As Juno continues its mission, NASA released new color-enhanced images, like this massive storm in the northern hemisphere. (more…)

Jayaprakash Joghee Bojan risked crocodiles and other dangers to snap this stunning image of an orangutan, named National Geographic's top nature photo for 2017. (more…)

MIT researchers have figured out how to infuse common plants like watercress and arugula with luciferase, the chemical that makes fireflies glow. The process make the plants emit a dim glow for up to four hours.Via MIT:

Here's an F-bomb-filled anthem about Benjamin Franklin that never made it into Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit musical, Hamilton. It's a humorous tune called "Benjamin Franklin's Song" and it's sung by The Decemberists.The band shares the song's story:

Google is way ahead of the competition when it comes to the detail and complexity of its maps, writes Justin O’Beirne, and its thanks to a relentless program of turning satellite and street view imagery into accurate 3D models of buildings. It knows where your rooftop AC units are, and it's showing them to the world. And it's now calculating the most interesting groups of buildings and depicting them as algorithmically-generated "areas of interest."

There is so much more cool stuff in the world besides cool tools. Every week Mark, Claudia and I (the team behind the Cool Tools website) encounter great podcasts, bingeable video series, amazing people to follow, memorable destinations, perfect tips, and many other types of things besides tools we’d like to recommend. Thus was born Recomendo a year and half ago. Conceived as a weekly email, Recomendo now has about 15,000 subscribers. (Sign up here, free.)We thought that after 73 weeks of 6 recommendations per week, we’d make Recomendo even better by compiling a categorized version on the web. So Claudia rounded up the past issues and sorted all the recommendations by subject. The Recomendo website now offers all the travel tips, or cleaning techniques, or browser hacks in one place. Check it out, it’s pretty neat. The links have been rechecked and updated. This compendium can serve as an alternative way to refresh what we’ve raved about recently, or it is also a perfect way to inform a friend about our collective recommendations. Over 450 great tips and recommendations of cool stuff. To share on social media use this shortened link: http://goo.gl/7Zpa6bLet us know what you think.Image: Kevin's sketches for the Recomendo logo.

Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan -- who inherited the most scandal-haunted bank of them all this year -- reassured his investors in a CNN Money interview that not one dime of the tax savings the GOP will deliver to his company will be reinvested or used to increase wages: instead, it will all go to buy-backs and dividends. (more…)

Self-driving cars require incredibly accurate, up-to-date maps; in China, only Chinese companies will be able to make these maps. Nominally, this is about preventing espionage, but it also has the non-coincedental effect of forcing foreign autonomous vehicle companies to partner with (much more easily controlled) Chinese firms, a policy already in place for traditional auto manufacturing. (more…)

Under a new rule proposed by the Department of Labor, restaurants can take servers' tips and "pool" them in order to disperse some to dishwashers, bussers, etc: but it doesn't actually require them to do so, and, instead, allows employers to pocket some or all of the wait-staff's tips. (more…)

When I nerdpick a movie, I usually criticize the stupid computers, but I was fascinated by the angry nerding of Angry Staff Officer, a member of the Military Writers Guild, who picked apart the Rebellion's outrageously dumb military tactics (some spoilers). (more…)

Remember when Trump made fun of Marco Rubio for the way he drank water? It's become clear that Trump's insults are always about himself.https://youtu.be/mUcDqUGGhrU?t=1m7sEnjoy this thread of Trump's greatest moments:https://twitter.com/i/moments/885606345793167360

Investigative reporter Nina Bernstein shared The New York Times' editing rules as seen by the reporters who had to put up with them.That "Mysterious second reference" is delightful!Here's something similar I wrote when I started out in journalism in the late 1990s: 'Newsroom rules for editors.'1. Rewrite concise ledes as rambling 40-word dirges.2. Convert half the periods in any given story into commas. Convert commas at random into periods.3. Rewrite original and unconventional prose. Strip text of invention. When challenged, tell your reporters to read Strunk and White.4. When rewriting, on no account pause to check the results for subject-verb agreement, clause dependencies, or other typical results of editing text with computers.5. Never concern yourself with tense, or how many of them there should be in a single sentence.6. Correct pronoun references are optional. Improper usage amounts to stylistic je ne sais quoi and keeps barbarians from the gates.7. Don't let them write English but that eighth-graders can read, or you'll be here all night.8. Never cite your editorial preferences. Like the Bible, the sources are never read anyway.

