Marcin Wichary, author of the marvelous Shift Happens, established a collection of favorite well-made apps and sites. The crowdsourced but curated selection includes things you've seen before if you read Boing Boing, such as Ian's Shoelace Site and Neal Agarwal's fun stuff, but plenty I was unfamiliar with, such as Plain Text Sports and the rekall cyberpunk mood board. — Read the rest

The post Well-made apps and sites appeared first on Boing Boing.

Overlooked in the Kepler data and discovered by a citizen scientist, HD 137010 b is one of the most interesteing exoplanets yet observed. Check out A Cool Earth-sized Planet Candidate Transiting a Tenth Magnitude K-dwarf From K2, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. — Read the rest

The post Newly-noticed exoplanet may be the Earthiest yet appeared first on Boing Boing.

After talking about cracking down for months, YouTube favoring slop over its human creators has finally come to an end: the video platform is removing and gutting the top slop channels. This comes days after the CEO, Neal Mohan, targeted "low-quality AI content" in a recent blog post about "managing AI slop." — Read the rest

The post YouTube cracks down on AI slop appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: The Mymanu Orb Open-Ear AI Translation Earbuds provide real-time, AI-powered translations for over 50 languages. Grab a pair for just $139.99 (reg. $179.99). 

Language barriers are part and parcel of traveling, but there is nothing more frustrating than having to quickly load up your translation app before missing the moment entirely. — Read the rest

The post Step into the future with these translation earbuds, now 22% off  appeared first on Boing Boing.

Archeologists found a 430,000-year-old tool, and it isn't Rupert Murdoch. The artifact, one of two found at a lake shore in Greece, are the oldest wooden implements ever identified. Described as a "spindly stick" about 2 and half feet long, it could have been used to dig. — Read the rest

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Yoon Suk Yeol, the former South Korean president impeached and jailed after trying to impose martial law on the country, was jailed for 5 years earlier this month for abusing his power, and could face a more severe sentence on other charges. — Read the rest

The post His 'n' hers coup 'n' corruption jail terms for South Korean ex-pres and wife appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: BrowserCopilot AI works directly on the pages you're already using, offering customizable copilots, multi-model support, and fewer reasons to copy and paste all day now $69 (reg. $619).

Your browser already knows everything about your life. Your emails, half-finished drafts, endless tabs, research rabbit holes, and the document you swore you'd finish [yesterday] all live there. — Read the rest

The post Your browser just got a lot smarter thanks to this built-in AI copilot appeared first on Boing Boing.

Lives spent up late led to poorer health in late life, according to research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Tracking the chronotypes of 300,000 mostly white adults in the U.K., with an average age of 57 years, researchers found that 8% had late-night bedtimes with peak activity during the evening, whereas 24% were "definitely morning people." — Read the rest

The post Night owls have poorer cardiovascular health appeared first on Boing Boing.

AI datacenters' demand for processing power, memory and storage has seen prices for GPUs and RAM soar, and now last year's technology is following suit. DDR4 and older cards are joining the latest models on the top shelf. People building systems are finding that the savings "aren't as significant as expected," writes Adam Corsetti. — Read the rest

The post Prices for older PC hardware soar appeared first on Boing Boing.

FBI Director Kash Patel announced an investigation into encrypted Signal group chats used by Minnesota residents to share information about federal immigration enforcement — agent locations, vehicle license plates, activity near schools. Patel expressed concern that such activities could "put law enforcement in harm's way," and said investigators would determine if residents violated federal statutes, reports NBC News. — Read the rest

The post Kash Patel finds free speech inconvenient, opens investigation into chat groups warning about ICE appeared first on Boing Boing.

New analysis of tools found in an Alpine cave suggests Neanderthals weren't just making tools wherever they happened to be — they were packing for trips. Researchers at the University of Ferrara examined 16 flint and radiolarite artifacts discovered among bear remains at Caverna Generosa in the Alps, and found something curious: plenty of resharpening marks, but no chips or flakes, reports PhysOrg. — Read the rest

The post Neanderthals carried travel toolkits when they went bear hunting appeared first on Boing Boing.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is attempting to deflect responsibility for two U.S .citizen deaths in Minneapolis by claiming she acted under orders from President Trump and Stephen Miller, reports The Daily Beast.

Two American citizens were killed by federal agents in Minnesota this month: Renee Nicole Good, 37, fatally shot by an ICE agent on January 7 (Noem called her a "domestic terrorist"), and Alex Pretti, 37, a VA nurse shot by Border Patrol agents on January 24. — Read the rest

The post Kristi Noem blames Stephen Miller for the Minneapolis killings appeared first on Boing Boing.

In 1867, French mathematician Pierre Ossian Bonnet proved something that seemed like common sense: if you know how far apart any two points on a surface are, and how the surface curves at every point, you can identify exactly what surface you're dealing with. — Read the rest

The post Two twisty doughnut shapes solve a 150-year-old geometry puzzle appeared first on Boing Boing.

Infocom Chat brings together classic text adventures and large language models. The site lets you play Infocom's legendary Zork trilogy with an AI assistant that understands the games and so you can enter natural language commands without having to worry about the finicky syntax requirements that were often frustrating in the original versions. — Read the rest

The post Play classic Infocom text adventures with an AI companion appeared first on Boing Boing.

A man rushed the stage at a Minneapolis town hall on Tuesday and sprayed Rep. Ilhan Omar with an unknown foul-smelling liquid before being tackled by security. The suspect, identified as Anthony James Kazmierczak, 55, used a syringe to spray the substance while shouting, "You must resign!" — Read the rest

The post Man sprays Rep. Ilhan Omar with unknown substance appeared first on Boing Boing.

