Boing Boing

We all understand the healing powers of music. Putting on your favorite songs, zoning out, and letting the immersive sensation wash over you and carry you away is part of music's universal appeal. And the link between music and feeling good isn't just anecdotal. In four separate research trials, music therapy was found to reduce […]

When I'm not writing things here on BoingBoing and elsewhere, I also sing and play guitar for an indie rock called the Roland High Life. And today, we have a new album out called "Songs About Comic Books & Mid-30s Malaise!" The subject matter is precisely as you would expect it to be. You can […]

The great thing about online education is that no matter where you feel you need to shore up your skill sets, there's a package of coursework that can help get you there. You just have to know where to look. Skillingo assembles those training packages, grouping up series of classes all directed toward some area […]

PMS 130, taken on 9/9/20 by Adam Dexter Woke up this morning here in Alameda (San Francisco Bay Area) and it was still dark, with a strong orange coming through the blinds. I can best describe it as a "hellscape." It's caused, of course, by the wildfires. But, oddly enough, it doesn't smell like smoke […]

I've had a cheap Brother wireless laser printer for 10 years. It's so much faster and cheaper than an inkjet printer, and doesn't cause problems like an inkjet printer. It also prints on both sides of a sheet of paper. That feature comes in handy when my daughters and I want to make a small […]

From breaching humpback whales to European tulip fields to frozen lakes in Antarctica, enjoy a drone's eye view of the world in this relaxing montage of scenic drone footage. [Video link, source: Storyful]

A former senior official at the Department of Homeland Security has filed a whistleblower complaint, in which he claims he was told to stop providing intelligence analysis reports about ongoing Russian interference attacks on America because it "made the President look bad." The official, Brian Murphy, said he believed the instruction he received from acting […]

Walmart said Wednesday it will soon start a pilot project for drone delivery of grocery and household products. The retailer is partnering for the test launch with end-to-end delivery firm Flytrex. Walmart is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, and says the test starts Wednesday in Fayetteville, North Carolina, with drones controlled remotely through the internet picking […]

What's on the nightstand by your bed? Probably a lamp, maybe a clock, your phone, a tablet, a pair of glasses, some books you haven't read yet, some tissues, a remote control, and likely at least a few other personal items. Before you realize it, you've stacked up a lot of stuff on that tiny […]

Visual Capitalist's graph of the world's 25 richest families includes only those that inherited their wealth (not "self-made" centi-billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, or Bill Gates). I was surprised that the Mars family is second on the list (behind the Walmart family, which is worth $215 billion). The supercilious Koch family comes in third, […]

In 2001 Portugal decriminalized the consumption of all drugs. Meanwhile, the Philippines deals with drug users by shooting them in the street or throwing them in prison. Neither approach eliminates the harm that drug abuse (and its secondary and tertiary effects) causes to individuals and society, but only one them reduces the harm while the […]

Microsoft says the Xbox Series X will cost $500, a stripped-down $300 Series S will also be available, and both will launch on November 10, as the holiday shopping season kicks off. AP: There haven't been new generations of video game consoles for several years. The most recent Xbox, Xbox One, was released in 2013, […]

• Shocking new excerpt from Bob Woodward's book 'Rage' show Trump downplayed COVID-19 threat but knew how deadly and contagious it is • Trump: "I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic." An excerpt from RAGE, Bob Woodward's new book, reveals that […]

The United States and Mexico are each others greatest trading partners and share a 3,000 kilometer border. The number of U.S. residents with Mexican ancestry is about 37 million. And yet, the border is heavily restricted and U.S. law makes it very difficult for most people from Mexico to legally immigrate to the United States. […]

Stevie gives an amazing performance here. Where can I get his pants suit?

