Graffiti artist Banksy unmasked...

He is perhaps the most famous, or infamous, artist alive. To some a genius, to others a vandal. Always controversial, he inspires admiration and provokes outrage in equal measure. Since Banksy made his name with his trademark stencil-style 'guerrilla' art in public spaces - on walls in London, his works have sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds

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The Legend Of the Crystal No-Brainer

The package was addressed to the "MezoAmerican Museum". which isn't real. And the letter said the crystal skull was made by the Aztecs, which isn't true. "Legend of the Crystal Skulls" recounts how the objects captured popular imagination, spawning countless tales, namely, there are 13 such skulls

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Mark Twain’s Amazing Hoax that Deceived the World

In Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court Hank Morgan watches his medieval companion wallow with pigs she believes to be enchanted nobles and proclaims, “I was ashamed of her, ashamed of the human race.” Twain’s own shame at the human race’s partiality to superstition and pseudoscience was revealed on a much larger scale by his au

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In Japan, Buddhism May Be Dying Out

When it comes to funerals, though, the Japanese have traditionally been inflexibly Buddhist — so much so that Buddhism in Japan is often called “funeral Buddhism.” That expression describes a religion that, by appearing to cater more to the needs of the dead than to those of the living, is losing its standing in Japanese society.

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How to Overcome Writer's Block & Unlock Creativity

Do you have to complete a piece of writing but are putting it off? A report, a blog article, or a letter? Are you finding that the moment you sit down to write, you mind goes blank? Crap! Writers block! What can you do? This post looks at techniques for overcoming writer's and creative block, and tips for getting in touch with your creative side.

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America Plunged Into the Horror of "The Deep V-Neck"

Disturbing new trend emerging among the male of the species these days: the deep V-neck T-shirt. We're not talking about the ratty white Hanes with the yellow-stained armpits that your dad used to wear while cleaning the garage. No, this is a far more insidious epidemic, recognizable by its long, deep V, supple fabric, and retro color schemes.

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The Books That Changed Your Lives

On Thursday we asked you what books have changed your life, and over 250 thoughtful comments later, it's clear you all have book shelves stuffed with meaningful tomes. Now it's time to share the love. Today we've compiled some of the titles that you mentioned the most, with summaries so you can check 'em out further—and get a glimpse into the minds

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Generation Y Has No Culture

While there has always been generational wars has Generation Y been the first generation to give us absolutely no cultural movement? No music trend, no defining films, and they brought up the Hills... that is no good.

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Polish monastery may hold unknown Mozart works

WARSAW — A team of musicologists is reviewing 19th-century copies of musical scores from a Polish monastery's archives in hopes that some might prove to be previously unknown works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the lead scholar said Tuesday.

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How to Unleash Your Creativity: Scientific American

Three noted experts on creativity, each with a very different perspective and background, reveal powerful ways to unleash your creat­ive self.Probably won't hurt to read this.

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Mathematical art

The recent Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Diego featured an exhibition of work by forty mathematician/artists. The artworks draw from dynamical systems, topology, and fractals.

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Study in Complexity: Hardest Mazes to Solve

What makes a maze difficult to solve? The more we consider this question, the more elusive it becomes. It's certainly possible to begin defining mathematical measures of a maze's complexity, but complexity must depend on aspects of human perception as well.

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Dumb and Dumber: Are Americans Hostile to Knowledge?

Something is happening in the U.S: Anti-intellectualism (the attitude that “too much learning can be a dangerous thing”) and anti-rationalism (“the idea that there is no such things as evidence or fact, just opinion”) have fused in a particularly insidious way. Citizens are ignorant about essential knowledge and they don't care.

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Japan's Lost And Found Culture.

Anywhere else perhaps, a shiny cellphone fallen on the backseat of a taxi, a nondescript umbrella left leaning against a subway door, a wad of cash dropped on a sidewalk, would be lost forever .But here in Tokyo these items and thousands more would probably find their way to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Lost and Found Center.

