All the Ways Butterflies Use Color to Stay Alive

We all know that camouflage is an important tool in the evolutionary toolbox. But it’s only one of the ways that butterflies and caterpillars use color to keep themselves safe. Image credit: First Butterfly In May by tdlucas5000/flickr/CC BY 2.0 Liz Langley atNational Geographichas an article on the bright colors used by various species of…

Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic World Follow-Up Will Be Intelligent Life

Instead of doing another big franchise film after Jurassic World, Colin Trevorrow’s next project, Intelligent Life, will bring him back to his Safety Not Guaranteed roots. Fingers crossed that this film will continue to put him on a upward trajectory. Intelligent Life will be directed by Trevorrow, and was written with his Safety Not Guaranteed…

The Incredible Artistry That Went Into The Hobbit‘s Endless Battles

Weta’s put a huge amount of concept art from The Battle of the Five Armies. The level of detail going into the costumes, weapons, and fight scenes is simply incredible. In Weta’s video, you can see ideas go from concept art to practical and visual effects. No matter what else The Hobbit is, it looks…

Celebrate the Women of Science With These Beautiful Pieces of Art

It’s International Women’s Day, and along with celebrating the women who changed the history of physics and those working in science now, there are these amazing prints from Rachel Ignotofsky. Ignotofsky’s work is available on Instagram and for purchase as t-shirts and prints on etsy. She’s finished seven of her planned total of fifty —…

Stop And Admire This Charismatic, Saucer-Eyed Octopus

This fetching creature comes courtesy of the NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program,”Our Deepwater Backyard: Exploring Atlantic Canyons and Seamounts.” The caption on NOAA’s Flickr photostream page notes: As we prepared to leave the seafloor at Physalia Seamount, ROV Deep Discoverer came across this photogenic octopus. What a great way to end a dive! More striking photos…

An Intriguing Theory That Explains This Winter’s Intensely Cold Weather

In this scenario, put forth by physicists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the rise in air pollution via coal emissions from China and Southeast Asia is to blame for the relentless snows that have blanketed parts of the United States. NPR’s Goats and Soda blog reports: The animation from NASA [seen below] shows how pollution…

Florida’s Environmental Strategy: Banning The Phrase “Climate Change”

The devastating effects of rising sea levels are well-documented in Florida, but officials in the state’s Department of Environmental Protection are ordered against using the terms “climate change,” “global warming,” or “sustainability” in any official communications or documents. This impressively detailed report by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting cites records as well as past…

Photographer Robert Shults spent nine months shooting inside the Texas lab that hosts the intensely powerful Petawatt laser to create new collection The Superlative Light. He drew inspiration not just from his evocative subject, but from his favorite scifi movies, like Alphaville and The Fly.

How Many Of These Statements Are True?

This week’s puzzle poses an apparent paradox. Given ten self-referential statements, your task is to determine which of statements are true, and which are false. Sunday Puzzle #23: Statements of Truth This week’s puzzle is presented at the top of the post. I will repeat it here. Above, there are ten numbered statements. Which of…

Just A Really Mesmerizing Video Of A Mochi Machine At Work

Watch this video of a mochi machine working its transformation magic on a portion of rice, and three things are pretty likely to happen: 1) You will feel very relaxed; 2) Your sweet tooth will start making demands; 3) If you’re me … both. [Via The Awesomer]

New Doc About Victorian-Era Taxidermy Puts The “Aww” In “Macabre”

Walter Potter: The Man Who Married Kittens is a short doc written and directed by Ronni Thomas, who’s the filmmaker-in-residence at Brooklyn’s Morbid Anatomy Museum. It explores the macabre yet oddly adorable work of Victorian England taxidermist Walter Potter. DO WANT. Here’s a more detailed description from the Morbid Anatomy site: This film takes a…

World’s Most Powerful Solid Booster Set for Test Firing March 11

All systems are go for the inaugural ground test firing on March 11 of the world’s most powerful solid rocket booster ever built that will one day power NASA’s mammoth new Space Launch System (SLS) heavy lift rocket and propel astronauts to deep space destinations. Orbital ATK’s five segment rocket motor is assembled in its…

Thor Stops By SNL To Do Running Man, Celebrate Victory Over Ultron

Last night’s Saturday Night Live was hosted by Chris Hemsworth. Naturally, Avengers: Age of Ultron … specifically its final scene … made for a ripe target. Watch the video below, but beware: SPOILERS GALORE! (Obviously not really). Booooom! H/T Uproxx

There’s haunting, abandoned-building fascination galore, plus some intense graffiti, in this photo-heavy look at Long Island’s shuttered Kings Park Psychiatric Center. Unsurprisingly, multiple horror movies have been filmed there; it’s also the subject of a documentary made by a former patient.

A Color-Saturated Look At Mercury’s Massive, Ancient Caloris Basin

Mercury’s Caloris Basin is seen in an enhanced color mosaic. The massive crater, formed some 4 billion years ago, is orange. Smaller craters made subsequently are rendered in blue, while orange splotches around the perimeter may be volcanic vents. (Side note: Props to the punster who titled the photo “All About that Basin” on the…

Mars Loses an Ocean But Gains the Potential for Life

Looking at Mars’ dusty, dessicated landscape, it’s hard to believe that it once possessed a vast ocean. A recent NASA study of the Red Planet using the world’s most powerful infrared telescopes clearly indicate a planet that sustained a body of water larger than the Earth’s Arctic Ocean. NASA scientists have determined that a primitive…

This Vintage Medical Advertisement Is Ever So Slightly Problematic

Where to even begin, really? How fast do you think those kids built that log cabin after popping a few of these? Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine‘s archive of amusing and/or disturbing Patent Medicine Trade Cards.

Dreamy Video Captures Murmuration Of Starlings Undulating In The Sky

Starling flocks are called “murmurations.” The birds fly in massive, tightly-packed groups to fend off predators, find food together, and seek mates. There are several theories as to how they coordinate their flight patterns so smoothly; what’s certain is how hypnotic it looks from the ground. [Via The Guardian]

Watch This Heroic Bald Eagle Keep Her Eggs Warm In A Snow-Covered Nest

Though the live camera feed of her nest in Pennsylvania’s Codurus State Park reveals that she’s gotten some relief from the snow, this image (captured March 5) shows a bald eagle mother keeping her eggs warm … despite what was clearly some deeply inconsiderate weather. Screengrab via ABC 27. Via the Audobon Society.

New Recipe For 19th Century Shipwrecked Beer 

Scientists have scrutinized the contents of four bottles of beer found in a Baltic Sea shipwreck from the 1840s, an amber ale that perhaps was brewed in Belgium and was on its way to ports in Russia or Scandinavia. Researchers Arvi Wilpola and John Londesborough use an aseptic method to open one of the found…