Over at the Japanese culture website Tofugu (where my wife Carla is on staff), there's a great article by Kanae Nakamine on Japanese bug eating traditions, complete with tasty recipes like bee larva omelets, baby ant minestrone, and rice grasshopper granola bars. There are also vending machines in Japan that sell edible bugs.

Enjoy this clever welcome message/plea to the new leader of the United States.Picking on Germany may not pay off in the long run, folks.

Three-thousand pounds of marijuana were seized recently at Pharr International Bridge on the Rio Grande. Customs and Border Protection report that the weed, disguised as watermelons, did not fool the sniffer dogs during inspection of a 1993 Thermo King tractor-trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzQE3VvYPz4Directed by Norwood Cheek with animation by Dilara Mundy.

These guy taped a a beautiful avalanche at Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile. It stopped right before it reached them, and just hovered over them.

Emily Nussbaum at The New Yorker takes a deep dive into comedy's outsize role in Trump's victory. It's one of the best long reads about the pop culture that defined this election. To use Emily's comedy metaphor, with notable exceptions like "Delete your account," Hillary and her supporters didn't read the room and were heckled at nearly every turn. (more…)

When a Tumblr user shared this photo of their aunt’s “wizard lizard” with the caption “You know what to do,” artist and fellow Tumblr user Lauren of Iguanamouth immediately got to work:http://iguanamouth.tumblr.com/post/155660412107/an-eighth-of-faith-submitted-my-aunts-wizard

One of Obama's last posts while in office showed him fist-bumping a robotic arm. It's actually a prosthetic robotic arm belonging to Nathan Copeland, who can control it with his mind and sense touch with it. (more…)

The wonderful new movie Hidden Figures (based on a book by Margot Lee Shetterly) tells the story of three black women who were crucial to the success of NASA’s Apollo missions in the 1960s. And now NASA is celebrating the many black women who play a crucial role in the space program today. In a series of videos, women like systems engineer Julie Williams-Byrd, project manager Antja Chambers, and astronaut Jeanette Epps discuss their work with NASA and how the women of Hidden Figures inspired them.https://youtu.be/sc7TGp2Fhlshttps://youtu.be/QU8NfXmbMZchttps://youtu.be/_qlI0w3NS-whttps://youtu.be/RHTAQG8xXz8https://youtu.be/1NrqBe_xm-whttps://youtu.be/hVmX7-GOPiUYou can learn more on NASA’s “From Hidden Figures To Modern Figures” page and you can see all of the “NASA’s Modern Figures” videos on YouTube.

YouTuber Kitty Loves Tofu set up this inverted aquarium in an indoor koi pond then put some food inside. After a few early adopters benefited from taking a chance and swimming in, their neighbors decided to join in, too. (more…)

The former UK national phone company BT announced that it's writing down the value of its Italian operation by £530m because it has been committing accounting fraud for years, triggering a mass sell-off of its shares, wiping £5.5b off the company's valuation. (more…)

Larry Smith is a mainstay and fixture of America's science fiction conventions (as well as many overseas events); he's someone I've conversed with dozens of times, and, like John Scalzi, I always made a point of signing his stock because I knew that anything I signed for Larry would go all around the nation. (more…)

Enjoy the intense wheeking joy of an entire clan of guinea pigs feasting on the remains of their defeated enemies.Correction: An earlier version of this post referred to the noises made by the Guinea pigs as "squeaking." The noise they are making, indicative of begging at mealtime, is called "wheeking." Boing Boing regrets the error.

1,001,616 paid rides were taken on the DC Metro on the day of the Women's March on Washington. Compare that to 570,557 rides taken on the day Trump was sworn into office, which is even less than the number of rides taken on the average weekday.[via]

A young Discordian makes her point at the Women's March.

I love this idea - the media should stop interviewing Trump spokesperson Kellyanne Conway. Almost nothing she says is true or useful. It's entertaining on some level, but it's easier to find better entertainment elsewhere.

Even before he took the job of Chief Security Officer of Yahoo, Alex Stamos had a reputation for being a badass: a thoughtful security ethicist who served as an expert witness in defense of Aaron Swartz, Stamos cemented his reputation by publicly humiliating the director of the NSA over mass surveillance. (more…)

You know as well as I that writing complex, long-long form text requires significant organization. You're probably also well aware that Word just isn’t up to the task. That's why I'm a huge fan of Scrivener, the software suite used by best-selling authors and technical writers alike.Scrivener is much more than another digital typewriter. With a multimedia research archive, virtual corkboard, and numerous ways to view in-process work, this app has a complete writer’s studio.You won’t need to dig through your computer to find reference materials; external files can link to specific passages in the text to show notes and articles alongside your document. Section summaries can even be rearranged to let you find the optimal sequence for your piece at any stage.Once you finish your project, Scrivener handles the tedious compilation process. Export to a variety of final file types, including Final Draft for screenplays, ePub for ebooks, or HTML for web publication.Order before Friday, January 27 to get Scrivener for Windows for just $20, 50% off the usual price, to get serious about your writing.Explore other Best-Sellers on our network:

