I have a new favorite thing and it's this amazing UFO chicken coop. Its creators, the folks at Backyard Chickens, write:

When we expanded our flock this Summer, we knew a larger coop would be necessary. As an artistic couple, I knew it couldn't be just any coop..... and as UFO nerds, we had the perfect plan!

Brainstorming the UFO spaceship design was a very quick process as there were so few "up-cycle" options that would get us a classic UFO shape. We quickly determined that the satellite dish would be a stellar foundation. We located two 10 foot dishes on our local Craigslist page and jumped straight into this project. We knew it would need to be completed in time for a harsh Idaho winter.

In the words of Veruca Salt, "I want it now!"

(Geekologie, Techanbob) Read the rest

In April, 2011, the engineers at JPL gave Boing Boing permission to visit the clean room where the next Mars rover, Curiosity, had just been completed, for an exclusive first look.

Photographer Joseph Linaschke made the trek (and donned the bunny suit) on our behalf, and brought back breathtaking photos of the magnificent martian machine.

The full Boing Boing photo gallery is here, with caption assist from JPL.

Above, the Mars Science Laboratory's descent stage, which files the rover down to Mars' surface using eight rockets, and lowers it on a tether for landing. The orange spheres are propellant tanks.

Here's a roundup of ways to watch, as Curiosity attempts landing the night of Aug 5 (that's tomorrow).

* There are even more images on Joseph's site (pssst: news orgs, they're available for licensing, ask him.)