Shoes are always getting scuffed up, worn and generally beaten to heck as we wear them during our daily routines, so multidisciplinary designer and researcher Shamees Aden decided to bioengineer self-repairing and terrain-adapting shoes of the future in his series called PROTOCELLS.

He teamed up with Dr. Martin M. Hanczyc to create these shoes made out of living cells, and claims they could become a reality by 2050. They look like they’re made out of Play-Doh, or some kind of sea sponge. Let's hope these protocells don't develop a taste for human flesh, or we're all in big trouble.

Via Animal NY

Now that everybody and their grandmother has some sort of cellular phone most people no longer have any use for public phones, let alone the metal and plastic armor shells we call phone booths.

So what are we to do with these big metal blights on our urban cityscapes? Benedetto Bufalino and Benoit Deseille have a great idea of how to repurpose phone booths- they turn them into giant aquariums.

Now the street corners get a bit of colorful life, the phone booth avoids ending up in the scrap pile, and the fish get a giant box to swim around in, to the delight of passersby.

Via Hi-Fructose

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When the cold bony hand of Death falls upon your shoulder, most people simply accept the end and give up the ghost. But a select few of these departed souls are chosen to carry on the tradition, and a new generation of reapers are born.

One such reaper newbie finds himself hunting a pesky soul across the Old West in this CG animated short entitled Reaping for Dummies. It’s yet another great looking student film, created by students from Idefagskolen in Tonsberg, Norway, and with many of the big animation studios experiencing financial setbacks the next generation of 3d filmmakers look like they're ready to take over.

Via Geek Tyrant

Artist Jee Young Lee just can’t seem to decide how she wants her studio to look, so she’s made the small workspace over in fourteen fantastic ways in her installation series Body Of Work.

From surreal dreamscape to full blown visual art installation to nightmare imagery cubicle, her re-imagined rooms are simply magical to behold, and to make sure we’re able to appreciate the glorious nature of each space she photographed each room and shared them with the world via the interwebs.

Jee created each scene by hand, and aside from a bit of color correction there is no photoshop involved in these incredible redesigns of an otherwise ordinary space.

Via My Modern Met

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Naughty Dog Studio’s post apocalyptic video game The Last Of Us created quite a stir when it debuted this summer, due in part to the mature storyline, the horrific fungus faced creatures called Clickers and the gritty gameplay.

Since the debut artists of all kinds have drawn inspiration from the game, and now we’re finally presented with a LEGO version of the game thanks to animator Brian Anderson. While this is just an animated short and not an actual LEGO game, Brian does a really good job of capturing the dark essence of the game, and he really knows how to blow up those building blocks in style.

Via Gamma Squad

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Vines have taken the interwebs by storm, and people can’t seem to get enough of these nifty ten second looping videos. Ten seconds, it seems, is the perfect amount of time to deliver a setup and a punchline, or share a slice of your life with the world.

With all those bloated five minute long videos out there wasting our time, it’s nice to know that we can have a dose of adorableness even when we’re too busy to stay glued to our screens. Please enjoy this compilation of the Best Dog Vines of 2013, and if you want to stay true to the medium watch them in ten second increments.

Via Tastefully Offensive

Coming up with creative ways to waste time can be an artform in itself, and when that time wasting involves creating useless gadgets that make the world a more colorful place then can we really say that time was actually wasted?

Take these sausage covered gloves for example, they were created by Japanese comedy site Daily Portal Z in a fit of inspired time wasting that resulted in a product that has not one but three uses- it keeps the hands warm, serves as a handy snack, and allows you to use your smartphone while wearing gloves. Sausage gloves beg the question- are edible accessories the future of fashion?

Via Kotaku

The X-Men are such an iconic superhero group that it’s easy to imagine them in any time period or alternate reality, and the characters look good no matter what sort of garb they’re wearing.

From fantasy to Feudal Japanese, the styles have varied but the coolness remains, and no redesigns have ever looked as cool as these Medieval Order of the X drawings by Nate Hallinan.

