This footage (relaxing, but unnecessarily sped up) shows Takumi drawing what the title describes as the "hardest" kanji—Japanese logographic character—in the world. I don't know what it means (and there is some suggestion among commenters that it is a literary contrivance, like Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft or floccinaucinihilipilification) but it sure is pretty.
Man draws "Hardest kanji"
How to talk about time in a language that doesn't have any tenses
The Maya language doesn't acknowledge time, not even with prepositions like "before" and "after." These kinds of linguistic tics are often overlooked or outright lost when we talk about translation, but there's also a lot we can learn from them about the powers of perception and language. READ THE REST
History of Prisencolinensinainciusol, the gibberish English song that charmed Italy and the world
NPR wrote about Adriano Celentano's 1972 faux-English-language-hit "Prisencolinensinainciusol" (previously and previously at BB) on its 40th anniversary in 2012: Celentano, now 74 years old, says that he wanted to break down language barriers and inspire people to communicate more. "Ever since I started singing, I was very influenced by American music and everything Americans did,"… READ THE REST
Noam Chomsky on Nim Chimpsky and the emergence of language
I first learned about Nim Chimpsky while reading Karen Joy Fowler's brilliant novel We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. I'd heard the name before, but I just thought it was a joke about Noam Chomsky. Which it is. But also, he was a real chimp, who was raised like a human child and acquired over… READ THE REST
The GoFish Cam lets anglers see what's really happening underwater. And it records video too.
There's almost nothing more primal than fishing. Just you, a line, a body of water, a fish as your prey…and truckloads of patience. As a fisherman stands with their line cast and a lure bobbing several yards away just under the surface of the water, even the most experienced anglers want to know what's happening… READ THE REST
Safeguard your eyes from your iPhone's blue light with this $30 screen protector
We all know we should avoid staring at screens all day, but an offshoot of this past year spent mostly at home is that more and more of us are doing the exact opposite of that heartfelt advice. App analytics firm App Annie found the average American spent about four hours a day on their… READ THE REST
Check out 15 fun kids games and projects that both entertain and educate
Parents love their kids… but no matter how much they dote on the little rugrats, a few common kid statements are bound to prompt an eyeroll every time. Like, "Are we there yet?" Or, "That's not fair." Or the ultimate sticking point moment when they're hit with the ultimate, non-negotiable fallback of the two-year old,… READ THE REST