British cops got software to help them identify children in abuse images, but it's having trouble telling the difference between skin and sand.

Director/Comedian Shannon O'Neill‏ has keenly observed that the Trumpbot just unveiled at the Walt Disney World Hall of Presidents looks an awful lot like a Hillarybot that was hastily converted after a 2016 election surprise. (more…)

The GOP tax plan is a thousand-plus-page dog's breakfast of last-minute additions, giveaways, and complexity larded upon complexity, making it nearly impossible to parse out (so much for simplifying the tax code!), but the nonpartisan, Brookings-backed Tax Policy Center's new analysis goes a long way to untangling this ugly mess. (more…)

It's a little late to get one for this ugly Christmas, but keep this sweater customizer by Ugly Christmas Sweater in mind for all your future ugly holiday needs.You start by picking out the sweater's color. You have 10 choices ranging from hot pink to black. Then you pick the overall pattern which is mostly trees and snowflakes. After that is when you can add your own creative (and hopefully subversive) touch.The cost? $67.95 plus shipping.

YouTuber CGP Grey is known for breaking down complex subjects so that they can be understood by just about anyone. His most recent animated video is no exception. In it, he answers the question, "How do all the algorithms around us learn to do their jobs?," ie. how do machines learn? Good stuff.He's even created a place on reddit to discuss it further.Here's a footnote video to the first one:https://youtu.be/wvWpdrfoEv0

Woodworker Matthias Wandel has mice in his workshop, and he wanted to see how small a hole mice could crawl through. But after setting up his ingenious little test, a challenger appears: the wily shrew! (more…)

The gold standard of egg machine videos is back with some lovely footage of some new devices: Polish egg processor OVO-TECH demonstrates the Egg Splitter Rz3. (more…)

Britain and America are, as William Gibson has written, a subtle mirror-world reflection of one another. There is a complex language of similarity between these half-separated, half-remerged cultures, and it provides a shared appreciation of difference for all to enjoy. When I emigrated from Britain to America, then, I experienced the many charming embraces and disarming rejections offered by this history.But two questions stood out from the very beginning.First: given that America is so riven by racism that it invites an annihilating bloodbath of justice, why do white people cling mindlessly to the doomed bonds of privilege? Second, what the hell is the deal with Chuck E Cheese?

Section 1201 of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (1998) give DRM incredible protections: it's illegal to bypass DRM in products you own, for legal purposes, and merely investigating or revealing defects in products with DRM can land you in jail. (more…)

Why do billionaires like Elon Musk make terrified pronouncements about the imminent rise of self-aware, murderous AIs that use us to reproduce themselves, controlling us instead of serving us? (more…)

There are few (if any) turn-based strategy franchises as prolific and decorated as Sid Meier's Civilization, and its latest installment is an even greater step forward for the series. Boasting a new city planning system, Civilization VI offers a groundbreaking level of customization that, when combined with reworked combat and building mechanics, makes for a memorable and unique experience each time you play. It's available now in the Boing Boing Store for $30.https://www.youtube.com/embed/Lh66QuadP4MWinner of 15 E3 Awards, including Best PC Game and Best Strategy Game, the series' most recent title lets you advance your civilization from the Stone Age to the Information Age by waging war, conducting diplomacy, advancing your culture, and going head to head with history's greatest leaders. Whether you're interested in conquering your foes by force or uniting the world through technology, Sid Meier's Civilization VI offers several ways for you to assert world domination and build a civilization that stands the test of time.Now, you can purchase Sid Meier's Civilization VI and redeem on Steam for $30.

I went to the dentist for the first time in about 10 years, because I had a cracked tooth. The dentist told me my teeth looked good but said I should get an electric toothbrush. I asked what kind, and he said he liked Sonicare. I got one for about $60, but now I see Amazon has one one sale for $12?. (there's a little green coupon on the page.)

