Nathan Shipley, a graphic and digital artist in San Francisco, rendered famous paintings and cartoon characters as photographic images with the assistance of an artificial intelligence. You can find more examples of this project and an interview with him at Bored Panda. He explains that the AI has its own unique view of its subjects:

it’s fascinating to explore how an AI model built on a particular dataset with a particular framework can 'see' the world and then transform images. The AI 'knows' only what it has already seen and filters the world through this lens. Each little tweak to the dataset, the training parameters, the model, and the input imagery all have the possibility to change the output. This is a space to explore how artificial neural networks interpret the world in a way that can be similar to our own minds. I’m not saying that an image I created is what Mona Lisa actually looked like, but it is how the machine sees her based on this particular arrangement of variables. That, to me, is fascinating.

-via Design You Trust

Scotland brought into the world the best possible music (bagpipes), the best possible clothing (the kilt worn regimental fashion), and the best possible food (haggis). The latter is, of course, the heart, liver, and lungs of a sheep, ground up and boiled inside the stomach of said sheep.

Scotland gave the world haggis and now it is giving that culinary wonder to the universe. A Scottish butcher named Simon Howie has arranged for a package of his finest to be launched into low Earth orbit.

This was done in preparation for Burns Night, an annual Scottish celebration in honor of that nation's most famous poet, Robert Burns. One traditionally eats haggis on that evening, which is January 25. Sky News reports:

The haggis was attached to a weather balloon and soared more than 20 miles (107,293ft) above the Earth - equivalent to nearly four times the height of Everest.

After taking off from the Simon Howie headquarters in Dunning, it travelled over Stirling, Falkirk, Edinburgh and the Pentland Hills before landing safely in Lauder in the Borders.

Mr Howie said he wanted to start the year by "lifting the spirits of the general public" and was thrilled to work with Stratonauts "to take Scotland's national dish to new heights".

-via Dave Barry | Photo: Stratonauts/Simon Howie

This sheer delight is a lemon meringue pie by James Dempsey, the resident master chef at the Blackmoor Dining Room in Leeds, UK. How does he make this marvel? Dempsey is keeping his recipe a secret, but he explained to the tabloid Metro that:

‘The most difficult part of the process is to make sure that the pie pastry shell is completely sealed to ensure it holds the lemon meringue pie filling. Failing to do this will be disastrous.’

Check out Dempsey's Instagram page, which is filled with culinary wonders to delight both the eyes and the mouth.

-via Atlas Obscura

Residents of Alaska and Canada’s northern-most regions are no strangers to moose meat. In such climes, moose meat is eaten in the form of steaks, sausages, and even pizza topping. One moose dish, however, remains a rare delicacy: jellied moose nose. https://t.co/zQ2wY7tBmz

— Atlas Obscura (@atlasobscura) April 5, 2020

You've successfully hunted a moose. Congratulations! As you butcher it, make sure that you use every part of the animal, from the tail to the nose.

How do you eat a moose's nose? Any good nose dish is stewed in its own natural juices and the jellied moose nose is no different. Atlas Obscura introduces us to this delicacy from Alaska and Canada:

A moose’s nose contains both white meat (from the bulb of the nose) and dark meat (from around the bones). The fur must be removed prior to cooking, either by being singed off over an open fire, peeled off after the nose has been boiled, or simply skinning the nose. Chefs then slice the nose and simmer it with onions, garlic, and an array of other spices, which may include cinnamon, cloves, allspice, or mustard seeds. Meat from other parts of the moose’s head, such as the ears and lips, may be added to the mix. Once the concoction has cooled down, the cook lays the pieces of meat in a loaf pan, douses them with broth, and places the mixture in the refrigerator so the broth can solidify. The resulting jelly is served like a loaf of bread and eaten in slices.

That's sounds delicious! If you are able to find and hunt moose in your area, then you can use this recipe to make your own jellied moose nose.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has ordered a recall of a particular line of baby onesies featuring Darth Vader on the front. The snaps may fall off and become a choking hazard to babies. So don't be too proud of this sartorial terror you've constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force, especially if the baby has been constipated.

-via Dave Barry | Image: Disney

This is an Apple II computer. After it was released in 1977, it became a dominating force in the personal computer market.

Apples are beige--and a specific shade of beige.

