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We Never See the Dangers From the Deep Coming

The full image is below, but this print is called “the deep, seamonster” and is by Emma SanCartier. The artist has a number of great projects: prints, sculptures, a book. They’re amazing. This print is available at SanCartier’s etsy shop, along with many others: SanCartier’s other project is called oddFauna, which is described as “cute…

This giant flamethrower was the most terrifying weapon of World War I

You’re looking at a Livens Large Gallery Flame Projector in action, the mother and father of all flamethrowers, capable of torching everything as far as 100 to 130 feet away (30 to 40 meters.) They were deployed for the first time in World War I by the British Army, and apparently they were quite effective.…

Now That Mice Use Doorbells, We Are Officially Living in a Cartoon

Anyone else have a sudden flashback to The Great Mouse Detective when they see a rodent operating a bell? And I will not be eaten by a cat summoned by a mouse. DO YOU HEAR ME? I will not got out that way! In all seriousness, this is Little Grisu of Mouse Agility using the…

​Is It Right To Hunt A Lion?

19-year-old Kendall Jones caused international controversy recently by posting pictures of her exotic animal kills to Facebook. Her argument? Hunting them helps protect the species. Can it? We asked The Texas Huntress. The Texas Huntress is Ashley Chiles (pictured below), an otherwise prototypical resident of the state, complete with hair product and a stylish wardrobe.…

Back In 1937, People Worried That Science Fiction Was Going Downhill

Most of us have been seeing convention panels about the “Death of Science Fiction” for years now — it’s become sort of a jolly cliche. Everybody laments the loss of some earlier, greater age for the genre. But back in 1937, British fans were pretty worried that SF was in permanent decline. Top image: Thrilling…

You Can Now Launch Your Dead Pets Into Space

The world’s first (only?) pet memorial spaceflight service is now operational. Via Celestis Pets, which bills itself as “the most unique pet memorial service in the universe”: Celestis pets is a new service from that team that introduced the world to memorial spaceflights in 1995. Celestis, Inc. has conducted twelve memorial spaceflights, launching human cremated…

Setting a fedora hat on fire is apparently one of the steps to make it

It’s extremely peaceful to watch someone focus in and make something with their bare hands. The process is always beautiful, taking materials such as the beaver felt fabric and molding it into something usable, like a hat. It’s almost like seeing art. I don’t know why you have set it on fire but it sure…

Medieval Manuscripts Depict A Terrifying Tale Of The Walking Dead

And you thought zombie comics were a recent idea? Over the centuries, medieval artists applied their talents to illustrate a mysterious tale of animated corpses who tormented the living. As the British Library explains: The precise origins of the “Three Living and the Three Dead” are still somewhat mysterious, but there are many versions of…

Howard the Duck Terrified Me As a Kid

Most people probably remember Howard the Duck from the 1986 film of the same name. It’s a famously terrible movie that did not do well at the box office and scared the pants off of many 80s children (including this blogger). He may be about to make a comeback. [SPOILERS AHEAD] Whereas the Marvel comic…

Concept Art Writing Prompt: A Boy And His BigDog

This week’s writing prompt comes from five minutes into the future, when soldiers go into the field with quadruped robots. What kind of story will you tell about this pair? A Boy and His Dog is by one of our favorite concept artists, Sandara. If you dig Sandara’s artwork, you can buy her products through…

888,246 Handmade Poppies Surround the Tower of London to Commemorate WWI

The moat that surrounds the Tower of London has long stood empty and dry. This summer, it’s getting filled with 888,246 red ceramic poppies, one for each British and Colonial soldiers who perished during World War I. For the past few weeks, a team of 150 volunteers has been placing red ceramic poppies one by…

This Is Probably The Weirdest Binary Star System Ever Discovered

There’s some strange things floating around in our galaxy, but this has to be one of the weirdest. A double star system with misaligned protoplanetary disks around 450 light-years from Earth has been discovered, potentially explaining why some exoplanet orbits can be wildly eccentric. Using data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile,…

A Book of Tweets By People Claiming They’re Working on Their Novels

Novels aren’t going to write themselves, you know. But when they don’t, their would-be authors simply turn to Twitter. A new book features tweets by people who are totally working on their novels, but had to stop working on their novels so they could post something to Twitter about working on their novels. Working On…

Japan is turning the manga/anime/live-action movie series Death Note into a musical. The series, about a teen with a notebook that kills anyone whose name he writes in it, and the teen detective who tries to catch him, seems like an odd fit for a musical, but it also seemed like bizarre idea for a…

Why Are Sinkholes Round?

Why are sinkholes almost always round, instead of square-shaped, or triangular, or heart-shaped, or dodecahedron-shaped, or any one of the infinite number of other geometric forms they could take? The answer lies deep underground. USGS research geologist Dan Doctor joined us today to answer all our questions about the inner workings of sinkholes — including…

Legal Marijuana Has Become A Food Safety Issue

The state of Colorado is experiencing a bad case of the munchies. Both supporters and opponents of legal marijuana are increasingly worried that consumers of cannabis-laced foods—such as brownies, candy and cookies — are binge eating their way toward overdoses. And this isn’t just another “reefer madness” scare story, it’s a real public health issue.…

The Real Reason Why Joss Whedon Named His Space Western Show Firefly

Nathan Fillion auditioned unsuccessfully for the part of Angel on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And years later, he had five troubled auditions for the role of Mal on Firefly, before he finally clicked. That’s just one of the amazing facts from a new biography of Joss Whedon. Read an exclusive excerpt below. Joss Whedon: The…

Chance the Rapper’s Cover of the Theme to Arthur Will Make You Smile

Remember Arthur, the bespectacled little aardvark who reminded us via PBS to study hard, imagine, and most importantly believe in ourselves? Chance the Rapper just recorded a cover of the theme from the show and as the title suggests, it’s just wonderful. “It’s a simple message, and it comes from the heart, believe in yourself,…

Why do so many people choose to be insensitive happy ignorants?

Wandering through the bitfields, I just came across this 1995 photograph of Michael Gernhardt floating 200-miles over the Earth on a six-hour spacewalk. I zoomed in and looked in awe for a couple of minutes, pondering the chain of events, the Herculean effort that put and kept this man alive in space. Just look at…

Watch these lunatics water ski barefoot towed by a freaking airplane

You already have to be a little loony to ski barefoot so I don’t even know what to consider these guys who strapped themselves behind an airplane and ripped up the water with their bare feet. Awesome? Yeah, probably. They even jumped off a ramp barefoot! Devin Super Tramp shows us how much fun you…