Simple Things – Surprising Histories explained why some tape measures use black diamonds to mark 19.2-inch intervals, dividing an eight-foot span into five equal sections. The marks provide a visual shortcut for laying out floor joists and roof trusses.

We explain why tape measures have those black diamonds and how they are used step by step using real math and verified framing methods.

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Dr. Helen Czerski spoke with Professor Ron Douglas of City St George’s, University of London for BBC Earth Science about how different animals perceive ultraviolet light, comparing human visual limitations with the very different eyesight of starlings and birds of prey.

Ultraviolet light is invisible to humans, but some animals can see it. From birds of prey to other creatures in the wild, discover how UV reveals a world of patterns and signals that we can’t see.

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Dr. Erica Brozovsky of the PBS series Otherwords explained how the meanings of common words shift over time and across generations.

This type of language evolution, where the meanings of words shift over time, sometimes even leaving their original meaning behind, is called semantic change. There are probably words in your vocabulary that future generations will use in completely different ways.

She also explored the fascinating linguistic mechanisms behind semantic change, including extension, reduction, elevation, pejoration, and intensification.

With all of these processes bumping up against each other every time we communicate, it’s no wonder that language is always changing, first in small speech communities and then larger ones, until the change is so ubiquitous, we forget we didn’t always use these words this way.

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James Dundon, the Mechanical Music Man, used perforated cardboard strips in his beautifully restored Dutch street organ, Blauwtje, to play a wonderfully buoyant cover of the classic Cher song “Believe”.

Cher’s “Believe” was released in 1998 and became a landmark pop hit, famously using the Auto-Tune effect as a deliberate vocal sound. There’s no auto-tune with this mechanical organ though.

Other Blauwtje Covers

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Ryan Socash of It’s History explained why the Liberty Building in Buffalo, New York, has two 36-foot replicas of the Statue of Liberty perched on opposite ends of its roof.

High above downtown Buffalo, two 36-foot replicas of the Statue of Liberty have watched over the city since 1925.

The neoclassical building was constructed in 1925 as the headquarters of Liberty Bank, which had changed its name from German-American Bank in 1918 amid rising anti-German sentiment during World War I. To reflect the bank’s new image, sculptor Leo Lentelli created three Statue of Liberty replicas: two for the rooftop and one for the Main Street entrance.

During World War I, rising anti-German sentiment led the bank to change its name to Liberty Bank, transforming its public image as it entered a new era of American patriotism.

The building was also the site of a daring high-wire performance.

Inside the building was a heavily secured bank vault, while the tower later became the setting for a remarkable high-wire performance between its two rooftop statues.

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Ross Fearnley of The Unusual Suspect edited together lines from 144 movies to seamlessly recreate the lyrics of “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers.

The Killers’ smash 2004 hit Mr. Brightside gets the CinemaSings treatment!

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Rob Watts of RobWords explored the origins of English surnames and how hereditary family names spread in England in the centuries after the 11th-century Norman Conquest of England. Watts traced many surnames to four broad categories: occupations, parental names, locations, and descriptive nicknames, with meanings that are often obscured in their modern forms.

Our last names reveal the lives of our ancestors. Though it’s not always obvious, they can tell us where they lived, what they did, what others thought of them, and what their first names were. From Archer to Wright, Anderson to Wilkinson, Short to Strong, and Danvers to Disney, enjoy this journey through the history of family names.

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The clever science fiction channel Picard Looking re-edited footage of the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew from the movie Star Trek: Insurrection into the food-obsessed parody La Prima Formaggio, using the movie’s official Italian dub with deliberately bogus English subtitles about lasagna, goats, and Starfleet’s Prime Directive.

When an alien race demands access to the Federation lasagna, Picard is forced to balance the Prime Directive against the very real risk of disappointing dinner guests.

‘La Prima Formaggio’ Part II

Other Videos by ‘Picard Looking’

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In the short film Endless Light, presented by Bosch eBike Systems, professional street trials rider Danny MacAskill rode the granite slabs of Narvik, Norway, on a Santa Cruz Vala eMTB powered by a Bosch Performance Line CX motor, taking advantage of the midnight sun to navigate the rugged mountain landscape.

I’ve always dreamed of heading to Norway to ride its huge granite slabs. So this summer, I got a crew of friends together and headed north on a filming trip to experience the midnight sun for ourselves.

MacAskill said the motor assistance allowed the crew to cover more ground while exploring the steep granite terrain.

I couldn’t imagine a better way to explore this incredible landscape of Narvik than on the Santa Cruz Vala eMTB. It was definitely a trip for the books!

Behind the Scenes

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Polish artist Agata Iwaszkiewicz, creator of Ceramika Matylda, creates wonderfully cartoonish ceramic dogs and other small animals that function as household accessories. These include decorative dishes, vessels, vases, salt shakers, candle holders, oil burners, and even pet urns.

Slightly unsettling, somewhat grotesque — yet there is something playful in them, perhaps even above all. Each piece is deeply personal to me, as I leave a part of myself within it.

via Colossal

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Ryan Socash of It’s History explored the history of Camp Hero, a former military installation at the eastern tip of Long Island, and the Montauk Project conspiracy surrounding it that helped inspire Stranger Things.

How did a real military base become the center of the Montauk Project conspiracy? What actually happened there, and how did those stories help inspire the original concept for “Stranger Things”?

Socash traced the site’s history from colonial farmland through military use during both World Wars and the Cold War to its present-day status as a state park in Montauk, NY.

Built up during World War II and later transformed into a Cold War air-defense site, it eventually became famous for something far stranger: conspiracy theories about mind control, time travel, secret experiments, and underground government projects. The site is now part of Camp Hero State Park, where its former military structures and enormous radar installation remain.

