The Latest from Boing Boing

Italian tomb probably does not contain Dracula Word on the Internets is that some Estonian researchers found the tomb of Dracula in Naples and are petitioning to open it and inspect the occupant. Read the rest... US Patent Office cancels Redskins trademark Ruling that the term is "disparaging to Native Americans", the U.S. Patent office has canceled six federal trademarks registered by the Washington Redskins. Read the rest... Plants that "eat" metal A cool graphic by Maki Naro explains the science of hyperaccumulators, plants that are capable of absorbing toxic levels of potentially dangerous minerals without harming themselves. Read the rest... The waterlogged mineral hidden deep in the Earth Ringwoodite is a silicate mineral that can be made up of as much as 2.6 percent water by weight. That water isn't stored as a liquid in the rock. Read the rest... Listen to the 18th-century drinking song that inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner" Written by John Stafford Smith, "To Anacreon in Heaven", it was the theme song for a gentlemen's society dedicated to love of wine, women, and song. Read the rest... Mummified corpse found hanging in closet in abandoned house by exploring kid It's like something from a Spielberg movie: Because he died in the winter and inside a dark closet, Brunton's body tissue dried out and was preserved. Read the rest... After federal document-snatch, ACLU case over Florida cops' phone surveillance collapses After US marshalls raided a Florida police department to seize documents about to be revealed in an ACLU case over "stingray" mobile phone surveillance, we knew that the case was endangered. Read the rest... The Gypsy Moth and the threshold of extinction Maggie Koerth-Baker on how protecting endangered species has taught us something about eradicating invasive ones. Read the rest... Gallery: 10 invasive species They're not monsters, but they are a problem for native flora and fauna. Here are ten of the ecological troublemakers finding their way into American landscapes and waterways. Read the rest... Senator calls out Dr. Oz for fraudulent weight-loss "miracle" drugs Dr. Oz acknowledges that the products he pushes can't pass scientific muster. But that's okay, he says. Because his job is really to be a "cheerleader for the audience" and encourage them to find hope. Super. Read the rest... How GM silenced its whistleblowers The cover of Bloomberg Businessweek this week riffs on a classic Vietnam-era Esquire cover. Sometimes, words speak louder than pictures. Read the rest... Pablo Picasso Rules the Internet… And You Won't Believe What Happens Next! Tom the Dancing Bug knows the five WEIRD WAYS. By Ruben Bolling Read the rest... NYC comics megasigning tonight with Pope, Haspiel, Bertozzi and Miskiewicz Tonight at Forbidden Planet NYC, a megasigning with Paul Pope, Dean Haspiel, Nick Bertozzi and Chris Miskiewicz. Kicks off at 1830h -- what a lineup! Read the rest... Most-misused scientific concepts Annalee Newitz rounds up scientists' ten least-favorite misused scientific concepts, from "proof" and "theory" to "natural" and "learned versus innate." The thing that most of these misconceptions have in common is that they're very profitable: clouding the idea of "proof" and "theory" helps oil companies sell climate denial (and were the go-to tactic when tobacco giants were claiming that their products didn't cause cancer). Read the rest... The sad old motels of Barstow, California Barstow, California, once a shining oasis along the sweltering asphalt of Route 66, is now but a relic of times nearly forgotten. A photo gallery by Charles Platt. Read the rest... John Oliver to FCC Chairman: prove you aren't a dingo! When John Oliver smote the FCC over its pro-cable-company-fuckery policy, he compared hiring Tom Wheeler away from his job as top cable lobbyist to run the FCC to hiring a dingo to babysit your kids. Read the rest... Women in Video Games: women as background decoration Anita Sarkeesian has posted Women as Background Decoration: Part 1, the latest installment in her Feminist Frequency Tropes vs Women in Video Games critical video series. Read the rest... Top US patent judge resigns after ethics breach Judge Randall Rader, the top US patent judge, has resigned from the bench after he sent a letter to a patent attorney praising his courtroom appearance, inviting him to share the letter publicly. Read the rest... Alleged revenge porn site operator to face trial in first US criminal case of its kind A judge in San Diego, California has determined that prosecutors have enough evidence against an alleged revenge porn site operator for him to face trial on conspiracy, identity theft and extortion charges. Read the rest... Econobollocks: three ways that economic figures are misused in politics Financial Times economist Tim Harford writes about how "three sensible propositions from economics have somehow been crumpled into a mess of public relations and politics" -- how the misleading precision of economic forecasts can be used to paper over purely political decisions, making them seem to be objectively true: The first is that opportunity costs matter. Read the rest... Blogging History: Supreme Court DNA ruling; City demands job applicants' social media passwords; Microsoft DRM talk One year ago today Making sense of the confusing Supreme Court DNA patent ruling: If you can't patent a gene, but you can patent the laboratory copy of the gene, what's that mean? Read the rest... Old one-cent stamp with awesome history may fetch up to $20 million at auction A 1-cent British Guiana stamp from 1856, once owned by a du Pont heir convicted of shooting an Olympic wrestler, may sell for $20 million at an auction taking place today. "Its first owner was a 12-year-old Scottish boy living in South America." Read the rest... X-Wing Fighter knife-block Starting in August, you'll be able to buy these Star Wars X-Wing knife blocks for £70, with five knives (of unknown quality). Read the rest... London police's secret "domestic extremist" list includes people who sketch protests Baroness Jenny Jones, a Green Party councillor, writes in the Guardian about the bizarre smears and tittle-tattle she found about herself in the Metropolitan London Police's secret database of "domestic extremists," such as her tweets from a protest in Trafalgar Square. Read the rest... On space-borne espresso pods The Awl has the last word on Lavazza sending an espresso pod machine into space: "actual garbage that has been toasted, ground up, dehydrated and put into a non-biodegradable plastic coffin...a good reason to never leave this big dumb rock with all of its perfectly fine non-garbage coffee." Read the rest... Man accused of running meth lab at retirement community Robert Short, 64, is accused of cooking meth in his apartment at a senior citizen village in Fresno, California. Cops say he sold and distributed drugs from this clever location. Read the rest... Does Jill Lepore's Ph. D. qualify her to talk about business? Reacting to Jill Lepore's critique of American business's "gospel of disruption" comes this striking thought from Marc Andreessen: The startup-news end of the tech press seems in a state of perpetual orgasm over the Netscape founder's willingness to opine on practically anything. I can't help but wonder if Andreessen mocking Lepore's credentials is key to understanding his desperation to be seen as a public intellectual—and others' thin-smiled willingness to treat him as one. Read the rest... Jihadists and their allies in Iraq and Syria are posting weird cat photos online Can't we all agree to leave the cats out of this conflict? More here. #catsofjihad may or may not be a real thing, and this looks to be the work of fans rather than actual fighters——but there you have it. Read the rest... iOttie dashboard mount phone holder This iOttie dashboard mount phone holder stays stuck! Unlike other stands, iOttie has kept my phone tumble free for months! Finding a reliable way to mount my iPhone in a VW Westy was a pain. Read the rest... Javier Rivera: 'Luminance Interventions,' light projections on landscapes "I think that geometry is the best language to describe the pulse of nature's depths," says artist Javier Riera. Read the rest... Follow us online:   forward to a friend   unsubscribe from this list

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