Laughing Squid

In a nutritive lesson for TED, educator and author Paul S. Kindstedt took a page from his own book Cheese and Culture: A History of Cheese and its Place in Western Civilization, in order to explain how cheese was discovered and how cheesemaking has survived essentially unchanged for so long without much interruption. Before empires...The post How Cheesemaking Has Remained Essentially Unchanged Since It Was First Discovered appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Researchers at the University of Zurich have created a brilliantly designed drone that dynamically folds itself in a variety of ways in order to change shape and size while in flight. This morphing ability offers greater flexibility for any task as hand. In this work, we propose a novel, simpler, yet effective morphing design for...The post A Brilliantly Designed Folding Drone That Can Dynamically Change Shape and Size While in Flight appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Improv Everywhere, in partnership with Target, built a giant red boombox in the middle of Manhattan’s South Street Seaport. The box, which was running low on battery power, invited passersby to plug it into a giant outlet just a few feet away. Once connected, two ships at dock instantly lit up holiday style and music...The post A Giant Red Boombox In New York City That Starts a Massive Holiday Dance Party When Plugged In appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Alec Armbruster, a resident in Fresno, California, grew rather frustrated with the fact that his home-delivery packages were repeatedly being stolen off his front porch and decided to fight back with his cat in a very clever manner. Armbruster packed up used cat litter, disguised it as a high value package, set it out front,...The post Frustrated Fresno Resident Uses Cat Poop to Deter Package Thieves From Ever Returning to His Door appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the spirit of the holiday season, TBS and magician John Stessel went to the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter and performed magic tricks with some very adorable and adoptable dogs. Using a trick similar to that of Finnish magician Jose Ahonen, Stessel made treats disappear right in front of the showcased dogs and just...The post Magician Makes Treats Disappear In Front of Adoptable Dogs Who React in Really Adorable Ways appeared first on Laughing Squid.

While realtor Andy Gregg was in his North Phoenix, Arizona backyard at night, he heard a voice he didn’t recognize coming out from his Nest security camera. At first Gregg was a bit alarmed by the this random occurrence, but once the voice identified himself as a member of the anonymous Calgary Hivemind in Canada...The post Canadian White Hat Hacker Contacts Phoenix Man Through Nest Camera to Warn About Security Lapses appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Artist Ben Zurawski, who illustrates custom hand-drawn flipbooks under the name The Flippist, has created a brilliant flip animation of almost every booby trap that the young Kevin Mcallister set for thieves Harry and Marv in the iconic 1990 film Home Alone. According to Zurawski, this particular book took over a month to make, but...The post A Brilliant Flipbook Animation of Almost Every Booby Trap Set for Harry and Marv in the Film ‘Home Alone’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Sesame Street has introduced Lily, an adorable little red haired girl who’s new to the neighborhood. Lily and her family have been without a home for a while, but are now staying with their good friend Sofia. Between the love of her family, the care of Sofia and a friend in Elmo, Lily is in...The post Sesame Street Introduces Lily, The First Homeless Character on the Long Running Children’s Show appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Joe Parente (@joeparente34) on Sep 21, 2018 at 6:32pm PDT Freelance 3D artist Joe Parente of Wachtraum Digital Art has created “Old Man Rick”, a brilliant, highly stylized, hyper-realistic digital portrait of Rick Sanchez, the the brilliant but cranky grandfather to Morty Smith in the animated...The post Old Man Rick, A Hyper-Realistic Stylized 3D Digital Portrait of Rick Sanchez From ‘Rick and Morty’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