Socash also examined how the abandoned site’s unique architecture and Cold War-era radar equipment fueled persistent rumors and Montauk Project conspiracy theories.

We trace Camp Hero from its military origins through the Cold War and into the bizarre conspiracy culture that made Montauk famous around the world. The infamous Montauk Project book was published in 1992 and presented extraordinary claims about experiments in time and other phenomena.

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The Morander Brothers, a Finnish accordion duo who previously played the Metallica song “Master of Puppets” as marionettes, performed a badass cover of Van Halen‘s “Eruption” on accordions. Using distortion, the pair took turns translating Eddie Van Halen’s iconic guitar solo onto such unexpected instruments.

ERUPTION on Accordion with Distortion! (Van Halen Cover)

‘Master of Puppets’ as Marionettes

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SiestaOrigami meticulously crafted a manual typewriter from a single uncut sheet of paper measuring 124 cm (1.36 yards) across. The video follows the 24-hour creation process from the initial design through the complex folds that form the keyboard and other intricate structural details.

I tried folding a mechanical typewriter using a single sheet of uncut 124cm paper.

Other Intricate Origami Projects

via The Awesomer

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SmokyMountains.com released their annual interactive Fall Foliage Prediction Map for 2026, which shows the best times to view changing leaves across the contiguous United States. As with previous years, users can move a slider along the map’s timeline to see when the foliage in their area is expected to peak and when it will be past peak.

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Rida Ali of Rozana With Rida explored the history of the New York City subway system at the New York Transit Museum, where she learned why some trains are identified by letters while others use numbers. She also learned why different services share the same route colors.

Ever wonder why NYC subway lines aren’t alphabetical, or why completely different trains share the same color? The system makes a lot more sense once you realize the colors represent the major Manhattan trunk lines, not just individual trains. I learned so much of this history from the New York Transit Museum, which is genuinely one of the best places to understand how the city’s subway system evolved into the beautiful, confusing map we know today

New York City’s subway system originated as three separate systems: the privately operated IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit Company) and BMT (Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation) and the city-owned IND (Independent Subway System). In 1940, the city acquired the IRT and BMT and unified all three under municipal control. Today’s numbered routes descend from the IRT, while the lettered routes descend from the BMT and IND. The current color system groups services largely by their major Manhattan trunk lines.

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Patrick Foote of Name Explain found a place in New York City for every letter of the alphabet, explaining the landmarks, neighborhoods, and structures he chose along the way.

New York City is full of iconic names, from Manhattan to Central Park. Can we however find an entire alphabet’s worth of place names in the city that never sleeps? Today, let’s find out!

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Claudia Araceli Reichard, a creative woman whose allergies made it difficult to keep traditional pets like cats and dogs, chose to face her fear of spiders by keeping adorable little jumping spiders as pets. As Claudia bonded with her first spider, Violet, whom she rescued from a local car wash, she began creating incredibly detailed tiny rooms specifically for her beloved pet and the others that followed.

Dodo editor Brielle shares how Claudia rescued a tiny jumping spider named Violet from a local car wash and ended up seeing spiders completely differently. As their bond grew, Claudia created an entire miniature world for Violet, who always seemed to know exactly how to find her way back to Claudia’s hand.

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A music-loving horse named Yupia uses his mouth and teeth to pluck harp strings while his multi-instrumentalist human, Mikayla Theone Khramov, plays alongside him. Khramov is featuring Yupia on her upcoming album.

Late night recording session at the barn.

Getting samples of Yupia’s harp for our upcoming album.

Khramov met Yupia at Because We Can – Because We Care, a nonprofit horse rescue and rehabilitation center in Moorpark, California.

BWC2 is a nonprofit horse rescue and rehabilitation center. They are a volunteer based program and their mission is to provide free lessons to children with disabilities and American veterans.

Yupia and Mikayla also play other instruments together, such as guitar, banjo, keyboards, and bass.

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A very dignified Count Etienne Louis Philippe Scibor-Rylski shared tips on how to properly wear a monocle in restored footage of a 1930 Fox Movietone News short. His posh delivery and unintentional humor made the lesson especially entertaining.

Long before YouTube tutorials, influencers, and instructional videos, Fox Movietone News produced this remarkable short film in 1930 explaining the proper way to wear a monocle. …Count Etienne Louis Philippe Scibor-Rylski demonstrates the art, etiquette, and social decorum of monocle wearing—offering a fascinating glimpse into a world where even eyewear had strict rules and traditions.

Part Two of Monocle Etiquette

via Coalesce “Summer School”

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In a 1976 episode of The Muppet Show, the great Rita Moreno performed a sultry cover of the classic song “Fever”, famously recorded by Peggy Lee, with Animal on the drums.

At first, everything was going smoothly, but about halfway in, Animal threw in a loud rimshot that caused Moreno to stop what she was doing and scold him in both Spanish and English. When Animal went completely off the rails on drums, Moreno quite definitively put him in his place.

Classic song Treated by the muppets.Rita Moreno

Moreno’s appearance on the episode earned her an Emmy Award in 1977 for “Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music”. She told the Television Academy that she loved working on the show.

Working with the Muppets was a true joy in my life. I loved the experience so much, I used to drop in to the studio and do voices for their girl puppets just because it was so much fun. I became quite close to Jim Henson. He was an artist and a genius.

Rosie Perez recreated Moreno’s performance during the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors.

via Barbara Sobel

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The post Rita Moreno Puts a Wildly Drumming Animal in His Place While Singing ‘Fever’ on ‘The Muppet Show’ in 1976 was originally published on Laughing Squid.