Lisa Simpson is the most underrated member of the Simpsons clan, and she's constantly overshadowed by her bratty brother, dumbass dad, magical baby sister Maggie and charming mother Marge, which is a crying shame- because she's actually a great role model for girls.

She's super smart and talented and doesn't try to hide it, she's independent enough at age 8 that her parents often turn to her for help, and her sensitivity and passion for good causes is infectious.

Lisa is described by Simpsons creator Matt Groening as "the only character on the show not controlled by his or her base impulses", but more than that she's one of the only characters on the show who is truly a force for good.

The woke little girl who has been inspiring kids and adults alike for decades is voiced by Yeardley Smith, who is now forever tied to the character since the two have shared the same voice for over 30 years.

Yeardley admits to being sometimes embarrassed by the fact that she's only allowed to play Lisa on the show because the timbre of her voice is too specific, but she's also proud to play a character she identifies with so closely:

I ask Smith if it feels, perhaps, like getting stuck eating crackers while everyone around her feasts at a bountiful and ever-expanding banquet.

“I feel like it’s more like being in a circus. Like being part of a circus performing family. But you’re not talented enough to do all the flips, so all you get to do is stand on the end of the seesaw that everybody else jumps off of.” Smith laughs. “You’ve got to have a tough skin in this business.”

The relationship between Homer and Lisa—the pairing of diametrical opposites in Lisa’s sensitivity and sincerity and Homer’s buffoonery—is also arguably the richest and most affecting relationship in the show. It can be emotional for the performers, too: Smith admits to breaking down while recording the scene in “Lisa’s Substitute” in which Lisa lashes out and calls Homer a baboon.

“Speaking very personally, I had a sometimes-wanting relationship with my own father,” she says. “So, to be able to play these scenes with Homer, where she actually feels like he gets her, really ticks a very personal box for me. I always feel that they write that stuff really beautifully. There have been so many episodes where they have a meeting of minds, when Homer goes out of his way to at least try to understand Lisa—and often admits, ‘I still don’t understand you, but I love you deeply. I’m really happy to be here with you and that’s enough for me.’ What’s better than that, really?”

Read Why Lisa Simpson Matters: An Ode To The Beating Heart of The Simpsons at Vanity Fair

Netflix will reboot the TV series Lost in Space beginning Friday, April 13th. Will it be anything like the original? Uh, no. In this series, we will hear that catchphrase, "Danger, Will Robinson!" But it doesn't come from the trusty robot that accompanied the space family Robinson. It comes from an alien that Will finds on an unfamiliar planet -who looks like a robot.

(YouTube link)

However, the biggest difference I can see is that this story is not a sitcom. We can't tell from the trailer if there's a Dr. Zachary Smith character, but if there is, he won't be one to laugh at. Another observation: this trailer follows the exact formula of all modern movie trailers, down to the beats.

Some movies are such a big deal that people can't stop talking about them, making those who haven't seen it yet feel totally left out of the loop- and lost in every related conversation.

This cinematic mania makes some people want to see every buzzworthy new movie that comes out just so they can talk about it with their friends, others do like the girl in this Dorkly comic by Julia Lepetit and stay lost until they see the film a year later.

Personally I like to just read a bit about the movie online so I don't feel left out until I see it, because all of those so-called "spoilers" turn out to be fairly obvious and no big deal, and so not worth all the secrecy and drama. It's just a movie, people! Get a life!

-Via Dorkly

The only time I ever watched Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman was when I was visiting my mother-in-law, who loved it. Something about the description of "wholesome family drama" made it sound boring, like Walker, Texas Ranger or Little House on the Prairie, which she also loved. But Brandon Hardesty of No Small Parts manages to make one story from the series sound particularly interesting as he tells the tale while critiquing it at the same time.

