Deadpool 3 won't be released until May of next year, but Marvel fans are getting hyped about it thanks to dribs and drabs of information about the filming. A few days ago, both Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman posted an image of Deadpool and Wolverine in costume. It was surprising to see Jackman in the blue-and-yellow Wolverine suit from the comics. He had never worn it in any of the movies. And now we have video from the actual film shoot, featuring Deadpool and Wolverine blocking out a fight scene.

E TEMOS VIDEO! Confira 3 minutos das gravações que aconteceram hoje de DEADPOOL 3.

Créditos no vídeo. pic.twitter.com/m1h6cAd60G

— Marvel News (@BRMarvelNews) July 11, 2023

Enjoy this little glimpse into the movie, because talks between SAG-AFTRA (the actors' union) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down and a strike has been called beginning Friday. Production on all Hollywood movies, as well as TV shows, is expected to cease. -via Geeks Are Sexy

They say you can only pick two: good, fast, or cheap. But sometimes lightening strikes. Some of our best movies, TV shows, or songs came about under strict deprivations. Lack of budget leads to innovation to get around it. Lack of time leads to a creative burst. You can't count on it, but some of the most creative productions have a backstory of desperation.

You can see 29 examples of things that turned out uniquely wonderful in spite of (or because of) a lack of time or money at Cracked. But these came from professional creatives. If you are getting your home remodeled, the "pick two" rule still applies, and sometimes you just get one.

Birds and other wildlife are amazing when it comes to adapting to new conditions, like human cities. Erect a building, and birds will nest on its roof and ledges like it was a tree. Humans fought back by placing anti-bird spike on ledges to deter birds from building nests. A new study out of the Netherlands shows that intelligent birds like crows and magpies responded by taking the anti-bird spikes and using them as building material for nests!

In the nests studied, crows tend to rip up the spikes and use them as building materials. Magpies, on the other hand, tend to place the spiky strips on top of their dome-like nests, possibly as protection from predators. These goth nests are a fine example of "reuse and recycle," although at the expense of the people who manufactured the anti-bird spikes. Kees Moeliker (previously at Neatorama) thought he'd seen it all when he collected a pigeon's nest made from nothing but chicken wire, many years ago. He said,

“I didn’t expect this. These anti-bird spikes are meant to deter birds, they are supposed to scare them off, but on the contrary, the birds just utilise them.”

As they say, life finds a way. -via Metafilter

(Image credit: Auke-Florian Hiemstra/Naturalis Biodiversity Center)

We often lament that Hollywood has run out of ideas for new stories and new characters, which is why it seems like every new film is a sequel, prequel, remake, gender-swapped version, musical, or a different point of view of an existing franchise. But you can't argue with the fact that it works, or at least sells an awful lot of tickets. From the looks of the first trailer, the movie Wonka may work very well. This is a musical, and a prequel to the 1971 movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. On paper, that sounds like throwing in all possible guaranteed shortcuts to a hit, but if the movie lives up to the trailer, it will be a lot of fun.

Wonka follows a young Willy Wonka, played by Timothée Chalamet, as he sets out to open a chocolate factory, but must first battle the existing chocolate cartel. Other characters are played by Keegan-Michael Key, Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman, Tom Davis, Sally Hawkins, and Hugh Grant -as an Oompa-Loompa! Wonka was originally scheduled to open in March of this year, but now will open on December 15. One look will tell you it will work much better as a Christmas movie. -via Gizmodo

In the early 19th century, the secret society of the Masons became more and more popular. The movers and shakers of small communities would bond over elaborate initiation rituals and spend time together socializing and sometimes publicly flaunting their wealth as they did good works. But in the 1820s, a member of the Batavia, New York, Masonic Lodge 433 named William Morgan became fed up with the insular political power wielded by the Masons. He threatened to publish an expose in the newspaper.

The Masons began to harass Morgan incessantly, having him arrested, searching his home, and even setting his business on fire. They also harassed publisher David Miller who was working with Morgan on the expose. In 1826, Morgan was again arrested, but bailed out by a stranger who was part of a gang who shoved Morgan into a carriage upon leaving jail. Morgan was never seen again.

