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Australian Sharks Will Now Be Tweeting Their Locations

There’s a great, bloody shark war going on in Western Australia right now. After six deaths in two years—making Western Australia the deadliest place on earth for shark attacks—the state has ratcheted up its side of the war by deciding to kill sharks. Lots of ’em. Any shark within one kilometer of the beach will…

These Dinner Plates Were Decorated With A Paint-Filled Pendulum

The best aesthetic for pretty much any dish is a pile of delicious food. If you’re a proud member of the clean plate club, however, revealing a purdy pattern beneath your meal is a nice touch at the end of dinner. Dutch designer David Derksen used an acrylic paint-filled pendulum to give his Oscillation series…

Nikita delivers one last glorious fake-out

Last night’s Nikita finale had a definite feeling of wrapping up everything at top speed, as the pieces fell into place really quickly. But for all that, it still managed to deliver one final insane fake-out, doing the last thing you ever expected. Spoilers ahead… After last week’s too-good-to-be-true happy ending, the last thing any…

Why These Bison in California Were Put on Birth Control

This is a story about bison, Hollywood, and a glycoprotein. A rocky outpost off the coast of Los Angeles, Santa Catalina Island was originally home to exactly zero bison. In 1924, however, when the island was owned by William Wrigley Jr. of chewing gum fame, a film crew imported 14 buffalo for a movie shoot.…

A mountain landscape carved into 24 volumes of Encyclopedia Britannica

Book carving artist Guy Laramée bids farewell to the printed version of Encyclopedia Britannica with Adieu, a serene mountain sculpture made from a 24-volume set. We have featured Laramée’s book carvings before, but Adieu is a particularly interesting work given that the Encyclopedia Britannica went out of print in 2012, becoming an online-only reference. It…

This musical reprise could have made Frozen even better

As heartfelt as Frozen’s climax was, the movie musical could have benefited from a brief reprise of the song “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” at a key moment. So one fan wrote the lyrics to a reprise and another gave it voice. Spoilers below. Over at Musical Catbug, phananigans wrote a reprise of…

Glowing “Meteor Smoke” Clouds Appear Over Antarctica

NASA reports that rare, electric blue noctilucent clouds have reappeared over the South Pole, where the clouds are often spotted for five to ten days every year. NASA calls the clouds “a great geophysical light bulb” that are visible during the darkest nights. The clouds were spotted by NASA’s AIM spacecraft, which observed a “vast…

Concept Art Writing Prompt: At the End of the Battle

As the sun sets, a giant mechanical figure surveys a smoldering battlefield, while a smaller figure admires the damage. Tell us your tale of this battle and its aftermath. This digital painting by Tomas Honz is titled simply “Done.” As always, we invite you to come up with a story inspired by this image and…

Sorry, Astronauts: It’s Impossible to Fry Food in Zero G

Astronauts have hard jobs. And like anyone with hard jobs, they deserve some french fries and a nice, deep-fried turkey after work. Don’t we all? But there’s bad news. According to a new study, it’s impossible to fry food in zero g. Nooooooooooo! It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that it’s not practical…

Science fiction and fantasy stories get funny clickbait headlines

Tumblr SFFworthy lampoons the saccharine headlines common on Upworthy and similar sites, telling us about all the fantastical stories that will amaze us, astound us, and make us cry—although not necessarily in a good way. [SFFworthy via Laughing Squid]

Bitcoin Stolen on Live TV, Fake “Fun Facts,” 2013’s Best Images, More

Just because you had some time off this week doesn’t mean the internet stopped churning out awesomeness. From mind-boggling imagery to more fake “fun facts,” and a ton of advice on all those new gadgets you unwrapped, here’s the best stuff we wrote this week. Feast your eyes! The 20 Best Movies Disappearing From Netflix…

A bittersweet webcomic fairytale about a spirit who aids a mother

Madéleine Flores’ Help Us! Great Warrior made our list of the best new webcomics of 2013. This past week, Flores released Weave, a very short but heartfelt webcomic about a mother and child who find an unexpected friend in a mysterious spirit. Weave [Madéleine is Here]

US judge rules Sherlock Holmes and Watson are in the public domain

If you’ve had a Sherlock Holmes in space novel idea kicking around your head, now might be a good time to start writing it. A United States federal judge has ruled that Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, and other elements of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories are no longer covered by US copyright law. Editor Leslie…

Anatomical murals take us inside man-eating sharks and cartoon rabbits

Street artist and illustrator Nychos paints playful anatomical images that are part flesh and part fiction, imagining the innards of sometimes cartoonish beasts, including loony rabbits and fish that have swallowed more than they could chew. Nychos frequently creates large murals of his offbeat dissections, but he also captures his entrails and skeletons on canvas.…

Which Disney men look better with facial hair?

Artist Annie Erskine helps us answer that question by shaving the beards off of Disney’s male cartoon characters and adding new ones to the clean-shaven ones. On the whole, it seems that men really are more attractive with facial hair—even cartoon men. https://gizmodo.com/study-finds-bearded-men-are-more-attractive-proves-my-493130473 [via Fashionably Geek]

Scraping Decades of Grime, Car Exhaust, and Mold Off Rome’s Colosseum

The Colosseum in Rome is being cleansed of car exhaust that has built up over decades, ever since Mussolini’s ill-advised decision to build a major road nearby. The exhaust, however, is just part of an overall mixture known as “black rust,” CBS News reports: “Exhaust, pollen, algae and fungus growths form a coating the restorers…

A boy accidentally summons a succubus who tries to get him a girlfriend

Normally, summoning a succubus is a recipe for sexy doom, but the demon teenaged Teddy accidentally binds himself to is Chloe Love, a succubus with a soft heart. She makes it her mission to save Teddy’s soul the only way she can—by getting him a girlfriend. Dangerously Chloe is part of the Pixie Trix stable…

Disquiet: 15, 10 & 5 Years Ago This Week (2013.52)

This would be roughly the week of December 23 through December 29. 5 Years Ago (2008): A feature collected this site’s readers’ favorite albums of 2008. … The quote of the week collated material from Fringe, among it: “Was I humming? I thought it was in my head. … Nothing sings like a kilo volt.…

Michelangelo’s illustrated grocery list is a work of everyday art

While we’re used to seeing Michelangelo’s majestic finished paintings, this shopping list gives us a look at the master’s more hasty and practical drawing. This is an illustrated list that Michelangelo would have given to an illiterate servant. Steve Duin at The Oregonian explained the purpose of the list while it was on display at…

Christmas shipping snafus, the black market of stolen credit card numbers, Snowden claims “mission accomplished,” and more: it’s this week’s Tech Reads. Laura Stevens, Serena Ng and Shelly Banjo do a post-mortem on UPS’s failure to deliver online shoppers’ gifts promised to arrive by Christmas Eve [The Wall St. Journal] Dustin Volz examines the underground…