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What's most interesting is that Fred Rogers guest-starred in this episode. It was the only time he "acted," meaning he played a character that wasn't himself. He nailed the small part, since the character was close enough to his own personality. In other words, he was typecast. Anyone who was a fan of Mr. Rogers will get a kick out of this deep dive into one unique role. -via Laughing Squid

Funky Spring by Tobe Fonseca

Spring is right around the corner, so it's a great time to add some new clothes to your collection as the world is about to warm up and start growing all fresh, clean and green again.

If you're looking to add some fresh, clean style to your life this spring then head over to the NeatoShop, where there's a FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING SALE going on until March 9th. That's right- FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING ON ALL T-SHIRTS!

When spring is in the air animals start acting a bit crazy

Pugflower by Sophie Corrigan

And people start coming out of their shells as the winter chill thaws

Spring Break Neon Beach by Design Fury

Everybody starts going outside and enjoying the natural world again

Good Times With Butterflies by Bohsky

As spring brings rebirth, renewal and refreshing new ways to have fun!

Metamorphosis Of A Caterpillar by Hillary White

A volcanologist is a scientist, usually a geologist, who studies volcanos. How cool would that be? Well, "cool" might not be the best word, because the subject is hot. And necessary, as more than 600 million people live near one of the world's 1500 or so active volcanos. What volcanologists learn can help them to stay safe. Mental Floss talked to several volcanologists about their work. For example:

9. IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THE MOVIES.

One thing field volcanologists almost never use: those clichéd silver flame-proof proximity suits. "They're heavy, and since you usually have to walk hours to get to your field site, no one wants to carry all that weight," Soldati says. Besides, "heat is almost never the hazard that matters in the situations in which we work," writes Aaron Curtis, a volcanologist working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (You have a greater chance of "being hit by ballistics, or getting gassed," he notes.) "The reason you see those suits so often is that they look really cool on TV."

So what do they wear? Jessica Ball, a Postdoctoral Fellow at the U.S. Geological Survey, writes that "sturdy boots, hard hats, work gloves, rip-resistant clothing with long sleeves, and sunglasses or safety goggles are pretty standard, and I will add a gas mask if I’m going to be in an area with lots of fumes. Also, sunscreen is always important, because I’m often out in the sun all day."

There's a lot more about the work of a volcanologist at Mental Floss. 

(Image credit: Flickr user Yortw)

Breaking News by Steven Rhodes

You can't turn on the news these days without feeling like the world is coming to an end, and with all the scary and evil stuff going on out there it's better to turn the TV off and tune out- for the sake of your sanity! And yet some people can't go one day without watching the nightly news report, ingesting their daily dose of bad news like a choir boy ingest sacramental wine, but the wickedness of the world will still be there if you take a week off, just think of it like a vacation from the vile state of the world!

The world is going to hell so you might as well dress for the occasion by wearing this Breaking News t-shirt by Steven Rhodes, it's the perfect attire for both the pre- and post-apocalypse!

Visit Steven Rhodes's Twitter and official website, then head on over to his NeatoShop for more wicked good designs:

View more designs by Steven Rhodes | More Funny T-shirts | New T-Shirts

Are you a professional illustrator or T-shirt designer? Let's chat! Sell your designs on the NeatoShop and get featured in front of tons of potential new fans on Neatorama!

Rescue dogs often have a hard time trusting humans after their harrowing experience, which makes their story that much sadder when shared with other dog lovers.

But Jasmine the Greyhound's story only started out sad, and once she was rescued from her garden shed prison cell she found a new home at a wildlife sanctuary.

There Jasmine discovered she had a gift for calming other rescued animals and making them feel safe, so she became a brave animal ambassador and healer who never turned away a fellow animal in need.

(YouTube Link)

JASMINE is a sweet story of hope and redemption animated by Feeln that'll definitely give animal lovers all the warm, fuzzy feels, and it might just inspire you to get out there and adopt a new best friend from your local animal shelter!