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Taking Pictures of Strangers: Part I

For some reason when I get out my camera, I take pictures of strangers. Strangers don’t pose. They do funny things without realizing they’re being watched. And when you get the pictures back, they’re never around to complain about how they look. What I'm doing is called street photography.

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Artist photographs 'invisible' people

In the natural world, the chameleon blends in perfectly with its background. In the urban jungle, Desiree Palmen decided to attempt the same visual deception. It takes hours for her to paint the suits. First she takes photographs of the scene then, back in the studio, she meticulously transfers the detail on to the cotton suit with acrylic paints.

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Interview with Patrick Winfield: Polaroidologist

I love Polaroid, so when the opportunity came along to interview Patrick Winfield, a graphic designer and photographer who frequently uses Polaroid to create dynamic visual stories, I jumped at the chance to speak with him.

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Top 10 Reasons to Believe Logic Over Religion

8. Bad things happen to good people, great things happen to bad people. For a society that constantly gets the short end of the stick when it comes to miracles, why the hell are people stopping to help stalled motorists getting raped & murdered, but every time a girl scout makes it to my door she’s out of thin mints? I’m sick of it!

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The Mourning (PIC)

A heartrending photo by Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist John Moore, and the moving story behind it. "Some people feel the photo I took at the moment was too intimate, too personal. Like many who have seen the picture, I felt overwhelmed by her grief, and moved by the love she felt for her fallen sweetheart."

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JK Rowling drops hints of possible eighth Harry Potter book

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has strongly hinted for the first time that she could write an eighth book in the series. Rowling, 42, admits she has 'weak moments' when she feels she will pen another novel about the boy wizard.

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Photographs Of America's Best-Kept Secrets

Taryn Simon photographs some of the most top-secret, highly restricted areas in the world. Her latest book, An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, took four years to assemble as the photographer gained access to research facilities and government offices hidden from the public.

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7 Unusually Geeky Street Graffiti Projects [PICS]

What makes great graffiti into geek graffiti? It can be the approach,using incredibly cool computer equipment to generate graffiti for example. It can also be the content, as in the case of pixelated, projected or or even physically 'hyperlinked' street art. The followoing examples span the spectrum but share elements only a geek can truly love.

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The Amazing Street Photography of Matt Stuart

Matt Stuart must have the patience of a saint. He shoots photos from perspectives which create an illusion of objects and situations that don’t exist in reality, and he does it by waiting for just the right shot to come into view. Check it out.

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Neil Gaiman: How To Talk To Girls At Parties

A friend had told Vic about a party, and Vic was determined to go whether I liked it or not, and I didn't. But my parents were away that week at a conference, and I was Vic's guest at his house, so I was trailing along beside him. They're just girls," said Vic. "They don't come from another planet."

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5 Things You Didn't Know About Victoria's Secret

You might know that Victoria's Secret employs the most smokin' models, but here are 5 other things Victoria's been keeping a secret from you...

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Mona Lisa’s Identity, Solved for Good?

Experts at the Heidelberg University library say dated notes scribbled in the margins of a book by its owner in October 1503 confirm once and for all that Lisa del Giocondo was indeed the model for one of the most famous portraits in the world.

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The 10 Best Fireworks Displays of New Years 2008 [w videos]

In recent years there has been growing competition between the world’s major cities as to who can lay claim to the title of best New Year’s Eve fireworks extravaganza, and 2008 was no exception. Turn your speakers way up, grab a drink and watch as these major cities quite literally blow up our taxes!

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Hollywood Producer Asks Digg To Give Podcasts A Chance

Hollywood producer Dana Brunetti and some other guy wax poetic about recent Hollywood news and make a plea to Digg to fix the flawed Podcast section. Other topics covered include the self-struck WGA awards, the Weinsteins striking a deal with the writers, 1000 workers laid off at WB and a director who's suing a guy for giving his film a bad review

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