What APIs are doing when you're not looking.
The application programming interface (API) is a key development that has enabled a whole raft of economic and computing applications. Here's how it works.
Very short interviews with documentarian Ken Burns.
Documentarian Ken Burns gives a very good defense of burning the American flag, and why “Old Town Road” was the kind of hit country music needs.
Newly discovered footage of the Velvet Underground playing in Dallas on Oct. 15, 1969.
Newly discovered footage of the Velvet Underground playing “I’m Waiting for the Man,” “Beginning to See the Light,” and “I’m Set Free” at an Oct. 15, 1969, Vietnam War protest in Dallas.
The video for Anna Meredith's "Paramour" is a twisty, Lego train trip.
The video for "Paramour," the new track from composer Anna Meredith—whose rework of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons was one of Andrew Womack's favorite albums of 2018—is a twisty, Lego train trip around a rehearsal space with musicians stationed along the track.
A Tokyo home using only the raw ingredients for happiness.
Tokyo architect Takeshi Hosaka built himself a house that would supply "all five elements that the ancient Romans called for a happy life—knowledge, bathing, drama, music, and food" in about 190 square feet.
Some recent favorite songs.
A recent favorite song, "Elastic" by Joey Purp. Another favorite: "Temes" by Puerto Rico's iLe.
A trefoil-shaped robot can walk, hop, or leap, and help others.
We love a good video about robots of the future. Here are some 10-gram "Tribots" inspired by ants: they can talk to each other, assign roles to one another, and work together to complete tasks. In one instance, the researchers set up one Tribot as a leader
A drone explodes in midair and becomes five microdrones
Inspired by the way seed pods fall from a maple tree, a drone splits apart in midair and becomes five microdrones, "heading off on their own missions."
Japanese pro wrestling is the best wrestling.
Japan not only has pro wrestling, it has the best wrestling, apparently. New Japan Pro Wrestling "is renowned for having the best wrestlers and the best matches in the sport year-round," and its massive tournament, the G1 Climax, begins tomorrow in Dallas. In the video, one star,
What it sounds like to lightly tap a giant gong.
A few light touches to an 80-inch symphonic gong and suddenly the room fills with a horror movie soundtrack. And if you were actually standing here like I am, you can feel all your internal organs being massaged by the vibrations from this. It’s really quite the experience.