Looking forward to this one. You surely know what Dune is all about, but if not, well, few are the fools who would attempt to explain it in a paragraph. The only way to catch up is to buy the entire six-book series (even after all this time, there are only six Dune books!) and […]

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health released guidelines forbidding door-to-door trick-or-treating. "Door-to-door trick-or-treating is not allowed because it can be very difficult to maintain proper social distancing on porches and at front doors especially in neighborhoods that are popular with trick or treaters. Also verboten: 'Trunk-or-treating' events where children go from car to […]

De Niro and Bob James's "Angela"—what's not to love?(kingkida)

Despite reports of their death in the Washington Post back in 2017, it appears that guitars are, in fact, still alive — and indeed, might even be cool once more. As The New York Times reports, in the aptly titled "Guitars are back, baby!" A half-year into a pandemic that has threatened to sink entire […]

As part of the new transmedia Doctor Who series, Time Lord Victorious, the BBC has announced that the Daleks are getting their own animated CGI miniseries. Yes, that's right: everyone's favorite genocidal trashcans on wheels, now immortalized as adorable cartoons. Here's the blurb. The Dalek Empire comes up against a terrible force. The Daleks' plundering […]

Senryu are sort of a sister poem to the Haiku. While traditional Haiku are about nature, Senryu follow the same 5-7-5 syllable format to address elements of human nature. Latitude and longitude are available for the seriously committed. (h/t Ava)

When you walk around carrying a heavy backpack, the movement of the pack against your body increases the amount of energy you need to take each step. Now, Huazhong University of Science and Technology professor Caihua Xiong and colleagues developed a motorized backpack that automatically adjusts the load you're carrying. From IEEE Spectrum: "Asian people […]

Denim is a popular clothing fabric. Half the world is wearing blue jeans or denim right now (well, at least they were before the pandemic). A new study published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters presents the unfortunate finding that a single pair of blue jeans "can release 56000 ± 4100 microfibers per wash." Microfibers […]

YouTubers There I Ruined It have lived up to their name but making Survivor's Rocky III hit "Eye of the Tiger" a doo-wop song (cringe). Here's the original to listen to as a palate cleanser: (Born in Space, The Awesomer) image via eil.com

An outbreak of wildfires has spread across Oregon. As Oregon Public Broadcasting explains: Thousands of Oregonians were evacuated from their homes Tuesday, as conditions led to a spate of surging wildfires state officials said is unprecedented in modern memory. […] The gusts that began Monday gave new life to fires that had burned in central […]

"Using 19 years of data on 1,172 public firms, we show that firms' distinctive strategies are systematically linked to their CEOs' uncommon names," write the authors of a new study published in Strategic Management Journal. The reason? People with "uncommon names tend to have a self‐conception of being different from their peers." From the report's […]

Fossils found within other fossils happen when an animal dies with its undigested prey inside. Cases generally involve prehistoric fish and reptiles, as they tend to swallow prey whole. Scientists working in China have reported finding a thalattosaur inside the stomach of an ichthyosaur species called a guizhouichthyosaurus. This was surprising, because scientists believed there […]

Yarh-io is a handheld Linux-based computer with keyboard, trackpad and 800×480-pixel display made with a Raspberry Pi 3B+, a custom 3D-printed case and many hours of love. [via Liliputing] YARH.IO is a fully hackable and custamizable Raspberry Pi based handheld, running Raspberry Pi OS and supporting all other Operating Systems available for Raspberry Pi. The […]

Kurt is a baby horse born last month. But Kurt is a very special horse because he's one of approximately 2,000 endangered Przewalski's horses alive on the planet, and he was cloned from genetic material that's been frozen for 40 years. Revive & Restore—the wildlife conservation organization most famous for their efforts to resurrect the […]

I don't know about you, but in this pandemic, I feel as though the weeks are flying by. In this interview conducted by Darryn King, neuroscientist David Eagleman talks about the many ways the world wrought by Covid-19 has affected the way we think. In one of your famous experiments, you had people fall from […]

I wonder if this was just a friendly greeting or a congratulatory gesture, and, if it's the latter, what exactly was being praised.

Adrian Smith is a bug nerd. The head of the Evolutionary Biology & Behavior Lab at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, he studies insects and also creates digital media to share the wonder with the public. Above is his stunning slow motion video of "takeoff and flight sequences of insects spanning 8 different taxonomic orders […]

This fascinating mini-documentary describes the downfall of Irish politician Pádraig Flynn, who gave a bizarre interview to broadcaster Gay Byrne in 1999 that drew all the threads of his career and his party into a fuse and lit it without a second thought. As it is with the best of these things, it's not really […]

The two Tom the Dancing Bug books, Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse, and The Super-Fun-Pak Comix Reader, are now available. Information about the books, including how to order, and special offers here. "Delve into the dementia, the dread, and the delightfulness of this collection of Tom the Dancing Bug's strips — it's history […]

In this footage a dog is asked not to woof. Instead of complying with the request, however, the dog says "woof". And by "says", I mean the dog says it.

