Laughing Squid

In July 2017 we wrote about the BBC announcement that the 13th iteration of Doctor Who would be played by Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to play the role of the childlike Time Lord. Since that time, there has been a great deal said about this move, some negative but many more positive. One such...The post How the Casting of a Female Doctor Who Could Change How Women Are Portrayed in Science Fiction appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Upon hearing the sound of some fellow canines on the other side of a concrete barrier, a rather determined dog in Araucária, Paraná, Brazil made several impressive attempts to scale the wall before finally making it over to the other side. According to the person who captured this amusing sight, this happens on a fairly...The post Determined Dog Who Repeatedly Attempts to Scale a Concrete Wall Finally Makes Over to the Other Side appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Coin jewelry maker Skyler Jenkins of The Mint – Change You Can Wear shows step-by-step how to make a miniature bell out of two 1964 Kennedy half dollars – a dollar bell, so to speak. Jenkins states that this idea came from someone else, but it looks like he perfected the process. Today we’re gonna...The post Making a Tiny Bell Out of Two Kennedy Half Dollars appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the sixth episode of the Motherboard series The Most Unknown, geobiologist Victoria Orphan and astrophysicist Rachel Smith explain how microorganism colonies in the ocean are changing the chemical balance of the earth in some very good ways. They gather samples by riding down to the seafloor in a small shuttle and return with multitudes...The post A Deep Sea Look at Microorganisms That Are Changing the Chemical Balance of the Earth in a Very Good Way appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A consortium of French researchers, Marc Teyssier (Sorbonne HCI Group, Gilles Bailly (ISIR -Sorbonne Université), Catherine Pelachaud (ISIR -Sorbonne Université) and Eric Lecolinet (Telecom ParisTech – Université Paris Saclay), have created the Mobilimb. The Mobilimb is an attachable, intuitive, articulating robotic digit that enhances the function, movement and haptic capabilities of mobile devices. MobiLimb is...The post Mobilimb, An Attachable Articulating Robotic Finger That Greatly Enhances Mobile Device Capabilities appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Russian musician Andrey Vinogradov, about whom we’ve written previously, performed a heartbreakingly beautiful solo on his hurdy-gurdy, which sounded very much like a violin. This song and other are available on his aptly named album “Music for Hurdy-Gurdy“. Here’s Vinogradov performing a traditional Turkish melody. via reddit Related Laughing Squid PostsMusician Plays a Gorgeous Medieval...The post Talented Hurdy-Gurdy Musician Plays a Heartbreaking Solo That Sounds Like It’s Being Played on a Violin appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Performance architect Alex Schweder has designed a truly unique house called the ReActor that both spins in the wind and seesaws from side to side, depending upon which side of the location holds the greater weight. The structure, which was on display at the OMI International Art Center in Ghent, New York through August 2018,...The post ReActor, A Whimsical Balancing House That Spins With the Wind and Tilts Like a Seesaw From Side to Side appeared first on Laughing Squid.