TastyTalk took a picture of some pigeons walking along a ledge. What he ended up with was an optical illusion straight out of a 1960s horror movie. Sure, if you look closely, you can see the edge of the concrete ledge they are standing on, and the cars on the ground about a floor below, but that edge could easily have been between lanes in a parking lot. He was accused of blurring the image intentionally to enhance the illusion, but is that so bad? We ended up with a neat picture to make us smile.   -via reddit

Poison isn't as popular among murderers as it once was, and these days killers prefer guns and other deadly weapons to poison because they're easier to acquire and deliver an instant result.

But if you've pissed off someone with a flair for the dramatic and a healthy passion for antiquated murder mysteries then you may want to watch this SciShow video and learn how to detect the "undetectable" poison they've been feeding you.

It's required viewing if you have a butler in your employ...

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-Via Geeks Are Sexy

The following is an article from The Annals of Improbable Research, now in all-pdf form. Get a subscription now for only $25 a year!

Inventive yet under-publicized devices
by Marina Tsipis, Improbable Research staff

Here are two patented inventions designed to wake sleeping persons.

Stevens’s Water-Spewing Awakener
“Machine for Waking a Sleeper,” US patent 7283427, granted to James Thomas Stevens, October 16, 2007.

The primary object of the invention is to awaken a sleeper by means of a light spray of water as a harmless, tactile stimulus. Another object of the invention is to awaken a sleeper who may not respond to stimulation of his/her other senses, for example, a hearing impaired person....

Frankly, anyone who donates blood has a right to say it like royalty. It's true that a blood donation could end up saving someone's life, and there's no better feeling in the world than knowing that you had a hand in it. This comic reminds me that it's been a few months since I gave a pint, so it's about time to share the wealth, so to speak. Frankly, I prefer this method over the way Negan does it. I'm sure you do, too. This is the latest comic from Megacynics.

In the latest video of his series Things You Might Not Know, Tom Scott shows us something you most likely have never heard of -unless you pilot boats into a harbor. There are lights that use the moiré effect to steer ships into the right path, no matter where the ship is at the time the sign is spotted. And what's more fascinating was Scott's search into where they came from.

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If there's one thing I am very familiar with, it's how a typo can totally screw up an internet search. Now that you've learned about them, you can tell your buddies about Inogon leading marks, and they might even believe you, but I wouldn't count on it. -via

The superheroes of Marvel Comics live in a variety of movies in which they all exist, whether they appear in a particular movie or not. The same goes for DC superheroes. But these are fictional universes, and not the one we live in. The same thing occurs in Star Wars, which is set in a galaxy far, far away, shared by movie characters who never meet each other. These are cinematic universes. But long before these movie franchises took over the silver screen, there was the shared universe of the Universal monster movies.

Over 80 years since it began, the Universal Monster legacy continues to stretch into a new century, spreading its celluloid immortality like a juicy Transylvanian kiss. The Universal Monsters did it first, and in many ways, their blunt directness has a special charm that is sorely lacking in the self-seriousness currently masquerading in their bloodless, caped descendents. And it really all goes back to one monster in particular: Lon Chaney Jr.’s eternally unblessed Wolf Man.

Chaney’s unforgettable plea for audience mercy and understanding in 1941’s The Wolf Man, as well as make-up artist Jack Pierce’s notoriety for the best use of Yak fur in movie history, is generally considered the marker for Universal's final “A-list” monster picture. But it also signified a change of thinking at the studio, inadvertently inviting a literary concept as abstract as "universe-building" in through the backlot's sidedoor. And with those eventual follow-up sequels, there came a new type of monster movie.

Read about how Universal tied its monsters together and created the first cinematic universe at Den of Geek.

The Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone) was commissioned to write a song for this year's Oscar ceremonies. They came up with an amazing tune called "Why Not Me?" about the stars and movies that weren't nominated, which were the ones we liked the most anyway. But the song was rejected because of all the star power that would have been involved in producing it. "Too expensive," they said. Sad!

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But we have the demo song, with a video The Lonely Island cobbled together from the storyboards. It's a gem, and would have been a highlight of the broadcast. -via Uproxx