art Ancient Roman gemstone shows a grasshopper driving a butterfly-led chariot Popkin

Kids Watch a gemcutter work with fluorescent green hyalite opal Andrea James

change De Beers to sell lab-made diamonds as gemstones Rob Beschizza

Science The Opal's Fire Maggie Koerth

Nature Watch a living sand dollar spin like a tiny Roomba, etching circular sand art Popkin

Nature Photographer shows sea urchins as ocean gemstones Popkin

comedy Unsurprisingly, Walton Goggins killed it on SNL Grant St. Clair

Science Company markets "T. Rex leather" made with fossilized collagen Gail Sherman

health Bizarre health fads: a roundup of the top 10 strangest fake medicines Ellsworth Toohey

tabloids Secrets the Queen took to her grave, in this week's dubious tabloids Peter Sheridan

Boing Boing Gadgets These 35 items can help your kid learn at home Boing Boing's Shop

Boing Boing Gadgets Your home office could use some work of its own and these 20 items might just do the trick Boing Boing's Shop

video Underground city made from old opal mines has 3,500 residents Andrea James

happy mutants Sculptor builds tiny, elaborate treehouses in house-plants Cory Doctorow