Federal agents in Minneapolis were ordered to compile identifying information on anti-ICE activists, according to communications obtained by CNN and reported by The New Republic. Agents were asked to complete forms titled "intel collection non-arrests" and to "capture all images, license plates, identifications, and general information on hotels, agitators, protestors, etc., — Read the rest

The post Leaked memo reveals DHS is building a database of anti-ICE protesters appeared first on Boing Boing.

Génesis Ester Gutiérrez Castellanos, a five-year-old American citizen, was deported to Honduras on January 11 alongside her mother — a country Génesis had never known. The child now misses her cousins, classmates, and kindergarten teachers in Austin, Texas, reports The Guardian. — Read the rest

The post Five-year-old US citizen deported to Honduras appeared first on Boing Boing.

Stephen Miller finally acknowledged that Customs and Border Protection agents in Minneapolis "may not have been following" proper protocol by shooting Alex Pretti to death — a shift from his baseless characterization of Pretti as a "would-be assassin," according to CNN. — Read the rest

The post Miller backtracks on "assassin" claim after internal review of shooting appeared first on Boing Boing.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico met with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on January 17. According to two European diplomats who spoke to Politico Europe, Fico later told EU leaders at an informal Brussels summit that Trump's behavior was "dangerous" and expressing serious concerns about how the American president appeared to him. — Read the rest

The post Slovak Prime Minister allegedly told EU leaders Trump is "dangerous" appeared first on Boing Boing.

A few months ago, a young pair of six-month-old Black and Rufous Sengi — also known as elephant shrews — arrived at the Hertfordshire Zoo and they're already delighting in-person visitors and bringing joy to those of us who are lucky enough to see them online. — Read the rest

The post Take a closer look at that Sengi snout! And listen to its relaxing Sengi ASMR! appeared first on Boing Boing.

A new analysis of the work of Sir Terry Pratchett found his use of language was gradually deteriorating long before he was diagnosed with dementia. Writing in The Conversation, the authors of the study published in Brain Sciences point out that memory loss is but one symptom of dementia, with other cognitive issues often occurring earlier in the progression of the disease. — Read the rest

The post Signs of Terry Pratchett's dementia appear in his books a decade before diagnosis appeared first on Boing Boing.

If you like politics, and history, and food, you're gonna love "Cookin' with Congress," a show that sits at the intersection of all three and whose description cleverly declares: "Politics is COOKED." Los Angeles-based host and creator Bennett Rea, who has a bachelor's degree in politics, explains on the show's webpage that the idea started when he came across a 1989 South Dakota Centennial Cookbook and became fascinated by the "real recipes submitted by real senators, congresspeople, mayors, governors and even the President of the United States." — Read the rest

The post "Cookin' with Congress" reveals the favorite meals of politicians from all eras (prune souffle, anyone?) appeared first on Boing Boing.

This photo shows how gigantic an Irish Elk looks compared to two humans. Megaloceros giganteus — literally "giant horn" — is the scientific name for this animal. If you're packing your bag to go find one to befriend on a hike, I have some sad news: the Irish Elk has been extinct for 8,000 years. — Read the rest

The post Irish elk: the giant deer that towered over humans and went extinct 8,000 years ago appeared first on Boing Boing.

At first glance, this frozen lake looks like it's full of neatly stacked UFOs hovering beneath the ice. What you're actually seeing is methane gas released by bacteria as they decompose organic matter in the mud at the bottom. When winter ice forms quickly, the gas bubbles rise and get trapped. — Read the rest

The post Frozen methane bubbles make this lake look like a portal to another world appeared first on Boing Boing.

Please join the team that makes it possible for your friendly neighborhood comic strip Tom the Dancing Bug to exist in this world! JOIN US FOR 2026 IN THE INNER HIVE, and be the first kid on your block to get each week's Tom the Dancing Bug comic – before it's published anywhere. — Read the rest

The post Tom the Dancing Bug: It's the Magas! appeared first on Boing Boing.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued a stark warning after numerous deaths and serious injuries caused by airbags in used cars. Eight people were killed, and there were two serious injuries when airbag inflators ruptured when deploying in a crash, "sending large metal fragments into drivers' chests, necks, eyes and faces." — Read the rest

The post Replacement airbags are killing people with shrapnel appeared first on Boing Boing.

Tactical backpacks are rugged, travel well, and haul anything. MOLLE webbing allows for insane customization, and a good rucksack has straps designed to carry heavy loads for hours. But unless you're a first responder or in the military, wearing one around town makes you look like a TactiFool or, for a chubby fella like me, a GravySEAL. — Read the rest

The post A tactical backpack that won't make you look like a TactiFool appeared first on Boing Boing.

South Carolina has 789 cases of measles on the go, taking the lead from Texas in the antivaxxer disease olympics. The Lone Star state's 2025 tally of 762 people sickened has been surpassed thanks to 89 new cases confirmed since Friday, mostly in Spartanburg County. — Read the rest

The post South Carolina beats Texas's measles high score appeared first on Boing Boing.

TL;DR: End your January with a bang with this Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows & Windows 11 Pro Bundle deal, now just $39.97 (reg. $418.99). 

The older you get the more you realise that most things are too good to be true. — Read the rest

The post For $40 you can get both MS Office Pro 2021 and Windows 11 Pro appeared first on Boing Boing.

After federal goons executed Alex Pretti on the street in Minneapolis, the Trump administration pounced upon what it thought was its best bet to justify it: Pretti had a gun. Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem insinuated he was brandishing it while attacking officers. — Read the rest

The post Trump: "You can't have guns. You can't walk in with guns." appeared first on Boing Boing.