Laughing Squid

While building a comb off the branch of a tree, a colony of honey bees in Vietnam engaged in a defensive wave, a process that sends murmuring ripples down the line in order to keep predators away. While this wave function is purely utilitarian, the resulting audio-visual effect is absolutely fascinating. This ‘wave’ is utilized...The post Defensive Waves Ripple Through Honey Bee Colony appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Steve Bage has just released his intense documentary on the incredible Survival Research Laboratories show that took place at the Extreme Futurist Fest in Los Angeles on December 22, 2012. This is the public YouTube debut of this documentary, four years in the making. It chronicles the planning, pre-production, and performance of a full Survival...The post Documentary on 2012 Survival Research Laboratories Show at the Extreme Futurist Fest in Los Angeles appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment‘s wonderful ongoing series about unusual and classic instruments, musician Antony Pay performs a bit on a 5-key basset clarinet. He then explains that this unique woodwind instrument creates the rich, beautiful sound for which Mozart was writing. This is the clarinet that Mozart would have expected to...The post Musician Performs on a Beautiful Five-Key Basset Clarinet With a Rich Sound Perfect for Mozart appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Actor Steve Carell, showrunner Greg Daniels and producer Howard Klein, all of whom are co-creators of the US version of The Office, have reunited for Space Force. This new show with yet undetermined release date, is in direct response to Trump’s announcement of Space Force as the 6th branch of the Air Force and imagines...The post Steve Carell Reunites With ‘The Office’ Co-Creators for ‘Space Force’ Workplace Comedy Series on Netflix appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco have created a really beautiful animation that travels down into the molecular layer of a leaf from a redwood tree where the inner workings of active scientifically accurate photosynthesis come into view. Take a journey inside a leaf of a redwood tree. Enter the stoma and view...The post A Beautifully Animated Journey Inside a Redwood Leaf appeared first on Laughing Squid.

David Goldenberg of MinuteEarth explains how fingerprints are formed. These singular identifiers first start out as volar pads that form in utero. These pads soon give way to the ensuing chaos of development, which causes each pad to form a unique pattern of ridges, whorls and arches that are unlike anyone else’s. Because of the...The post The In Utero Chaos That Makes Fingerprints So Unique appeared first on Laughing Squid.

