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Watch people throw molten iron to make it explode against a brick wall

Dashuhua is a 500-year-old Chinese tradition practiced in Nuanquan town, in Hebei province, during the Lantern festival. It consists in throwing molten iron scraps to the cold bricks of the city gate to produce a spectacular shower of sparks that burst into the air creating a similar effect to a fireworks display. SPLOID is delicious…

“I was in hospital last week. I asked the nurse if I could do my own stitches. She said ‘suture self'” was one of the bits of wordplay that secured the UK Pun Championship for Leo Kearse last week. Read more of them at The Independent.

Instagram Posts Help Reveal Schock’s Inappropriate Taxpayer Spending

According to the Associated Press, Republican Representative Aaron Schock has been spending taxpayer money on private jets and taking his staff to sold out concerts. And they’ve confirmed at least some of that using Instagram. The news wire reports that it extracted location data from his (prolific) Instagram feed and compared it with records about…

A Sunset On the Surface of Mars

Using photos taken from Mars by the Opportunity Rover, NASA has recreated the sunset the rover sees from the red planet. Hit play and be mesmerized.

Curiosity’s New Software Lets It Drill More Gently (and Do Less Damage)

Curiosity can be heavy handed. Its drill, used to investigate geological samples on Mars, has frequently broken the rocks that NASA scientists have wanted to peer inside. But a new software update means that now it can go more gently with its drill. Curiosity has six settings on its drill. Between the softest and hardest…

These Mice on a Treadmill Show Weight Loss Drugs in Action

Cheap, effective and—above all—safe weight loss drugs could help ease the obesity epidemic. These mice demonstrate how a new weight loss jab called morpholino works, as they scuttle along a treadmill. Images using infrared as they exercise, the different colors reveal how much energy different parts of creatures are using—red means a lot. On the…

Words of Praise For Microfilm, An Overlooked But Essential Library Tool

There are some great research-minded tumblrs out there — I highly recommend JSTOR‘s — the Muncie, Indiana Public Library is celebrating technology month in February. They asked their local history librarians what they thought the best technology was. They were big fans of microfilm. Photo credit: Microfilm Reels by University of Illinois Library/flickr/CC BY 2.0…

Drone footage of Russia’s Air Force Museum shows a heaven for planes

All these fighter jets and war planes and attack helicopters are on display at Russia’s Central Air Force museum just outside of Moscow. They’re advanced killing machines. And yet this drone footage makes them look so peaceful, resting and hibernating in the Russian winter snow. It’s as if we’ve stumbled upon a paradise for planes.…

How Wes Anderson uses red and yellow to paint his movies

When I think of the colors red and yellow together, I think of Big Macs and french fries and chicken nuggets. Yep, I think of McDonald’s. But maybe I should think of Wes Anderson movies now. As you can see in this lovely supercut by Rishi Kaneria that shows Anderson’s use of color, red and…

James Gunn’s Poetic Defense of Superhero Movies

James Gunn took to his Facebook page to respond to a number of disses superhero movies took during the awards season. He was mostly very unconcerned with it all, but he did end with the admonition that their characters were every bit as loved as those from “serious” films.

The Black Plague Was Probably Caused By Cute Gerbils, Not Dirty Rats

Conventional wisdom has it that the Black Death was spread throughout Europe by nasty, evil dirty, disease-carrying rats. Well, prepare to have your mind blown (and find a new pet): according to a new study, gerbils are more likely to blame. The Black Death — a mid-14th century epidemic of the bubonic plague that killed…

A.I. Might Kill Us Through Incompetence, Not Malevolence

Artificial intelligence has been looming large in the public conciousness recently, thanks to the likes of Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking telling us how we’re going to die at the hands of robots (the upcoming Terminator reboot probably doesn’t help, either). But amidst the techpocalypse talk, there’s been limited discussion of what constitutes A.I, and…

Chef magically cuts a carrot into an elaborate net

On good days, my knife skills could be considered rudimentary. On most other days though, I’m probably a danger to myself. So never in my wildest dreams would I ever think that I could pull this sorcery off: turn a regular carrot into a perfectly webbed net by strategically cutting it with a knife. The…

Well, That’s One Solution to the Parking Problem

When technology fails to create more parking, just use magic. It’s the only way. This amazing piece of mind-bending photomashery was created by UK artist and designer Alex Chinneck. See more of his work on his website. via Twisted Sifter

’50 Shades Of Grey’ Had An Entirely Predictable Effect On Porn Searches

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but whips and chains excite me. At least that’s the message that randy users are sending leading porn streaming site PornHub following the release of 50 Shades Of Grey in cinemas: more people — especially women — want to watch BDSM content thanks to Christian Grey. In case…

American Junk Food Is Officially Ruining The Children Of The World

Food habits are getting worse around the world, even in countries with traditionally healthy diets. The reason, according to a new series of obesity studies, is Western junk food. And since the makers of said junk food specifically target children with advertising, the problem is only likely to get worse. Reports the New York Times:…

Sesame Street perfectly parodies House of Cards

Though only parents and maybe a handful of Underwoodian kids watching would understand the parody, Sesame Street pretty much nailed House of Cards in a skit about the Three Little Pigs. Frank Underwolf stars and recreates the same feel of the political drama—soliloquies, southern accent, plotting, etc.—only with muppets instead. It actually sums up the…

The Most Serene Spot In Mars Station Was The Zen Rock Garden

Pietro resisted Nursebot’s physical therapy efforts, preferring to spend the day staring at the koi pond and reading. But whenever Nursebot asked him to describe the arrays outside, Pietro would happily shuffle to the window, even though Nursebot had heard it all a dozen times before. Art by Adrien Girod. Girod is a concept artist…

Watching this guy jump down into the thick unknown fog made me scream

The whole time I was watching this video of Marshall Miller base jumping into Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland, I was screaming inside. You see the entire jump from his perspective, as he looks down and around and can’t see anything but fog and yet he still makes the jump. And as he’s falling down, you still…

Valve Is Getting Ready to Debut “SteamVR”

You’ve got your Oculus Rift. You’ve got your Sony Project Morpheus. You’ve got your Microsoft Hololens. Which gaming heavyweight is missing? OK maybe Nintendo, but I’m talking about Valve, and Valve just announced it’s making “SteamVR.” In an understated update to its Steam Universe page (where SteamOS and Steam Machines were introduced) Valve says the…