Social media troll arrested for spraying bug killer on fruits and vegetables at Walmart
By Ellsworth Toohey / December 23, 2024
Charles Smith, who boasted about making up to $10,000 monthly from his antisocial "pranks," filmed himself spraying Hot Shot Ultra Bed Bug and Flea Killer on produce including potatoes, lemons, apples, and tomatoes.
"Failed second album" is a myth. Blame music critics.
By Rob Beschizza / December 23, 2024
Consider the fabled "failed second album," where hot new bands mess it up following up a breakthrough hit.
Doggo so excited, she accidentally wags tail around tree — and gets stuck (video)
By Carla Sinclair / December 23, 2024
An excited springer spaniel had a bit too much spring in her step — or tail as it were.
FBI veteran charged with stalking after allegedly terrorizing law student for over a year
By Ellsworth Toohey / December 23, 2024
A former FBI agent's dark obsession with a first-year law student spiraled into an elaborate campaign of harassment involving 79 different phone numbers, surveillance, and attempts to force a sham marriage, according to federal prosecutors.
Czech composer's military tribute accidentally became history's most recognizable clown song
By Ellsworth Toohey / December 23, 2024
That instantly recognizable circus melody that makes you think of clowns and big tops began its life as something entirely different — a sophisticated military march inspired by ancient Roman gladiators.
Santa Claus was actually a psychedelic mushroom
By Allan Rose Hill / December 23, 2024
Do you know the strange secret history of the Santa myth?
Temple says man's iPhone accidentally dropped into donation box is now God's property
By Allan Rose Hill / December 23, 2024
A fellow worshipping at a temple in Tamil Nadu, India accidentally accidentally dropped his iPhone into the donation box.
Drones drop from sky during Florida holiday show, sending 7-year-old boy to hospital
By Carla Sinclair / December 23, 2024
A holiday light show in Orlando, Florida went awry over the weekend when lit-up drones began dropping out of the sky.
Craig Wright "hides in Asia" as judge hands down suspended jail sentence
By Rob Beschizza / December 23, 2024
Sir Professor Craig Wright M.D., OBE, MBE, Master of Assassins, Inventor of Bitcoin, reportedly "hides" after a judge sentenced him to jail time.
Math, not artificial intelligence, powers new infinite world generator
By Ellsworth Toohey / December 23, 2024
Princeton researchers have unveiled Infinigen, a open-source tool that generates limitless photorealistic 3D scenes using pure mathematical rules – no AI or reliance on models trained on existing videos or images.
Container Store files against bankruptcy
By Rob Beschizza / December 23, 2024
Don't fancy paying $27 for a plastic tub that looks a bit nicer than the $9 one at Target? Don't want to fork out for an Elfa closet system very similar to but much more expensive than the one at Ikea? You and many others. The Container Store is heading for bankruptcy.
Tea found in delicious microplastic infusion bags
By Rob Beschizza / December 23, 2024
Good news for loose tea fans: so-called "tea bags" release millions of nanoplastic and microplastic particles when infused, according to mutagenesis researchers at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
Trump insists he isn't ceding presidency to Elon Musk
By Rob Beschizza / December 23, 2024
Evidently purturbed by talk of key financial backer Elon Musk effectively running his administration before he's even in the White House, president-elect Donald Trump called the talk a "hoax" at a rally this weekend.
Biden commutes most federal death sentences to life imprisonment
By Rob Beschizza / December 23, 2024
President Biden today commutes the sentences of 37 of the 40 inmates on the federal government's death row. They will all spend the rest of their lives in jail instead. His administration having learned its lesson about not looking at the details of those being given leniency
Matt Gaetz ethics report concludes he "had sex" with minor, abused drugs, accepted luxury gifts
By Rob Beschizza / December 23, 2024
There's another word that more accurately describes "sex" with minors, but "had sex" it is in the bipartisan ethics report into now-former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, to be released today after a month of GOP efforts to suppress it. According to CBS News, which has a leaked copy, the report concludes that Gaetz had "sex" with someo…
GOP congresswoman, missing for months, found living in dementia care home
By Grant St. Clair / December 23, 2024
As we trudge toward having yet another old man in the White House, the discussion about upper age limits for the people steering our country has flared up once again – and no recent case demonstrates the potential merit of the idea quite like that of Texas Congressional District 12 representative Kay Granger.
Data Sonification: NASA audializes space for those with low vision
By Gail P Sherman / December 23, 2024
Throughout its history, NASA has produced striking images, from the iconic Earthrise to the breathtaking images of the Pillars of Creation, first captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and later by the James Webb Space Telescope. Now, NASA has developed a way for people with no or low vision to listen to space.
Walruses sound just like the Fart Piano
By Jennifer Sandlin / December 23, 2024
If you've never heard the wide (and wild!) range of noises that walruses make, I implore you to watch this short but informative (and hilarious!) video. It features marine biologist Kristyn Plancarte (who goes by "kp.assionate" online) and several of the walruses she's had the extreme fortune of working with over the years.
Scandinavia's top Christmas Eve show is a 1958 Disney cartoon special
By Ruben Bolling / December 23, 2024
When I spent Christmas in Denmark a couple of years ago, I was told by a local that it is a widespread Danish tradition to watch the broadcast of a Disney Christmas special showing various cartoon clips on Christmas Eve.
Boing Boing, December 22, 2024
By Boing Boing / December 22, 2024
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