The microgravity of space would really put a damper on your dice games. You roll them and they don't land. The 3D Printing Professor has a fun solution. Space Dice (via Adafruit)

Nashtifan, Iran, is home to some of the oldest windmills in the world. Ali Muhammad Etebari, the last custodian of the mills, laments that he cannot find an apprentice. (more…)

Alarm predators by releasing luminescent phytoplankton from your pores.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvob6L8q3I8&feature=youtu.behttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQX3yK8aw3Y&feature=youtu.be(Vids from Loghan Call, Joel Puckett, Peter Kragh and Avrilia Anggraeni)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZVvIWI2psUA passage from Lord of the Flies, by William Golding.

The Good Junk (@thegoodjunk) is a blog which posts a beautiful gadget a day. Not all of them are 40-year-old Braun or B&O appliances, either! (A lot of them are.) Pictured above is the Casio XW-PD1 performance synthesizer, which was made in 19A5. Below is a MINITEL terminal.

DeviantArt member Laovaan creates all kinds of beautifully shaded watercolors. In this video he fields viewer questions as he spends five hours creating a watercolor of Link from The Legend of Zelda. (more…)

Sarah Vaci creates wonderful portraits with colored wool and felt from her UK studio. Watch her make a dog eye in this 24-minute relaxing tutorial. (more…)

Photos have already emerged documenting just how many more people attended Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration than Donald Trump’s 2017 one, but this gif from CNN proves the Women’s March on Washington crowd totally dominated Trump's too: https://twitter.com/cnn/status/822885224501518336?refsrc=email&s=11The two photos were both taken in the same place at 12:15 p.m. EST one day apart. The difference is yuge. And, yes, both images feature the infamous white plastic White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer claimed makes crowds look smaller. Vox is reporting the Women's March on Washington was about twice as big as Trump's inauguration, with a crowd of around 500,000 attending the Women's March. Meanwhile The New York Times—which has a lower estimate of Trump's crowd size—believes the Washington Women’s March was actually three times larger than the inauguration.USA Today is reporting that in total Women's Marches around the world had a turn out of around 2.6 million people at 673 marches in all 50 states and 32 countries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukFjAsvXC90Judah Adunbi is a 63-year-old black man who lives in Bristol, England, where he volunteered as chairman of the independent advisory group on race relations; police confronted him while he was walking his dog in front of his home on Saturday. When he refused to show them ID, they tasered him, sending him crashing to the ground, cracking his head on the pavement. Then they charged him with "assaulting a constable in the course of his duties." (more…)

A group of Wyoming legislators in the state's House and Senate -- all representing coal country and all avowed climate deniers -- have introduced a bill that would ban Wyoming power companies from using solar or wind power by 2019, and requires non-renewable power to account for 95% of the state's power by 2018. (more…)

In a new paper in Progress, Oxford economist Vuk Vukovic argues that the key to re-election in local politics is to be just corrupt enough: giving lucrative contracts and other benefits to special interests who'll fund your next campaign, but not so much that the people refuse to vote for you. (more…)

Looking to upgrade your weekend? Here are three randomly awesome products on my mind this week.#3 FRESHeBUDS Pro Magnetic Bluetooth Earbuds

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Dutch filmmaker Ben Winkeler combined his beautiful nature footage with geometric overlays to create Magical Triangle. (more…)

Brian made these California Resistance mugs, sporting Jerry Brown's promise to "launch our own damned satellite" -- proceeds to Planned Parenthood. (more…)

Yesterday saw the release of Canadian artist, graphic novelist, and scratch DJ Kid Koala's latest record, his fifth, Music to Draw To: Satellite. An ambient concept record, Music to Draw To: Satellite is about a pair of lovers separated by a one-way trip to Mars. Each track is like a sonic love letter, an expression of the loneliness of extended isolation, the wondrous, terrifying void of space, and missing those left behind. Seven of the tracks on the record feature vocals by Icelandic singer Emilíana Torrini (known for, beyond her critically-acclaimed solo career, recording with Thievery Corporation, and singing "Golem's Song" in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers).I have been soothing my restless psyche for the past few days with heavy-rotation listening to "Collapser," one of the first tracks released. This lost in space lullaby features the most wistful and dreamy vocals from Torrini on the record. For the video, Kid Koala teamed up with "chemical puppeteer" Karina Blea whose work is described as "an ultraviolet study of chemical theatrics under a microscope." The slowly changing, minimalist liquid world of colored drips, languid swirls, and chemical reactions is a perfect complement to the insistent rhythms of the music and Torrini's melancholy vocals sweetly swimming over the top.https://youtu.be/u8JLozxxGrgKid Koala says that he was inspired to do this project by the go-to records he listens to whenever he's drawing and working on his art. He wanted to create such a piece himself. He and his record company, Arts & Crafts Records, have even gone so far as to release a deluxe version of the CD which comes in an 80-page sketchbook so that you too can draw along to the music.

