Ria Misra

The GIF Party Doesn’t Start Until You Get Here

GIFs, assemble! It’s party time. Skip the party mingling, and let’s get right down to it: Tell us all about your week — what you did, what you saw, what you loved, what you hated — all through the underappreciated, but never underutilized, art of the GIF. This party begins now! Gif via commenter Brandon…

Why Announcers’ Voices Sound So Much Different Than They Used To

When you imagine the life of a voiceover actor, you probably think of hushed radio booths, a team of sound engineers, and ridiculously large microphones. But the job of a modern voiceover actor looks very different, and this helps explain why that “announcer’s voice” we’ve come to expect keeps changing. In response to a question…

It’s Only A Matter Of Time Before The Bourbon Shortage Hits

Take a seat and pour yourself a drink (no, no, a different one). You may need it to listen to this news. If bourbon is your drink of choice, you may have heard quiet rumblings the last few years of something unsettling afoot: a possible shortage coming down the pipeline. A bourbon shortage would be…

What From Your Own Life Would You Put Into A Time Capsule?

Two hundred years from now, we will all be gone. But our stuff will live on far past our own expirations dates. What would you want to leave for future generations to shake their heads over/marvel at/pity? Make your selections (something technical? something cultural? some sort of confusing futuristic easter egg?) for what you would…

A Chef Guides Us Through The Weird Process Of Creating A TV Dinner

Ever wondered just how all those pre-packaged meals, with the list of unpronounceable ingredients on the back, are made and just who it is who develops the recipes? A chef takes us through the whole process, from the lab/kitchen all the way to your grocery cart. Commenter Stroppydog, a research chef whose job involves creating…

Here’s NASA’s Deep Space Rocket Booster In Action, On The Ground

It’s the most powerful rocket booster ever built, could be our best bet to set a foot down on Mars, and it just successfully fired up in this test explosion not out in the wilds of space, but right here on the ground — and you can see it in action in these incredible pictures.…

What Secrets From Your Industry Would Most Surprise Outsiders?

So much of what is common knowledge to people who work in a field is shrouded in mystery for everyone else. Today, we get behind that veil to learn something new. Maybe you want to breakdown the timeline of just how long it takes you to get a book published, from the first draft to…

Keep Your Wine Fresh After Opening, Using The Power Of Inert Gas

Opening a new bottle of wine always involves a little bit of mental math: Will you be left with a fraction of a bottle? And, if so, how long will you have, before its flavor turns to vinegar? Fortunately, there’s a solution, and it’s hidden in the periodic table. After reading about the strange phenomenon…

These Are The Satellites Watching Us From Above The Earth

Satellite data can reveal a host of very small data points from very far away. But just how do they get such a detailed view? Through a mix of all kinds of different satellites, all moving in concert around the Earth, and keeping a close eye on it. Here they are in action. NASA’s Scientific…

What’s Your Favorite Book To Talk About With Other People?

Some books best lend themselves to quiet contemplation, and then there are books that you simply have to talk about with someone else. Today, we want to know about the books you’re never tired of talking about. Tell us what the book is and why you love to talk about it. Is it to theorize…

These Six-Word Scifi Stories Have Some Pretty Tangled Timelines

Whether taking us to a very, very ancient Martian surface, giving us the chance to play detective with some found clues dropped by future travelers, or just warning us about the worst of the future’s entry-level jobs, these stories present us with some very complicated timelines. And they do it all in just six words.…

These Are All The Areas Likely To Be Hit By The Coral Bleaching Outbreak

Coral bleaching is among nature’s spookiest reactions. One day, a section of coral is teeming with life and color. Then, suddenly, all that’s left is the bleached out outline of that empty coral, a ghost coral in empty waters. And we could be headed for a truly landscape altering coral bleaching this year. Top image:…

Write Some Six-Word Science Fiction For Us!

Sometimes, just a few words are enough to build a universe. So take six words of your own, and tell us some science fiction stories! Maybe you want to write a multiple-part epic, like this chilling little tale put together by two commenters: (“Greetings. We mean you no harm.” – acgilson “With the sequel, ‘Apologies,…

This Chunk Of Fool’s Gold Naturally Formed In These Cubes

The golden color and shine of iron pyrite (which is responsible for its nickname, “fool’s gold”) may grab all the attention. But, there is another element of its appearance that is every bit as dramatic: It’s tendency to form into these incredibly precise, almost machine-like cubes.So how does it do it? The question was raised…

How bad was your winter? How you answer that question depends, of course, on where you’re answering it from. Climate Central has put together a calculator that shows you just where in the spectrum of your city’s wintry history this year falls in terms of temperatures over the last 120 years of winters.

NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft Is Finally In Orbit Around Ceres

At 4:39 (PST) this morning, after over seven years and three billion miles of travel, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft was pulled into Ceres’ orbit, becoming the first ever mission to orbit around a dwarf planet. An hour after the spacecraft slipped into the planet’s orbit from 35,000 miles away, NASA announced that they had received a…

This GIF Party Is Ready To Dance

Cue up your favorite playlists, GIFs! It’s time for a party. What did you do this week? Set your party GIFs to dancing in the comments, while you update us on any news, plans, and anything else you want to talk about right now.

Why Those Newly Uncovered Fairytales Are The Darkest Ones Yet

If you’ve had a chance to dig into that cache of recently discovered fairytales (and if you haven’t, visit our exclusive lookat one of the tales), you may have noticed something about them: They are unusually dark. Here’s why these new versions might be a little grimmer than the ones you are familiar with. Maria…

El Niño Is Finally Here, But Not Quite How We Expected It

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA] has announced the long-predicted El Niño for this year has finally arrived. But it doesn’t look quite like we thought it would. Despite last year’s predictions that we could see a weather event that might rival the incredibly powerful El Niño of 17 years ago, the actual conditions…

Ask All Your Questions About Those Rediscovered Lost Fairytales!

Maria Tatar is the translator of the newly discovered trove of fairytales, lost for over a century, but just recently uncovered. Ask her all your questions about The Turnip Princess, the history of fairytales and folklore, and anything else you want to know! In addition to her new book, The Turnip Princess and Other Newly…