In answering a family challenge requiring all Christmas gifts to be homemade, Utah designer Christopher Patty created a really cool wooden jukebox that reads and plays music from printed cards for his dad. While the exterior appears very analog, there was some simple, but clever engineering that went inside. This year my family decided that…
A Montage of the Remarkable Amount of Weight Christian Bale Has Lost and Gained For Film Roles
New York Magazine‘s Vulture has put together a fascinating montage that shows the remarkable amount of weight that actor Christian Bale has lost and gained for 12 specific roles throughout his career. The most extreme weight loss was for the 2004 film The Machinist for which Bale lost an astounding 62 pounds to play the…
How the Rare Traditional Sardinian Delicacy of Maggot Fermented Sheep Cheese Is Made
A mephitic episode of of the Great Big Story series Flavors takes a look at how the “most dangerous cheese in the world” is made. This rare Sardinian cheese, called “casu marzu” (literally: rotten cheese), starts with a sheep’s milk pecorino base which is fermented with larvae from the aptly named cheese fly. The larvae…
A Cafe in Tokyo Features Robotic Servers Remotely Controlled by Paralyzed Humans at Home or a Hospital
In April 2016, the Japanese robotics company Ory Laboratories opened up a test cafe using their robots as servers. While the idea of robotic waitstaff is pretty amazing in itself, even more remarkable was that these robots were being remotely controlled by people who are shut-in at home or in hospital with severely paralyzing disabilities,…
Fluffy Baby Emperor Penguin Chicks Create Defensive Circle in a Brave Stand Against a Predatory Bird
In another adorable preview from the the BBC show Spy in the Snow, a fluffy group of Emperor penguin chicks instinctively formed a defensive circle when a predatory petrel bird threatened one of their own. The defiant babies were doing a good job holding off the petrel, but a fiercely protective Adélie penguin jumped into…
Guitarist Plays a Pitch Perfect Replication of the Iconic Solo From the Pink Floyd Song ‘Money’
In continuing quest to learn and play the top 100 guitar solos of all time, musician Kelly Dean Allen performs the iconic solo from the Pink Floyd song “Money”. Allen first plays the solo in time with David Gilmour on the recording and then breaks it out, playing it perfectly to a standard blues background…
Man With Giant Ears Is Completely Overwhelmed by Street Sounds in the Animation ‘Sensitive Hearing’
In an amusing animation created by Christopher Rutledge and Myles Emmons for Adult Swim, a young man with giant ears finds himself absolutely overwhelmed by every little sound he hears on the street. He tries to walk away, but the sound of a jackhammer engaging with the pavement sends the poor guy completely over the…
The Bear Hidden in the Toblerone Chocolate Logo
On December 26, 2018, Stephanie in Edmonton, Canada was completely caught off guard when her young son asked her about the bear in the logo of the Toblerone bar he was eating. Stephanie’s response was “What bear?”. Don’t worry Stephanie, you’re not alone! My son had his first Toblerone today. “What’s the bear for?” Me:…