SAM MCDOUGLE
Meet Karakuri Ningyō, Japan's First Robot
“Karakuri ningyō” roughly translates as “Mechanism Dolls” (which is a decent Industrial rock band name) though the word “karakuri” can also mean “to take a person by surprise.”
The Gender Binaries: New Study Says People Assign Gender To Numbers
A new study suggests that people assign gender to even and odd numbers.
Recording at the Bottom of the Marianas Trench: An Interview with Luke Temple of Here We Go Magic
We caught them for a minute while they're touring and picking up famous hitchhiking cult film directors.
Internet Week's Portrait of the Future of Online Music
After a day of phrases like “music ecosystems” and “brand building,” I needed to escape.
Dark Tourism, In Which People Vacation with Death, Just Got Academic
Dark Tourism...it's like rubbernecking with a hotel.
Buzz Kill: The World Is Not Gonna End This Year
Newly uncovered hieroglyphs support the idea that the Mayans had a recycling calendar, rather than an apocalyptic one.
Chimp Nut-Smashing Techniques Explain Our Proto-Culture
Conventional wisdom makes a big deal about the cultural gap that sets humans apart from apes – that giant chasm between nut-smashing and Beethoven.
The GIFt of Life: Biology in 12 Endless Loops
Bio-GIFs are the animated gifts biology has gifted to the Internets. And here's 10 of the best of them, presented in one particular order. Which is the order that the deterministic biology of my brain dictates as I type this post (we are all biological...
Hey Big Companies, Data Are Actual Things That Take Up Space
“Digital sprawl” is guaranteed to lead to our doom.
Fun Fact: Killing Zombie Nazis Is Good For Your Brain
A new study out of the University of Toronto shows that first-person-shooter (FPS) action video games can actually help your brain by improving a range of perceptual skills.