With the release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, renowned filmmaker Kevin Smith sat down with Wired to talk about all that is Spider-Man. Smith, a fan since childhood, shares his memories of Spiderman, explains some of the lesser known versions and offers his honest opinion about every portrayal of the character, in both film and...The post Filmmaker Kevin Smith Offers His Honest Opinion About Every Spider-Man in Film and Television appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In 2005, actor Jack Klugman released a beautiful book about his friendship with co-star Tony Randall, which was aptly titled Tony and Me: A Story of Friendship. Included with the book was a DVD containing outtakes from The Odd Couple compiled by Klugman himself in memory of his dearest friend. Before rolling, Klugman gave a...The post A Funny, Somewhat Off-Color Montage of ‘The Odd Couple’ Outtakes Compiled by Actor Jack Klugman appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In February 2018, actor Ryan Reynolds acquired a large stake in the Portland, Oregon company that makes Aviation American Gin. To promote his new(ish) acquisition, Reynolds with his signature dry humor, poked fun at artisanal “maker”-style commercials that used flowery descriptions and images of nature, camaraderie, hard work and someone playing something musical. All of...The post Ryan Reynolds Pokes Fun at Artisanal Style Ads While Promoting His Newly Acquired Aviation American Gin appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Dr. Uri Burstyn, aka the Helpful Vancouver Vet, who offers a great deal of good information about caring for household pets through his YouTube channel, has put together an incredibly thoughtful three-part series about attending to the specific and varying needs of an older cat. Dr. Burstyn shares information about grooming, feeding and the comfort...The post Helpful Information About Attending to Grooming, Feeding and Comfort Needs of an Older Cat appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A short National Geographic documentary tells the story of a remarkable woman named Susan Potter. Potter wanted very much to be a part of teaching the art of compassion to doctors, but being elderly with fragile health didn’t give her many options. Potter sought out Dr. Vic Spitzer, a cell and developmental biologist at the...The post Woman Who Left Her Body to Science to Teach Doctors Compassion Is Rebuilt as 3D High-Res Digital Cadaver appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Terre Fredde • Dario Bonzi Ph (@dariobonzi) on Dec 5, 2018 at 3:37am PST While filming in the central Alps valley of Val Camonica, Italian photographer Dario Bonzi captured remarkable footage of mountain water flowing out of a pipe that appeared to be completely frozen. Despite...The post Flowing Alpine Water That Appears Completely Frozen appeared first on Laughing Squid.

David Li who works as an animator for Adult Swim created a very clever but equally creepy interactive chorus that asks the viewer to virtually “pull open” a pair of animated lips and reveal a bunch of full throated voices. The harder you pull, the longer and louder the voices become. Digital artist Chris Heinrichs...The post A Creepy Interactive Chorus by Adult Swim That Works By Virtually Pulling Open an Animated Pair of Lips appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Jimmy Kimmel issued a new #YouTubeChallenge to parents asking them to sneak up on their kids and turn off the television while they are playing Fortnite. Here are the painfully cruel results. Related Laughing Squid PostsJimmy Kimmel Shares His Annual ‘I Told My Kids I Ate All Their Halloween Candy’ YouTube ChallengeJimmy Kimmel’s ‘I Told...The post Jimmy Kimmel Challenges Parents to Turn Off the TV While Their Kids Are Playing Fortnite appeared first on Laughing Squid.

