The Illustrated Guide To A Ph.D.
“Every fall, I explain to a fresh batch of Ph.D. students what a Ph.D. is. It’s hard to describe it in words. So, I use pictures.”
View ArticleSteven Spielberg Reveals He Is Dyslexic And That He Found Out Just Five Years...
In a recent interview Spielberg revealed that he is dyslexic and that he was only diagnosed five years ago.
View ArticleThe Physics Of Coffee Rings Finally Explained
Another work week begins; another cup of coffee to the rescue. If you’re not careful, you might spill a bit of that precious coffee and then later wonder (à la Jerry Seinfeld) — What is the deal with...
View ArticleIsaac Asimov Explains His Three Laws Of Robotics
Isaac Asimov devoted a good deal of his writing career to the subject of robots, so it’s safe to say, he’d done quite bit of thinking about how they would fit into the worlds he invented.
View ArticleHow Alan Turing Helped Break The Unbreakable Nazi Code
The very thing that made the Enigma Machine nearly impossible to break, its ability to encode messages without ever repeating a letter, also made the code decipherable. But first, Alan Turing had to...
View ArticleThe First Pizza Ever Ordered By A Computer
By the late 1960s, technologists were already inventing the future we now inhabit. While others got to work developing things like the internet, The Artificial Language Laboratory at Michigan State...
View ArticleHow Pi Was Nearly Changed To 3.2 And Copyrighted
This story has all the makings of weirdo Americana: bad amateur science, commercial ventures based upon the same, and a state legislature eager to embrace it all.
View ArticleThe Nazis' 10 Control-Freak Rules For Jazz Performers
It's not surprising that the Nazis hated jazz. What is surprising is that instead of just banning the music, they tried to strictly regulate the art form.
View ArticleClean Cut Jim Morrison Appears In A 1962 Florida State University Promo Film
Here’s a weird one: weirdo Doors frontman Jim Morrison, native of Florida, stars in a promo film for Florida State University.
View ArticleRoger Ebert Talks Movingly About Losing And Re-Finding His Voice
Rather than rely on the relatively autonomous voice substitute, Ebert arranged for his wife, Chaz Hammelsmith, and friends Dean Ornish and John Hunter, to read his words from prepared scripts.
View ArticleFascinating Kodachrome Footage Of The Day WWII Ended In Hawaii
When Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signed Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945 in Berlin ( footage here ), the Second World War may have been over for Europe, but the war on the Pacific...
View ArticleA History Of Breaking The 'Fourth Wall' In Film
Breaking the fourth wall—also known as direct address—is most often deployed in the service of comedy, but a stone-cold killer can make the audience complicit with a wink.
View ArticleTilda Swinton And Barry White Lead 1500 People In Dance-Along To Honor Roger...
The relationship of movie star to critic isn’t always as parasitic and fraught as you might imagine. Witness Tilda Swinton bouncing around the Virginia Theater in Champaign Illinois, urging audience...
View ArticleOnce-Secret Documents From World Governments Revealed In New Archive
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars has launched a new digital archive containing recently declassified materials from some 100 different international collections, including a cable...
View ArticleWatch Woody Allen Give A Hilarious Dead Pan Interview From The '70s
What can celebrities do to spice up their interviews? In 1971, the oft-interviewed Woody Allen sat down with Granada Television and took a bold move to keep things interesting, apparently challenging...
View ArticleRevisit Martin Scorsese’s Hand-Drawn Storyboards For 'Taxi Driver'
Anyone who’s watched Martin Scorsese’s "Taxi Driver" surely remembers, or has remained haunted by, many images from the film, most of which — if not all— began as humble pencil drawings.
View ArticleThat Time Jimi Hendrix Invited Paul McCartney To Join A Super Group With...
The inclusion of McCartney’s pop sensibilities seems odd, though, and possibly inspired. It could have resulted in some really fascinating music, or a mess of personalities and ideas. But alas, it...
View ArticleHow Famous Writers Visually Outlined Their Novels
Every great novel—or at least every finished novel—needs a plan.
View ArticleWatch Picasso Create Entire Paintings In Fantastic Time-Lapse Video
Not everyone can be Picasso, but now everyone can try to more easily forge his works.
View ArticleHear The Classic 'Winnie-The-Pooh' Read By Author A.A. Milne In 1929
Here’s a rare recording from 1929 of the British writer A.A. Milne reading a chapter of his beloved children’s book, "Winnie-the-Pooh."
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