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This High-Res Satellite Can Count The Number Of Chickens On Earth

Now that the WorldView-3, the world’s first satellite capable of capturing high-resolution public images has launched, here’s exactly what it is capable of doing all the way up from 385 miles above the Earth, according to this cool Mashable article: It may prevent famine in Syria by identifying ahead of time exactly how many crops…

Outlander Star Sam Heughan Auditioned for Game of Thrones Seven Times

Add Sam Heughan to the list of actors who were turned down multiple times for projects before landing just the right one. Because Heughan really wanted to be in Game of Thrones, but never made that last cut. It’s probably for the best, since he’s great where he is. Heughan told Vulture: I auditioned for…

UC Riverside’s Eaton Science Fiction Collection is in danger from new management. Professor Nalo Hopkinson reports that the largest public collection of science fiction and fantasy is endangered by the library administration, who has alienated the staff and plans to reduce the size of the collection. [Boing Boing]

Should E-Cigarettes Be Banned As “Hazardous Materials” On Flights?

Not only will e-cigarettes mess you up if you smoke them too much, they are now under scrutiny for listing as a flight hazard. The New York Times reports that officials at Boston’s Logan International Airport are asking the Transportation Department to consider classifying e-cigarettes as hazardous materials after a smoldering bag had to be…

Adorable dog balances 100 different fruits and vegetables on its head

This is so ridiculous that it’s kind of fun. Maymo, the lemon beagle in the video, is so great at balancing things on his head that he can wear 100 different kinds of fruits and vegetables as hats. The more color, the better. Maymo’s YouTube channel writes: Cute Dog Maymo balances 100 different fruits &…

Sharklumbo Is the Detective We Didn’t Know We Needed

Funny Or Die’s contribution to the general shark madness that this week brings is Sharklumbo, which, they explain, “Is a shark and it’s also Peter Falk as Columbo.” You know what? The Asylum’s Sharknado 2: The Second One was similar overexplanation. Kevin Pollack’s Peter Falk impression makes this whole thing work. Also, this take on…

T-Mobile Will Throttle Your Data If You Use Torrents

If you’re using your unlimited T-Mobile 4G/LTE plan to download the last season of Game Of Thrones in all its 1080P glory, stop now or be throttled. According to an internal memo to staff, T-Mobile knows if you abuse your data allowance and will “address” you shortly. T-Mobile’s terms and conditions clearly spell out what…

Watch how the creator of Peanuts drew Charlie Brown

Here’s how Charles Schulz, the trailblazing cartoonist who created Peanuts, drew Charlie Brown. I love his sure strokes and how he builds out the character but most importantly, I love how he’s done in less than half a minute. The Peanuts channel also has other videos of other artists drawing other Peanuts characters. This one…

How a documentary about Eskimos explains our stupid reality TV obsession

We can trace the world’s obsession with curvaceous humanoids like Kim Kardashian and mannequin dolls named after cities and hotel chains back to the first documentary ever made: Nanook of the North. It was a documentary that faked the life of eskimos to entertain people. Does that sound familiar? Why yes of course. That’s basically…

This mesmerizing machine rolls and unrolls condoms

It’s like watching an orchestra. One arm of the machine maintains a gentle yet precise grip on the condom, swooping down and up on the metal rod. Another brushes the rubber while the machine in the back sucks it back in for packaging. It’s a never ending cycle. One day we will make a How…

There’s a Skate Park In an Old Tunnel Under London, And You Can Visit

Amongst the abandoned diggers, unexploded bombs, and Medieval bodies, a labyrinth of Tube tracks—both fully functional and obsolete—wind beneath the streets of London. Last week the city got a whole new subterranean social scene at the House of Vans, a series of five disused tunnels outfitted with bars, a diner, gallery, music venue, and skate…

Apple Is Banning Two Hazardous Chemicals From iPhone Production

You can buy your pretty new iPhone 6 with somewhat of a clearer conscience this fall. Apple announced today that they’re eliminating two known toxins—benzene and n-hexane—from the production of iPhone and iPads. Activists groups have been pressuring Apple to remove the toxins for months, launching a petition that claims that over 1.5 million workers…

Lauren Bacall Starred Alongside Groundbreaking Tech In This 1953 Film

The great Lauren Bacall passed away yesterday, one of the last surviving stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood (some perspective: now all the actors referenced in the song “Vogue” are dead). Bacall was also there at the dawn of radical, industry-reshaping technology, as she was the first actress to be projected using a new…

These Cat Photos Put The Rest Of The Internet’s Cat Photos To Shame

In 2011, photographer Vincent J. Musi had the opportunity to shoot several of Houston Zoo’s big cats on behalf of National Geographic. This week, Musi and NatGeo have been featuring select images from the series (some of them previously unpublished) on their respective Instagram pages, and they are positively sublime. All photos by Vincent J.…

This Short Film About A Man Made Out Of Balloons Will Make You Weep

Life isn’t just dangerous for a person made entirely out of balloons; it’s also lonely. Wandering the streets of a city, this balloon man tries to make connections with other people, even though every interaction risks popping a balloon. FLOATING was written by Greg Jardin and Matthew Beans and directed by Greg Jardin with a…

The REAL Reason Why Superhero Romances Are Always Doomed

Everybody knows that superheroes can’t have successful love lives. If a costumed hero does get married to his or her long-term love interest, then the multiverse winds up breaking (or Satan intervenes) to thwart it. Is this because happy relationships are boring? Or is there a more insidious reason? Top image: The wonderful Spider-Man Loves…

Double Tap: A Teen Ballad That Reminds You Sometimes Creeping Is Okay

What do you do when you log onto Twitter and find out your honey’s unfollowed you? Or you try to friend her on Facebook but she never accepts? What if you’re also a teen and you just got braces? You fire up this ballad and you double tap, baby. Maybe you can’t call her or…

The Simpsons‘ Springfield Made Entirely Out Of Legos!

Lego artist Matt De Lanoy has re-created The Simpsons’ city of Springfield entirely out of Legos! And the attention to detail is sensational. Behold Town Hall, the Power Plant, the Blocko store, Moe’s, the Church, Krusty Burger and the Kwik-E-Mart. Collection of images from Matt De Lanoy’s Flickr Gallery, and he’s also included a video…

A Common Bacteria Can Be Injected Directly Into Tumors to Fight Cancer

In its natural form, Clostridium novyi is at best benign (it lives in the soil) and at worst harmful (it can cause infections). But a slightly modified version of the bacterium could be a completely new treatment for cancer. Injecting thousands of spores of a modified C. novyi into rats, dogs, and one human patient…

What Casting Choice Sounded Terrible At First, But Turned Out Great?

Sometimes, a casting announcement will make our eyes roll, but it’s a real treat when an actor we couldn’t see in a particular part blows us away with a stellar performance. Which actor surprised you the most in a role you didn’t think they could pull off? Naturally, Heath Ledger’s Joker springs to mind, but…