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What if the Kitchen Velociraptors in Jurassic Park were played by cats?

It would be the best thing ever. Replace all the dinosaurs with cats! We Are Camera Studio swapped out two velociraptors for kitties, and you can all just go home now, because this is the best thing you’ll see on the internet today. [via Laughing Squid]

Space is big. Thoroughly big. Unmistakably, definitely, certainly big.

To a first-order approximation, the universe is empty. Josh Worth gets it. He built a map titled, If the Moon Was Only 1 Pixel, where, unlike most maps of the solar system, planet-sizes and the distances between planets are kept to the same scale. Why? As he points out somewhere between Jupiter and Saturn, “Most…

The Most Retro-Futuristic DMV in America

In 1979, two artists covered a Southern California building with futuristic murals. They painted moon motorcycles, high-tech highways, and spaceships that would look right at home in Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. But as delightfully retro-futuristic as the building is on the outside, what happens inside may surprise you. It’s the Culver City DMV. Artists…

Ice Age Fossils Are Being Unearthed By L.A.’s Subway Construction

A 65-foot deep shaft being dug for Los Angeles’s newest subway line is filled with buried treasure. The so-called Subway to the Sea is still nine miles from the beach, but excavation has already revealed some creatures from the ocean floor… the prehistoric ocean floor! Metro’s Steve Hymon and Dave Sotero ventured to the site…

Can you guess how this unique image of Toronto was put together?

We’ll give you a hint: The first of these 2,300 data points appeared at the intersection of Yonge and Bloor back in 1924. If you guessed traffic signals you’re absolutely correct. This beautiful map of Toronto was created by Redditor William Davis by using information from the city’s open data portal. You can find a…

These Futuristic Villas Would Produce More Energy Than They Consume

It’s sort of an environmentalist’s dream. Forty-five gorgeous villas built on a wasteland that are so impossibly eco-friendly that they produce more energy than they consume in a given year. Ideal as it sounds, Vincent Callebaut has designed just that. They call it Flavors Orchard. Planned for the city of Kunming in Southwest China—assuming it…

San Francisco Plans on Banning Plastic Water Bottles

San Francisco wants to cut its landfill waste down to absolute zero by 2020. While a city-wide plastic bag ban has been in effect for a few years, new legislation approved by the Board of Supervisors this week sets its sights on the bane of tap-water enthusiasts and thirsty environmentalists alike: Bay Area, say goodbye…

Luis Royo’s Shining Artwork for George R.R. Martin’s The Ice Dragon

Tor Teen is doing a new edition of George R.R. Martin’s novella The Ice Dragon, set in the same world as A Game of Thrones. And legendary artist Luis Royo is providing some illustrations. Which look just incredible. Check out more of Royo’s illustrations over at Tor.com. Here’s the official description of The Ice Dragon:…

Honeybees reveal that evolution is stranger than you ever realized

Darwin’s idea of natural selection is simple. Good mutations are passed on, because the animals who have them will survive to reproduce. But how do you pass on those good mutations in honeybee colonies, where most bees are sterile workers who never have babies? A group of researchers decided to find out. Photo of a…

Roku Streaming Stick Preorders, Rugged Bluetooth Speakers [Deals]

It’s the streaming stick you’ve all been waiting for. The Chromecast was sold out everywhere a few weeks after launch, and we expect the same will be true of this. Lock in your preorder now to receive it on launch day, and enjoy the peace of mind of Amazon’s preorder price guarantee. Preorder Roku Streaming…

The Sketch Wizard Tracer Turns Anyone Into a Photocopier

It’s been said that while good artists copy, great artists steal. But what about those lacking any artistic talent at all? They trace, and their copied creations will be all the more authentic with Crayola’s new Sketch Wizard contraption that lets anyone reproduce sketches of other pictures, or even 3D models. While looking through the…

Triplets of Belleville director does a French-themed Simpsons couch gag

C’est magnifique! Sylvain Chomet, director of The Illusionist and Triplets of Belleville, animates the couch gag for this Sunday’s episode of The Simpsons. Naturally, it’s both beautifully animated and hilarious, poking fun at both the characters and French stereotypes. [via Cartoon Brew]

Two men are living in a spinning hamster wheel house for ten days

Think it’s tough living with a roommate? These two fellows are sharing a house that spins like a hamster wheel—one on the inside and one on the outside—forcing them to coordinate their daily routine. Ward Shelley and Alex Schweder’s In Orbit is a performance art piece examining the social effects of architecture. For ten days,…

D.C.’s Planning Its Own High Line On a Freeway Bridge

The runway success of the High Line has sparked trendy rail-to-trail conversions across the country. Now D.C. is offering its own twist: A park on a span of decommissioned freeway that crosses the Anacostia River. Maybe they’ll call it the “Highway Line.” The 11th Street Bridge was built after World War II and became part…

TechCrunch reports that your Facebook news feed is getting a design touchup. Nothing major: new fonts, “bolder” images, and a simplified left sidebar. As for the gloriousoverhaul we were supposed to get last year—still no word.

Customize Every Detail of These Gorgeous Prefab Houses

If you fancy yourself a designer of sorts, you’re going to love Blu Homes. This California-based company makes beautiful, incredibly customizable prefab houses that also happen to be environmentally friendly. You can design your own without leaving the comfort of your couch. But beware: You will get sucked in. These things are cool, and Blu’s…

First trailer for Sin City 2 is all sex, sex, murder, sex, car, sex

The very first trailer for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is chockablock full of all the great things that reside in Sin City. Sexy dancing, sexy sexin, gambling, fist fighting, bruises, sexy ladies, and people looking pissed off in the front seats of cars. Here we go again! Directed by Frank Miller and…

AMA on Meteors and Fireballs!

NASA’s Dr. Bill Cooke, Danielle Moser, and Rhianna Blaauw are be running a Reddit “Ask me anything!” today at 1pm CST (2pm EST, 11am PST. Dear XKCD: I love you.) From the press release, Cooke specializes in meteoroid environment and its effects on space vehicles of all sorts, and spends time making meteor shower forecasts…

The biggest glacier in Iceland or Superman’s Fortress of Solitude

Hello and welcome to the real life Fortress of Solitude. This unbelievably beautiful cavern is inside Vatnajökull, Iceland’s biggest glacier, captured by photographer Kate Friend, who took a stunning series of shots inside this 8,000-square-kilometer ice mass. Can you believe this pic wasn’t color-corrected in Photoshop? The blues are so crisp and so clear, I…

This Slim iPhone Case Works Like a Real-Life Tricorder

You’ve seen the iPhone accessory that can check your blood pressure, as well as the one that can monitor your heart rate. There’s even one that can turn your phone into an electrocardiogram (ECG). But, now, there’s an iPhone case that can do all of that—and more. Meet Wello. This thin, ultralight iPhone case can…