Laughing Squid

• An Eerie Installation of 888,246 Ceramic Poppies at the Tower of London That Marks Britain's World War I Military Dead
• A Surreal Ad for Little Baby's Ice Cream Featuring People With Mouths for Eyes
• Inspired by 'Shark Week' and 'Sharknado 2′, Maymo the Beagle Attacks and Defeats a Wayward Flying Shark
• 'Blind Guy', A Short Film About a Fascinating Kansas City Man Who Has Made the Most of His Vision Loss
• 'Icheon Master Hand', A Video Highlighting the Process of Four Korean Ceramics Masters
• 'A Truncated Story of Infinity', A Short Film About the Futility and Possibilities of the Multiverse
• NASA Announces Plans for Mars 2020 Rover
• New York City Subway Sketch Artist Speed Draws Portraits of Every Passenger in His Train Car
• 'How Did Soviet Psych Experiments Lead To Rocky?', A Video About the History of Film Cuts and Montage
• SciShow Explains How Different Species of Animals Are Able to Change Color
• Elders React to Rock and Roll Legend Elvis Presley
• Dad Builds Awesome Interactive Spaceship for His Four-Year-Old Son's Bedroom
• 'Armageddon to Archeopterix and Icaria 3′, A Ridiculously Complex MIDI Piano Composition
• The Amazon Kindle Flare, A Device That Loudly and Repeatedly Announces the Title of Books Users Are Reading
• Sci-Fi Movie Icons Imagined as Rejected Characters From Marvel's Film 'Guardians of the Galaxy'
• How to Play Airplane Peek-A-Boo by The Oatmeal
• Hamster Wakes Up In a Dollhouse and Spends His Day Looking for Love
• Frenzied Kitten Goes Into Full Offensive Mode Against a Semi-Realistic Looking Ceramic Cat
• A New Hue, A Charming Animated Short About a Paper Girl Who Discovers Color Being Introduced to Her Paper World
• Little Mouse Politely Asks to Come Inside By Ringing Bells Attached to the Wall

An Eerie Installation of 888,246 Ceramic Poppies at the Tower of London That Marks Britain's World War I Military Dead

To commemorate Britain’s involvement in World War I, artist Paul Cummins has created “Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red,” a visually striking outdoor installation of 888,246 ceramic poppies at the Tower of London. The red poppies each represent a British or British Colonial military fatality from the war — over the course of the installation, the poppies will be gradually added until the final day, when the last poppy will be ceremonially placed. The installation opens on August 5, 2014, the 100 year anniversary of Britain’s first full day of involvement in World War I. It ends on November 11, the day that the Armistice was signed in 1918, marking the end of the war. The poppies will be available for purchase after the exhibition, with proceeds to benefit six UK charities.

photos via Historic Royal Palaces

via Colossal

A Surreal Ad for Little Baby's Ice Cream Featuring People With Mouths for Eyes

Philadelphia-based ice cream and frozen dessert shop Little Baby’s Ice Cream has released a surreal ad featuring people with mouths for eyes. In short, it’s “eye scream” for ice cream. The ad was directed by Doug Garth Williams and voiced by Matthias Bossi. We’ve previously written about Little Baby’s Ice Cream’s earlier set of bizarre ads.

Inspired by 'Shark Week' and 'Sharknado 2′, Maymo the Beagle Attacks and Defeats a Wayward Flying Shark

Inspired by Sharknado 2 and Shark Week, Maymo the Lemon Beagle decided to get in on the action by attacking a flying shark that floated into the room. At first Maymo seemed unsure of what he was getting into, but then he gathered up his courage and quite skillfully took down the flying predator in no time at all.

submitted via Laughing Squid Tips

'Blind Guy', A Short Film About a Fascinating Kansas City Man Who Has Made the Most of His Vision Loss

“Blind Guy” is a moving short by Midwestern film collective Brigade that centers on the life and musings of Jim Hoschek, a colorful Kansas City resident who has learned to make the most of his life since losing his eyesight after a failed surgery in 1997.

