Grist List
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Wondering which condoms to buy? Science has the answer
Debby Herbenick knows how you feel about condoms. You know you need them, but you just want to go into the drugstore, get them, and get the hell out of there. (This is basically why they invented those self-service checkout things: As embarrassing as it is to buy condoms, imagine being the person on the […]
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This cute kid is BFFs with a bunch of marmots
Marmots are not known for being particularly friendly. This famous scene in The Big Lebowski demonstrates quickly and comprehensively what humans can generally expect from marmots, i.e. they look nice and then they will fuck your shit up in a bathtub. But this little boy, Matteo Walch, is basically the Marmot Whisperer. He visits the Austrian […]
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Vintage ads want you to eat vitamin donuts, put babies in cellophane, and spray everything with DDT
We don't think anything from our time period, besides possibly the Double Down, will cause as much consternation in the future as these vintage ads do now.
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This weird biking/running harness is part transportation, part torture device
We were dusting off our “I” files today and came across this treasure under “inexplicable inventions.” What is this? Well. First of all, it’s called a Fliz, and it’s kind of like a bike, but you strap it around your shoulders like a harness and then power it with your feet. Basically, it’s a cross between […]
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People think cloud computing involves actual clouds
We know that people often confuse weather and climate, but apparently a lot of people also confuse weather and weather-related metaphors.
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Here’s a guy riding a bicycle the size of a shoe
This Russian video shows a man riding a teeny-tiny bicycle like he’s a bear in the circus. It is mesmerizing.
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Mermaids are real and apparently don’t like taxes or universal health care
Angry Ron Paul delegates and racist peanut throwers were not the only strange attendees of the Republican National Convention. There were also mermaids present.
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This nine-foot kinetic sculpture of San Francisco is made of over 100,000 toothpicks
Scott Weaver’s “Rolling Through the Bay” is nine feet tall and seven feet wide, i.e. both taller and wider than my bathroom. It’s got four different paths for ping-pong balls to roll through it, tracing “tours” of various San Francisco landmarks. It took 3,000 hours over 35 years to finish. And it’s made of nothing […]
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Designer makes dresses out of old Speedos instead of throwing them out like a normal person
Naturally it’s very resourceful that U.K.-based designer Orsola de Castro makes “upcycled” dresses out of old Speedo bathing suits. After all, what else are we going to do with old Speedos? Make an oversized soft sculpture of Michael Phelps’ favorite bong?
