BY: DEXTER BROWN Would you allow someone to watch over you and hear your private conversations all day, every day? Well, with cameras and mics on everything from phones to tablets to computers, and even some video game controllers, you may…
In 2024, one of these five candidates may be selected to live and die on Mars (Video)
2024 is looking like it will be one of the most historically significant years in all of human history. Yielding over 200,000 applicants from all over the globe, and only 660 remaining, in the end only four will be given…
Why George Orwell would never buy a SmartTV by Samsung
BY: KHADIJA KHAN Many companies have recently capitalized on the growing trend of Internet-enabled devices, which allow you to access the Internet from, say, your TV. However, it seems now that the biggest screen in your house will be listening…
These alarming photos show how bad pollution in China has become
China is perhaps one of the most polarized landscapes, home to the strikingly beautiful Yellow Mountains and Great Wall of China, yet in other parts pollution runs rampant and completely unchecked. Unregulated dumping in various watersheds throughout China is fairly…
If you have always wanted to be a mermaid, there’s a school for that
BY: BRITTANY ROSEN Introducing Merfest: a mermaid convention that lets you live out your childhood fantasy without raising too many eyebrows. Located in Cary, North Carolina, over 300 of these real-life mermaids meet up three times a week at the…
This 20-year-old millionaire throws NYC’s wildest illegal parties (PHOTOS)
BY: KHADIJA KHAN Most 20-year-olds are unsure about what path they should take in life, but this entrepreneur formulated a master plan to get rich at the age of 15. Meet Alex Shlaferman. He started off by making up to…
The quietest room on earth makes people go insane after only 45 minutes (Video)
BY: BRITTANY ROSEN Step into dead silence; the quietest room in the world, where you can hear things that you’ve probably never heard before, like the blood flowing through your body. The record time for staying in this room is…
Scientists discover a second Earth, and it may contain extra-terrestrial life (Video)
BY: DANIEL KORN About 500 light years away from Earth, within the constellation Cygnus, is a planet with the catchy name of Kepler-186f. This planet is about the size of Earth and completes its orbit around a red dwarf star—half…
Why Roller Derby is the Official Sport of Feminism (Interview)
BY: LAURA ROJAS Roller derbying has been around since about the 1930s, although not in the same modern, empowering context. In the early 2000s, a women’s derby team started up in Austin, Texas called the Texas Rollergirls. Now, according to…
Dan Mangan talks about fatherhood, philosophy and saying something worthwhile
BY: TYLER FYFE Dan Mangan is a two-time Juno award winner, Polaris Music Prize nominee, and occasional Arts and Culture writer for The Guardian and Huffington Post. Recently, he released his fourth LP, Club Meds and it is pretty obvious…
How Andrew W.K. became our most inspirational artist
By: Daniel Korn In October of 2001, the world was introduced to the majesty of Andrew W.K. through his first single “Party Hard.” It was a melodic, guitar-chugging anthem with lyrics so gloriously dumb they could only be sung behind…
This man cooked and served his genitals at a banquet to make a statement about gender equality.
BY: TJ MOREY Meet Mao Sugiyama, a 24-year old illustrator from Tokyo, Japan, who surgically removed his genitals and auctioned them off for people to munch on. Mao Sugiyama exploded on the twittersphere in 2012 when he tweeted “[Please retweet]…
Is this noise band art or the sound of a cat puking up its own vocal chords?
BY: DANIEL KORN When I called Peter Negroponte – the drummer of Guerilla Toss – at noon on a weekday, he groggily asked me if we could move the interview back an hour. I should have fucking known this would…
Why basic income is the solution to the staggering disparity of wealth
BY: DANIEL KORN We’ve got a big problem. It’s called income inequality; I assume you’ve heard of it. President Obama called it “the defining challenge of our time,” and the Occupy movement rallied around the statistic that the richest 1%…
The world’s first flying cars will be in skies and on highways in the next few years
BY: KHADIJA KHAN Growing up watching the Jetsons, I’ve always anticipated a time where flying cars would be a reality. And finally, the moment we’ve been waiting for is here. It’s called the AeroMobil, and it has been tested in…
This company wants to help you achieve digital immortality
BY: DANIEL KORN It’s that age-old question: why are we here? Biologically speaking, the reason for our existence is simply to pass on our genes. A lot of us still have this urge inside us, but our developed brains have…
Meet the world’s most notorious con artist couple that made millions by forging paintings
BY: SINEAD MULHERN The strokes on his canvas imitate the techniques of artists from eras past. Pick any style and he can mimic it. Wolfgang Beltracchi is known as the world’s most successful forgery artist of all time. He’s notorious…
This hermit survived for 27 years in the woods by stealing canned goods from nearby homes
BY: TED BARNABY For 27 years, canned food, propane tanks and odd clothing articles had been disappearing from the houses of the quiet town of North Pond in Central Maine. Rebellious teenagers were the first suspect, and a few of…
When the world’s largest landfill closed, a city of garbage pickers collapsed
BY: SINEAD MULHERN Sifting through the rot you never know what you might find. When garbage is your specialty, the smell becomes normal, you eat among it sharing space with the vultures and watch for sharp discards jutting out from…
South Park creators went to the Oscars on acid and dressed like women to prove a point (Video)
South Park creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, are comedic geniuses and wildly innovative creative minds. They’re also exactly the type of guys you would expect them to be in real life. Known to push limits and cross boundaries on…