British doctor and experience diver Ben Burville, whose main interest is in the well-being of wild grey seals in the Farnes Islands, has established a wonderful relationship with one such animal. Referring to the seal as his dive buddy, Burville has lovingly “held hands” and taken “naps” with the seal. The seal, in return has...The post A Friendly Wild Grey Seal Gives a Big Hug to a Human Diver He Approached for Affectionate Interaction appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In 2015 Stanley Sakai, a stenographer by trade, visually and verbally offered a “quick and dirty” explanation about what stenography is, what stenographers do, how stenographers are able to keep up during a hearing or trial and how stenography differs greatly from QWERTY typing. …Steno is not typing. Typing is when you get one character...The post How Stenography Differs From QWERTY Typing appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Filmmaker Kristian Williams, who’s also known as “kaptainkristian”, took an illustrative look at the distinctly Disney style of animation. To do this, Williams reached back into the the core principles implemented by Disney’s early animators in order to bring an image to life. These principles were firmly cemented in the 1981 Disney animation bible The...The post The Core Principles Implemented by Early Disney Animators That Bring Their Iconic Illustrations to Life appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In honor of World Animal Day, BBCEarth announced that Sir David Attenborough, the velvet voiced narrator of so many iconic wildlife documentaries would be hosting a new wildlife series entitled Dynasties. The series follows the lives of five magnificent, multi-generational animal families, specifically how each group acts as a family, what brings them joy and...The post David Attenborough Follows the Lives of Five Different Wild Families in His New BBC Earth Series ‘Dynasties’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Australian filmmaker Josh Ballico of Elevator5 Productions captured the hilarious sight of a deer heading straight for a children’s backyard castle slide without missing a beat, quite literally. As the deer stumbled through, the animal unwittingly covered the defining drum solo that occurs at the beginning of the Phil Collins song “In the Air Tonight“....The post Unwitting Deer Covers Phil Collins’ Drum Solo From ‘In the Air Tonight’ While Walking Through a Castle Slide appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The Dutch media corporation NTR has put together “The Metamorphosis of Escher“, an amazing narrated visual tour about the legendary artist, which includes high resolution photos of his distinctively iconic art. Included in this tour is a DIY interactive Metamorphosis Machine lets users customize colors, shapes and directions of pre-designated Escher designs. Once the piece...The post An Amazing Interactive Online Machine That Creates a Customizable M.C. Escher Metamorphosis appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the trailer for the third season of Daredevil, a downtrodden Matt Murdock discards his bulletproof suit, burns away the remnants of his civilian life and begins questioning his own motives as a newly freed Wilson Fisk firmly cements his own. He enlists an extremely violent, fake “Devil of Hell’s Kitchen” to manipulate the media...The post Wilson Fisk Enlists a Fake ‘Devil of Hell’s Kitchen’ to Take Down Matt Murdock in Season Three of ‘Daredevil’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a fortifying episode of the Today I Found Out, host Simon Whistler explains exactly how Grape Nuts, a cereal with a Hollywood past, got its name despite the fact that the classic recipe contains neither grapes nor nuts. According to Post Foods, there are two versions of the story about how Grape-Nuts got their...The post How the Classic Cereal That Contains Neither Grapes Nor Nuts Was Ultimately Named ‘Grape Nuts’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Crochetverse (@crochetverse) on Sep 26, 2018 at 2:04pm PDT Yarn artist Stephanie Pokorny of Crochetverse crocheted a brilliant Halloween costume of the titular character from the classic science fiction film Predator for her six year old son, who had just seen the film and had become...The post Yarn Obsessed Mother Crochets a Brilliant Predator Halloween Costume for Her Film Obsessed Son appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sarah Curry (@winston_the_tegu) on May 24, 2018 at 10:11am PDT A really handsome, sweet and intelligent rescued Argentine Black and White tegu named Winston somehow manages to remain oddly elegant even when he’s messily slurping down his dinner. According to his human Sarah Curry, she likes...The post An Oddly Elegant Lizard Gobbles Down His Dinner appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hi-Fructose Magazine (@hifructosemag) on Sep 13, 2018 at 11:12am PDT Volume 49 of Hi-Fructose: The New Contemporary Art Magazine has been announced and showcases vivid cover artwork by Erik Parker. The interior of the publication features talented contemporary artists from all over the globe such as...The post A Preview of the Uniquely