In 1956, Isaac Asimov wrote a short story in a single sitting that begins in 2061, with two drunk engineers asking a room-sized computer whether the universe has to end. The computer can't answer. Neither can the next one, a few centuries later, or the one after that, or the planet-sized intelligence humans consult once they've spread across the galaxy. — Read the rest

The post Asimov's favorite story: "The Last Question" appeared first on Boing Boing.

No crumbs. No perfume. No bedsharing. Those are some of the house rules for Skynest, the triple-tier bunk bed that Air New Zealand is about to install in the economy cabin of its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, according to AP News. — Read the rest

The post Air New Zealand economy bunk beds cost $291, ban snacks and perfume appeared first on Boing Boing.

Grandchildren of mice fed artificial sweeteners showed altered glucose tolerance and shifts in gut microbiome composition — even though those grandchildren never consumed the sweeteners themselves. The finding, reported by StudyFinds, suggests that zero-calorie sweeteners can leave a biological footprint that echoes across at least two generations. — Read the rest

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Someone walked out of a laboratory in Belém, Brazil, with 709 vials of dangerous viruses — including samples of Eastern equine encephalitis and oropouche, both of which can cause severe or fatal illness in humans. BSL-3, or biosafety level 3, is reserved for pathogens that can cause serious or lethal disease through inhalation — one tier below the labs that handle Ebola. — Read the rest

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TL;DR: This deal for PDF Expert Premium Plan for Mac gives you full access to a powerful PDF editor for a one-time $79.99 (MSRP $139.99), letting you edit, annotate, sign, convert, and manage documents with far less friction.

PDFs are supposed to be simple. — Read the rest

The post This deal turns PDF frustration into a one-click fix on Mac for 43% off appeared first on Boing Boing.

Sixty-two years ago, Arthur C. Clarke sat down with the BBC's Horizon program and described daily life in the year 2000: doctors performing surgery on patients thousands of miles away, people carrying devices that kept them in "instant contact with each other, wherever they may be," and workers doing their jobs without ever commuting to an office, as highlighted by Open Culture. — Read the rest

The post Arthur C. Clarke predicted remote work, telesurgery, and mobile phones in 1964 appeared first on Boing Boing.

After more than a decade of evidence that California's marine protected areas help sea life rebound and even boost nearby fisheries, the state is now weighing whether to expand them, scale them back, or leave them alone. This sets up a familiar clash between conservation, industry, and everything in between. — Read the rest

The post California's ocean protections work, so naturally we're arguing about them appeared first on Boing Boing.

A 13-year-old with a metal detector on the German island of Rügen managed to do what treasure hunters dream about, accidentally uncovering a cache of Viking-era artifacts linked to Harald Bluetooth. Yes, the Bluetooth current wireless tech is named after.

In January 2018, Rene Schoen and his young student Luca Malaschnitschenko were doing what many weekend hobbyists do on the German island of Rügen: sweeping the ground with a metal detector in pursuit of hidden treasure.

— Read the rest

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I was planning to give away my aging iPhone 15 and get a dumbphone instead, but then I saw that the new model is going to come in "Dark Cherry" and consumerism once again overwhelmed me. MacWorld's Felipe Esposito calles it a "classy, bold look." — Read the rest

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Look, if you're reading this, you already know that the Tesla Cybertruck is the most embarrassing vehicle you could possibly be spotted in, besides maybe Air Force One. They're slowly rusting containers for violently explosive batteries that you'd be lucky to sell for a quarter of the hundred grand or more you gave Elon Musk for the pleasure of driving one. — Read the rest

The post Car reviewer tears into the Cybertruck for 20 minutes appeared first on Boing Boing.

Is it possible for a game to be carried entirely by its art direction? A few examples come to mind — Bungie's Marathon, most recently — but if any upcoming game is going to put this theory to the test, it's Hieronymus. — Read the rest

The post Finally, a game where you fight a many-legged fish train appeared first on Boing Boing.

It's called Metro 2039, but it's weirdly only the fourth Metro game. Despite name might imply, the game is not, in fact, some sort of cutesy subway management simulator but a brutal Russian post-apocalypse based on the writings of Dmitry Glukhovsky. — Read the rest

The post New Metro game revealed, and yes, you're back in the tunnels appeared first on Boing Boing.

If you like music, and weird humor, you're gonna love the "Show Bits" series from Portland, Oregon-based "motion designer" Aaron Keuter. In this clever series, Keuter takes clips from various songs and artists, and inserts them into short animations, where the clips take on new, silly, weird, and hilarious meanings. — Read the rest

The post What if Tom Waits was a blender? This animator asked appeared first on Boing Boing.

This is the chaotic cat video that everyone needs today. A guy sitting on his couch is left completely stunned after his cat jumps from one end of the room to the other, sailing over his head as if it has wings. — Read the rest

The post Cat makes a room-length leap over owner's head in one bound appeared first on Boing Boing.

The early seasons of SpongeBob by Stephen Hillenburg are without a doubt the best ones. This is the SpongeBob Bible — made to plan out the show and its characters, and a fun read for any fan.

The SpongeBob Bible calls our beloved main character "SpongeBoy" instead of "SpongeBob." — Read the rest

The post SpongeBob's original bible banned romance and the surface world appeared first on Boing Boing.

Disney just announced details about its upcoming ride in Disney World's (Orlando, FL) Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets, in Disney's Hollywood Studios. The roller coaster is currently undergoing a redesign, from Aerosmith to Muppet theming, and is scheduled to open on May 26. — Read the rest

The post "Weird Al" Yankovic among the celebrities joining the Muppets on Disney World's upcoming Rock 'n' Roller Coaster ride appeared first on Boing Boing.

