Laughing Squid

The Damien Chazelle directed film First Man, adapted from the James R. Hansen biography of the same name, tells the story of Apollo 11, the first manned mission to the moon. Told from the perspective of astronaut Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling), the film recounts the decisions he made both personally and professionally during the decade...The post Ryan Gosling Plays Astronaut Neil Armstrong as He Prepares to Be the ‘First Man’ to Walk on the Moon appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A rather astute dog named Bear noticed that when his ball landed on the backyard trampoline, he was able to run underneath and bounce it along the jumping pad so that it would then roll off onto the ground. This was so much fun that he repeated the process over and again until he was...The post An Astute Dog Figures Out How to Use the Backyard Trampoline to Play a Game of Fetch With Himself appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A post shared by Michael Grider (@mkgrider) on Jul 31, 2018 at 10:25pm PDT Adventure artist Michael Grider has crafted an incredible cocktail accoutrement – swizzle sticks topped off with teeny tiny Tiki torches that burn a real flame while stirring a nice cold drink. These wonderful miniature Polynesian lights have proved so popular that...The post Teeny Tiny Tiki Torch Cocktail Swizzle Sticks appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the spectacular award-winning animated film short “Fishwitch” by stop motion artist Adrienne Dowling, a rather cranky witch who lives alone on an iceberg accidentally meets a lonely, but cheerful merman who wants nothing more than to be her friend. While the shrew continuously shoos the merman away, she finds herself missing him while he’s...The post Cranky Iceberg Dwelling Witch Gives Her Frozen Heart to a Lonely Merman Who Wants to Be Friends appeared first on Laughing Squid.

While out walking with his young human, an elegant black horse caught the sight of a plastic statue that looked exactly like him, but on a much smaller scale. The horse sidled up to the statue and began sniffing and chuffing as he became more and more infatuated with smaller twin. The horse was so...The post Horse Becomes Infatuated With a Plastic Statue That Looks Just Like a Smaller Version of Him appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A post shared by Pretzel Factory Langhorne (@ppflanghorne) on Oct 25, 2017 at 9:11am PDT Brothers Brian Kean and Shaun Kean, who own the Langhorne, Pennsylvania location of the Philly Pretzel Factory chain, are known for their incredibly detailed art primarily made out of dough and salt. The franchise offers custom pretzels in any shape,...The post Pennsylvania Pretzel Maker Creates Incredibly Detailed Custom 3D Art Out of Salted Dough appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a delphic Ted-Ed lesson written by educator Elizabeth Cox and animated by Gerta Xhelo, narrator Christina Greer talks about “Imposter Syndrome”, a crippling sense self-doubt that plagued even the most successful of people, such as Maya Angelou and Albert Einstein. In 2016, we wrote about the intense feeling of isolation when one succumbs to...The post How the Insecurity of Imposter Syndrome Makes Incredibly Successful People Feel Inferior to Others appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Freelance automotive and product designer Michael David Young has spent the past six years perfecting the design of his incredibly clever “Hammer with Collated Nail Dispenser“. This unique framing hammer, which is 3D printed, quickly and automatically supplies its own nails as it strikes downward on a hard surface. Young shared that he had finally...The post A Clever Hammer That Auto-Dispenses Its Own Nails appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a numenary episode of their incredibly informative whiteboard series for Mental Floss, linguist Arika Okrent and illustrator Sean O’Neill verbally and visually explain how in languages around the world, the words that are used for numbers come from easily accessible anatomical sources. So most cultures didn’t settle on the systems they did because they’re...The post How the Words Used For Numbers in Languages Around the World Often Have Anatomical Roots appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A post shared by The New York Public Library (@nypl) on Aug 24, 2018 at 10:23am PDT Taking inspiration from the wonderful Librairie Mollat photo series for which customers are strategically posed with matching book covers, libraries from around the world have started doing the same. Using the Instagram hashtag #BookfaceFriday, each library shares similar...The post Bookstore and Library Customers Around the World Pose to Visually Complete Book Cover Images appeared first on Laughing Squid.

