National Geographic magazine is known for their breathtaking cover photos, but did you know they didn't start using a cover photo to help sell their magazine until the 1959? Before that it was just a bunch of text describing each issue's contents, which didn't do much to help them become one of the most popular and successful magazines of all time.
This year National Geographic is celebrating their 130th anniversary, so they created an amazing timelapse video showing how far their cover photos have come from 1888 to 2018.
It shows not only how important the cover photos became for the magazine's image, it also shows how far nature photography has changed since the mid-20th century.
When the Winter Games open in PyeongChang, South Korea, on February 9, many of the participating Olympic athletes will be wearing hi-tech clothing from the most innovative minds of their respective nations. These include aerodynamically-textured speed suits, training uniforms with biometric sensors, and most importantly, coats with programmable heat. Even color has been harnessed for what advantage that can give a team, whether it's for a psychological boost or to hide performance flaws. See seven of these clothing innovations in a slideshow at Smithsonian.
When adventurous eaters want to put really weird tasting chocolate in their mouths they don't visit Willy Wonka, they visit Liam Burgess- the chocolate maker some are calling the Welsh Willy Wonka because of the bizarre flavors he comes up with.
Want to chew on a hunk of chocolate that tastes like an old book? Liam's got a chocolate bar for you that has all the flavor of an old leatherbound edition without all that pesky reading!:
“I’m not sure I want to put this in my mouth,” jokes the interviewer in the amusing clip below. Burgess reveals that ‘Old Book’ is made up of “leather essence, cigar tobacco, frankincense, patchouli, smoked sea salts” and maintains, “it smells [just] like an old book.”
Liam started his company NOMNOM Chocolate out of a camper on his mom's property at age 18, and now he has taken over "the Abandoned Chocolate Factory" in his hometown of Llanboidy and employs several of his friends full time.
And if you're keen to invest in Liam's wild chocolate adventure you can buy a "chocolate brick" in any flavor you'd like and help him build up his company brick by brick. And he does mean any flavor at all, because Liam and his team love a challenge!
Let's take a ride on the escalator at Le Bon Marché in Paris! The escalator didn't look like this until Argentine artist Leandro Erlich (previously at Neatorama) got hold of it recently. His illusion art is now on display all over the French department store.
Erlich has paid homage to the City of Light’s changing skies by filling its windows with wispy cloudlike shapes. Surreal cloud formations will be projected on a giant screen erected under the store’s glass roof. Meanwhile, a bank of fake elevators promises to further scramble visitors’ perception.
“I am mainly interested in transforming elements that you believe can’t be transformed, can’t be different. It’s about the utopia of presenting the possibility of transforming what exists into something else, and this action invites us to imagine reality in a different way,” the artist told WWD.
An extremely bright meteor lit up the night sky above southeastern Michigan on January 16th, 2018, and thanks to all the dashcams and doorbell cams out there this freaky astronomical event was caught on video.
NASA has since confirmed that it was actually a meteorite, more specifically a small asteroid that burned up as it entered our atmosphere:
NASA officials had a simple explanation, saying a meteoroid entered Earth’s atmosphere about 8:08 p.m.
“It was definitely a meteor,” Bill Cooke, lead for NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, told The Washington Post.
Cooke said the fireball was caused by a small asteroid about one to two yards in diameter, moving at 28,000 mph. When it entered into the atmosphere, he said, it heated up and began to melt away, producing the bright light that people saw.
The 2010 historical drama The King's Speech centered on King George VI of the United Kingdom, played by Colin Firth, as he worked to overcome a speech impediment in order to address his subjects during World War II. Despite the limited scope of the plot, The King's Speech was a box office hit in both the UK and the US, and won four Academy Awards and seven British Academy Film Awards. Let's learn more about The King's Speech.
9. The writer asked the queen mother to write this story about the king.
She insisted that he not write the story while she was still alive as the memories were too painful. The writer respectfully followed her wish.
7. Colin Firth sought out his sister to help develop his stammer.
His sister was also a speech therapist, he was attempting to develop the stammer and figure out the treatment for it.
Victoria Mapplebeck found her old Nokia phone and charged it up to see what data it contained. There were 100 texts from a man she dated for some time. Those, along with a Christmas card, two emails, a set of baby pajamas, and a paternity test were all she had left of her son's father. So she made a short film with the texts piecing the story together.
“It felt like a digital hit and run,” Mapplebeck said. “I began this project with a personal story, but perhaps it also explores a universal story—one in which we increasingly expect more from technology and less from each other.”
Boss Tweed was possibly the most corrupt politician in U.S. history. Here's how he got into office and how the good guys brought him down.
The Society of Saint Tammany, founded in 1789 in New York City, is named for Tamanend, a chief of the Delaware tribe. It started out as a patriotic and charitable organization, created by tradesmen who weren’t allowed to join the more exclusive clubs that the wealthy belonged to. As wave after wave of new immigrants arrived in New York City during the 1800s, Tammany gave them a helping hand with food, shelter, and jobs.
Meanwhile, the Tammany politicians were building an enormous base of support by organizing immigrants into a voting bloc. By the time Boss Tweed came along, the society had evolved into a well-oiled political machine that was known as Tammany Hall after its headquarters (aka its “wigwam”) on East 14th Street.