Today's moment of levity/terror comes as The Orange Menace claims to never have heard of "a corner store" before. Unlike usual, convicted felon and more than 20 times accused of sexual assault, Donald Trump didn't say he invented the term; he just whined about it — as if "Corner Store" isn't descriptive enough. — Read the rest

The post Grandpa Pudding Brains, once again, confused by a colloquialism appeared first on Boing Boing.

This hilarious video has a couple of airline pilots under scrutiny after they were caught meowing to each other on the radio while flying. The air traffic controller is not pleased with their behavior and repeatedly tells them to stop — clearly, firmly, and more than once. — Read the rest

The post Airline pilots caught meowing over radio as air traffic control struggles to keep them serious appeared first on Boing Boing.

This gentleman, running from the LA cops, misunderstood the sightlines and LAPD's love of helicopter surveillance. When his ingenious hiding place proved not so ingenious, he drove straight into traffic.

It is fun to see how quickly the culprit has his hands up, once he is definitively stopped by a tree. — Read the rest

The post Police chase ended by dramatically bad decision making appeared first on Boing Boing.

The theory was that when people shook the box, they heard "LEGO" rather than "penne". The scam worked briefly, but the LEGO bandit is now in custody.

"One of the cases that occurred here in Orange County, they shared that they opened the box and instead of Legos, they found bags of dry pasta," Officer Ziggy Azarcon said. 

— Read the rest

The post Man steals $34K in LEGO, replaces them with pasta appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: Get a FileJump 2TB Cloud Storage lifetime subscription for $74.97 until April 20 (MSRP $467), with secure encryption, drag-and-drop uploads, and file previews included.

Your storage situation always starts the same way: a few uploads here, a handful of photos there, and suddenly your device is begging for mercy. — Read the rest

The post Your cloud storage is full again and this might be the permanent $75 fix appeared first on Boing Boing.

In René Magritte's 1937 painting La Reproduction Interdite — roughly "depiction prohibited," or "depiction impossible" — a man stands before a mirror and sees the back of his own head.

Artists have been putting trick mirrors into paintings for about 600 years. — Read the rest

The post Painters have been lying with mirrors for 600 years appeared first on Boing Boing.

Ah, take that Toho Company Ltd. goodness and rub it all over my gums. Try as Hollywood might, they can't seem to get Godzilla right. After hundreds of millions of dollars in attempts, Japan's city-stomping kaiju gurus still reign supreme. Following Godzilla Minus One's Oscar win, Toho is back with Godzilla Minus Zero, and this time the big, green, wet machine is pissed off at America. — Read the rest

The post Toho's Oscar-winning Godzilla director returns to stomp New York appeared first on Boing Boing.

We're closing in on Mando and Grogu's big screen appearance this May.

It appears the Mandalorian will have his helmet off again, and forced character growth will continue. It is the way, after all.

Previously:
• How THE MANDALORIAN is making old Kenner action figures relevant again
• The Mandalorian as a spaghetti western
• Does the N-1 Starfighter strike you as a odd choice for the Mandalorian? — Read the rest

The post Mandalorian and Grogu "final" trailer appeared first on Boing Boing.

A snippet of air traffic control audio racked up millions of views online because two pilots started meowing and barking at each other.

The drama unfolded on April 12 over an active air traffic control frequency tracking planes at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. — Read the rest

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Albert Hofmann calculated that one teaspoon of LSD could affect 50,000 people. He arrived at that figure after accidentally absorbing a trace amount through his skin at the Sandoz laboratory in Basel on April 16, 1943 — 83 years ago today. — Read the rest

The post Albert Hofmann's first LSD trip, 83 years ago today appeared first on Boing Boing.

Looking back on it, it's hard to believe that the first Hunger Games movie came out fourteen years ago. If only because it makes me feel ancient. Unlike some YA fiction authors, however, Suzanne Collins hasn't let mold eat her brain in the intervening years or come out as a massive bigot or started writing weirdly transphobic mystery novels under a pen name. — Read the rest

The post We're going to be getting new Hunger Games movies forever appeared first on Boing Boing.

In a rambling press conference that managed to be both callous and combative, Donald Trump brushed off victims connected to Jeffrey Epstein with an "or whatever," before pivoting seamlessly into picking a fight with the Pope, because apparently, there's always time to punch up at the Vatican. — Read the rest

The post Grandpa Pudding Brains treats Epstein victims like a footnote, treats Pope like a rival appeared first on Boing Boing.

Electrical circuits have always been a mystery to me. Those tiny components that look like Chiclets or jewelry beads somehow make a light blink, produce music, and detect motion. So I was happy to learn about The Secret Life of Circuits: An Illustrated Guide to Electronic Circuit Design, a new 400-page book by Michal Zalewski from No Starch Press, due in fall 2026. — Read the rest

The post The Secret Life of Circuits book explains electronics for everyone appeared first on Boing Boing.

In 1988, Bloodsport was the quintessential Cannon Group VHS blockbuster, costing nothing to make and raking in $50m "despite" negative reviews. It made Jean-Claude Van Damme a star, is notable for being a perfectly-formed, perfectly mindless video game on celluloid, and is credited for bringing the martial arts genre back to the big screen. — Read the rest

The post A24 and Michaela Coel remaking Jean-Claude Van Damme's "Bloodsport" appeared first on Boing Boing.