a romance between Sansa and Margaery Tyrell. Vanity Fair put together this video, and now we’re sad that the only way we’ll…

The Cloud Dragon Did Not Go Hungry That Night

As the tiny figure floated down onto Caelia’s wing, the dragon thought to herself, “Human food delivery. Now why has no one thought of that before?” Concept art by Cathrine Langwagen. “Cloud Dragon” is featured with permission and was spotted on r/ImaginaryLeviathans. The headline is shamelessly stolen from Langwagen’s own comments about the illustration.

What Happens When People First Realize That Their World Isn’t Real?

The people in the proof-of-concept short film Sundays are living in a Matrix-like reality, but this isn’t quite The Matrix. This is a story about people just beginning to realize something is awry with their reality. It’s not only that they may be living in a simulation — it’s also that the world they’re inhabiting…

Steven Spielberg Will Direct Ready Player One—Prepare For 1980s Overload

Ernest Cline’s novel Ready Player One is chock full of tributes to the geek culture of the late 20th century, especially its movies and video games. And it turns out that the movie version will be helmed by a man who has inspired incredible amounts 1980s and 1990s nostalgia all on his own: Steven Spielberg.…

Man Turns His Birthmark Into A Map Of An Imaginary World

Artistic inspiration can come from all sorts of places, and redditor Mneneon found an interesting worldbuilding idea in his own birthmark. He took a pen to his arms and outlined his birthmark, creating a map of his very own — very personal — world. In a thread about his birthmark map, Mneneon says that he…

A Girl Inherits A Wizard’s House—And Discovers A War Happening Inside

When Henrietta Achilles, the protagonist of Haiko Hörnig’s webcomic A House Divided, learns that she has inherited the estate of her “uncle,” she’s understandably suspicious. After all, she’s never heard of him. But that’s the least of her concerns when she shows up at the house and discovers there’s a war going on. A House…

This Floating McDonalds Has Sat Empty For 28 Years

The McBarge was a floating McDonald’s restaurant constructed for Expo ’86 in Vancouver, but after the expositions ended, it never saw another bag of french fries. Today, the McBarge sits empty in British Columbia’s Burrard Inlet, although its owner hopes to someday turn it back into a working restaurant. Top photo by Taz (CC BY…

These NSFW King Lear Illustrations Are Gorgeous—And Incredibly Grotesque

In 1930, Curwen Press published an edition of William Shakespeare’s King Lear with illustrations by artist John Yunge-Bateman. Yunge-Bateman’s black-and-white interpretation of the play is quite striking — and oddly heavy on the thong underwear. These images come from a copy of the Curwen Press that is currently up for auction on eBay (via feuilleton).…

Jane Goodall Talks About Her Belief In Yetis In This Animated Interview

“I’m a romantic,” Jane Goodall says in this 2002 interview with Ira Flatow on Science Friday (animated by Blank on Blank). Here, she discusses both her observations and the places where her ideas have clashed with the scientific community — including her suspicion that ape-like cryptids actually exist. This is the second in Blank on…

A Surprisingly Funny Western Where All Of The Characters Are Pies

Poisonberry Pete is an outlaw in a town whose residents are all pies, and when he storms into a saloon looking for, ahem, dough, it’s just one of a number of baked goods-themed gags in this flaky fun short film. The Ballad of Poisonberry Pete was made by Uri Lotan, Adam Campbell, and Elizabeth McMahill…

This Animated Alphabet Looks Like A Series Of Wriggling Parasites

Ari Weinkle‘s experimental typeface “Feelers” is inspired by the movements of animal appendages, and each letter does look alive. In fact, the look like they might squirm inside your body and start spelling out commands. You can watch the alphabet below, and you can also see all of the animated GIFs at once at Tumblr…

What Happens When Mythological Creatures Visit The Unemployment Office?

Olivier Beguin’s Employee of the Month is a goofy but fun short film that follows a day in the life of a vocational office worker as she tries to connect zombies, mummies, fairies, and all other manner of mythical being with new jobs. After hearing their employment histories, it’s clear that it won’t be easy.…

Last Man On Earth Solves Its Pesky Incest Problem

Phil and Carol have spent the last couple episodes of The Last Man on Earth trying to procreate so they can save the human race — but does that mean their kids will have to have kids with each other? Phil comes up with a plan to spread out the gene pool, but naturally, it…

Hollywood heard you! Ruairí Robinson’s proof-of-concept film The Leviathan is on track to become a full-length feature. X-Men writer and producerSimon Kinberg has signed onto the project as producer with Neill Blomkamp onboard as executive producer. Let’s hope something great comes out of this.