Wrong title, right science

Well, it's more of a misleading title. The fact that we have a delayed reaction to visual stimuli does not mean, of course, that we are dumb. But this video puts the attention-grabbing headline to get us to watch. And we do, and we find the video funny and entertaining.


Like they say in it: do try it at home. Did you like it?

Gregory Hines FTW

I remember Gregory Hines from that 80's movie with Baryshnikov. He was superb in there. But look at this very short video which shows his amazing skills and humour (and the orchestra isn't half-bad either).



What I find unbelievable is the lack of response of the crowd at the end - almost no-one stood up to applaud! They must be British!

Public service: (almost) all the courses of the MIT, available for free!

And it's not a third-party, pirated site. It's official from the MIT!

The link is here, you can access the bibliography, the notes, download the course materials... it's amazing.

I like waterfall gifs.
Which ones will you study?

Foreign words we need to start using

This list by Mental Floss is an amazing compendium of useful words in other languages than English (the only one in Spanish, I didn't know as it is from the Caribbean).

Not related... but you're welcome
Of course we will not implement any of these, but they are very good to read.

Photo tampering through history

This fantastic page shows the tampering of photos from the beginning of photography until our days. Well-known forgeries, such as Stalin's petty "enemy eliminations" until the most recent ones. Who knew the Rolling Stones were so petty (in page 5)?


Did you like it?

Song of the weekend: upbeat tune for the broken-hearted

I have always liked this song by Belinda Carlisle. It's up there with "I'll say a little Prayer" in the "upbeat song for those who have been broken-hearted". Besides, Belinda doesn't hurt the eyes. From a comment, I've just realized that it is written by Per Gessle, from Roxette. No wonder it's so catchy.



Did you like it?

GIF and JPEG round-up strikes back

Some more images and GIFs for your viewing pleasure.

I had never thought of it in that way...
The rest after the break.

Public service: how to remove people from scenery photos

This image taught me something.


Two thoughts:

1) Make sure you do this in a first-world country. If not, the camera is at risk!
2) If you or your loved one/s can stand still for two minutes or so, you can actually make it so that all the other people are eliminated from the shot. That should be cool - imagine the Louvre without anyone but you!

Don't laugh, this is a necessity for some people

A fantastic find from Sergio Sapio: for those who are usually embarrassed by their lack of sphincter control in a social setting, this company has come to the rescue. They describe their product as "the ultimate flatulence-filtering underwear".


I like the way they photograph the product with models that probably (nah, surely) don't have this issue, but I guess putting a flatulent person on the website would not be very glamorous.


Sociological analysis at Walmart

You could write a book about the fauna that goes to Walmart. I love the chain and all it represents (the possibility of more people to access cheap and relatively good-quality goods). I even love the fact that the customers can go in whatever clothes they want, viva la liberté and all - but some of its patrons are... you now... a bit weird. Like Mr Ponytails Skater below.



Or Madam Undescribable:



See more, the original link and an unmissable video set to "Sexy and I know it" below the break. Enjoy the weirdness!

Public service: how to spot a liar

In a new installment of the Public Service... er... service, this is an interesting talk by Pamela Meyer, who happens to specialize in psychology and language, on the ways we can tell if someone's lying.



I really loved this video. Can you tell if I just lied?

Meme watch: epic alley-oop competition online

So these seven guys (plus the cameraman), with apparently too much time on their hands, filmed this Vine video (6-second limitation) performing a crazy alley-oop (a basketball term meaning, well, this):


The mantle was taken by these 10 friends who raised the stakes (their technique is a bit more boring but hey, it's a much smaller pool!):



And then, someone posted this video online. I am not sure if these are real or faked, but some of them are fantastic.



Are you going to try this at home? Do. And post it in the comments!

Song of the weekend: two of the best of the greatest band

I will take it personally to whomever tells me that the Beatles are not the best band that has ever existed. The genius of the three (plus Ringo) surpassed all boundaries. Below two of the songs that I like the most right now.

The first one, quite a quick one that I like because of... you guessed it, the harmonies:


The second one, for me one of their best, after the break. Did you like them?

A patch that will save lives

This new clothes patch called Kite contains chemicals that, when released, interfere with the CO2 sensing of mosquitoes, essentially making the person carrying the patch invisible to them.



This is excellent news for Africa, where malaria causes 660 thousand deaths a year! I found this here, and their website is here (they are looking for donations via their IndieGoGo campaign).


Faith in humanity restored... at least somewhat!

For those who played Mario Bros...

...you'll love this 1-minute video of him going berserk. The best part are the voices and music. (Even if you never played Mario Bros, I think you'll enjoy it).



