Links for 2011-12-19

  • Fun games for science-y kids. | Doing Good Science, Scientific American Blog Network

    Any game where you have to make choices about what to do involves some sort of strategy, and formulating or refining strategies is a work-out for your brain. This means that games, in general, tend to be brain-friendly giftables. It’s worth noting that many of the games which connect to qualities of mind that are useful in scientific problem-solving are fun for kids (and adults) who don’t think of themselves as having any special interest in science. I’m not saying you should use such games to launch stealth operations to get kids interested in science … but I’m not going to stop you, either.

  • Kim Jong-Un Privately Doubting He’s Crazy Enough To Run North Korea | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source

    Kim, who in his rare public appearances wears a plain dark suit, said he ultimately hoped to cultivate an eccentric, yet vaguely sinister look as iconic as his father’s pompadour, drab parka, and sunglasses, perhaps something “even nuttier” involving canes, a large yellow raincoat, or possibly a motorized scooter. Other ideas Kim has had for proving his insanity include placing anyone shorter than himself under permanent house arrest, issuing a new national currency every 90 days, normalizing relations with South Korea, and replacing all medicines with synthetic replications of his own saliva.

  • Ukrainian lighting engineer stuns the audience – YouTube

    Some pretty impressive effects, done with light.

  • A Very Calvin & Hobbes Christmas – YouTube

    I wish we got enough snow to make these…