Malibu mansions face the same statistical certainty of burning as inner-city tenements, yet receive vastly different levels of protection and support. As the late Mike Davis argued in his 2018… Read the rest of the article: 2018 essay: "The Case for Letting Malibu Burn"
This handcrafted digital fluid simulation pendant creates pure magic — as you move it, light flows like liquid inside the golden case. The creator, Mitxela, assembled a grid of tiny… Read the rest of the article: Artist creates digital fluid simulation jewelry that flows like water
Daniel Wirtz thought he was watching a child prodigy at work. The 9-year-old girl on a German game show was solving complex spot-the-difference puzzles in seconds. "To my eye, both… Read the rest of the article: The trick that makes spot-the-difference puzzles ridiculously easy
[UPDATE Jan 10, 2025 12:14P M. Kaim posted a followup to LinkedIn: "The university has determined that I have satisfactorily complied with their request to take down the site, and… Read the rest of the article: Student says University of Washington has threatened to expel him for a course-trading app he built for class project [UPDATED]
Cory Doctorow, my friend and longtime Boing Boing colleague, has a new Kickstarter campaign that has already raised over $46,000 for his upcoming novel Picks & Shovels. Set in 1982, this… Read the rest of the article: Punk programmers and queer hackers expose Reagan-era tech corruption in Cory Doctorow's new novel, on Kickstarter now
Are humans the result of a pig and a chimpanzee mating? Maybe, says Eugene M. McCarthy, who holds a Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Georgia, and specializes in… Read the rest of the article: Geneticist claims humans evolved from pig-chimp mating
The visionary artist behind Blade Runner and Tron had a surprising holiday hobby: crafting intricate gingerbread castles. In a recently unearthed home video from 1990, Syd Mead (1933-2019) reveals his… Read the rest of the article: From Blade Runner to baking: Syd Mead's amazing gingerbread creations
Scotty Allen, a former Google engineer, successfully machined an entire iPhone housing from a solid block of aluminum — a feat that took 11 month accomplish. "This is the start… Read the rest of the article: Man spends year creating aluminum iPhone housing from solid metal block
"There is one woman who mostly edits about hamsters, and always on her phone. She has never interacted with anyone else. Who is she? She's not part of any community… Read the rest of the article: Wikipedia's 7-year yogurt spelling war was longer than three Shakespeare plays
For the last several years, Tom Whitwell, has written an annual list of 52 things he's learned that year. He just posted his new one. Here are five samples: There… Read the rest of the article: Tom Whitwell's annual collection of 52 fascinating facts returns, featuring expensive calculators and trademarked scents
There's a scene in Quentin Tarantino's 2015 Western, The Hateful Eight, where Kurt Russell grabs Jennifer Jason Leigh's guitar and smashes it against a wooden column. Turns out that wasn't… Read the rest of the article: Famous movie prop "accident": 1870s Martin Guitar destroyed during filming of "The Hateful Eight"
"I'm acutely aware that I could go any day now but — I don't know why — it doesn't concern me. I'm not afraid of it. I have that feeling… Read the rest of the article: 99-year-old Dick Van Dyke dances barefoot in new Coldplay video
Bluesky is being overrun by AI-powered disagreement bots, as YouTuber Hank Green says in this video. After posting his thoughts about Twitter and Bluesky differences to Bluesky, he received a… Read the rest of the article: Bluesky's bot invasion: AI accounts argue with everything you post
Want to be that person who gives cool and unexpected books this season? Or maybe you're looking to treat yourself? Here are six titles that range from political satire to… Read the rest of the article: An anti-boring book guide: six great gift picks
LIKE BOING BOING BUT NOT THE ADS? CLICK HERE TO GO AD-FREE! A mystery illness has killed dozens in the Democratic Republic of Congo in just over two weeks. Health experts… Read the rest of the article: Unknown disease kills up to 143 in Congo
A 70-centimeter (27-inch) asteroid lit up the sky over Yakutia, Russia a few minutes ago as it burned up in the atmosphere. Here's a video. Alan Fitzsimmons, a professor who… Read the rest of the article: Small asteroid creates spectacular light show over Russia just hours after discovery
LIKE BOING BOING BUT NOT THE ADS? CLICK HERE TO GO AD-FREE! Between 2009 and 2012, iPhones had a feature that allowed users to directly upload videos to YouTube from their… Read the rest of the article: Time capsule of 5 million random iPhone videos reveals life before Instagram
Drew Friedman' latest book, Shtick Figures: The Cool, the Comical, the Crazy, contains over 160 portraits of quirky, forgotten, and famous icons of American pop culture. I'm a longtime admirer… Read the rest of the article: Drew Friedman's latest book: Shtick Figures: The Cool, the Comical, the Crazy
Allee Willis may be the most influential artist you've never heard of. A new documentary, The World According to Allee Willis, reveals a renaissance woman who blazed trails across music,… Read the rest of the article: Allee Willis — genius behind "Friends" theme song, finally gets her incredible story told
Don't let your inability to draw well hold you back from drawing. The activity of drawing can "reduce anxiety, elevate mood, improve quality of life and promote general creativity," says Darren C Fisher, Lecturer… Read the rest of the article: Mindless drawing is good for your mind