Did you like it?

Public service: is this the most useful site ever?

You know I am not one for hyperbole. I would never in a trillion years exaggerate any phrase of mine. But anyway... I do believe that this title hyperbole might indeed be accurate! Wolfram Alpha is one of the (if not THE) most useful sites dwelling on the Interwebz. Sergio Sapio found this amazing compilation of 32 tricks to get the most of it. Some of them are simply amazing.

Unrelated... but how nice, innit?
Do you have others? Let us know!
(I wonder how long it'll be before Google - or Microsoft - buy it?)

25 epic comebacks

I have something that the French call L'Esprit d'Escalier, or "the wisdom from the stairs": I always have the great comeback way too late. (I love that French phrase by the way).

So when someone has a witty remark and it can't be anything other than spontaneous, I admire them. Even if they are not so spontaneous, I find wit usually disarming.

So a website collated 25 witty comebacks, and I can't encourage you enough to visit them. This is one of the best:

(BTW, this actually happened... and Philips did NOT invade Sparta because of it. Alexander would, some years later).

Some others and the page, after the break.

Public service: how to make a good paper airplane

I like titling in a way that leaves little to explain, don't I? Well, there you have it.



I don't like the angle he used to film this, but apparently the actual plane works very well. Have you tried it?

GIF and JPEG roundup

So I keep collecting these GIFs and pictures from the Interwebz, and every once in a while I like putting them in here. Here's the latest batch (some after the break):

Oh, the possibilities...
On your marks, get set... go!

Song of the weekend: oh yes, more harmonies

This is my most listened song in my playlist. I absolutely love it, and I think you'll love it too. The lead vocals is definitely a multi-faceted player (he does vocals very well, also drums and also keyboard!).



I loved the YouTube comment: "This is where Hagrid worked before he was hired at Hogwarts". Hehe. Did you like it?

The Bad Piper playing AC/DC

This video doesn't need too much of an intro - it's a piper (whose mot is "Bad Piper") playing "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC. It's starts a bit uninteresting but it quickly escalates.


Did you like it?

Pale blue dot

This video is a must see. It underscores Carl Sagan's philosophy in an easy to hear manner.



How I miss his clarity! (The soundtrack is in this post).

The flight of the Angel... in 350 hands

That would be, in a nutshell, the story of this video, which purportedly was made without any Photoshop, painting on the hands of 350 people gathered in a library. I find it quite amazing, really.


Did you like it?

First movie about space... made only from real footage!

The makers of this film (coming out in 2014) claim it doesn't have CGI at all, that it's fully based on pictures taken by all the space missions of NASA. I highly doubt it, as at 1:15 you see an explosion that is clearly made by CGI!


But despite this detail, this looks amazing! Will you see it?

Yearbook trolling

So Mashable has compiled the Top 20 Yearbook trolling photos of all time. I must admit, some of these made me laugh. Including this one, of a girl who surely deserves to be a sapiosexual. Can you read the coded message?


Some more and the link, after the break.

The art of resonance

There is a physical phenomenon called resonance: when you make a body vibrate in a certain frequency, it assumes certain patterns, where parts of the body move and others don't. When you put sand on top of that body, it follows the pattern, accumulating in the parts that don't move.

This is what they did in the video below. It's very interesting! If you want to see the complete video with the original sound (it's loud!), check it here.


Did you like it?

Song of the weekend: amazing medley

So this a capella band, PTX, did a 4-minute medley of the evolution of music from the 11th century until now. Fantastic, and I have to say, I envy the bottom-left guy's voice.




Did you like it?

Art with Lego

I strongly believe that sometimes art (especially "modern" art) happens to be mostly about having an original idea, and doing it before anyone else. So Nathan Sawaya had the idea that every other person on Earth thought, when confronted with it: "Why didn't I think of that?": life-size art with Legos. I'll admit it's good quality art, but I don't think you need a particular skill to do this, other than coming up with the idea:


What do you think? The rest and the link to all, after the break.

The latest meme (and one of the best!)

So this guy has done this amazing video which went viral. I won't spoil too much of it, but it's quite fun and surprising. More after the break.



What did you think?

Amazing feat of engineering in a small space

Our friend Sergio Sapio brings us this amazing feat of engineering: the RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) has built this fantastic Escherian Stairwell (called like that due to M.C.Escher's work on impossible constructions) inside its campus. It blows your mind away.


Some important info about the physics of this staircase (how did they do it?) after the break.

Definitely do not try this at home!

Or, if you do, film it and send the results to Sapioblog!



I can't help but laughing at these wake-up pranks. I feel bad! (No, not really).