The disappearance/murder investigation went nowhere, since everyone involved was a Mason. Miller then went ahead and published Morgan's expose, which led to more scrutiny and a backlash against the Masons from the public. Read how this led to the formation of the Anti-Masonic Party and even a presidential candidate in 1832, and dealt a blow to the secrecy of the Masons, at Smithsonian.

Ft. Worth company Sky Elements Drone Shows set a new world record with a Fourth of July show last week. They launched more than 1,000 computer-synched drones carrying LED lights to amaze the crowd with a sequence of patriotic American iconography, including Washington Crossing the Delaware, flags, eagles, a cowboy, fighter jets, and a lunar astronaut. The company was scrambling to stage 40 different shows over the holiday weekend, as drone shows are starting to replace traditional fireworks for climate and safety reasons.   

So what world record did they set? It was not for the biggest number of drones, nor for length of the show, but for the “largest aerial sentence formed by multirotor/drones.” That's a fairly niche record, and it may seem anticlimactic, but it gives us an excuse to show you an impressive drone show a week after the holiday. -via Laughing Squid

There were no airplanes in 1897, although we did have hot air balloons and a few gliders. Still, that doesn't explain the incident in Aurora, Texas, reported by the Dallas Morning News on April 19, 1897. It cites an incident two days earlier in which "the airship which has been sailing around the country" slowed down and crashed into Judge Proctor’s windmill, crumbling into pieces. The townspeople removed the deceased pilot, described as "petite" and "Martian." The alien was given a Christian burial in the town's cemetery. He may have been given a headstone with his UFO engraved on it, but if so, that has disappeared. Another was carved in more modern times, but that was also stolen.

It is said that the spaceship debris was dumped into a well that was later sealed. Aurora is a small town of 1,400 people today, but its historic cemetery holds around 800 graves. The historical marker there tells of several of them, including the many who died of the 1891 spotted fever epidemic. The marker makes a passing mention of the alien grave. The people of Aurora today refer to the alien as "Ned." Various groups have approached the cemetery association to have the grave exhumed, but have been turned away. The cemetery is open to visitors, and the location of the alien grave is covered by a large rock, usually with mementos adorning it.

(Top image credit: E's & D's Adventures in Life)

Maru, the famous Japanese Scottish fold, recently celebrated his 16th birthday. He was just a young cat when he became an internet star. Maru's first video was posted on July 10, 2008. For the 15th anniversary of his internet career, Maru's human mugumogu has compiled a retrospective of Maru's most popular videos, chosen by fans. There's a lot of them, so you might want to consume this video in pieces, but you'll enjoy every minute when you have the time.

It makes me feel old that I posted Maru's first viral video back in 2008, the one that first showed us his obsession with boxes. That video now has 18 million views! Since then, Maru has become a global brand, selling books, calendars, and other merchandise, and appearing in ads and making celebrity endorsements. He has also gained a couple of roommates, the younger cats Hana and Miri. Happy Anniversary, Maru!  -via Fark

The Kp-index has indicated that a magnetic storm on the sun is taking place, causing mass ejections of plasma and pieces of the sun's magnetic field. These usually take a few days to reach the earth, and when they arrive, the skies will be lit. That means the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, will be especially vivid and will be visible across the upper tier of the United States.

The forecast is for the geomagnetic storm to be visible Wednesday from Washington state to Maine, including the areas around Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, and Halifax. On Thursday, the aurora will be visible even further south, in Nebraska, Maryland, Wyoming, and Massachusetts, among other states.

Read an explanation of magnetic storms and how the aurora is formed at NPR, as well as a viewing guide if you happen to be in a place where the aurora will reach.

(Image credit: Elaine R. Wilson)

Weird Universe introduces us to the works of John G. Bourke, an American professional soldier during and after the Civil War. He was a prolific writer throughout his career and took detailed notes about his observations of the Native American peoples that he encountered in the United States' wars against them.

In 1891, he compiled his own observations and those of other writers into his most famous work, Scatalogical Rites of All Nations: A Dissertation upon the Employment of Excrementicious Remedial Agents in Religion, Therapeutics, Divination, Witch-Craft, Love-Philters, etc. in All Parts of the Globe.

