Everyone's seen those "living statue" street performers who pretend to be sculptures and then try to surprise you by moving. A few weeks ago in Barcelona, prankster artist Mark Jenkins… Read the rest of the article: Fake "living statue" prank by Mark Jenkins

In the 1960s, retired US Army colonel James S. Ketchum led efforts to develop a nonlethal incapacitating agent as a weapon for a "war without death." Along with LSD, they… Read the rest of the article: Synthetic pot and the 1960s military

This handsome Periodic Coffee Table contains samples of all stable elements. The radioactive elements are not included. Boo. Brownlee has the details over at Boing Boing Gadgets. Periodic Coffee Table… Read the rest of the article: Periodic Coffee Table

One Step Beyond, billed as "your guide to the supernatural," was a docudrama TV program airing from 1959-1961. The episode about psychedelic mushrooms and psychic experiments is a trip to… Read the rest of the article: One Step Beyond: shrooms and ESP

Daniel Larusso says: William Hope "Coin" Harvey was a businessman, author and former Presidential candidate. He was also a first-class eccentric, building a large (now underwater) resort in the middle… Read the rest of the article: The bizarre tale of William Hope "Coin" Harvey

Avon and Somerset Police are running the recordings of telephone calls from foolish (and probably drunken or drugged) people who want to report trivial problems, such as losing eyeglasses, wanting… Read the rest of the article: Avon and Somerset Police publish 999 (911 in US) calls from foolish people

To promote the Beijing Olympics, a city in China has erected several statues depicting a cartoony athlete mouse with curious square holes punched in its ears. Here's the YouTube video.… Read the rest of the article: Fake Mickey Mouse statues at the Beijing Olympics

Dr. Edgar Mitchell, the 6th man to walk on the moon, told a radio station yesterday that he knows for a fact that space aliens exist and have visited Earth.… Read the rest of the article: 6th man on moon says space aliens are real (and have visited us)

Jen sez, "This is a link to a Times Online article describing an ISP surveillance and throttling scheme announced by the UK government today. It's unclear what proof is required… Read the rest of the article: British ISPs sign up for surveillance and throttling of accused file-sharers

A group of esteemed British scientists and academics have sent an open letter calling on the British government to give more financial support to Bletchley Park, the site of the… Read the rest of the article: Brit academics call for Bletchley Park funding

Damien from Amnesty UK sez, Binyam Mohamed – an Ethiopian national, and a former resident of the United Kingdom – has been detained at Guantánamo Bay since September 2004. Amnesty… Read the rest of the article: Turning 30 in Guantanamo — Unsubscribe from the War on Terror

The NY Yankees banned sunblock at Yankee stadium "to prevent terrorism." On a blistering hot day. And sold high-markup, crappy sunblock inside the gates. You know, as soon as we… Read the rest of the article: New York Yankees ban sunblock "to fight terrorism" — sell replacements at $5/oz

SarahL sez, "I've been posting a portrait of a citizen of Toronto every day, painted in under an hour. Some are famous, others are friends or people I meet on… Read the rest of the article: Painting a portrait of a different Torontonian every day

Continuing in the Blade Runner theme of our most recent Boing Boing tv episode, today BB Gadgets editor Joel Johnson speaks with artist and futurist Syd Mead about this rare… Read the rest of the article: BBtv – Blade Runner LEGO Spinner Car: Syd Mead with Joel Johnson

Recently at Boing Boing Gadgets, we found the best places to buy the worst gadgets, reviewed D-Link's DSM 330 Medialounge, and wondered how someone can retrospectively patent something and then… Read the rest of the article: Recently at Boing Boing Gadgets

CNN reporter Drew Griffin reported on the TSA's 1,000,000+ name watchlist of "potential terrorists," and now his name seems to have been added to the list. The TSA denies it,… Read the rest of the article: CNN reporter says bad things about the TSA, gets hassled every time he flies

Warren Ellis's fantastic net-perv novel Crooked Little Vein's just come out in paperback — here's the review I posted of the hardcover last year: Warren Ellis's first novel, "Crooked Little… Read the rest of the article: Crooked Little Vein: Warren Ellis's novel now in paperback

Dan "We the Media" Gillmor has a fascinating editorial up today, "Helping the Almost-Journalists Do Journalism" about the "journalistic" work that organizations like the ACLU are doing in covering stories… Read the rest of the article: Can ACLU and other advocacy orgs be journalists too?

Philips has spun out a new company called Shapeways that does cheap remote 3D printing — send them a design in 3D and they'll fabricate it out of a variety… Read the rest of the article: Shapeways 3D printing by Internet: 500 free beta signups

Photographer Phillip Todelano has put up "Days With My Father," a haunting and beautiful photo-essay about his relationship with his elderly father, who has no short-term memory. Link (Thanks, Andrew!)