Nag on the Lake

IBM Selectric Typewriter In Slow-Motion

This slow motion video shows how the IBM Selectric golf ball spins around to select the correct letter to hit the page.

Earthquake Shacks

Earthquake shacks, 1906, San Francisco Image is in the public domain

After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the Army built 5,610 redwood and fir "relief houses" to accommodate 20,000 displaced people. Today fewer than 50 remain. The residents who live in them swear the sturdy redwood frames built in a day could last another 115 years.

Via Perfect For Roquefort Cheese

The People Without a Mind's Eye

In 2015, a scientific study shed new light on the relatively unheard-of phenomenon known as aphantasia, a mental blindness where the brain is unable to call images to the mind eye.

Via things magazine

The Evolution of the Oval Office Décor

The décor of the Oval Office offers an opportunity for the president’s interior designer to make a statement and do something historic. This article shows 3D renderings of each of the Oval Office’s new looks from William Howard Taft to Joe Biden.

When he took office in 1909 Taft made the decision to move the executive office from the Roosevelt Room to the room of the president’s secretary (now known as the Chief of Staff) during his expansion of the West Wing. The office had previously been rounded at just one end, but Taft had it remodeled to a more democratic oval shape.

President Biden opted to keep the Clinton drapes in the windows and has brought back Clinton’s navy rug, too. New additions include a 3.9-billion-year-old moon rock.