We covered Jason Shron's basement recreation of a VIA traincar almost 10 years ago, but his effort—staggeringly completist thought it is—is now just one among many examples of "secret fantasy worlds" built in the basements of otherwise unassuming homes. The Guardian's Amelia Tait takes a trip through some of the most amazing, starting with his. […]

Matt Farrell delves into what carbon capture utilization storage (CCUS) can and can't do for reducing greenhouse gases. There are several big issues. First, doing CCUS at a scale that would make a difference will take a lot of time and money, so as a species, we would need to commit to retrofitting carbon-emitting energy […]

Another event is going virtual. The quirky What the Fluff? festival can't happen as planned at their in-person location of Union Square in Somerville, Massachusetts, so they are taking it online this year. The live-streamed festivities happen Saturday, September 12 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. EDT. You may not know this but I'm a […]

Solutions and Other Problems [Amazon] is the forthcoming follow-up to BB fave Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh's amusing and insightful collection of autobiographical sketches. Her new work, out September 22, picks up where the original left off, powered by similar anxieties and the same perfectly-expressive MS Paint artwork. Solutions and Other Problems includes humorous […]

Mere humans can never harness the sea, but the Hacksmith had fun making Aquaman's trident with a few tweaks. While his generates impressive 800 psi water pressure, its capacity is limited, and the gold required would have cost over 2.2 million dollars. Next best thing, though. We need an Aquaman powerwasher attachment to make those […]

Here's Louis Vuitton's take on fashion facemasks, reportedly part of its 2021 Cruise Collection. Ian Servantes points out that there's no price or product page, but adds what many are likely thinking: "A great way to tell people you're excited for the guillotine." Here's my Louis Vuitton face mask (below). Easily repurposed for the Covid […]

Kayaker Jimmy MacDonald lost his paddle and tipped over in the choppy waters of New York's Lake George when the miraculous appearance of priests touring the lake on a floating tiki bar appeared and saved him. Via WNYT, Tiki Tours captain Greg Barrett was shuttling the priests around when he saw the paddle, then MacDonald. […]

Stars Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves joined co-creators Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon to discuss the arduous journey to screen for the beloved franchise. Fun fact: the writers were fired by their agent after submitting the script, which was based on characters they developed in improv shows. Bonus video: Zach Gallifinakis roasting Keanu on Between […]

“Watch all the stealing and robbing they do. This is important.” — Trump

"In a court filing Tuesday, the Justice Department said Trump was acting 'within the scope' of his job as president when he said Carroll lied about the incident" The U.S. Justice Department, controlled by Donald Trump and headed by the lyin'-ass Worst Attorney General Ever, Bill Barr, is trying to take over as President Donald […]

In case you haven't tried an electric board before, know this — it's not a toy. With 2800 watts of power, the beefy 36V, 4.4 Ah battery propels the Flowdeck X at a respectably speedy 20 mph with real stability. In fact, the motors have so much zip that they can easily shoot a rider […]

A tiny baby gorilla has been born at the zoo in New Orleans, the Audubon Zoo said Tuesday. The critically endangered western lowland gorilla was born Friday to 13-year-old Tumani and father Okpara, and the sex of the baby isn't yet known. "Tumani is demonstrating excellent mothering behaviors and the entire troop is doing exceptionally […]

Fact check: True

In Britain, the government says that beginning Monday, gatherings of more than six people in England are banned. Officials are working to thwart a spike in new coronavirus infections. The recent jump in daily cases is blamed on "party-going young adults disregarding social distancing rules," reports AP: The U.K. has the worst COVID-19 death toll […]

I have a few different mechanical pencils. The ones I commonly use have lead thicknesses of 0.7mm and 0.5mm, both of which are fine for everyday notetaking. But when my daughter and I fire up the DOSBOX DOS emulator on my Macbook Pro to play Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (1981) only one […]