Stunning Artwork Featured in Volume 49 of Hi-Fructose Magazine appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Myzoo??? (@myzoostudio) on Feb 8, 2018 at 6:42pm PST The Japanese pet supply company MYZOO Studio has created a fantastically cosmic line of cat beds that were inspired by classic conceptions of what spaceships might look like. Each of the three beds, appropriately named Alpha, Beta...The post Cosmic Cat Beds Inspired by Classic Spaceships appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The Rover is an autonomous golf caddie that acts more like an obedient dog than a robot. The Rover is completely hands-free and simply requires a clip-on transmitter to establish an immediate bond with a golfer. Once the connection is made, the Rover will happily follow that golfer all around the course. To play a...The post An Autonomous Robotic Golf Caddie That Obediently Follows Golfers Around the Course Like a Dog appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Will Schoder, a filmmaker who creates thought provoking cinematic video essays, took a humorous look at how celebrity cameos, when not done well, are often a gratuitous disruption to the plotline and to the flow of the film. In the rare cases when a cameo is done well, it feels relevant and natural, especially when...The post How Gratuitous Celebrity Cameos Disrupt a Film’s Flow appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The HoverGlide is an ingenious backpack that constantly balances the interior load, making it seem lighter than it is. This balance is achieved with a sturdy rail upon which the contents float up or down, depending on how the wearer is moving. The idea was born out of a military request and now Dr. Lawrence...The post HoverGlide, An Ingenious Floating Backpack That Constantly Shifts Weight on a Rail as the Wearer Moves appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Actor, writer and comedian Sam Fletcher posted a rather humorous video of an anthropomorphic bottle opener aptly named Mr. Bottle-Opener going for a thrilling but bumpy ride on a virtual roller coaster. MR. BOTTLE-OPENER RIDES A ROLLERCOASTER pic.twitter.com/5i5TOcH3kk — sam fletcher (@SamfletcherEsq) October 1, 2018 via Digg Related Laughing Squid PostsThrottle Opener, An Ingenious Magnetic...The post An Anthropomorphic Bottle Opener Goes For a Bumpy But Thrilling Ride on a Virtual Roller Coaster appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The fast talking doodling music theorist and musician 12tone visually and verbally challenged himself to create a truly unique working scale from random notes. While working through the notes and chords, 12Tone discovered a distinct lack of perfect fifths. Rather than trying to force perfect fifths, he sought inspiration from the harmonic minor scale and...The post Creating a Unique Random Note Scale With Dyads That Propel Harmonic Motion Without a Perfect Fifth appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Over the years, we’ve posted a number of the wonderfully complex and humorous Rube Goldberg machines created by inventor Joseph Herscher of Joseph’s Machines, with the most recent being a hilarious Lunch Feeder. Herscher sat down with the Wired series Obessed to talk about how and why he makes these playful, “life simplifying” contraptions. Machines...The post Joseph of Joseph’s Machines Shares How He Creates His Wonderfully Complex Rube Goldberg Contraptions appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Davie504, the incredible bassist who is constantly performing in new and creative ways, showed how to take a simple chromatic scale and edit it to look like a badass bass solo. While not as seamless as his true bass solos, the resulting video was nonetheless clever. Want to play something very hard but you don’t...The post How to Turn a Simple Chromatic Scale Into a Badass Bass Solo Through Intense Video Editing appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Just one month after their birth, five tiny little baby meerkats at the Symbio Wildlife Park in Helensburgh New South Wales, Australia, took their first frolicking steps outside of their nest in their quest to discover the world outside. Despite the fact that the little ones were feeling a bit independent, they never ventured too...The post Adorable Footage of Baby Meerkats Frolicking About appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the very clever animation “Number Who“, Brooklyn illustrator Gung-Kai Koo vividly shows through bright pastel colors, how numbers can be seen in the organic shapes made during daily life. I started making numbers design with illustrations of different character’s close-up while observing the variety of the surrounding until a set of forty illustrations from...The post A Clever Animation Showing How Numbers Can Be Seen In Organic Shapes Created In Daily Life appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Interactive artist Ivan Cash, the founder of Cash Studios, is currently running a crowdfunding project to raise money to bring a pair of ingeniously designed polarized sunglasses to market. These IRL Glasses make screens on televisions and computers appear to be turned off when