Is there a general consensus among historians as to which US President would have been best at handling extraterrestrial first contact?

— Ben Crew (@BenjaminCrew1) February 5, 2026

X user Ben Crew poses an interesting question.

My immediate thought was John Kennedy because of how he handled the Cuban Missile Crisis, which I think might be similar to first contact with aliens. It was necessary for Kennedy to be firm and project strength to deter the USSR and thereby avoid a nuclear war, but also restrain the hotheads within his administration who wished to invade Cuba and instigate a nuclear war. Kennedy's brinksmanship could be optimal for showing strength until the nature of the aliens could be determined.

For somewhat similar reasons, I'd also suggest Abraham Lincoln. His political coalition was profoundly fragile and fragmented. He had to keep to his goal to subdue the rebellion while not leading to a split within his side that could have led to a Southern victory. Lincoln knew how to listen to his advisors while not being enthralled by them.

Yes, Lincoln predated what we could call science fiction and thus would not have a mental map for alien life, but that itself could be useful because science fiction norms might lead us astray in the event of actual first contact.

Of course, Crew's question assumes that a President or even Presidents have not already experienced first contact with aliens.

-via Aelfred the Great

Only Nixon could go to Omicron Persei-8.

— Fr. Ryan Hilderbrand (@FrHilderbrand) February 6, 2026

Previously on Neatorama: In a Mass Knife Fight to the Death Between Every American President, Who Would Win and Why?

Black Pearl is a tiny horse who is one of nine mares owned by Nodiff Netanel's Mini Therapy Horses in the Los Angeles area. According to an article published last year in USA Today, Black Pearl is especially popular among the patients at children's hospitals due to her musical talents. As you can see in the above video, she's a talented pianist.

Here is Black Pearl performing for a child as she wakes up from anesthesia. Prank idea: don't explain the piano-playing horse to the patient. If she asks about it later, the hospital staff should claim ignorance and suggest that the patient was hallucinating.

-via David Thompson

Images of Draco Malfoy, one of the characters in the Harry Potter franchise, are appearing across China. Why? It's not because of his charming personality and inspiring heroics. Rather, The Guardian explains, it's due the meaning of his name when pronounced in Chinese.

This is the Year of the Horse. Malfoy is spoken as mǎ ěr fú, which means "horse fortune." Draco's last name is a pun in Chinese, so people in China are putting up pictures of actor Tom Felton, who played the character in the film adaptations of Rowling's novels.

Felton, now 38, recently played his most famous role again on stage in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. He's pleased by the publicity in China.

-via Wizarding World Direct

A few years ago at Star Wars Celebration, cosplayers @mepsychogirl and @clauderz offered this fresh and chilling mashup of characters from both Star Wars and Tim Burton's 1993 film The Nightmare Before Christmas.

@clauderz is both Sally and Princess Leia Organa in her iconic slave outfit. She's ready to wrap that chain around the throat of the Oogie Boogie, depicted by @mepsychogirl from Halloween Town on Tatooine.

Photo: @dannydeluna

The Western Front of World War I concentrated its devastation in certain parts of France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. The terrain was permanently deformed due to entrenchments and explosions. In fact, there's an area of France called the Red Zone which remains uninhabited due to the destruction.

Unexploded munitions can emerge from the bowels of the earth and, despite the passing of a century, remain active and dangerous. Such was the case of a German artillery shell measuring 8 inches long and an inch in diameter (the article says circumference, but I think that's in error) that was found by doctors in a Frenchman's rectum.

The Daily Mail reports that it was necessary to evacuate the hospital during the removal procedure. The patient has been referred to police, although it's not clear to me what crime he is alleged to have committed.

It's barely February and I think that we have a top contender for the Petchesky Prize.

-via Jarvis Best

UPDATE 2/2/2026: There is a photo of the shell circulating. If you're into that sort of thing.

When is an appropriate time and place to listen to or even sing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody?" The answer is: yes.

CDK Company is a world-famous dance troupe in the Netherlands. Under creative director Sergio Reis, it has interpreted many famous songs with original choreography executed by the finest dancers on the planet.

"Bohemian Rhapsody" always slaps and these dancers bring out the best in the music and lyrics. I especially appreciate their inventive response to the words "thunderbolts and lightning."

Other songs they've covered include "Bittersuite" by Billie Ellish, "Somebody I Used to Know" by Gotye, and "Eye on the Wall" by Perfume Genius.

-via Born in Space

Tori Peebs is an American from Georgia and can speak with a strong (and affected) Southern accent. She lives in Japan and, for kicks, she likes to speak Japanese in videos with a Georgian twang.