The financial secrecy regimes in New Zealand and the UK create many opportunities for "jurisdictional regulatory arbitrage," playing each system's weaknesses off against the other to operate in near-perfect secrecy, creating companies whose owners are anonymized but still able to cash out the firms' profits -- an enormous boon to fraudsters who run Ponzi schemes and other dodgy enterprises that rely on the UK and New Zealands' reputation as places of good governance and financial uprightness. (more…)

"Twenty nights in the ice is a long time, when there's hostiles on the hill."

This is like the game Lemmings, only with people. They get crushed by huge blocks, fall into holes, get chopped up by propellers, and killed by other people with guns. The game is being developed by Tokyo-based Tha, Ltd.[via Clive Thomspo]

Jaden Smith treated his fans to a super smooth moonwalk during his performance at the 2017 Rolling Loud festival in San Bernardino, CA over the weekend."He was playing his single 'Icon' from his album SYRE and rapping the words 'Gold grills and you dance like Michael' before sliding his feet smoothly across the stage," says Mashable.Smith talks about how he learned to moonwalk and what the name SYRE means here:https://youtu.be/WOuZ_ePkzmo

Back in 2015, Canada's failing, doomed Conservative government introduced Bill C-51, a far-reaching mass surveillance bill that read like PATRIOT Act fanfic; Justin Trudeau, leader of what was then a minority opposition party, whipped his MPs to vote for it, allowing it to pass, and cynically admitting that he was only turning this into law because he didn't want to give the Conservatives a rhetorical stick to beat him with in the next election -- he promised that once he was Prime Minister, he'd fix it. (more…)

Artist Mitch O'Connell has curated a sizeable gallery of swingers ads from old magazines. Some are not safe for work. All are a testament to the varieties of the human experience.

In Udaipur, Rajasthan, India, three puppies were immobilized in a pool of tar. Fortunately, someone called Animal Aid, an organization that rescues and treats street animals.

Stephen Canfield and his colleagues at WeTransfer curated a stunning online experience inspired by the Voyager Golden Record, the iconic message for extraterrestrials launched into space on a phonograph record 40 years ago. My friends Tim Daly and Lawrence Azerrad and I co-produced the first ever vinyl release of the Voyager Record this year and we were honored to help with WeTransfer's effort, titled A Message from Earth.A Message To Earth includes newly-commissioned images, art, sound, and words from the likes of Gilles Peterson, Wanda Díaz Merced, Aspen Matis, S U R V I V E, Lawrence Krauss, Fatima Al Qadiri, and Oneohtrix Point Never. It's a beautiful, non-linear exhibition of creative work that embodies the sense of hope, optimism, and goodwill instilled by the original Voyager Record.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute is part of the dark-money funded network of think thanks that lead the charge to deny the scientific consensus on climate change; funded by a mix of money from the tobacco industry, the hydrocarbon lobby, booze companies, and similar interests. (more…)

A couple and their 10-year-old boy taking a cruise from Mobile, Alabama to Mexico on Carnival Cruise Line says they found a hidden camera in their stateroom. The small camera was tucked inside the cables behind their TV.The father of the family (who wants to stay anonymous) says after he'd had an allergy attack he poked around the room to look for dusty areas. When he looked behind the television he found the camera, with what looked like an antennae attached, which he said might have been used to transmit images.According to Miami Herald:

The anonymous Bitcoin philanthropist behind the Pineapple Fund donated nearly 60 Bitcoins, approximately $1 million, to the psychedelics research and advocacy group Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). "The Pineapple Fund's outstanding generosity exemplifies how the growth of cryptocurrency can be leveraged for profound social change," says MAPS Founder and Executive Director Rick Doblin, Ph.D. "The blockchain community is helping to lead the way, not only in decentralized technologies and currencies, but in giving the gift of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to the world in order to heal trauma and bring greater compassion to psychiatry and medicine."The philanthropist, known as Pine, has also:

Back when Star Wars was "an adventure unlike anything on your planet.... A big sprawling space saga of rebellion and romance."

