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Shooting Challenge: Black & White

The world’s first photograph was murky wash of grays. So as you take black and white photos for this week’s Shooting Challenge, don’t consider yourself an artsy poseur. Call yourself a historian. The Challenge Take a photo in black and white. The Technique Color photography is about vibrance. But when you remove all that, you…

Beautiful time-lapse of The Boneyard, the airplane cemetery in Arizona

Impressive time-lapse video of The Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, 2,600 acres of desolate desert where 5,000 military airplanes went to die. It makes me sad to look at them, but their decay is truly beautiful. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

Game of Thrones‘ most brutal deaths remade as 8-bit animated GIFs

If the entire run of Game of Thrones were remade as a retro video game, we would play it just for the death scenes. Fortunately, someone has taken the time to create pixelated animations of the most grisly moments from the show. Spoilers below. Buzzfeed has 14 of these animated death scenes, and it’s hard…

First song from the new Muppets movie brings back that old-time magic

The very first song from the new Muppets movie will fill you with childlike glee. The one thing the Muppets know is self-aware charm, and the “Sequel Song” has buckets of it. These songs have (once again) been penned by the Oscar Award winning, Flight of the Conchord’s member Bret McKenzie. Muppets Most Wanted will…

If You Can’t Fix Potholes, Use ‘Em For Bottle Service

This bleak winter is ravaging our streets, with AAA reporting new records for flat tires in New York. Meanwhile, in Montreal, two artists decided that if potholes are here to stay, they can at least provide a little levity. Photographer Davide Luciano and food stylist Claudia Ficca took to the streets of Montreal, NYC, Toronto,…

This 1924 Illustration Nails the Real Future of Drone Warfare

It’s no secret that military drones predate the 21st century. But it’s still amazing to see illustrations of unmanned aerial vehicles that are nearly a century old. Like this drone command center from 1924, with pilots sitting 500 miles away from the battlefield. It’s an image that’s strikingly similar to the drone pilots of today.…

Insane Point-of-View Footage of Supercross Riders Battling for the Win

This whole GoPro video, showing riders Ken Roczen and Ryan Villopoto duking it out for the lead at the 450SX Class Supercross race at the Georgia Dome earlier this week, is insane. The video shows the whole race in alternating helmet cam views from both riders’ perspectives. I highly recommend watching the whole thing, but…

The beginning and the end of scientific careers. MySciCareer is a fun, often inspirational repository of science-career origin stories. Elsewhere, MIT postdoc Lenny Teytelman has painted a brutally honest portrait of the state of scientific research, in a farewell blog post that explains why he – and so many others – are leaving academia.

Felicity gets her groove back on Arrow

Arrow’s most popular character takes center stage in a light and charming story during which everyone is nice to each other. It’s pretty cool. For those of you who like the heavy stuff? There’s plenty of that in the rest of the episode. “Time of Death,” despite the ominous title, is a light-hearted episode. And…

Surgeons shocked to find fully formed teeth in a baby’s brain tumor

Sometimes, when biology goes squirrely, it really goes squirrely. Case in point, a bizarre medical case in which a 4-month-old infant in Maryland was found to have several fully formed teeth embedded within a brain tumor. Warning: Graphic image to follow. The boy was admitted to hospital because his head was growing faster than normal.…

Are there some vegetables you can’t stand? It may be genetic.

Ever wonder why some people think cilantro tastes like detergent while others scatter it over everything? Or why brussels sprouts are delectable to some and disgusting to others? Part of that difference of opinion may lay in our genes. Is food preference genetic? To some extent. There is still a lot about human perceptions of…

This Abandoned NYC Prison Is Being Turned Into a Huge Film Lot

Just a few years ago, the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility housed a thousand or so inmates. But in a few months, this Staten Island prison will be home to one of the largest movie studio in the country outside of the West Coast. Broadway Stages is NYC’s largest film and TV production company; it’s filmed…

World’s oldest cheese found on the chest of a 3,500-year-old mummy

There’s nothing quite like a nice, aged cheese, but even the most adventurous cheese connoisseurs would be put off by a recent discovery from an an ancient Chinese tomb. Archaeologists uncovered perfectly preserved mummies whose chests were sprinkled with extra aged, 3,5000-year-old cheese—the world’s oldest cheese by a long shot. Since dairy has a tendency…

First Look at James S.A. Corey’s New Star Wars Novel About Han Solo

Good news: There’s a Star Wars novel that focuses on Han Solo, everybody’s favorite interplanetary smuggler and vest-wearing rogue. Even more good news: Honor Among Thieves is written by James S.A. Corey, author of Leviathan Wakes. Final good news: We’ve got an exclusive sneak peek! Star Wars: Honor Among Thieves comes out next Tuesday, but…

20% Off the Best GoPro, Fitbit Scale, Home Automation Switch [Deals]

Today at REI, treat yourself to the best GoPro you can buy for a solid 20% discount. Usually, the only GoPro savings we ever see are on previous-generation models, so snap this up while you can. GoPro HERO3+ Black Edition ($320) | REI With Coupon Code 126TAKE20 Odds are, you’ve already started accumulating devices that…

How a Modern Rockwell Crafts Dioramas of Not-So-Idyllic American Life

Norman Rockwell captured idyllic moments of American life using paint and canvas. But Thomas Doyle works in a different medium and sees the world around him in a different light. As the folks at Cool Hunting discovered, he uses tiny figures and scale model buildings, designed to accessorize model trains, to make miniature 3D dioramas…

This mesmerizing sculpture is built of hinging wooden cubes

Great art is often interactive, and captivating design is frequently dynamic. Such is the case with Ghostcube, a beautifully conceived study in topological transfiguration created by Swedish designer Erik Åberg out of interconnected wooden cubes. https://gizmodo.com/i-cant-stop-watching-this-door-open-close-1518382401 Åberg’s cubic creations can be expanded, twisted, shrunk and spun into a variety of configurations. His sculptures are manipulable…

New Yorkers, don’t miss this great event. One of the all-time great small-press magazines, Electric Velocipede, is ceasing publication. Tomorrow in New York, there’s a “funeral” for the magazine, featuring 10 contributors reading their work. Well worth showing up for.

Ask a paleontologist about the mystery behind this whale graveyard!

Over 5 million years ago, a mass stranding of whales created what is now a whale graveyard in modern day Chile. Just why those whales died was a mystery — until now. Nick Pyenson, the paleontologist who led the team that cracked the case, is here to answer your questions! He will be joining us…

8 Vampires Who Make Bloodsuckers Into Badass Monsters Again

Too long have vampires been portrayed as heroes, lovers, fops, and/or glitter-covered emotional disasters. We remember a time when vampires were monsters, and the only reason they were trying to get into your teenage daughter’s bedroom was to drink their blood and murder them. Here are eight vampires who refuse to be defanged by modern…