An incredible heat wave hitting New York City during this last week of August has caused most sentient beings in the area searching for cooler air wherever it can be found. This group includes a giant swarm of 25,000 or so honeybees who descended upon the umbrella of a hot dog vendor’s cart in the...The post A Giant Swarm of Overheated Honey Bees Descend Upon a Times Square Hot Dog Cart Umbrella appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The very talented Italian sculptor Valeriano Fatica expertly carved a watermelon into a deliciously terrifying replica of the famously facially tentacled H.P. Lovecraft creature Cthulhu. Like hisThe post A Deliciously Terrifying Cthulhu Expertly Carved From a Watermelon appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In January 2018, while waiting at Philadelphia International Airport for a flight back to her home in Buffalo, New York, two-time limbo Guinness World Record holder Shemika Campbell amazingly bent herself backwards and did the limbo in the extremely limited space underneath the seats in the waiting area at the gate. First Viral video started...The post World Record Holder Limbos Under an Airport Seat While Waiting For Her Flight Home appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Guy Jones, about whom we’ve written previously, skillfully restored vintage 1934 Movietone footage of a Long Beach, California gathering of 375 couples who were married during the Victorian era, for 50 years or more. Old film of a hootenanny for 375 couples married 50+ years in Long Beach, California on August 12, 1934. These scenes...The post Restored 1934 Footage of a Gathering of 375 Victorian Couples Married for 50 or More Years appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Nora Atkinson, the craft curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum‘s Renwick Gallery, gave an insightful TED talk to a Vancouver audience about the art of Burning Man. Atkinson specifically speaks to the highly interactive and primal nature of the artwork cannot help but be created in the middle of the desert and how that...The post How Burning Man Nurtures the Kind of Interactive Primal Artwork Created Solely For the Sake of Art appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A pair of Australian entrepreneurs have created Cat Camp, a wonderful line of adorably petite, feline sized beds that look just like human tents. These tents are lightweight, easy to put together, appropriate for indoor or light outdoor use and provides kitty with a comfy hiding place along and an ability to still watch what’s...The post Cat Camp, Petite Indoor/Outdoor Tents for Felines appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Musician John D. Boswell, who’s also known as “Melodysheep“, has brilliantly re-imagined the soundtrack from the iconic 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory as a colorful chill-hop video. This beautifully edited remix employs both scenes and music from the film and features the late, great comedian Gene Wilder singing lead. If willy wonka...The post A Beautifully Edited Re-Imagination of ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ as a Chill-Hop Video appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Pacific Northwest based remote control hobbyists Another RC Channel posted absolutely amazing slow motion footage of RC Broncos Trucks that appear completely full sized, expertly navigating over a rocky beach. The skill used in controlling these vehicles along the terrain is quite impressive, as each of the Broncos maneuver the shore with ease, just as...The post Remote Controlled Bronco Trucks That Appear Life Sized Expertly Navigate a Rocky Northwest Beach appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A particularly tenacious Stretch Armstrong action figure resists mightily against the incoming blades of Lauri Vuohensilta‘s “Cubinator” 150 Ton hydraulic dicer. In the end, Armstrong loses the battle, but the toy puts up a good fight in refusing to allow himself to be cubed. Before moving on, Vuohensilta, host of Hydraulic Press Channel, acknowledges Armstrong’s...The post A Tenacious Stretch Armstrong Resists Mightily Against the Incoming Blades of a Hydraulic Dicer appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In an end-of-summer Labor Day-themed Good Mythical Morning, the carnivorous comedy duo Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal of Rhett & Link sample a variety of veggie burgers to determine which one best approximates the taste of meat. They tested the eight top selling veggie burgers available for grocery purchase. This includes Boca Burger, Morningstar Farms,...The post Carnivores Rhett and Link Review Eight Different Veggie Burgers In Time for Labor Day Weekend appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Clare Julia and Si Bennett of Planet Custard and Egg Cup Creative, the team behind videos for such bands as Muse, The Charlatans and Guns N Roses, have created a The Space Song, a wonderfully animated, educational song about the planets of the solar system. The really catchy tune explains the order of how far...The post The Space Song, A Catchy Animated Educational Song About the Planets of the Solar System appeared first on Laughing Squid.

