(Photo: Point Blank Tattoo)

Josh Marshall and his 8-year old son Gabriel live in Kansas. Last year, doctors diagnosed Gabriel with a brain tumor. Surgeons were able to remove most of it and Gabriel's condition has stabilized. But he has a huge scar across his head. It bothers him and sometimes he thinks it makes him look like a "monster."

So for Father's Day, Josh shaved his head, then had a copy of his son's scar tattooed on his head. Now, BuzzFeed reports, Gabriel thinks that he and his loving dad are twins!

Kids with autism sometimes wear weighted vests that compress around their bodies. This sensory experience can have a calming effect. A responsible adult can see when a kid with autism needs one and respond by putting it on.

That's helpful when such an adult is handy. But when the child is alone, a compression vest may not be an option--until now. Mitch Barbon designed the Compression Pack. It's a combination compression vest and backpack. The child wears it as a normal school backpack, then activates it when needed by squeezing on a hidden air pump. The straps, which have hollow tubes, inflate, providing a compressing sensation.

This is 1 of 3 award-winning products for kids with autism featured at Core77.

Artists Jean-Baptiste Le Divelec, Joseph Davies, Soniali Ranjit, Xuan Phan, and Winigreeni composed Poolmoji, an emoji-decorated set of pool balls. Rack up your expressions and hit them with a cue instead of your phone. You can see more photos of them at Design Boom.

-via Fubiz

(Photo: Arwa Al-Neami/Never Never Land Series)

Women in Saudia Arabia aren't allowed to drive. So when some women there feel the need for speed, they head to amusement parks to ride the bumper cars. They are allowed to drive those vehicles, although not on the open road. The Wall Street Journal explains:

At the weekly ladies-only night at the Al Shallal Theme Park in the coastal city of Jeddah, women discard head scarves and head-to-toe black gowns to reveal the latest trends—ripped jeans, tank tops, and tossed-to-the-side ’80s-style hair. For many of them, the biggest draw of the amusement park isn’t the few hours of fashion freedom. Instead, they go there to get behind the wheel—even a bumper-car wheel—in a country that bans female drivers.

There are no loud bangs or ferocious head-on crashes. There are a few slow-speed collisions, but also a lot of dodging, as many women are content with just gliding over the smooth surface. For some, the biggest risk of bumping into each other is while taking a selfie.

“They love driving the cars,” Aman al-Abadi, the ride attendant, said of the women who were getting back in line for another spin. “Men are always bumping.”

-via Jalopnik

A photo posted by Hedi Gh (@h.rebel) on May 8, 2016 at 12:22am PDT

A good donut tastes like the beauty of the universe. Bite into these swirling galaxies of flavor by Instagram members Hedi Gh and Sam Melbourne. The two chefs ice their confections to look like the cosmos on a clear night. You can find instructions on how to make your own here.

Rocket News 24 introduces us to Dain Yoon, a Korean makeup artist with an incredible talent for painting herself into mind-bending optical illusions. She can create hyper-realistic images of her own face on her hands, as well as take us on trips to imaginary worlds.

The Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics is a regular publication written by physics students at the University of Leicester in the UK. In it, the authors apply real physics to popular culture, such as exploring the effects of Miley Cyrus coming in like a wrecking ball, how much lembras bread would be necessary to journey through Mordor, and how long vampires need to suck all of the blood out of a human body.

Most recently, the students examined the powers of a dozen popular Marvel and DC superheroes, including Batman, Thor, Batman, and the Silver Surfer. In this symposium, Leah Ashley describes Mystique as "the ultimate mutant." Ashley explains the genetic basis for Mystique's ability to alter her appearance:

Mystique’s ability to change the patterns on her skin as camouflage could be similar to the ability of various cephalopods (such as cuttlefish). These possess chromatophores similar to the melanocytes in humans, however the classes of pigments span a wider range of colours. Some classes also contain nanocrystals that reflect light to create a shine. The chromatophores of cuttlefish are surrounded by muscles that are able to change the cells between punctate and expanded states, based signals from motor centres of the brain based on visual cues [13][14]. This produces a quicker colour-change response than the pigment dispersal mechanism used by vertebrates like the chameleon [15].

The cuttlefish has 6 reflectin genes that relate to its development of iridosmes and effective camouflage [16]. These genes may be part of the additional genes Mystique possesses. The gene PAX7A controls chromatophore development in the Japanese rice fish, and SLC2A15B is important to chromatophore differentiation [17]. SLC2A15 is similar to human SLC2A9, and PAX7A could be related to the human PAX7 gene that regulates muscle tissue formation [17][18]. With considerable mutation in her genome, Mystique may therefore show similar surface properties as the Japanese rice fish.

