How did whales get so big eating such tiny creatures? And why aren't they bigger? Carl Zimmer explains . According to the scientists, this pattern occurs when the whales lunge into a cloud of krill and drop open their jaws. Pleats under the lower jaw open up, engulfing huge amounts of water. The whale slows down because of the drag. It behaves, in other words, a lot like a parachute. [...] It's a lot...
1 Warhol equals 15 minutes of fame, So if you've been famous for three years, that's just over 105 kilowarhols. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there's a critical point -- varying from celebrity to celebrity -- where that person has outstayed their welcome, and uh ... becomes synonymous with a feminine hygiene product (and the bag it came in). In keeping with nuclear physics, I'm happy for...
Maira Kalman wonders about the patterns of food consumption in the United States, whether it is democratic or not, and how we might want to change. Every one of her essays is outstanding; I can't stop linking to them. Tags: food Maira KalmanUSA
This is amazing: a stop-motion recreation of the Neo-dodges-bullets-on-the-roof scene from The Matrix done entirely in Lego . Tags: Legos remix thematrix video
Dogfighting vs. football in moral calculus orig. from Oct 12, 2009 Media packaging mashups orig. from Apr 22, 2009 Warhol illustrates kids book orig. from Nov 23, 2009 How the H1N1 vaccine is made orig. from Nov 24, 2009 * Q: Wha? A: These previously published entries have been updated with new information in the last 24 hours. You can find past updates here . Tags: post updates
Another great video essay from Matt Zoller Seitz: Feast, a tribute to images of food on film . Cooking, perhaps more than any activity, lets an actor exude absolute physical and intellectual mastery without seeming domineering or smug. Why is that? It's probably because, while cooking is a creative talent that has a certain egotistical component (what good cook isn't proud of his or her skills'), there's...
In an attempt to make a run at WalMart's $400 billion in annual sales, Amazon is offering a ton of Crazy Eddie-like deals for the holiday shopping season. There's the 6-quart Kitchen Aid stand mixer for $250 (50% off) and the 4GB SD memory card for just $10 but the real deals are on Blu-ray and DVD. There's the 60% off Planet Earth DVDs and Blu-ray that I mentioned earlier, 2001: A Space Odyssey on...
A visualization of the decline of the world's four maritime empires (British, Portuguese, French, Spanish) from 1800 to 2009. France pretty much just explodes around 1960. Tags: infoviz video
Ariel Levy did a piece on runner Caster Semenya for the New Yorker this week. Semenya's competition eligibility is up in the air because the IAAF (the worldwide governing body for track and field) can't decide whether she is a woman or a man. She didn't look like an eighteen-year-old girl, or an eighteen-year-old boy. She looked like something else, something magnificent. Love that quote. Tags: Caster...
A fascinating but short case study of Ferran Adrià's restaurant El Bulli from the perspective of an MBA. There is much about the restaurant that is inefficient, as MBAs are quick to note: Adrià should lower his staff numbers, use cheaper ingredients, improve his supply chain, and increase the restaurant's hours of operation. But "fixing" elBulli turns it into just another restaurant,...
A guide on how to enjoy going to the zoo . Tips include bringing no children, walking, taking your time, and going early or staying late: Many animals are more interesting at dawn and dusk, so the earlier or later you can arrange your visit, the better. If you ever find yourself in Singapore, don't miss the famous Night Safari. You haven't lived until you've felt your way along a jungle path in utter...
Bell's telegraph killer orig. from Nov 23, 2009 * Q: Wha? A: These previously published entries have been updated with new information in the last 24 hours. You can find past updates here . Tags: post updates
The American Dialect Society has put its annual call out for nominations for the 2009 word of the year *and* also for the word of the decade. What is the word or phrase which best characterizes the year or the decade? What expression most reflects the ideas, events, and themes which have occupied the English-speaking world, especially North America? Nominations should be sent to woty@americandialect.org...
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