KFC has partnered with Enviro-Logs to create a fire log that smells like their signature fried chicken. Once the environmentally friendly, quick starting log is set aflame, the delicious aroma of the KFC 11 Herbs & Spices are released to waft freely about the room, offering a welcoming environment for all. Imbued with the unmistakable,...The post A KFC Fire Log That Smells Like Fried Chicken appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Gavin Free and Dan Gruchy of the Slo Mo Guys wanted to find how fast a sheet of 5mm tempered glass would crack when agitated. They first started with a clear sheet and then moved on to see in which way different colors of paint would change the speed. All of this, of course was...The post Super Slow Motion Footage Showing How Fast a Sheet of 5mm Tempered Glass Cracks When Agitated appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The last thing a Christmas ornament sees before it dies… via Miss Cellania Related Laughing Squid PostsUsing Vintage Electronic Components As Christmas Tree OrnamentsAn Undead Set of Four Zombie Christmas OrnamentsPhotos of Exploding Cameras by Staudinger + FrankeThe post Last Thing a Christmas Ornament Sees Before It Dies appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Brian McManus of Real Engineering takes a look at the technology behind song recognition app Shazam and how it reveals matching song information so quickly and easily, even in noisy environments. McManus explains how the programming works using hash functions via primary and secondary hash tables for rapid data lookup and seemingly instant results. First...The post How the Shazam App Recognizes Songs So Quickly appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A short documentary by TJ Cooney focuses on AARP Purpose Prize winner Monica Kamal Spaeni, a remarkable woman who lost the use of her legs due to a spinal injury. Eleven years after her injury, a friend opened up a brand new world up to her when he introduced her to an off-road wheelchair, which...The post A Remarkable Woman Who Offers the Free Use of Off-Road Wheelchairs for Everyone to Explore the Outdoors appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lotus (@lotus_the_mainecoon) on Sep 2, 2018 at 11:33am PDT An absolutely gorgeous Maine coon cat named Lotus, who lives in Sweden with beloved humans and feline siblings, is quite a handful, quite literally. This very long, very furry cat takes up a lot of space, particularly...The post A Giant Maine Coon Cat With Big Beautiful Fuzzy Paws appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In 1957, the Cleveland Illuminating Company created a short film entitled “Power To Serve” in order to explain to the community how the electricity they provide makes living in Northeast Ohio better than anywhere else. The film also features different company employees at every level, who work to make life better and more convenient for...The post A 1957 Film About How The Illuminating Company Made Living in Cleveland Better Than Anywhere Else appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram No haircut, no problems. #streetart #sidewalkchalk #environmentalart #anamorphosis #teen #puffyvest #weedhead A post shared by David Zinn (@davidzinn) on Oct 31, 2018 at 7:04pm PDT In 2014, we wrote about artist David Zinn and his wonderful menagerie of characters he draws on the streets of Ann Arbor, Michigan with chalk,...The post Adorable 3D Sidewalk Chalk Characters That Cleverly Incorporate Surface Cracks, Flaws and Interruptions appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The 2016 pseudo documentary “The Maker”, a short film by by Patrick Kehoe and Andy Corbett featured a man who was deeply passionate making toast. In the 2018 follow up to that film by Matt Sklar, the same man (Andy Corbett) expresses his amazement with the sudden popularity of toast and his role in being...The post A Man Questions His Purpose as an Artist Almost Three Years After Preparing Two Slices of Life Changing Toast appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In March 2013 and in January 2018, we wrote about Canadian photographer Don Komarechka and his incredible work capturing stunning macro photographs of individual snowflakes and of the patterns that form inside. Komarechka, who is the author of the book Sky Crystals: Unraveling the Mysteries of Snowflakes, also created in early 2018, “Winter’s Magic”, a...The post A Stunning Timelapse Capturing the Exact Moment When Soap Bubbles Begin to Completely Freeze Over appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Naomi Beckers & Storm (@haflinger_storm_naomi) on Dec 8, 2018 at 12:34pm PST An absolutely gorgeous nine-year old Haflinger horse named Storm lives in The Netherlands with her beloved human Naomi Beckers and sports a gorgeous mane of blonde curls that match those on Beckers’ head. Over...The post A Gorgeous Horse With a Long Mane of Blonde Curls That Match Those on Her Beloved Human’s Head appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Native Londoner Matt Brown of Londonist Ltd offers a really helpful, guided tour around the historic gates of London. As he reaches each gate, Brown explains the possible origins of the name of the gate, the approximate timeline regarding when it was built and what stands there in modern times. He also posits the question,...The post A Guided Tour Around the Historic Gates of London appeared first on Laughing Squid.