It's a book about how different cultures view, make use of, or separate themselves from urine and feces to remain physical and/or ritualistically clean. You can read it online here.

While in the US Army, Bourke was able to observe a lengthy Zuni ritualistic dance that included the drinking of urine.

Men of a certain age may appreciate helpful tips that Bourke accumulated through sources that reflect folklore across the world. There is no indication that the various medicinal uses of excretory materials were subjected to empirical testing, but that is certainly an option for modern scientists.

Tom Scott got the chance to visit a rotating house, because it's on the market. He's there to find out the answers to the real questions we have about such houses: how do the utilities work? I paid close attention, and I think I understand how slip rings work, and how the concept of four funnels inside each other work, but how do you integrate the liquid utilities with the electrical utilities? Maybe the electricity and cable come in from the top and the liquid utilities are connected at the bottom of the house. It still sounds way more complex than feasible outside of a major metropolitan area, where the really expensive maintenance companies are. The owner, Al Johnstone, is an engineer who worked out all the technology when he built the house in 2000. If you think you might want to buy this house, you better get to know him, because you'll have to learn a lot about this house to keep it rotating.  

Around 620,000 soldiers died in the US Civil War, but that toll would have been higher if surgeons hadn't become schooled in the art of the quick amputation, along with other battlefield medical innovations. Another half-million men were injured in battle, many of them left with life-long disabilities. Even those that recovered often faced a long and painful rehabilitation. But overworked battlefield doctors had something to help them through it- opium, morphine, and laudanum, which were prescribed for everything from wounds to malaria to stomach aches.

After the war, many of these men went home addicted to painkillers. There were no drug rehab programs in place. In fact, these veterans were shunned for being weak and unmanly. Reliance on opioids could get a veteran excluded from housing benefits or pensions, even widow's benefits if he was discovered to have been taking opioids. Read about opiate use in the Civil War and the stigma it left behind at Jstor Daily.

Meteorologist and storm chaser Reed Timmer saw a huge tornado in the distance in Nebraska, and rushed to get as close as possible to it. Timmer was quite excited, while those in the vehicle with him weren't so sure about getting that close to a tornado that big. If there had been any structures around, we would have seen more debris flying and more damage. As it was, the windshield was broken pretty early in the video. What to do? Just stick your head out the window and drive, and stick the camera out, too! This gets pretty intense for a while, and then the tornado moves away, probably wanting to escape from these crazy guys. -via Digg

The page above is from a chapbook titled The Child's New Year's Gift published around the year 1770 that contained riddles for children. A chapbook was a cheap publication that folded up and sometimes consisted of only one sheet of paper. As such, there are only two original copies of this book surviving in libraries. This particular riddle is guaranteed to make kids laugh. In case you have a hard time reading the text, it says,

Since the world first begun, I was never once seen,
Though everyone knows in their presence I’ve been.
No sooner I’m born than I give a loud cry,
And your noses inform you, I presently die.

The answer to this riddle is, of course, a fart. The picture added the provocative but unnecessary detail that the figure is farting toward a candle. One can imagine how this might have inspired children to try the dangerous deed.  -via Boing Boing and commenter allenk

On Feb. 14, 1904, someone curious about the emerging possibilities of a key force of nature checked out James Clerk Maxwell's “An Elementary Treatise on Electricity” from a Massachusetts library. After 119 years, the book was finally returned. https://t.co/VdsAMMh9CF

— AP Oddities (@AP_Oddities) July 8, 2023

British scientist James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) really knew how to write a work of compelling scientific exposition. His book An Elementary Treatise on Electricity (available in full text on Google Books) can't stay on the shelves of the New Bedford Free Public Library in Massachusetts. After being checked out 119 years ago, it was just returned to that library.

A rare books librarian at another library found it among donations and noticed that there were no indications that the library-marked book had been formally withdrawn from the collection (such as the word WITHDRAWN ink-stamped on the title page). He sent it off to the New Bedford Free Library.

That library charges 5 cents a day for overdue materials. Thus the total fine should be about $2,100. But the library caps fines at $2 and the responsible patron is unknown, so the library is unlikely to recover either amount.