Today we release ROBOTICA: Mechanical Marvels and Mind-Melting Machines of the Past, Present, and Future. The crazy world of robots moves pretty fast, so here are some breaking robot news stories that hadn’t broken when we sent the book to the printers.
Why will a dog stick its head out of a moving car, but hates it when you blow in its face? Animal behavior experts think it’s because at the end of the day dogs are simple creatures who appreciate simple things. And, simply put, getting to go for a ride in the car is the most exciting thing to happen to your dog all day.
Novelty songs are the product of their times, responding humorously to the concerns of the day…and then they’re quickly forgotten, like these.
It’s almost time for the fall harvest here at BRI headquarters, and there is so much fruit around these parts that there’s only one way to keep it all: make it into jam! Or jelly. Or preserves. Or fruit butters. Now we’re confused. What’s the difference between all of those anyway?
Every Friday we give you three news stories and ask you to pick which two or true and which one was made up. This time, we’re doing it a little differently. Below are a bunch of spinoffs of CBS’s venerable news magazine “60 Minutes.” Can you guess which ones aired and which ones are pure fiction?
This November, the maiden voyage of the Quantum of the Seas will revolutionize the way that vacationers journey across the oceans. The ship features a sleek lounge with robotic bartenders.
You’ve probably heard by now the bizarre news that Hello Kitty isn’t, you know, a kitty. Here’s a look at the “scandal,” and some more interesting stuff about the cartoon character.
A lot can change between the first draft and the final product.
A “long lost” chapter from the classic children’s novel recently appeared in The Guardian. It was accompanied by a lengthy article about author Roald Dahl and a rundown on his even crazier original version. In one of his earliest drafts, Charlie was accompanied by four additional ill-fated kids while he toured Willy Wonka’s very dangerous factory.
Think you’ve got the answer? Keep reading to see if you nailed it.
Need more impossible questions? Check out Uncle John’s Impossible Questions.
Mere weeks after it was announced, last weekend Lifetime aired The Unauthorized Saved By the Bell Story, a TV-movie about the behind the scenes action of NBC’s 1989-1993 Saturday morning sitcom Saved By the Bell. Here are some Saved By the Bell facts you might not have known.
Think you know the answer to this question? Think you can get it? Good luck…and come back tomorrow to see if you’re right.
Micro-photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher is best known for her book Bee, a compilation of photographs of bees magnified anywhere from 10 times to 500 times. Among the remarkable things Fisher captured: that bees’ eyes are hexagonal, just like a honeycomb.
Here are three very strange news reports involving giraffes. Two are real, but one is fake. Can you guess which one we made up? The answer is at the end of the post.
In 1966, the Beatles decided to quit touring and playing live in favor of crafting intricate albums in the studio. They’d played hundreds of concerts by then—way more than these other bands that probably won’t be coming to your town anytime soon.
As the temperatures start dropping and the stresses of the season start to rise, you’re going to need all the energy you can get. When the line at Starbucks is too long and a cup of Folgers just isn’t going to do the trick, keep these handy-dandy coffee hacks at the ready.
Who was breaking into homes in a small town in northern Maine. Teenagers? Animals?
We’ve got a new book coming out in September called ROBOTICA: Mechanical Marvels and Mind-Melting Machines of the Past, Present, and Future. Yep—it’s a book all about awesome robots. Here’s a little taste of the strange and wonderful robots you’ll find in that book.
Before the invention of sliced bread, what did people say was “the best thing ever”? Sliced bread has been around since bread, of course, but pre-sliced bread wasn’t sold commercially in the United States until 1928. What took people so long to figure out how to slice bread?