Her videos are equally funny with the sound off as she uses her minimal props comedically and ridiculously.

-via Klara

Wigtown is a charming village on southwestern coast of Scotland. There are many places to stay while there, including a bookstore. The Open Book is a bookstore operated by the local book festival. It's available as an Airbnb to rent.

But you've to earn your keep. While residing in the rooms upstairs, you're expected to run the bookstore. You'll have the freedom to organize the books, create and change displays, set the prices, and change the chalkboard sign to entice visitors to come in and contribute to the local literary culture. It's the ideal getaway for book lovers who are looking for a working vacation.

Winter has come to much of the South, including Texas. We are familiar but not intimate with cold weather, as King of the Hill teased. It is currently well below freezing in the Texas town of Roanoke, which is north of Fort Worth. The police department of that municipality has published this guide to understanding the difference between freezing rain and sleet.

People who live in the tundra north of the Red River may understand it intuitively, but those of us south of that wall representing the northern limit of civilization must learn that the types of ice are different. Freezing rain is liquid when it strikes the ground, whereas sleet fell in solid form. The police explain this distinction using iconic of law enforcement foods: the donut.

-via Scanner Radio Fort Worth

Do you want to drive women wild with desire? Flex out your dewlap with your hyoid muscles. Pulse it rhythmically while bobbing your head up and down. Hopefully your dewlap has a naturally red coloration.

If not...well, just be confident. Likle this guy in Ryan Mason's At Random Comics. Flex what you have like you have the biggest, brightest dewlap in the forest.

When the dystopian comedy movie Idiocracy was filmed in 2004, the fashion coordinators selected crocs as the common footwear because they looked simultaneously futuristic and stupid. But they have since transcended those humble and intentionally insulting origins to be a worldwide "fashion" phenomenon.

The LEGO and Croc companies have collaborated to develop these novel variants in the shape of LEGO bricks. Will they protect your feet in the event that you step on LEGO bricks left on the floor by small children. It will be necessary to test them to find out.

This pair isn't a one-off design for publicity. Crocs is actually selling them for $149.99 starting on February 16.

-via Discussing Film

If you are a Star Trek fan, you will appreciate this video of this lady performing Frozen in Klingon!!! pic.twitter.com/lg6aQGqaOX

— Hollywood Horror Museum (@horrormuseum) January 22, 2026

Pa’ Emerald City Comic Con Seattle, Washington-Daq, Frozen muchDaq Elsa ghomDu’ tIvqu’moH. noyDaj qaDtaHbogh qaDmeyDaq, quvHa’be’ bomDaj tIvqu’qu’ bomta’, "yIbuSHa’” pongbogh bom leghlu’ Hoch. Disney bommey — Do’Ha’be’, Shakespeare qaDmey je bommey rur —tlhIngan Hol motlhDaq qaqu’qu’.

Puqpu’wIj puqpu’pu’DI’ Frozen tIvqu’, ’ach tlhIngan Hol ghoj Da’pu’. ’ach nom mu’mey potlh tlhIngan ghojlaHpu’, bomvam mu’mey tIqDaq lanlu’pu’mo’.

Zillow Gone Wild points us to this mansion located in Disney World (TIL: you can actually live at Disney World) that is decked out for a committed and extremely wealthy Disney fan. The Star Wars-themed home theater gives the impression that you are watching the screen from inside the Millennium Falcon.

As Gary Larson predicted in the below 1982 scene from The Far Side, bovine life has now developed the ability to use tools.

Scientific American reports that Veronika, a cow in the town of Nötsch im Gailtal, Austria, has begun using a deck brush to scratch herself. She even adjusts her grip on the brush to scratch different parts of her body and both ends of it for distinct purposes. Veterinary behaviorists report this is the first known tool use by bovine life.

It begins with scratching sticks. It ends with nuclear weapons.

I say that we strike first while we still can.

-via @gdholtby

The French company and brand Bic is famous worldwide for its iconic ballpoint pens, notably the Cristal, which it unveiled in 1950. To celebrate the 75th birthday of this office staple, the South African division of Bic company threw a party for it.

Fast Company reports that the company also commissioned the creation of selected LED lamps made to resemble giant versions of the Cristal pen. They can be suspended over your work-covered desk like a Sword of Damocles or tastefully accenting a wall. Each will sell for $350 when they become available in the United States.

Previously on Neatorama: hilarious reviews of Bic Cristal pens made specifically for women.