Traditional folding wallets are designed for paper bills—but these days, carrying cash is rarely a necessity. More often than not, I don't carry cash at all. This Bogui Clik Wallet is the best answer I've found for avoiding the hassle of those tight-fitting credit card pockets.This attractive, minimalist wallet features a protective lip, so my cards don't fall out of my pocket. Everything is held in place with a simple metal clip that also doubles as a bottle opener, so you can still fit folded bills as well as up to eight cards and open your cold drinks. Additionally, this durable wallet is made from RFID-blocking materials, so you can stay safe from credit card skimmers.I highly suggest this wallet for anyone looking to get a little more organized in 2017. For a limited time, get the Bogui Clik Wallet for just $42.99, 25% off retail.Explore other Best-Sellers on our network:

Can you "hear" motion or light flashes? If so, according to new research from City University London, you may be experiencing a not-so-rare form of synaesthesia. Synesthesia is the fascinating neurological phenomenon whereby stimulation of one sense involuntarily triggers another sensory pathway. For example, a synesthete might taste sounds or hear colors. (In this study, 8 out of 40 participants, a very high percentage, were considered to have hearing-motion synaesthesia.) Here is their test for you to take yourself. From The Guardian:

Much has been said of Donald Trump's presidency, which begins today with his sparsely-attended inauguration in Washington, D.C. If there's one thing I found insightful and well-geared to the historical context of the moment, however, it's this thoughtful and ruminative longread from Tom Freeman.

Break out the headphones for this tingly and satisfying sound design of macro timelapse thawing of fruits and vegetables. The visuals are quote appetizing and lovely, but the sounds are what really make it amazing. (more…)

Zim & Zou make these delightful hand-cut paper buildings for their Forest Folks display in Dubai. (more…)

YouTuber and photographer Timmy Joe saw spectacular light pillars on an arctic January night from his northern Ontario home. He thought they were northern lights until he went to investigate. It's a totally different phenomenon, as he helpfully explains. (more…)

Using my iPhone while it's charging is always a hassle. With tucked-away outlets and the meager length of included lightning cables, comfortable scrolling while plugged in is annoying. These 10-Ft MFi-Certified Lightning Cables are super convenient and probably the best iPhone accessory purchase I've made.At over three times the length of normal cables, these reach anywhere you need from under the bed to behind an office desk. They have MFi certification from Apple, meaning you can charge and sync without worrying about damaging your device. With three included, I keep one at home, one at work, and one in my purse.For a limited time, get this 3-Pack of 10-ft Lightning Cables for just $22, 75% off the usual price, and never worry about forgetting your charging cable again.

Just look at it. (via Gameraboy)

Christ Brown's debut novel, Tropic of Kansas, will be out in July -- but Brown finished it years ago, long before the darkly comic trumpian political intrigue it envisions became more like factual reporting than satire. (more…)

Meitu is one of Google Play's "Sand Hill" apps, part of the company's accelerator for apps with "viral potential" -- take a pic of yourself and Meitu will make you over to look like an anime character, and all they ask in return is every salient fact about you that can be gleaned from your mobile device. (more…)

In 2015, Mark Zuckerberg (who insists that privacy is dead) bought 100 acres of land around his vacation home in Hawaii to ensure that no one could get close enough to spy on him. (more…)

Scientists declared the ruby seadragon a new species in 2015, but that was based on dead specimens in a museum. Now though, Scripps Institution of Oceanography biologist Greg Rouse who led the team that originally discovered the species, managed to find two of the wonderful fish swimming around the Recherche Archipelago, off the south coast of Western Australia. Each one is about 10 feet long. Just kidding. They're 10 inches long. From National Geographic:

The graphene temporary tattoo seen here is the thinnest epidermal electronic device ever and according to the University of Texas at Austin researchers who developed it, the device can take some medical measurements as accurately as bulky wearable sensors like EKG monitors. From IEEE Spectrum:

Comic Sans MS, perhaps the most polarizing font in history, was designed by Vincent Connare for Microsoft and unleashed upon the world in 1994."If you didn't notice (a piece of art), I considered that was bad," Connare says. "And if you did notice, it was good."

I paid $22 for my FryDaddy electric deep fryer, but it's on sale on Amazon for $17 (free Prime shipping) right now. This thing is awesome -- I use it a couple of times a week to fry sweet potato, butternut squash, and Brussels sprouts chips. (Here's the coconut oil I use with it.)Lately I've been frying very thinly cut slices of butternut squash. It's a bit tricky, because for five minutes it doesn't look like anything is happening, then suddenly the slices begin to brown, and about a minute later, they start to burn. There's a 30-second window where they are perfectly browned and on the edge of being crispy and chewy. With a little salt, they are one of the tastiest things I've ever eaten. I'll shoot a video soon.

The Chinese government "fabricates and posts about 448 million social media comments a year," according to a study conducted by researchers at Harvard, Stanford, and the University of California San Diego.