Laughing Squid

2 weeks ago | laughingsquid.com | Lori Dorn

How the ‘Star Trek: TNG’ Episode ‘Darmok’ Prioritized Communication Between Different Languages Lori Dorn June 8, 2025 I recently asked my audience which episodes of “Star Trek the Next Generation” they considered to be the best. And one of the titles that consistently came up was “Darmak”. I found it interesting that of all the great episodes in this series …people chose a story about language as their favorite. Muir spoke further about the separation of language in the episode, noting that...

2 weeks ago | laughingsquid.com | Lori Dorn

Personified Natural Numbers Learn About Mysterious Fractions in an Amusing 1971 Educational Cartoon Lori Dorn June 8, 2025 “The Weird Number” is an amusing educational cartoon from 1971 that features personified numbers haunted by mysterious creatures in the woods that they have never seen before – fractions. Once the natural numbers understood that they could also turn into rational numbers, the fractions were readily accepted. The narrative highlights the concept of rational numbers,...

3 weeks ago | laughingsquid.com | Lori Dorn

How Daft Punk Made Electronic Music Go Mainstream Lori Dorn June 7, 2025 Matt Beat of The Beat Goes On, who creates abbreviated but detailed histories of legendary rock bands, looked at the enigmatic duo of Daft Punk. Beat spoke about how Daft Punk started out as a French band called Darlin’, which was named after a Beach Boys song, and then subsequently used a critic’s bad review of them to name their new band. They named themselves “Darlin’,” after a Beach Boys song. Darlin’ quickly got...

3 weeks ago | laughingsquid.com | Lori Dorn

Chinese Artist Creates Beautiful Calligraphy Using Colored Powders That Are Shaped By a Blade Lori Dorn June 7, 2025 Chinese artist qiaobiangugu creates absolutely gorgeous calligraphy using colored powders and a razor blade to shape the powder into letters in both Chinese and English. Like temporary sand paintings, the powder floats gently above the page and can be easily whisked away, perhaps symbolizing the impermanence of life. And while she makes it look easy, this art form can take many...

3 weeks ago | laughingsquid.com | Lori Dorn

What Dying Would Look Like on Every Planet Lori Dorn June 6, 2025 The animated series Trust Me Bro explained rather graphically what the process of dying would look like and how quickly it would occur on each planet in the solar system. Needless to say, it’s not very pretty, even on Earth. I discuss exactly how you would die on every planet, and what it would be like to die on every planet. Lori Dorn...