On August 18, 2018, the Canterbury Park, a professional horse racing track and casino in Shakopee Minnesota, held adorable qualifying heats for racing basset hounds to determine whom would be fast enough to compete in the annual Bark in the Park Championships over Labor Day weekend. Each of these long-eared, short-legged canines hilariously raced against...The post Adorably Short-Legged Basset Hounds Hilariously Race Each Other Down a Professional Horse Track appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A resident goat in Mendooran, New South Wales, Australia, decided make his way into the house in the same manner in which other pets gain entrance – by using the doggy door. The well-mannered hircine first politely knocked on the door and then very gracefully managed to get his entire body through the narrow door...The post Well Mannered Goat Politely Knocks Before Coming Into the House Through a Tiny Doggy Door appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A beloved rescued pet fox named Juniper, who is the “Happiest Fox“, emits the most adorable trilling sound while sleeping upside down inside the bottom shelf of a television cabinet. According to her human, this is one of Juniper’s favorite places to sleep, even though her comfy bed sits empty right alongside the shelf. Welcome...The post Snoring Fox Emits Adorable Trilling Sounds While Sleeping Upside Down on a Cabinet Shelf appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In July 2018, we wrote about an overheated puppy named Baloo in Texas who dragged the sprinkler through the doggy door and into the house. Since that time a beautiful white boxer named Winston decided to do the same. Rather than bringing in the sprinkler, however Winston opted for the whole hose. Security footage showed...The post A Mischievous Dog Brings a Running Garden Hose Inside the House Through the Patio Door appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In 1993, Hervé Villechaize, the diminutive star of Fantasy Island granted his last interview just days before his tragic suicide in 1993. The interviewer, filmmaker Sascha Gervasi, was so inspired by that conversation that he used his own notes to co-write the screenplay for and direct the upcoming HBO film My Dinner with Hervé. The...The post Peter Dinklage Plays Hervé Villechaize During His Final Days in the HBO Film ‘My Dinner with Hervé’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Derek Thompson, author of Hitmakers: How to Succeed in an Age of Distraction and senior editor at The Atlantic, explains how a specific combination of repetition and variation create the hook that makes pop music so catchy. He refers to a fascinating study conducted by David Huron, a distinguished professor of music at Ohio State...The post How a Specific Combination of Repetition and Variety Works to Make Pop Songs So Catchy appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Researchers at UC Berkeley have ingeniously discovered a way to transfer expert dance moves to an amateur on video, essentially giving them the talent of the dancer without having to practice. This process re-targets AI data mapped from the video source (the dancer) into an intermediary (stick figure keypoint-based pose) that detects the movements from...The post Expert Dance Moves Transferred to an Amateur Using AI Re-Targeted Source Motion Mapping appeared first on Laughing Squid.