“Directions to Johnny B. Goode’s Place” by John Atkinson on Wrong Hands via Naked Music Score, Duck Soup, Nag on the Lake Related Laughing Squid PostsA Powerful Mashup of Black and White Scenes From ‘Logan’ Set to the Johnny Cash Cover of ‘Hurt’Michael J. Fox Joins Coldplay Onstage to Recreate His ‘Johnny B. Goode’ Solo...The post Directions to Johnny B. Goode’s Place appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a fascinating study, researchers at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne have reverse engineered the movement of the Orobates pabsti, an extinct prehistoric reptilian creature that lived over 260 million years ago and is the early ancestor of modern day reptiles and birds. In order to achieve this, the team studied a recovered skeletal fossil,...The post An Interactive Simulator That Reconstructs Movement of a Prehistoric Reptile Using Reverse Engineering appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The Netflix documentary series Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, offers a peek into the twisted mind of the serial “Campus Killer” Ted Bundy. The use of death row recordings reflect Bundy’s point-of-view while interview footage shows how Bundy’s outward charm and good looks eerily won him some fans who couldn’t believe he...The post Serial Killer Ted Bundy Opens Up About His Heinous Crimes in the Netflix Series ‘Conversations With a Killer’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In November 2018, the human behind the YouTube channel The Secret Life of My Hamster built a very clever maze with five different levels to conquer. In the first round, the big blonde hamster ran the course from start (top) to finish (bottom). Next up was a smaller gray hamster, who ran it backwards from...The post Two Hamsters Run a Very Clever Maze Created by Their Human With Five Different Levels To Conquer appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Music mixer Joh Ph posted an amazing clip highlighting the exquisitely haunting beauty of Siouxsie Sioux‘s voice as captured in isolated vocal tracks from the recording of “The Killing Jar” for the album Peepshow by Siouxsie and the Banshees. Here’s the song in its fully recorded form. via Dangerous Minds Related Laughing Squid PostsThe Incredible...The post The Haunting Beauty of Siouxsie Sioux’s Voice Captured in Isolated Vocal Tracks For ‘The Killing Jar’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In an eerily predictive BBC clip from December 28, 1966, British school children offered their wisdom about what the year 2000 looks like to them. Most responded with legitimate concerns that are still at hand 19 years past that date in the future. We are still talking about the threat of nuclear war, climate change,...The post British Children in 1966 Voice Their Concerns Predicting What the World Might Look Like in the Year 2000 appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Todd McKee, founder of Bulldog Aerials, former associate director at ABC News and licensed drone operator captured gorgeous, high definition overhead footage of an unusually perfect rotating ice circle that suddenly appeared in the middle of the Presumpscot River in the city of Westbrook, Maine. According to McKee, this ice floe was massive. It is...The post Gorgeous 4K Drone Footage of an Unusually Perfect Rotating Circle of Ice That Appeared in a Maine River appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the Netflix series Black Earth Rising, a young woman named Kate Ashby (Michaela Coel) who works for lawyer Michael Ennis (John Goodman) approaches her adoptive mother (Harriet Walter), who is also an attorney, in order to find out from where she came and why her history has remained hidden for so long. The effort...The post An Adopted Woman Tries to Uncover Her Hidden History in the Netflix Series ‘Black Earth Rising’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In addressing the old Henry Wadsworth Longfellow adage that says that “music is the universal language of all mankind”, the fast talking doodling music theorist and musician 12tone makes a number of valid points that gently debunk the statement. By way of explanation, he notes that instruments are tuned differently in modern times thus changing...The post Gently Debunking the Old Longfellow Adage That Says ‘Music Is the Universal Language of All Mankind’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the heartbreakingly powerful 2016 animation “Dream”, created for the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival by Zombie Studio, four very different, critically endangered animals sing “I Dreamed a Dream” from the Les Misérables soundtrack. With the lyrics of the particular song, each animal – a blue whale, a brown pelican, a baby harp seal and a...The post Four Critically Endangered Animals Sing ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ From Les Misérables in a Powerful Animation appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Namibian-German artist Max Siedentopf has created “TOTO FOREVER”, an apt solar powered, six-speaker sound installation located in the middle of the Namib desert. In keeping with the theme, the system is only programmed to play one song repeatedly – “Africa” aka “the internet’s favorite song”. Set in the Namib desert, which is …the oldest desert...The post A Solar Powered Sound Installation Located in the Middle of the Desert That Only Plays Toto’s ‘Africa’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by ZEKEDRONE (@zekedrone) on Nov 27, 2018 at 8:28am PST The Dronestagram International Drone Photography Contest has announced their 2018 winners. Thousands of entries were submitted from everywhere in the world by talented professional photographers and amateur drone photo enthusiasts. Here are the top three photos of...The post The Top Three Winners of the Dronestagram 2018 International Drone Photography Contest appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Gavin Free of the Slo Mo Guys decided to forego British societal norms and look partner Dan Gruchy right in the left eye. Free used a long lens to capture macro footage of Gruchy’s eye as the pupil constricted and dilated in slow motion with an extreme change of light. British people are not known...The post Fascinating Macro Footage of the Pupil of an Eye Constricting and Dilating in Slow Motion appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ginger cat & vizsla mutts (@ginger_cat_and_vizslas) on Jan 14, 2019 at 7:04am PST A sweetly affectionate orange tabby named Kelvin jones his canine buddy Joule every day on the sofa to get in a few cuddles before their humans came home. Both these animals (and some...The post Webcam Captures Cat Joining Dog on the Sofa to Snuggle Together While Their Humans Are at Work appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Aaron Muszalski aka SFSlim has created Burning Wish, a beautiful project that helps cancer patients and their families create a plan to attend and enjoy Burning Man without having to wear the label of cancer or suffer an interruption in care. The program debuted in 2018 and funds are being raised to bring it to...The post Burning Wish, A Beautiful Project That Helps Make Burning Man Accessible to Cancer Patients appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The host of The Action Lab decided to fly a drone inside an elevator that was going up eight floors just to see what would happen. Unlike his previous flight challenge inside a moving vehicle, this was rather safe but interesting experiment showing how a drone in flight positions itself to remain aloft inside an...The post What Happens When Flying a Drone Inside an Elevator appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Nike has announced the Adapt BB, their new self-lacing shoe that is fully enabled with the Nike app for a fine tuned, custom fit. They also announced that while the previous version of their self-lacer was over $720, this newer, sleeker version will be sold at $350 – half the price of the original. The...The post Nike Announces Adapt BB, Self-Lacing Basketball Shoes That Pair With Nike App for a Finely Tuned Fit appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In her wonderfully enabling series “How DOES She Do It?”, a smiling Amy Brooks shows how she performs certain tasks despite not having arms or legs. Brooks was born with tetra-amelia syndrome, which is a congenital disorder that affects limb development in utero. Despite this condition, Brooks is an artist, author, motivational speaker and now...The post Woman Without Arms or Legs Shows How She Folds Laundry and Performs Other Household Tasks appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a video report for Le Temps, musician Pierre Audétat visited the Swiss Museum for Electronic Music (SMEM) in Fribourg, Switzerland, which houses the world’s largest collection of synthesizers. Collection coordinator Vincent Borcard gave Audétat a tour of the place and shared with him some of the rarest and most interesting pieces in the museum....The post A Tour of the World’s Largest Collection of Synthesizers appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A forthright essay written by Jim Can’t Swim offers a spot on analysis of narcissism. He explains that the narcissistic individual lives in a constant state of insecurity, is a master manipulator and their perception of the world is through the lens of how other people see them. While admiring one’s own selfies on social...The post A Spot On Analysis of Narcissism appeared first on Laughing Squid.