If you spill something on me, I'd tell people, "hell, I look good in everything I wear."

via Vimeo Staff Picks

'Icheon Master Hand', A Video Highlighting the Process of Four Korean Ceramics Masters

"Icheon Master" is a video from 2013 by The American Museum of Ceramic Art that celebrates the works of a quartet of ceramics masters — Lee Hyang-Gu, You Yong-Chul, Choi In-Gyu, and Jo Se-Yeon. The short, which offers a quick glimpse into the processes of each, was created as part of the museum's Icheon: Reviving the Korean Ceramics exhibition, which ran through December 29th 2013. The exhibit was named for the Icheon Ceramics Village in Icheon, South Korea, which is a hotbed of ceramics creation.

via Huffington Post, Colossal

'A Truncated Story of Infinity', A Short Film About the Futility and Possibilities of the Multiverse

“A Truncated Story of Infinity" is a short film written and directed by New York City filmmaker Paul Trillo that explores one day in the life of a man spread out over the infinite possibilities of the multiverse. The film is a lighthearted exploration of the futility and possibilities that come with a life lived on infinite loop, told by an omniscient — if indecisive — narrator.

I wouldn't know where to begin. More troublingly, I wouldn't know where to end.

submitted via Laughing Squid Tips

NASA Announces Plans for Mars 2020 Rover

NASA has announced their plans for the Mars 2020 rover. First revealed as a goal in 2012, NASA only just finalized seven scientific instruments out of 58 proposals for the Mars 2020 rover. The plan for the basic structure of the Mars 2020 rover is to use everything that worked about the Curiosity rover with some tweaks specifically designed to provide for the new instrument payload and objectives. More on the instruments is available via NASA’s announcement.

Mastcam-Z, an advanced camera system with panoramic and stereoscopic imaging capability with the ability to zoom. The instrument also will determine mineralogy of the Martian surface and assist with rover operations. The principal investigator is James Bell, Arizona State University in Tempe.

SuperCam, an instrument that can provide imaging, chemical composition analysis, and mineralogy. The instrument will also be able to detect the presence of organic compounds in rocks and regolith from a distance. The principal investigator is Roger Wiens, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico. This instrument also has a significant contribution from the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales,Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Plane'tologie (CNES/IRAP) France.

Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL), an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer that will also contain an imager with high resolution to determine the fine scale elemental composition of Martian surface materials. PIXL will provide capabilities that permit more detailed detection and analysis of chemical elements than ever before. The principal investigator is Abigail Allwood, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC), a spectrometer that will provide fine-scale imaging and uses an ultraviolet (UV) laser to determine fine-scale mineralogy and detect organic compounds. SHERLOC will be the first UV Raman spectrometer to fly to the surface of Mars and will provide complementary measurements with other instruments in the payload. The principal investigator is Luther Beegle, JPL.

The Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE), an exploration technology investigation that will produce oxygen from Martian atmospheric carbon dioxide. The principal investigator is Michael Hecht, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA), a set of sensors that will provide measurements of temperature, wind speed and direction, pressure, relative humidity and dust size and shape. The principal investigator is Jose Rodriguez-Manfredi, Centro de Astrobiologia, Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial, Spain.

The Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Exploration (RIMFAX), a ground-penetrating radar that will provide centimeter-scale resolution of the geologic structure of the subsurface. The principal investigator is Svein-Erik Hamran, Forsvarets Forskning Institute, Norway.

images via NASA/JPL-Caltech

New York City Subway Sketch Artist Speed Draws Portraits of Every Passenger in His Train Car

YouTube user swagswagswaghunna has uploaded a video of a sketch artist on the New York City subway 6 train speed drawing a portrait of everyone in his car — ending with the videographer himself.

via reddit, Tastefully Offensive

'How Did Soviet Psych Experiments Lead To Rocky?', A Video About the History of Film Cuts and Montage

"How Did Soviet Psych Experiments Lead To Rocky?" is the latest episode of Film School'd by Cinefix, and it examines the history of intercuts and montage as well as the role they play in our understanding of story development. The video explores these techniques from the early editing experiments of Soviet filmmaker Lev Kuleshov to the iconic training montage from Rocky.

submitted via Laughing Squid Tips

SciShow Explains How Different Species of Animals Are Able to Change Color

SciShow host Michael Aranda explains how different species of animals are able to change color. The useful evolutionary adaptation can be used to communicate with others and even hide from prey.

Changing colors — it's not just for chameleons! Many species of octopuses, squid and cuttlefish can do it, as well as a few insects, and even mammals and birds.

Elders React to Rock and Roll Legend Elvis Presley

On the latest episode of Elders React, Benny and Rafi Fine of The Fine Brothers film senior citizens’ reactions as they watch classic footage of rock and roll legend Elvis Presley.