With the sad news about the death of legendary playwright Neil Simon at the age of 91, The New York Times posted a wonderfully touching video tribute that included footage from a 2008 interview. This memorial also cites examples from Simon’s prolific writing career, how he used his own personal history as a guide, how...The post A Wonderfully Touching Video Tribute to the Life of Legendary Playwright Neil Simon (1927-2018) appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the decade spanning teaser trailer for the third season of the HBO series True Detective, an aging Arkansas investigator named Wayne Hays (Mahershala Ali) tries to recall the details of the biggest case of his career despite the fact that his “whole brain’s a bunch of missing pieces.” Decades ago, Hays and another detective...The post Aging Investigator Tries to Recall the Details of His Biggest Case in ‘True Detective’ Season 3 Teaser appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A little tortoise sitting outside on a straw mat watched closely as a feline friend easily entered into the house through a flap in the door and decided to do the very same. While flap was a bit high and wide for squat little legs to negotiate, it was a combination of determination and desire...The post Determined Little Tortoise Adorably Follows a Feline Friend Inside the House Through the Cat Door appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Video editor Sutherland has put together an incredible compilation of the most popular song each year in the United States, beginning with the year 1940 (Tommy Dorsey – “I’ll Never Smile Again“) and culminating with 2017 (Luis Fonsi FT Daddy Yankee – “Despacito“). The list was originally compiled by Natalie Morin. If you’re wondering why...The post An Incredible Compilation of the Most Popular Song in the U.S.A. Each Year From 1940 Through 2017 appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In December 2017, some members of R.E.M. sat down with the Dutch NTR station Top 2000 a gogo to discuss the meaning behind one of the bands most iconic songs, “Losing My Religion“. Frontman Michael Stipe explained from where the title and theme of the song came, how he first recorded the lyrics (almost naked)...The post Michael Stipe and Mike Mills of R.E.M. Explain the Meaning of Their Iconic Song ‘Losing My Religion’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Filmmaker Michael Tucker of Lessons from the Screenplay took a look at the sublime now-classic Coen Brothers film No Country for Old Men, specifically noting that the film uses behavior rather than dialogue to establish character and reveal plot points. Tucker also pointed out the film exemplifies filmmaker Andrew Stanton‘s “unifying theory of 2 +...The post How ‘No Country For Old Men’ Uses Behavior Rather Than Dialogue to Establish Character and Plot appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Swedish designer and motion graphics artist Andreas Wannerstedt has filled his Instagram feed with an amazing array of very clever, continuously looping, virtual contraptions. These contraptions fall into different categories; Oddly Satisfying – Volumes One, Two, Three and Four, Pendulums and Marble Madness. … a series of different short loops, each one based upon the...The post An Amazing Array of Cleverly Animated, Endlessly Looping Colorful Virtual Contraptions appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the beautifully rotoscoped animation entitled “Flash Flood“, filmmaker Alli Mackay interviews three transgender people who share their stories about how and where they grew up, their words bumping against unrelenting images of two-dimensional deluges waning and waxing as they speak. The title and the theme came from the first narrator (perhaps Mackay) who made...The post Three Transgender People Share Their Stories Against a Beautifully Rotoscoped ‘Flash Flood’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In the third installment of his beautiful aerial films shot over Scotland, filmmaker John Duncan flew his DJI Inspire 2 over 21 different locations in the less traveled, more ancient parts of the country. The resulting stunning film is aptly titled “Ancient Scotland“. So for this third installment I had to look deeper at what...The post Ancient Scotland, A Stunning Aerial Film Taken Over the Older, More Remote Parts of the Country appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Pioneering engineer, inventor, philanthropist, former Facebook/Google executive and MIT professor Mary Lou Jepsen gave a truly enlightening TED talk in April 2018 about how directed light of holography can be used to see deep inside the translucent human body to diagnose aberrations much in the way that an MRI would, but without the claustrophobic process....The post How Holographic Directed Light Can Work With Human Translucency to See Deep Inside the Body appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Framestore, the British production house that created the visual effects for the Marvel MCU film Avengers: Infinity War, provided a marvelous behind-the-scenes look at how the the different characters were brought into action. The team that was animating the members of Cull Obsidian (Black Order) had some difficulty with developing character traits, so they created...The post A Marvelous Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Visual Effects Used in Avengers: Infinity War appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Great Big Story traveled to the western coast of Madagascar to visit the incredible Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve, a stunning 230 mile dry deciduous forest made up of limestone towers that rise up over 200 feet in the air to razor sharp jagged peaks. The towers are difficult to traverse, as denoted by...The post A Stunning Dry Forest in Madagascar Made Entirely of Jagged Peaked Limestone Towers appeared first on Laughing Squid.