This is a bottle of Apple's official beige paint. Ben Zotto tracked down this amazing antiquity and performed exhaustive research on the development of this beige and how historians confused it with an entirely different shade of beige. After consulting Pantone files, he has corrected that historical record. This beige is Pantone 14–0105 TPG.

-via Kottke | Photos: Kevin Burkett, Ben Zotto

Redditor Massagrauq passes along this helpful recipe for your most recent whale catch. It serves a complete meal for three whole villages. Personally, I prefer my whale heavy on the curry and light on the seal.

I'm uncertain about the origin of this recipe, but I suspect that it's in the book Arctic Home Cooking: Build Strong Families = Ikayuglugich-Payaniatiksranatigun-Anayuqaagich. That's a cookbook published by a social services agency in northwestern Alaska in 1998 or 1999.

South of San Francisco, right on Linda Mar Beach, there's a Taco Bell. It's so close that surfers need a place to stow their boards while they go inside to each, so the restaurant has a surfboard rack on the front wall.

It's not just the drawings themselves which are amazing. Kotetsu knows exactly where to visually place each silhouette for maximum visual impact. His anime girls, which are meticulously rendered and cut out from cardstock, tell stories when he holds them up to the sky, water, flowers, trees, and shrines.

The space is immense, and not only because the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than it appears on the outside (literally). Todd Pineapple Span spent 2 years and 3 months turning his basement into a fanboy's dreamhouse.

There's a Next Generation-era corridor that connects to a transporter room and a starship bridge. Sound effects activate automatically or with the tap of a touchscreen. Several functions operate through voice commands. The mechanical and visual effects of TARDIS activation are especially impressive. It's an astonishing work of inspired design and detailed craftsmanship.

-via EPBOT

You could express your love by having flowers delivered. But what do you do to convey a message that is less romantic? The Toronto-based blogTo reports that there are several options for mailing fecal matter to that special someone in your life. Some of these services, such as Poop Senders, allow you to place anonymous orders so that, like a secret admirer, your identity can remain hidden. What a sweet premise this could be for a romantic comedy!

-via Dave Barry | Image: Poop Senders

Avoid bodies of water, such as Amazonian rivers or bathtubs. Push those creatures carefully out of your hovercraft. Electric eels are dangerous. Carlos David de Santana, a zoologist, discovered that electric eels can engage in coordinated herd attacks against their prey. BBC News quotes him:

"It was really amazing - we thought these were solitary animals," said researcher Carlos David de Santana. [...]

Douglas Bastos, from the National Centre for Amazonian research in Manaus, Brazil, filmed the behaviour - capturing the moment of the collective electric strike. Small fish, called tetras, are the target of the attack; they fly into the air and land stunned and motionless on the water.

Dr. de Santana previously made headlines when his expedition discovered an electric eel that can deliver 860 volts. If he wants to be a proper mad scientist, he could put these discoveries to villainous uses.

-via Gizmodo | Photo: Douglas Bastos

It's called ColdSnap. A prototype for this marvel debuted at the online CES trade show. It functions similarly to a Keurig coffeemaker, except that it produces soft serve ice cream from pre-prepared pods. CNN describes how it works:

The company says the machine simultaneously pulls heat from the pod, creating a cooling effect on the liquid ice cream mix, and engages a part within the pod that churns the ingredients during the cooling process. Air is sucked into the can to make the required loft in the ice cream.

Michael Fonte, the developer, attributes the concept to his kids:

The idea started years ago when Fonte and his two daughters grew tired of reading the same books at bedtime and decided to write in "invention journals."

"We included new toys, toothbrushes and hoola hoops," he told CNN Business. "One day, they asked for an ice cream machine."

Fonte expects that the machine will cost $500 and each pod about $3 when it reaches the market.

-via Dave Barry | Photo: ColdSnap

These workers in Yuzawa, Japan need to remove the snow from the roof before it falls and injures someone. Triggering an avalanche takes a while, but at the end of the video, the entire mountain of snow pours on to the pavement.

Now the workers have a new problem.

-via Born in Space

So apparently knife wielding squirrels are a thing now.... #Squirrels #Toronto #blogto pic.twitter.com/bEDpTqYcS6

— Andrea Diamond (@asdiamond) January 6, 2021

Camera footage captured this squirrel rampaging through Toronto. Local resident Andrea Diamond bravely approached to record the furry menace preparing himself for a no doubt savage rampage. Residents are urged to remain indoors with all lights out until the threat is neutralized.

-via Dave Barry