they’re switched on. The idea behind these specs is to give...The post Horizontally Polarized Sunglasses That Make Television and Computer Screens Appear To Be Turned Off appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Inventor Joseph Herscher of Joseph’s Machines, who has previously built a streamlined cake server, a turkey preparing machine and a Christmas wrapping machine, has created a hilarious Lunch Feeder. This machine, like his others, incorporates key Rube Goldberg principles of tiny chain reactions to automatically send several courses of food directly into the mouth of...The post A Hilariously Ingenious Rube Goldberg Machine That Feeds Lunch to a Busy Person at Their Desk appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In “The Twelfth Planet“, the final episode of Alisa Stern‘s wonderful stop-motion Doctor Who puppet series “Doctor Puppet“, the twelfth iteration of The Doctor (Peter Capaldi), alone on a littered planet, finds himself at the mercy of a perfectly aligned solar flare that causes a crack in the universe. As the crack grows wider, many...The post The First Eleven Doctor Whos Work Together to Save the Twelfth From a Solar Flare in ‘Doctor Puppet’ Finale appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Artist, photographer, and domestic diva Christine McConnell who has created elaborate alien facehugger pastries, cakes covered in bees, and other delightfully horrific baked goods, redecorated the exterior of her parents home for both Halloween and for Christmas and recreated herself as seven different generations of women from the maternal side of her family, is now...The post Artist Christine McConnell Makes Spooky Treats for Her Creepy Creatures at Home in a Surreal Netflix Series appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In July 2018, more than 200 snails took part in World Snail Racing Championship in the Norfolk parish of Conghan, England. The race, which has taken place over the last 25 years, pits these slow moving gastropods against each other on a circular table top track, which raises money for for a good cause. The...The post Over 200 Gastropods Compete on a Circular Tabletop Track in the 2018 World Snail Racing Championship appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In 2016, writers Walt Hickey and Ella Koeze of the online polling site FiveThirtyEight posted an excellent piece about Star Wars, specifically how the fluctuating balance within The Force specifically affected which side rose to power. While they also included other factors such as personnel numbers, materiel and other supplies and even the weather, it...The post A Star Wars Chart Showing How Fluctuating Balances Within The Force Determined Where Power Would Lie appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Architectural Digest, in partnership with the Bryant Park Corporation, has created a wonderfully informative, historian-narrated virtual tour of the incredible hidden and observable architectural appointments within the magnificent structure of the New York Public Library. Noted historians serve as your personal audio guide through a virtual walking tour of the New York Public Library. Find...The post An Informative Guided Virtual Tour of the Incredible Architectural Details of the New York Public Library appeared first on Laughing Squid.

When Washington resident Greg Basel‘s three month old puppy accidentally escaped outside, he didn’t have long to worry, as the golden retriever pup quickly returned to the front door where the family’s Nest camera captured him repeatedly ringing the doorbell (which sounds just like a door knocker) in order to get safely back into the...The post An Escaped Puppy Repeatedly Rings a (Knocking) Doorbell In Order to Get Back Inside the House appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the spirit of fall, IHOP partnered with Keegan Ales in Kingston, New York, to create IHOPS, a pumpkin pancake stout. In an informative behind-the-scenes video, the folks at Keegans shared exactly what went into the mix, including pancake batter, maple syrup and pumpkin spice. This very limited, autumnal brew is available on tap at...The post IHOPS, A Limited Edition Pumpkin Pancake Stout appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A very playful white cow gleefully chased a giant ball like a puppy, up and down a grassy hill in a festive game of fetch with her human. The cow was so captivated by the game that she even started knocking the ball around by herself, although loudly complaining for her human to get involved...The post A Particularly Playful Cow Gleefully Chases After a Giant Ball in a Festive Game of Fetch With Her Human appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a slightly chilling video essay, video editor Henry Baker of the Bloomberg series “Quicktake” explains how the constant improvements being made upon deep fake video technology is making it even easier to put unsaid words in someone else’s mouth. It also makes it more difficult to spot that the video has been manipulated to...The post How Improvements to Deep Fake Video Technology Is Making It Easier to Put Words In Someone Else’s Mouth appeared first on Laughing Squid.