After a disarming false start, the wonderfully informative video blogger and web producer Evan Puschak aka The Nerdwriter digs deeply into the Emily Dickinson poem “Tell All the Truth But Tell It Slant“. Upon first glance the poem very eloquently speaks about the importance of truth, but further analysis reveals Ms. Dickinson’s very clever use...The post Analyzing the Cleverly Contradictory Wordplay in Emily Dickinson’s Poem ‘Tell All the Truth But Tell It Slant’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Australian pianist Josh Cohen performed a gorgeously haunting piano cover of the iconic Pink Floyd song “Comfortably Numb” with exquisite grace. Cohen captured this performance in black and white with an overhead camera focused only on his hands moving across the keyboard. This one literally took months to prepare. https://t.co/3EhVWoawCh — Josh Cohen (@joshcohenmusic) December...The post A Haunting Piano Cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’ Captured in Dramatic Black and White Video appeared first on Laughing Squid.

“Coin Operated” by Nicholas Arioli is an award-winning bittersweet animated short about a little boy who wants to go to the moon. After discovering a nickel-operated spaceship in front of the local grocery, the little boy builds a lemonade stand to pay for future rides. Coin Operated is an award winning 5 minute short animation...The post A Boy Builds a Lemonade Stand to Fund Future Trips on a Spaceship in the Animated Short ‘Coin Operated’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

While visiting the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand, Australian surf photographer Dylan Brayshaw flew his drone over the water and captured the remarkable sight of an Orca pod, consisting of a mother and two babies, coming up alongside a woman who was doggedly swimming against the tide. The playful whales repeatedly encircled the swimmer without...The post Drone Footage of Playful Pod of Orcas Swimming Alongside a Brave Woman at a New Zealand Beach appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Slovakian filmmaker Majo Chudý has captured in two different videos, the gorgeous sight of different flowers blooming in gorgeous timelapse photography. In “Flowers Blooming”, Chudý took 24000 photos over the course of six months. In “Flowers Blooming 2”, he took more than 40,000 photos over the course of nine months. [in “Flowers Blooming”] Orchid had...The post Gorgeous Timelapses of Flowers Quickly Blooming appeared first on Laughing Squid.

“Belly Flop” is an award-winning short film by Jeremy Collins and Kelly Dillon of Triggerfish Animation Studios that features an adorably persistent little girl in a striped bathing suit named Penny who fearlessly tries to teach herself to dive. Her inspiration is a snobbish, but talented blonde girl who effortlessly executes complicated dives at increasingly...The post A Persistent Little Girl Tries to Teach Herself to Dive by Copying a Snobbish But Talented Diver in ‘Belly Flop’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a brief but informative clip from behind-the-scenes of the Coen Brothers Netflix film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, score composer Carter Burwell explains how he stitched together the Oscar-nominated soundtrack of the film in order to create a unified sound amongst six very different stories. Sometimes the music plays the the hopes and dreams...The post Composer Who Scored Coen Brothers Film ‘The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’ Briefly Explains the Soundtrack appeared first on Laughing Squid.

I thought he was the greatest. Why was he left behind? The Leonardo DiCaprio documentary Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski, which is based upon the book of the same name, takes a deep dive into the masterful art, ideas and life of sculptor Stanislaw Szukalski. Szukalski grew up in Poland and moved...The post A Powerful Netflix Film About Stanislaw Szukalski, A Brilliant But Obscure Sculptor & Self-Proclaimed Genius appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The School of Life offers an insightful look at the way modern society perceives luck, particularly noting how luck is really the antithesis of individuality. Instead, many believe that they are in charge of making choices within their own lives and therefore responsible for both the consequences and the benefits of these decisions. Though some...The post How Modern Society Views the Concept of Luck appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In 2016 we posted about a beautiful series of color coded maps of the river basins around the world created by Hungarian cartographer Robert Szucs. Since that time Szucs has completed a river basin map of the entire world with the same gorgeously lush effect. …after years of data hunting, then weeks of processing and...The post A Beautiful Map Featuring Every River Basin in the World Highlighted In Bright Rainbow Colors appeared first on Laughing Squid.

