Reality leaves a lot...

Star Trek predicted the future: researchers have developed transparent aluminum.

Mystery Science Theater is one of the two funniest TV shows I've even seen, the other being Most Extreme Elimination Challenge. There's a Kickstarter campaign to bring MST back and it's already exceeded its goal of $2 million.

A new gene here, a new gene there and soon you have a blue strawberry.

Aviation nerds: watch time-lapse video of a Spitfire being reassembled.

History buffs should enjoy this high-resolution 3D photo tour of Ellis Island.

College majors with the highest starting salaries. Yes, comp sci and engineering are #1 and #2. But check out #6.

Distance to the nearest grocery store. Longer lines identify food deserts.

Fourteen more maps. And a video history of counties in the U.S.A.

Writing a novel or screenplay? You're in luck. The 37 basic plots were documented back in 1919 for your reference. #13 Disastrous situation precipitated without criminal intent: fatal indiscretion.

Or you can just consult the Writer's Guild of America's list of the 101 funniest screenplays. #4 is Airplane!

NASA's Voyager spacecraft includes 116 images to introduce humans to extraterrestrials. But I bet there are a lot of humans who'd benefit from understanding them too.

The periodic table of  jack o' lanterns. (Only a month late.)

Neuroscience explains why bass instruments are fundamental to music.

UCSB has made available recordings made from old cylinders.

Color photos from America in 1910.

Brice Marden, Uphill 4, 2014. From his exhibition at Matthew Marks Gallery in NYC.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit from a long-lost 1928 film, Sleigh Bells.

And in other "lost things" news, does anyone know how to assemble a whale skeleton?

Just in time for holiday shopping comes the history of electronic music in poster form - Electric Love Blueprint (detail shown above).

From the rumor mill: Chrome OS is going to be rolled into Android.

Average marriage age worldwide. source (This map's data legend can use a little Tufte-esque improvement to make it more legible cuz I can't tell what age is indicated by the color for the U.S.)

Have you ever wondered where you can touch another person on their body? Well worry no more. Science has mapped that out for you.

Nutscaping. Think about what that might be, then click the link. On a related note, there's still time to fund the Scrote'n'Tote.

And now, a dance party.

...to the imagination. ~John Lennon