While promoting her new podcast “Small Town Dicks”, the talented Yeardley Smith, who has been the voice of Lisa Simpson since 1989, sat down with Vanity Fair to humorously shared all the slang words and expressions that have been used on The Simpsons throughout the series. Yeardley Smith teaches you slang words from The Simpsons....The post Yeardley Smith, the Iconic Voice of Lisa Simpson, Offers a Quick Lesson on the Slang Used in ‘The Simpsons’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

While sitting on her human’s bed, a funny little Scottish straight kitten named Mimo spotted a couple of floating triangles reflected in the dresser mirror just a few feet away. As Mimo got closer to investigate, she realized that those strange triangles were attached to her head as ears. To double check, Mimo reached up...The post Kitten Hilariously Learns That the Floating Triangles Reflected in the Mirror Are Attached to Her Head appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Brazilian researcher Leandro João Carneiro de Lima Moraes, a biologist at the National Institute of Amazonian Research who studies local rainforest wildlife, captured the remarkable sight of a giant moth drinking the tears of a sleeping antbird. While it’s a bit more common to see butterflies drinking from turtles’ tears, this interaction proved so rare...The post Remarkable Footage of a Giant Moth Drinking the Tears of a Sleeping Antbird in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest appeared first on Laughing Squid.

On a sunny day in Bakersfield, California, a whip-fast, beloved doberman pinscher named Xena ran alongside her human’s moving car that was going approximately 30 miles per hour. While that may sound slow for a car, Xena was able keep up quite remarkably. “This is Xena, my 5-year-old Doberman pinscher. I have trained her since...The post A Fast Doberman Pinscher Gracefully Runs Alongside Her Human’s Moving Car at 30 Miles Per Hour appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In upcoming biopic Rocketman chronicles the Sir Elton John and fabulous early years of his heavily costumed career. Actor Taron Egerton plays the prolifically talented musician during the time when his musical career exploded off the charts. The film is a musical fantasy, which is probably the most befitting way to pay tribute to this...The post Rocketman, A Musical Fantasy Film Chronicling the Fabulous Early Years of Sir Elton John’s Music Career appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the fascinating music video directed by Rian Johnson for the LCD Soundsystem song “Oh Baby” from their new album American Dream, an loving couple, played by actors Sissy Spacek and David Strathairn, work together to create something big. They start out with the complicated math, move onto the construction and finally test their creation...The post Sissy Spacek and David Strathairn Star in the Rian Johnson Music Video for LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Oh Baby’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Musician David Chatterton of The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment shares the unique sound of a contrabassoon, particularly noting its wide tonal range. The giant instrument, created by Haydn and employed by Beethoven, appears to be twice the size of the man playing it. What is this big beast of the orchestra, and where...The post Musician Demonstrates the Wide Tonal Range of a Giant Contrabassoon That Is Twice His Size appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Music City Fire Company (@musiccityfire) on Sep 5, 2018 at 3:37pm PDT Music City Fire Company in Nashville, Tennessee has created an incredible line of sound reactive fire pits and tables with flames that dance to streaming music from a sound system integrated right into the...The post Amazing Sound Reactive Fire Tables With Flames That Dance to Music From an Integrated Sound System appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The talented Russian rock band Leonid and Friends performed an amazingly pitch perfect cover of the classic Earth Wind and Fire song “September“, complete with horns, strings and a guitarist with a fantastic falsetto. Their version of the song is available on iTunes. These things make us feel like dancing and since today is the...The post Russian Rock Band Performs a Pitch Perfect Cover of the Classic Earth Wind and Fire Song ‘September’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Wawawiwa Comics official (@wawawiwacomics) on Sep 7, 2018 at 10:40am PDT Colombian illustrator Andres Colmenares of Wawawiwa Designs creates really wonderful comics that say quite a bit without using very many words. Colmenares told Bored Panda that he began this series in 2009 to help people...The post Clever Comics With Very Few Words That Provide a Temporary Escape From the Harsh Realities of Life appeared first on Laughing Squid.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sarah Spencer (@heartofpluto) on Aug 25, 2018 at 7:57pm PDT Sarah Spencer of Heart of Pluto has created an incredibly impressively giant, astronomically correct tapestry with a design that encompasses the entire galaxy (and quite a bit of yarn). Spencer created this amazing piece with a...The post A Giant Astronomically Correct Galactic Tapestry Created With a Cleverly Hacked Knitting Machine appeared first on Laughing Squid.