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This pilot firing a missile is the coolest selfie ever, not the Oscars’

Forget about Ellen Degeneres and forget about this astronaut. This is the most awesome selfie,not theirs: A Royal Danish Air Force pilot firing a live air-to-air AIM-9 Sidewinder missile form his F-16 fighter. I feel a bit of deja vu writing about this—after this and this—but it’s such a cool image that it had to…

The World’s Safest Shiv Also Makes Your Ladder Way More Useful

Ladders might give you access to areas of your home you simply can’t reach, but that’s pretty much all they’re good for. Need to bring a few tools with you to fix a leaky gutter? You’re on your own—unless you’ve got this handy Ladder Limb in your toolbox, which adds a carabiner for hanging or…

Buildings That Used to Be Pizza Huts: Where Are They Now?

It started with some Pittsburgh humor. Pittsburgh-based comedian Tom Musial does a bit about a GPS unit that can give directions in “Pittsburghese.” Because in Pittsburgh, no one calls it “Interstate 376,” it’s “The Parkway.” It’s not “The Liberty Tunnel,” it’s “The Liberty Tubes.” And directions are often given by way of what used to…

Animator brings a musical scene that was cut from Frozen to visual life

One of the songs that was ultimately cut from Frozen is “Life’s Too Short,” a duet that Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel sing when Anna first arrives at Elsa’s ice castle. Fan animator Audrey Arini created an animatic that imagines how the scene might have played out onscreen. Arini (also known as Bambi Killer) studied…

Man builds giant 50-foot-tall snowman with entire trees for arms

A farmer in Gilman, Minnesota, decided he have had enough of the snow that was ruining his greenhouses, so he decided to start piling it all up intothis 50-foot-tall snowman.Because why not. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

What do these nighttime satellite photos reveal about civilization?

Looking at the Earth from orbit is fascinating, especially at night. That’s when you can measure the ways that human civilization covers the planet, and discover how national boundaries affect the electrical grid. North Koreaat night The only visible place is Pyongyang, the capital city. Its light emission is equivalent to the smaller town in…

A new plan for U.S. transportation! California tries to fix its water crisis! An ugly building with good politics in Philly! Plus, Italy’s boyish new leader and a walking tour of “crushingly boring” Silicon Valley! It’s all in this week’s best Urban Reads. Obama unveiled a new transportation and infrastructure plan last week. Now he…

Making The Hobbit 2‘s barrel escape was its own epic adventure

When Bilbo and the dwarves escaped Thranduil’s kingdom, they did so in empty wine barrels, rushing down the forest river, fighting wood elves and the rapids simultaneously. Their escape was a breeze compared to what director Peter Jackson and the actors went through to make the scene, as this Wired video reveals.

Color Solar Panels Let Stained Glass Windows Produce Cheap Power

Because solar panels are designed to accumulate as much light from the sun as possible, they’re typically very dark in color. It makes them more efficient, but also kind of an eyesore, minimizing their adoption. So researchers at the University of Michigan have developed what they believe to be the world’s first semi-transparent, colored solar…

Evil conspiracies are all too ordinary, on True Detective

On True Detective, it’s interesting that the closer we get to knowing who is behind all the murders, the more we realize that the answers are mundane — and all the more horrible for being the opposite of supernatural. I’m not trying to claim that there is a big reveal here about the show not…

These Compost Islands Would Turn NYC’s Garbage Into Gold

The average New Yorker generates about three pounds of trash every day, and a huge amount of that is food waste—which could be composted, if only we had the space. Enter “Green Loop,” a proposal to build massive composting islands off the coastline of NYC. “We send trucks millions of miles every year, creating traffic,…

Hear All About the Amazing Cinematography of House of Cards

Been watching season two of House of Cards? The answer is yes. So you know how beautiful the cinematography is. In an interview with Go Creative, the Igor Martinovic, the show’s cinematographer tells how he crafted the show’s unique visual style. When watching House of Cards, you may be struck by the precisely composed shots,…

Does it always matter how a movie ends?

The ending of the movie has, by default, it’s last word. But, sometimes the scene is stolen by a wrap-up that comes before ending, a thematic ending that eclipses the actual ending. In response to some new thoughts from Zack Snyder on Watchmen’s polarizing ending, a discussion began about some of the movie’s better closing…

Vote on the best satellite photos from 2013

It’s that time of year — the Earth Observatory is pitting gorgeous photo against gorgeous photo in a tournament to pick the best of 2013. Set up a betting bracket, then vote the best photos in each of 4 categories. Need more enticement to spend your Monday afternoon eyeballing the Earth? Here’s a few of…

Can you tell the difference between poetry written by a human and poetry generated by a computer? Bot or Not is a Turing test for poetry; take the quiz to see if you can guess the provenance of each poem. It turns out that some of those bots aren’t half-bad poets. [via Nerdcore]

Microsoft: Finally, a PC for All Your Lady Stuff (Weddings, Pinterest)

Tech companies don’t exactly have have the best track record when it comes to marketing to women—obviously. But after running damage control on horrible campaign after horrible campaign, you’d think they’d try to avoid making the same mistakes again—and you’d be wrong. Enter Microsoft’s new all-in-one lady commercial. In attempting to make its all-in-one tabets…

A Brilliant Cover to Celebrate 50 Years of Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain

It’s 50 years since Lloyd Alexander published the first book in his amazing Prydain Chronicles series — and to celebrate, the first book is getting an utterly beautiful new cover. We’ve got the exclusive reveal of this lovely artwork, plus an exclusive essay by the book’s new editor, Noa Wheeler. The 50th anniversary edition of…

Cripes, this Who Framed Roger Rabbit Deleted scene is terrifying

Little known fact: There is a scene from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? where the private eye Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) comes running out with some sort of severed toon head wrapped around his face. It is absolutely terrifying. Thanks to Cinetropolis we will now never be able to un-see this horror. Valiant is carted off…

This Cozy Urban Cabin Is A Writer’s Dream

For most writers, the idea of a retreat is a wistful fantasy. That’s because many writers live in the city, and the subway doesn’t go to that perfectly reclusive cabin in the woods. So what’s a writer to do? Well, you could just build a cabin in your backyard, like this guy. An unnamed writer…

Impressive video of a massive dolphin stampede (and whales too!)

Captain Dave Anderson recently took his DJI Phantom 2 for a spin off the coast of San Clemente, California and spotted something amazing. As the drone took flight, it captured the amazing sight of thousands of common dolphins stampeding towards the Pacific Ocean. And then came the humpback whales. It’s not unusual for Capt. Dave…