America Rising, a GOP oppo research firm, has filed a slew of Freedom of Information requests seeking access to EPA employees' email, targeting employees who criticized Donald Trump, Scott Priutt, or EPA policies, or who participated in union rallies against cuts; the requests target communications that mention Trump officials or are addressed to Democrats in Congress. (more…)

I CAN NOT put drops in my eye. It freaks me the heck out. I use this Auto Dropper when things get critical.I will squirm, wrestle, wiggle and flee from any attempt to put drops in my eyes. The idea of contacts is kind of a laughable non-reality. Teams of luchadores Mexicanos could not hold me down! Nothing goes in my eyes!I would spend a lot of time trying to get drops to contact the surface of my eye, especially in windy and smoky times like the California winter. Now, I employ the Auto Dropper. The contraption centers the bottle over my eye, holds open my lower eyelid open, and 1 time out of 3 gets the drop in place, because I still fucking hate eye drops.When I get really twitchy, I'll just fill the corner of my eye with the solution and open the eye. It wastes a ton of liquid tho.Ableware 786770001 Autodrop Eye Drop Guide via Amazon

Benjamin Bennett's YouTube channel has 280 four-hour videos of himself sitting in a corner and smiling at the camera. I find his videos to be more exciting than Braco the Gazer's.From Bennet's Patreon page:

In Michigan's Wayne County, Prosecutor Kym Worthy has spent years processing 11,341 rape kits. The kits, found in 2009, were forgotten in a police storage warehouse, where they were routinely dumped without investigation.Over 800 serial rapists, criminals who have struck 10-15 times without being stopped, were identified. 127 convictions have been made this far.The Detroit Free Press' Nancy Kaffer interviewed Worthy:

This video encapsulates every British middle-class family's Christmas since at least the 1960s.

An Amtrak train full of passengers derailed this morning at 7:40am, leaving cars dangling over an overpass near Seattle, WA. There have been multiple deaths and injuries.Via CNN:

UCLA released a study that found 796,000 California adolescents, or over one in four, self-report that peers consider them gender nonconforming. Our recruitment drive is working! (more…)

This Danish boys choir attempts to plow through "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful" after each downing a whole (ghost?) pepper. A sadistic YouTuber and "chilienthusiast" by the name of Chili Klaus gave each one of the members of the Herning Boys Choir a super-hot pepper to eat before trying to sing the Christmas carol over again.One of the camera operators for the shoot, redditor YetACleverUsername reports:

Xinjiang province is the site of intense surveillance and oppression, even by Chinese standards; it's home to the largely Muslim Uyghur minority, and a combination of racism and Islamaphobia drive a uniquely intrusive grade of policing and surveillance. (more…)

I'm not a "nail person" myself but I have noticed how prevalent over-the-top nail art has gotten in the past few years. In general, I skip nail art videos because it's just not my thing but this snowglobe nail tutorial by Canadian YouTuber Simply Nailogical stopped me in my tracks. I mean, it's just so... absurd. But I guess that's the point.She's sealed in glitter (something called Holo Flakes), baby oil, AND a tiny snowman inside a bubble to decorate her already-decorated index finger's nail.The actual process to make one seems incredibly complicated and time-consuming. Would you? Could you?

It's said that it takes just one bad apple to spoil the bunch. If you'd like to know if any of the movies or TV shows you watch has a bad apple --someone accused of sexual misconduct-- affiliated with it, you need to head over to The Rotten Appl.es. A quick search of their database will tell you if a cast-member, screenwriter, executive producer or director is an alleged abuser.They write:

The season 7 gem starring Principal Skinner and Superintendant Chalmers has seen a massive uptick in meme activity in late 2017. Here are some highlights: (more…)

Justin Caffier was good enough to play human guinea pig in the quest for the ideal liquid to put in a bong. Colloids and emulsions quickly got ruled out after his disastrous attempts at using ranch dressing: (more…)

Life on the Rocks is a fascinating account of a scientific expedition to a craggy archipelago off Brazil, where conditions may unlock secrets about possible life forms on Europa, Enceladus, and other nearby celestial bodies. (more…)