For her graduation, film student Hanna Rybak wrote and directed a wonderful animation that illustrates the very witty Sir Winston Churchill quote entitled “If You Can”. If you can start your day without caffeine, If you can always be cheerful and ignore aches and pains, If you can resist the claims and not to bore...The post If You Can, An Amusing Animation Illustrating a Very Witty Quote by Winston Churchill appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Nicolas Vuignier, a professional skier from Switzerland who previously created a 360º video by swinging an iPhone in circles above his head, went nighttime skiing by the light of bright red flares flying overhead. This incredible feat was captured in the short film “Heatseeker” by Jules Guarneri, which took four years to make. I’ve been...The post Nighttime Skiing Lit by Red Flares Fired Overhead appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Talented filmmaker and photographer Michael Shainblum has created “Liberty”, an absolutely stunning high definition timelapse of the bustling beauty of New York City in all its iterations throughout the day. The inspiration for this visual odyssey came to Shainblum from a fond memory of the wonder he felt the first time he visited the city....The post A Stunning High Definition Visual Journey Through New York City Captured in a Seamless Timelapse appeared first on Laughing Squid.

When he’s not trying to drive his human’s car or pouting in the bathtub, stubborn Siberian husky Zeus can be found in bed, where he’d prefer to stay. In fact, when his human tried to get him up to go outside one day, Zeus employed his distinct whine to loudly objecting to the idea. Zeus...The post Stubborn Siberian Husky Loudly Objects to His Human’s Idea About Getting Up and Out of Bed appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by ??? (@cardboardnose) on Oct 27, 2017 at 12:32am PDT Taiwanese origami artist ZhongGe creates absolutely brilliant, lifelike animal sculptures of animals (both real and fictitious) that are crafted entirely from cardboard. Among his amazing subjects are an English bulldog, a leopard cat, a squid, a variety...The post Brilliantly Lifelike Sculptures Created From Cardboard appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Musician Davidlap removed his colorful toesocks and instead donned a pair of special gloves own design, which allow big flames to burn freely without injuring the hands underneath. Once his digits were alight, he performed a badass solo on a gorgeous cherry sunburst Gibson Les Paul guitar with his hands on fire. While the musician...The post Guitarist Plays a Badass Solo With His Hands on Fire appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rafael Herrin-Ferri (@allthequeenshouses) on Dec 6, 2018 at 3:00am PST Architect Rafael Herrin-Ferri has put together “All the Queens Houses” a really cozy photo series that captures the colorful diversity of the many different house styles situated in the populous New York City borough of Queens....The post A Cozy Photo Series Capturing the Colorful Diversity of Different Homes Found Around Queens, New York appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a really thought provoking, prescient essay, Debra Minoff and Susannah McCullough of The Take discuss the Marvel character of Thor Odinson and how he personally grew over the course of several films. Thor’s selfish arrogance and entitlement in the beginning eventually caused his hammer to be taken away from him. It was only when...The post Why Thor Needed to Embrace His Weakness, Humility and Humanity Before He Could Become a Worthy King appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Amazing Drone Shots (@drone__up) on Dec 30, 2018 at 10:17am PST The Bailong Elevator in Zhangjiajie, China, is a glass lift that climbs an amazing 1,070 feet up a sheer mountain cliff and spectacular views of the beautiful Wuling Mountain Range. The elevator was built in...The post World’s Tallest Outdoor Elevator Climbs an Amazing 1,070 Feet Up a Mountain Cliff in Zhangjiajie, China appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In December 1938, South African museum curator Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer was curiously sifting through a fisherman’s haul for the day when she spotted one particular fish that appeared unusually prehistoric. As it turned out, this fish was a Coelacanth, an ancient species that was believed to have been extinct for over 70 million years. The Howard...The post A Fascinating Cut Paper Animation Describing the Unexpected Discovery of a Living Fossil Fish in 1938 appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Researchers at the Balsara School at the University of California, Berkeley and Dr. Steven Hetts of the University of California, San Francisco Radiology Department, have discovered an ingenious way to lessen the side effects of directed chemotherapy with a custom Carbon 3D printed device called Chemofilter. This device, is cylinder-shaped in order to easily snake...The post An Ingenious 3D Printed Device That Acts Like a Sponge to Soak Up Excess Chemotherapy Side Effects appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In 2013, Philadelphia photographer Bruce W. Berry created a wondrous timelapse of the Earth as viewed by the International Space Station (ISS). In December 2018, Berry followed up with “The World Below”, a different but equally incredible timelapse using ultra HD footage taken by the astronauts aboard the ISS, which is available on the NASA...The post A Stunning Timelapse of Earth’s Orbit Created Using 4K Footage Taken Aboard the International Space Station appeared first on Laughing Squid.