-via VA Viper

(Blue Milk Special)

When Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan came out, actor Ricardo Montalban was 61 years old. Some people thought that he wore a prosthetic chest during filming. But, no: he was just ripped. Khan had apparently spent all his years on Ceti Alpha V doing push-ups and he had the pecs to prove it.

(Video Link)

In 1927, The Jazz Singer hit screens in the US. It was the first feature-length film with recorded dialogue. Since then, screenwriters and directors have struggled with how to use dialogue most effectively to contribute to movie storytelling.

Jack Nugent, a critic who previously showed us how movie trailers are designed, brings us this analysis of dialogue in movies. The best expository dialogue (dialogue which explains something to the audience) passes what Nugent calls the Dead Parent Test. If the story opens with a parent already dead, it's necessary to tell the audience. But the way in which that death is mentioned shouldn't seem obvious and forced.

Nugent demonstrates effective and ineffective dialogue with The Karate Kid, Pulp Fiction, Juno, Titanic, and other movies.

Content warning: NSFW language.

-via Blame It on the Voices

Burak Doğan, a product and industrial designer in Istanbul, makes wall-mounted bookshelves that are ideal for a superhero's secret lair or cozy den. This Superman bookshelf offers a few storage challenges, but also provides visual flair for comics and graphic novels.

(Photo: Brett Neilson)

Starbucks gift cards are handy. If you're not sure what to give someone for a gift, hand him a pre-paid Starbucks card. It's quick and convenient for both parties, provided that the recipient lives near a Starbucks.

If you don't actually spend your gift cards, then they accumulate. I have a couple right now that have money on them. For a worldwide company that sells $10 billion USD a year, those cards add up. Right now, about $1.2 billion is parked on Starbucks cards and its app. The Huffington Post reports:

If Starbucks were a bank, that amount of deposits would make it a respectable midsize institution.

An astounding number of customers eschew dollars for money on card and the app. Between the U.S. and Canada, 41 percent of transactions at retail locations involved a Starbucks card, and 24 percent involved the mobile app, according to Marketwatch.

-via Laughing Squid

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Hammacher Schlemmer, famous for selling eccentric luxury gifts, offers this novely tricycle. Seven people can ride it at the same time. One of those riders steers it. Everyone faces each other, so riding one is a social event. It's powered by a circular jointed driveshaft that lets the whole crew contribute. Since it weighs 400 pounds, that's probably a good thing.

The commercial itself is amusing, as it suggests that the tricycle can be used to enjoy cheerful summer days and possibly land you a date.

-via The Presurfer

(Photo: City of Aira)

According to legend, a Japanese general developed spider fighting in the Sixteenth Century as a way to entertain his soldiers. It's still popular in Aira, a city in southern Japan. On the third Sunday of June ever year, 200 kogane spiders (Argiope amoena) fight on wood rods. Altas Obscura describes the rules:

One spider (kamae) stands on the end of a horizontal, wooden pole. A judge places her opponent (shikake) a bit farther down the pole, and places his hand between them, ensuring they are both ready to rumble before allowing the fight to begin. He pulls his hand away and it’s on.

A spider can win a fight in three ways: she can bite her opponent on the abdomen; she can wrap her opponent’s abdomen in thread; or, if her opponent tries to bungee away, she can cut the rival’s thread, causing the loser to tumble to the padded platform below.

The judge has to keep a keen eye on the battle, both to declare a winner and to ensure the spiders don’t seriously damage each other. The majority of the fights are over within 10 seconds, as the judge reaches quickly into the fray to separate them and returns the loser to its disheartened-looking owner. The winner advances to the next round.

(Video Link)

Here's a video of a bout between two spiders.

Stelios Mousarris is a furniture designer in Cyprus who develops quirky and amusing household furnishings. In the past, we've seen his warped cityscape table inspired by the movie Inception. More recently, he made this table that appears to be blasting into the sky on rockets.

The Rocket Coffee Table reflects Mousarris's nostalgia for the toys and science fiction cartoons of his youth. The central rocket pokes through a hole in the glass. The other legs of the table are adjustable for your own imaginative play.

-via Laughing Squid

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Mommy raccoon and her two baby raccoons must scale a wall. One little raccoon holds onto mommy's tail while mommy hangs down to pick up the other sibling. The trio are now offering consulting services to organizations in need of staff development.

Police officer Chris Williams recorded this footage at Camdenton High School in Camdenton, Missouri.

-via Nothing to Do with Aborath