This is a really grout pun… via reddit Related Laughing Squid PostsHow The West Was Pun, Solo Art Show by Hanksy at Gallery1988 in Los AngelesI Am FrootA Woman Bravely Demonstrates What Happens to Her During Narcolepsy and Cataplexy AttacksThe post I Am Grout appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A helpful eagle owl named Yolka politely waited at Nika Zubra‘s window to deliver a letter. The helpful strigidae was first a bit reluctant to let go of said bounty, but eventually handed it over without complaint. Perhaps it was an eagerly awaited acceptance letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. View this post...The post A Helpful Owl Politely Waits at the Window to Deliver a Letter to the Human Inside the House appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a valorous episode of the incredibly insightful video series ScreenPrism, narrators Debra Minoff and Susannah McCullough talk about how the character of Captain America (Cap), as portrayed by Chris Evans, embodies the spirit of the country’s best self by sticking close to his unbending moral code. As the character evolves on film from an...The post How Captain America Embodies the Spirit of the United States’ Best Self Due to an Unbending Moral Code appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the short animation “Lost and Found” by Australian filmmaker Goldy, a crocheted green dinosaur woke up from a good night’s sleep and blew a kiss to its longtime love, a crocheted fox who was tossing stones into the well. Unfortunately, a moving feature of the well knocked the fox fell off the edge and...The post A Determined Crocheted Dinosaur Unravels Himself to Save the Love of Its Life From Drowning in a Well appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Musician Marc Martel, whose voice is so highly reminiscent of the legendary Freddie Mercury that his vocals were featured as Mercury’s in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, performed absolutely incredible versions of the classic Queen songs “We Are the Champions” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” with just himself and his piano Back in 2011, Martel performed “Somebody to...The post Freddie Mercury Soundalike Marc Martel Performs an Amazing Cover of ‘We Are the Champions’ on Piano appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Video editor Louis Plamondon aka Sleepy Skunk has released his annual movie trailer mashup for the year 2018. This year’s mashup is incredibly seamless and quite mesmerizing at times, particularly due to the soundtrack. Some of the film trailers Plamondon used include Alpha, A Quiet Place, Hereditary, Mortal Engines, Avengers: Infinity War, Mandy, Beautiful Boy...The post A Mesmerizing Mashup of 2018 Movie Trailers appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 8 launch, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine shares the story of this historic mission, which took astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders “round the moon and back” during Christmas 1968 and for the very first time in history. This historic mission launched on December 21,...The post The Story of How Three Astronauts Aboard Apollo 8 Went ‘Round the Moon and Back’ on Christmas 1968 appeared first on Laughing Squid.

“David’s Voice” by Chad Carbone and Graham Hill, is a truly touching, thought provoking short film about David Worobec, a classically trained vocalist who, despite his remarkable talent, has trouble finding his place in the world. With the help of his dedicated mother, Worobec creates masterfully elaborate miniature stage performances with action figures specifically cast...The post Touching Film About a Talented But Anxious Man Who Creates Tiny Stage Performances With Action Figures appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The always traveling Tom Scott visited with Vanessa Fleisch, the proud mayor of Peachtree City, Georgia. Peachtree City is a planned community 20 minutes outside of Atlanta, that sports miles of small asphalt paths that are the perfect size for golf carts, the preferred method of transportation amongst the citizens. The mayor happily showed Scott...The post Atlanta Suburb With Miles of Asphalt Paths Encourages Use of Golf Carts as a Primary Means of Transportation appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the third episode of Wired Masterminds, puzzle expert (cruciverbalist) and magician David Kwong explains and demonstrates the deliberate process that he uses in order to create challenging crossword puzzles for The New York Times on a regular basis. A crossword puzzle is a type of word puzzle where there’s always an across and down....The post The New York Times Puzzle Expert Demonstrates the Deliberate Process Behind Creating Crossword Puzzles appeared first on Laughing Squid.

On August 20, 1977, the NASA Voyager 2 Probe launched into space to study other planets. After passing through the orbits of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune over the past 41 years. On December 10, 2018, the spacecraft exited the protective heliosphere bubble and entered into the deep region of interstellar space, a feat performed...The post The NASA Voyager 2 Probe Exits the Heliosphere to Enter Interstellar Space 11 Billion Miles From Earth appeared first on Laughing Squid.