While Simon’s Cat is in the yard playing with his ball, it rolls over the “borderline that separates the yard next door from his”. As he’s attempting to retrieve the ball, Simon’s Cat encounters an irascible, but somewhat dim neighboring feline bully named Jazz, who has no intention of returning the ball nor allowing Simon’s...The post Simon’s Cat Wages War on Feline Bully Next Door appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A post shared by Obvious Plant (@obviousplant) on Aug 17, 2018 at 10:47am PDT Comedian Jeff Wysaski of Obvious Plant is back with another store prank – this time with a hilarious faux bottle of Wendy’s Meat soda (with a hint of ketchup) that he “found” in a grocery store cooler. After his discovery, Wysaski...The post A Mysterious Bottle of Wendy’s Meat Soda (With a Hint of Ketchup) Is Found in a Grocery Drink Cooler appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A post shared by Andrew Fuller (@guymeetscake) on Aug 7, 2018 at 3:05pm PDT Earlier this month we wrote about Ashley Newman‘s pot pies which featured fabulously disconcerting anthropomorphic human faces baked right into the top crust. Since then, custom baker Andrew Fuller of Guy Meets Cake in Iowa, decided to whip up one of...The post Baker Inspired by the Anthropomorphic Human Face Pot Pies Makes a Creepy Edible Version of His Own appeared first on Laughing Squid.

A post shared by Ryo Minemizu (@seacam1970) on Aug 4, 2017 at 6:42pm PDT Deep sea photographer Ryo Minemizu has captured absolutely gorgeous shots of luminous plankton floating through the dark waters of the nighttime Osezaki Sea in Japan. These and other stunning images are part of his “Phenomenons” series, which focuses on the delicate...The post Gorgeous Deep Sea Photography of Luminous Plankton Floating Through Dark Japanese Waters appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a chimeric Ted-Ed lesson written by educator Elizabeth Cox and animated by Nerdo, narrator Susan Zimmerman explains what causes hallucinations, what happens when hallucinations occur, the medical and pharmacological effects upon the brain that cause hallucinations and the specific syndrome that causes those who are blind to see hallucinations and those who are deaf...The post An Animated Explanation of the Medical and Pharmacological Causes of Hallucinations appeared first on Laughing Squid.

On an adorable 2012 episode of the PBS series NOVAScience, popular astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson challenged Chaser, the amazing border collie who understands over 1,000 words to a memory game. Tyson took several items from Chaser’s enormous pile of toys without the dog’s knowledge and then asked her to retrieve each item as he named...The post Neil deGrasse Tyson Challenges Chaser the Border Collie to Retrieve a Doll She’d Never Seen Before appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Contortionist Moses Lanham aka Mr. Elastic Man, who set the Guinness World Record for “Fastest time to walk 20 meters with feet facing backwards” in 2011, demonstrated for The Wizard Of Odd TV exactly how he is able to perform this incredible feat. Lanham’s elastic ability appeared after he fell 18 feet from a rope...The post Contortionist Shows How He Can Walk Forward With His Feet Turned Completely Backwards appeared first on Laughing Squid.

Better Call Saul actors Jonathan Banks (Mike Ehrmantraut) and Rhea Seehorn (Kim Wexler) sat down with New York Magazine for an interview during which they spoke about some of the more interesting fans with whom they’ve had interaction. Banks shared that people thought that he was scary, while Seehorn noted how much appreciation her character...The post Jonathan Banks and Rhea Seehorn of ‘Better Call Saul’ Discuss Some Interesting Fan Interactions appeared first on Laughing Squid.

In a wonderfully personable TED Talk, renowned artist, New York Times columnist and author Christoph Niemann explains rather humorously how the language of images can often transcend the limits of spoken/written language. He also talks about his wonderful “Sunday Sketching” series for which he is fully conscious of his efforts to communicate the message of...The post Artist Christoph Niemann Humorously Explains How Images Can Transcend the Limits of Language appeared first on Laughing Squid.

The incredibly imaginative folks at The New York Public Library partnered with the independent creative company Mother New York to create and promote their wonderful new reading initiative called “Insta Novels“. This clever idea uses the power and reach of Instagram Stories to share such classic tales as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll,...The post New York Public Library Offers Access to Classic Tales Through Instagram Stories With ‘Insta Novels’ appeared first on Laughing Squid.