The Elders React watch and discuss the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley! Find out what it felt like to live during the heyday of one of the most influential artists of the world.

submitted via Laughing Squid Tips

Dad Builds Awesome Interactive Spaceship for His Four-Year-Old Son's Bedroom

“Making Fun” host Jeff Highsmith built an incredibly complex interpretation of the Apollo spacecraft for his four-year-old son's bedroom. The shuttle features interactive switches and buttons, a joystick that controls engine and thruster lights and sounds, a motorized payload bay hatch, and a robotic arm that can be operated remotely via video feed.

As far as the making aspect goes, I expect that we'll think of new capabilities as we play with it more. We will work together to add capabilities. Simple ones at first, such as homemade satellites, toolkits and new gadgets for the repair compartment. Increasingly fancy ones will come later, as they learn more.

Highsmith built the spacecraft after making a mission control desk for his older son. The two space-themed creations can communicate with one another via an audio link.

photos via Make

via Make, Neatorama

'Armageddon to Archeopterix and Icaria 3′, A Ridiculously Complex MIDI Piano Composition

"Armageddon to Archeopterix and Icaria 3" is an incredibly complex MIDI piano composition by YouTube user TheSuperMarioBros2 that is well beyond the reach of mortal two-handed pianists. Things start off intense and then really explode around 30 seconds into the piece. The piece was composed with Synthesia software.

via Digg

The Amazon Kindle Flare, A Device That Loudly and Repeatedly Announces the Title of Books Users Are Reading

The Onion reports on the new Amazon Kindle Flare, a device that loudly and repeatedly announces the title of books users are reading.

Amazon says the Kindle Flare's repetitive shouting will appeal to fans of print, who miss the ability to display a book's cover to strangers.

Sci-Fi Movie Icons Imagined as Rejected Characters From Marvel's Film 'Guardians of the Galaxy'

Moviefone teamed up with Oakland, California-based artist Dennis Culver to create illustrations imagining sci-fi movie icons, such as Predator and Spock, as rejected characters from Marvel’s newly released film Guardians of the Galaxies. The entire series of rejects is available to view at Moviefone.com.

Ooga-chaka! ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ the solar system’s most anticipated summer adventure is about to arrive in theaters and make movie stars out of the freakiest-looking aliens this side of the Milky Way. A gigantic walking tree? A foul-mouthed raccoon with heavy artillery? As strange as these creatures may be, they are the only ones fit for the job — and some classic outer space characters are about to find that out the hard way.

images via Moviefone

submitted via Laughing Squid Tips

How to Play Airplane Peek-A-Boo by The Oatmeal

Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal has created a new comic that shares step-by-step instructions on “how to play airplane peek-a-boo” while flying onboard a commercial airline. This is a surefire way to literally scare the crap out of a fellow passenger.

image via The Oatmeal

Hamster Wakes Up In a Dollhouse and Spends His Day Looking for Love

A tiny hamster wakes up inside a dollhouse and spends his day looking for love, only to flee the room once he finds it in this amusing video created by Lilie Mae Pinner.

via The Presurfer

Frenzied Kitten Goes Into Full Offensive Mode Against a Semi-Realistic Looking Ceramic Cat

A tiny frenzied kitten goes into offensive mode and attacks a very docile semi-realistic looking ceramic cat in this adorable video posted by karpalo77.

via Nothing To Do With Arbroath, Huffington Post, Daily Picks and Flicks

A New Hue, A Charming Animated Short About a Paper Girl Who Discovers Color Being Introduced to Her Paper World

“A New Hue” is a charming short animation about a paper girl who one day discovers that color is being introduced to her colorless paper world. The film has a delightful paper craft look that was achieved through computer animation. “A New Hue” was a graduation film by George Rigby, Jennifer Hardy, and Stephen Tucker of the National Centre for Computer Animation at Bournemouth University in the UK.

via Tastefully Offensive

Little Mouse Politely Asks to Come Inside By Ringing Bells Attached to the Wall

Little Grisu, one of the truly amazing trained mice of Mouse Agility, politely asks to come inside by ringing a couple of bells attached to the wall.

On a separate and sad note, we send our condolences to Marina of Mouse Agility for the loss of her beloved mouse Grimaldi on July 28, 2014.

image via Mouse Agility

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