After thinning out the Marvel Cinematic Universe herd a bit in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, a rather entitled Thanos made his way over to The Simpsons‘ Springfield home and parked himself on the sofa in order to greet the family when they arrived home. Unfortunately when they did, the family didn’t have enough time to...The post Thanos Disappears ‘The Simpsons’ in a Couch Gag appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Jamie Dupuis, the remarkably talented musician who performs absolutely gorgeous cover versions of classic rock songs with his acoustic harp guitar, performed truly heart wrenching covers of both “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd and “Hotel California” by The Eagles to a live audience. For each song, Dupuis simultaneously captured the vocal line, the bassline and...The post Heart Wrenching Covers of ‘Comfortably Numb’ and ‘Hotel California’ Performed Live on Harp Guitar appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Jonathan Mann, the infamous “Song-a-Day Man”, has been writing a song everyday for ten years now and to celebrate, he’s releasing his first album. The album, entitled “I Used to Love My Body, is a compilation of what he considers to be his best songs over the past decade. It’s about adulthood, forgiveness and how...The post Jonathan Mann Releases an Album of His 10 Best Song-A-Day Original Songs From the Past 10 Years appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Musician Elizabeth Kenny of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment played a beautiful Baroque era song on a theorbo, which she explained is a long double necked lute that was first invented by Alessandro Piccinini in the 17th century in order to address the growing need at the time for a fuller instrument sound....The post A Short History of the Long Necked Theorbo Lute appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Crafting With Cat Hair by Kaori Tsutaya and translated from Japanese by Amy Hirschman is an instruction book that shows how to make fun items from shedded cat hair. Full color pictures along with simple to follow directions allow readers to create finger puppets, Christmas ornaments, coin purse and even an adorable set of mittens....The post A Quirky Book About Crafting With Cat Hair appeared first on Laughing Squid.

While sitting in the nursery, a really alert Shiba Inu named Daifuku immediately jumped to attention when the tiny baby in the rocking cradle began crying. Concerned for the infant’s well being, Daifuku immediately went upon his hind legs and began licking the little girl’s hand. Shiba Inu Daifuku tries to take care of his...The post Concerned Shiba Inu Dog Comforts a Crying Baby appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The crew from The Muppet Show put on the show as themselves in at the very end of the first season in 1976. They sang the opening song, made the introduction and some of their most iconic recurring slapstick scenarios were done without a single muppet to be found (except for two in the back...The post The Crew of ‘The Muppet Show’ Hilariously Perform as Themselves Without Any Muppets in a 1976 Episode appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Design editor Wendy Goodman of the New York Magazine series The Cut visited artist Doug Meyer at his Chelsea, New York City one bedroom apartment. Goodman discovered that the generic exterior of Meyer’s building betrayed the colorful, textured wondernment Meyer’s building betrayed the colorful wondernment that lives inside his apartment. Goodman also notes how Meyer...The post A Visit Inside Artist Doug Meyer’s Fantastically Colorful One Bedroom New York City Apartment appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a triune essay for Vox, developer Cleo Abram explains how triangles are at the root of the beautiful amount of detail in video games. Essentially, the three points of a triangle represent a flat surface that can repeated over and again and are easily digested by computers that have to render all of the...The post How the Use of Triangles in Video Game Design Lowers Computational Burden During the Rendering Process appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Musician FinnMK very cleverly performed a jaunty piano accompaniment to Jack Black’s giddy announcement that his new video channel, Jablinksi Games, had hit 1 million subscribers in two short weeks. I am so fully on board the ‘Jack Black is on Youtube’ train. Here’s the original (vertical) video announcing the subscriber count. And here’s the...The post Jaunty PIano Accompaniment to Jack Black’s Giddy Reaction to Reaching 1 Million Subscribers on YouTube appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Star Wars Kids decided to examine how many times the word “yes” and the word “no” were uttered within each film in the iconic series franchise. Surprisingly, there were over three times more negative responses than positive responses, thus showing that Star Wars seemingly, comes more from a place of no than a place of...The post How Many Times the Words ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ Are Said Throughout Every Film Within the Star Wars Franchise appeared first on Laughing Squid.