The Engineering of the Strandbeest: How the Magnificent Mechanical Creatures Have Technologically Evolved

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Life evolves, but machines are invent­ed: this dichoto­my hard­ly con­flicts with what most of us have learned about biol­o­gy and tech­nol­o­gy. But cer­tain spec­i­mens roam­ing around in the world can blur that line — and in the curi­ous case of the Strand­beesten, they real­ly are roam­ing around. First assem­bled in 1990 by the Dutch artist…

When Christmas Was Legally Banned for 22 Years by the Puritans in Colonial Massachusetts

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Com­plaints about the com­mer­cial-age cor­rup­tion of Christ­mas miss one crit­i­cal fact: as a mass pub­lic cel­e­bra­tion, the hol­i­day is a rather recent inven­tion. Whether we cred­it Charles Dick­ens, Bing Cros­by, or Frank Capra—men not opposed to marketing—we must reck­on with Christ­mas as a prod­uct of moder­ni­ty. That includes the sacred ideas about fam­i­ly, piety, and…

Hear the Evolution of Electronic Music: A Sonic Journey from 1929 to 2019

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It’s easy to get the impres­sion that enthu­si­asts of elec­tron­ic music lis­ten to noth­ing else. (Not that it isn’t true for some of them, who tend to rel­e­gate them­selves to small­er sub­gen­res: con­sult Ishkur’s Guide to Elec­tron­ic Music for a map of the son­ic ter­ri­to­ry.) And it’s equal­ly easy to believe that, if you…

99-Year-Old Dick Van Dyke Sings & Dances in a Touching New Coldplay Video, Directed by Spike Jonze

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There’s one thing right with our world, and it’s Dick Van Dyke. Appear­ing in a new Cold­play music video, Mr. Van Dyke dances bare­foot and sings know­ing­ly a lit­tle off-key—before reflect­ing on a cen­tu­ry of life on this plan­et. What is love? Is he afraid of dying? What does luck look like? He knows the answers. Mr. Van Dyke turns 99 this week. And we’ll be root­ing him on when he turns 100 next year. Enjoy the direc­tor’s cut of the touch­ing new music video, “All My Love,” direct­ed by Spike Jonze.

Relat­ed Con­tent 

Dick Van Dyke Still Danc­ing at 96!

Mary Tyler Moore Acci­den­tal­ly Nails a Per­fect Pool Shot on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1962)

Spike Jonze Presents a Stop Motion Film for Book Lovers

Sci-Fi Writer Arthur C. Clarke Predicts the Rise of Artificial Intelligence & Wonders What Will Happen to Humanity (1978)

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We now live in the midst of an arti­fi­cial-intel­li­gence boom, but it’s hard­ly the first of its kind. In fact, the field has been sub­ject to a boom-and-bust cycle since at least the ear­ly nine­teen-fifties. Even­tu­al­ly, those busts — which occurred when real­iz­able AI tech­nol­o­gy failed to live up to the hype of the boom…