There’s something so right about these designs, especially the monstrous Beast and the regal look of Lord Xavier, and if Marvel hasn’t created a medieval alternate reality for the X Men yet they should take note and get to work on a new series!

Via Rampaged Reality

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Jimmy Olsen feels like he is the least appreciated member of the Daily Planet staff, he’s the kid that everyone takes for granted until they need a fresh cup of coffee or some photocopies. Jimmy just wants to be one of the gang, but it seems all Superman brings to his table is heartache and a bunch of cursed gems.

Or maybe Mr. Olsen needs to stop taking Supes for granted, and realize that Supes shows how much he cares by saving Jimmy's life every time he's in trouble. Maybe Jimmy Olsen is an unappreciative little jerk, but I bet he’ll change his tune the next time he’s being strangled by a radioactive monster.

Via The Mary Sue

Usually furniture designers wait until they have a solid design finished, perhaps even testing it out in a 3D program like Sketchup or CAD, before they begin the fabrication process and bring the idea to life.

This time around, however, designer Fukawa Daigo decided to go with the initial rough sketch as the finished design, and the results look like living scribbles, and are probably really uncomfortable to sit on!

They’re a bit of art brought to life simply for the fun of it, and while they aren’t the most successful furniture designs we’ve ever seen they definitely make for great conversation pieces.

Via Juxtapoz

Calendars that benefit charitable causes usually feature cute animals or sexy guys and gals posed for maximum sales potential, but a calendar starring New York City cab drivers has got to be a first.

This wacky NYC Taxi Drivers 2014 calendar was created for University Settlement, an organization that helps immigrant families fund higher education, housing and literacy programs, and with such a good cause behind them there's no need for all the beefcake and fluffy puppy shots. In fact, now that these NYC cabbies have shown the world their softer side both the fares and the charitable donations are sure to come rolling in.

Via 22 Words

Riding on the subway is a trying experience, whether you’re riding through New York or Paris, and just like any experience in life that involves being way too close to a broad cross section of humanity there are plenty of moments that will make you wish you were dead, or at least taking a taxi instead.

To make riding the subway trains a more tolerable experience the Paris transit authority created an illustrated book of subway etiquette, with twelve rules meant to make the entire experience better for everyone involved. The drawings are delightful, and so easy to understand that even the most mentally deranged rider will learn a thing or two about what not to do to their fellow riders.

Via Dangerous Minds

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You’d think the whole sword and sorcery thing would have lost its appeal by now, but creative souls keep coming up with original content, animated and otherwise, which manages to keep even the most jaded viewers glued to their screens.

Fantasy is a very compelling genre when it’s done right, and this CG animated short by Joeri Christiaen entitled 850 meters is a good example of how to deliver both visually and as an original story.

There’s plenty of humor, a damsel in distress and madcap adventure as the bumbling hero Roger Flambe discovers his heroic purpose in life. And even though it’s nearly fifteen minutes in length, there’s plenty of eye candy to keep viewers intrigued from beginning to closing credits.

Via Geek Tyrant

Everybody knows about Dr. Seuss’ illustrious career as writer/illustrator of legendary children’s books like The Cat In The Hat and Green Eggs And Ham, but did you know that once upon a time the good doctor tried his hand at creating some "adult" content?

Way back in 1939, when Seuss was in transition from Vanguard to Random House publishing, he made an agreement with his new publisher which allowed him to put out an adult themed book of his choosing, and so The Seven Lady Godivas was born.

The content is quite tame by today’s standards of adult content, but it definitely delivers that Seussian style you know and love, and contains some heartwarmingly hilarious illustrations.

Via Brain Pickings

Talk about your mind blowing architecture! This impossible looking structure was constructed in the imagination of photographer Victor Enrich, who saw much more than a simple skyscraper when he looked at the NH Munchen Deutscher Kaiser hotel in Munich, Germany.

In fact, he saw 88 different versions of the hotel, each more impossible than the last, and his photo manipulation skills have improved quite a bit since we last featured his works on Neatorama (Link). Victor’s visionary buildings would make a great addition to cityscapes across the globe if we didn’t have that pesky thing called gravity keeping our architecture in check.

Via Laughing Squid