When cats chase something moving really, really fast they spin around so quickly they look like they might twist themselves into a pretzel just like in the cartoons.
But those spinnin' kitties ain't got nothin' on a cat doing that weird shocked, four-legged springy jump thing they do when they're startled or feeling extra frisky. It's enough to make you cry or wet yourself with laughter!
Case in point- Taylor, the frisky kitty in this video, either loves to play with plastic bags or is absolutely freaked out by them, and either way his crazy leaping made me bust a gut!
Intrepid travelers Mike Powell and Jurgen Horn are spending 91 Days in Lisbon, Portugal. They tell us about a modern marvel they visited that contrasts with the world famous classical architecture of the city. The Parque des Nacões (Park of Nations) was built for the 1998 World Expo, designed by renowned architect Santiago Calatrava.
The Estação do Oriente serves an appropriate entrance for the Parque des Nacões, where the architecture is unapologetically forward-looking. The 1998 World Expo was a major deal for Lisbon; with the theme of “Oceans, A Heritage for the Future”, the city welcomed 143 participating countries, built a new metro line, and constructed the breathtaking Vasco da Gama Bridge — still the longest in Europe.
The new structures built for Lisbon's World Expo are all still in use as they were built, although many have been repurposed in creative ways. There's an aquarium, a concert hall, a casino, sports arenas, and public parks. See lots of pictures of the gorgeous Parque des Nacões at Lisbon for 91 Days.
The dark-minded Skeksis will never be thought of as an attractive species, nor will they be seen as friendly and approachable like the sweet Gelflings, but when they look at themselves in the mirror they see a fine crystal-lovin' creature too Skeksi for their shell! Unfortunately for their species the Skeksis are only attracted to themselves so they're bound to disappear soon enough, since self-obsession generally leads to dying alone!
Show the world that physical beauty is only skin deep with this Skeski t-shirt by Ilcalvelage, featuring a funny design that'll make your fellow fans cackle with delight!
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!
We've become obsessed with the concept of time travel. It's a great area to explore in science fiction, setting up all kinds of possible plots and paradoxes. It also feeds into our desire for a do-over in our own lives. And it holds out the possibility of meeting great people and doing great things that are only possible in the past or in the future. Or just getting a peek at things we don't know about. However, some people take time travel more seriously than others.
Some filmmakers are so stubborn they refuse to let an actor give them any input on the project, and on the flip side some great directors have taken suggestions from their actors to create something great together.
And then there are the "suggestions" made by pissed-off actors demanding things go, which seem to be the most radical and controversial changes you can make. But did they make the movie better? Eh, not really.
Harrison Ford made sure J.J. Abrams killed off Han Solo in The Force Awakens because he has hated the character since Return Of The Jedi, maybe even since the very beginning. I wonder what he had to do to J.J. to get him to agree?
Angelina Jolie made a similar demand while filming Wanted, insisting her character commit suicide in the end after "learning the true nature of her work", which would have been a fine ending if not for the love of money.
Wanted made big bucks at the box office, but her suicide plan had ruined any chance the studio had to make a sequel and cash in on the curving of bullets once again, and Angelina refuses to return their calls re: Wanted to this day...
Kimbang the chimpanzee came into foster care when her mother was killed by poachers. She's now four years old and training to live in the wild on her own. Her caregivers put a GoPro camera on her to monitor how she selects which foods to eat, but what they got was a dizzying ride through the rainforest canopy. And selfies.
The perfect soundtrack for this is the song "Son of Man" from the Disney movie Tarzan. After all, Kimbang is learning how to be an ape just like Tarzan did. This clip is from a three-part PBS series Animals with Cameras that will air on Wednesdays starting January 31st. -via Laughing Squid
Rick and Morty is a brilliant show with some very intelligent minds behind it, and when it comes to storytelling these beautifully twisted minds don't miss a beat.
Aside from intelligently geeky writing they've also made an unwavering commitment to preserve continuity, so those fans who have watched every episode can get some extra laughs out of those "inside" jokes.
Ever notice that Rick never wears a seat belt? That actually symbolizes more than you think (SPOILERS):
You can see it almost every time the two of them get into a vehicles -- Morty straps into a seatbelt, while Rick remains unrestrained. It's a small detail, but one that's been consistent throughout the show's three seasons, no matter who's in the cockpit and who's driving.
The show doesn't slip up. When Rick does wear a seatbelt, it's for a reason.
In season three's "Rest and Ricklaxation," Rick is split into two distinct personalities. All of what Rick would be considered to be "toxic" aspects of himself are sent to a boogery hellworld, where the rottenness congeals into Toxic Rick. Meanwhile, Clean Rick and Clean Morty are left behind to have pleasant if slightly off-center adventures. Since the "toxic" parts of Rick are no longer present, Clean Rick puts on his seatbelt. This is a Rick that has something to live for, and has left his death wish behind.
Rick is only seen wearing a seatbelt in his normal state one time: Just after he transforms back from Pickle Rick.
This is significant because it takes place not long after Rick has a breakthrough in family therapy. Up until that moment, he had avoided the scheduled session by turning himself into a pickle (it really helps if you're caught up on the show). After facing his personal demons head-on, Rick becomes resigned to the idea that he should probably look after himself if he's going to look after his family.
