Wes Phillips

Joseph Epstein muses on entering "early old age."

When Franz Reuleaux created the "language of invention," he more or less invented the future we live in.

Theo Jansen's art is moving—literally.

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Ed Hitchcock writes: "As both a paleontologist and home brewer, I could not help but be attracted by the media coverage of the reproduction of an ancient Sumarian beer. The beer, called Ninkasi after the Sumarian goddess of beer, was produced by the Anchor Brewing Company (San Francisco, California), based on a hymn inscribed on a clay tablet (1). Dr. Solomon Katz of the University of Pennsylvania and Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing worked to decipher the brewing clues contained within the hymn to reproduce the beverage so revered by the ancient Sumarians."

Huckleberry assumes the difficult "Lima bean" position. Inexperienced cats should start with the "bread loaf" and work their way up to the more difficult poses gradually.

Judging from the number of times I've been sent this animated short, it must be the most viral thing on YouTube lately. I can see why: It's great story-telling and it thrills me while leaving a smile on my face and a lump in my throat.

I have no idea why five different people emailed this link to me, but after the third one, I started thinking I should post it just to put an end to it.