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11 Fun Halloween Projects (Beyond Jack O’Lanterns) You Can Do With Your Kids
It starts with a little lie—that haircut is perfect for you!—but before you know it, you’re bragging about your Olympic gold medal in curling. Now scientists at University College London and Duke University say they’ve figured out why we so naturally progress from little white lies to whoppers. They published their findings [PDF] in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
Researchers recruited 80 people between the ages of 18 and 65 and brought them into the lab to play a game. Each participant was introduced to their “partner” (actually a researcher), and then some of them were hooked up to an MRI scanner before they started playing. The premise was simple. A participant was shown a clear image of a jar of pennies. They were told that they were responsible for reporting the number of pennies to their partner via a microphone, and that their partner would pass on that information to the researchers. Both participants would then be given a certain amount of money. All participants had reason to believe that their imaginary partners were oblivious and would trust whatever they said. In some scenarios, the participants were told that the more accurate and truthful their guess, the more money they’d make. In others, they were told that they’d make more money if their partners guessed wrong; in other words, they were encouraged to lie.
The tests were set up to create four situations: those in which lying benefited both the participant and their partner; those in which it benefited only the partner; those in which it benefited only the participant; and those in which lying would only hurt them both.
The researchers noticed two clear, if unsurprising trends. First, they saw that participants’ willingness to lie increased as the game went on. Fudging a number and increasing or decreasing the estimate by a few pennies turned into a few more pennies, then a few more. Second, the tests showed that lying only increased for the two situations that benefited the participants, whether with or without their partners.
Reviewing the brain scans, the researchers could actually watch as participants became accustomed to lying. As the initial fib was taking place, the participants’ brains showed activation in the amygdala and other regions associated with strong emotional responses. It’s as if their brains were saying, “This is not a good idea. Let’s not do this.” But the next lie induced less amygdala activation, and the one after that, less still. It was as though they’d built up a tolerance to dishonesty.
Study co-author Tali Sharot compared the experience of lying to wearing a new perfume. At first, she said, the new scent is overpowering. The second time you wear it, it’s simply strong. But “two months from now when you put on the perfume,” she said in a press conference, “you can’t even smell it yourself, so you feel you have to put quite a lot on, and other people turn away. And that’s because the neurons in your olfactory bulb adapt.”
Like our sense of smell, the authors say, each person’s lying profile was different. Some participants lied more than others, and some people’s lies escalated more quickly.
The researchers have not conclusively proven that reduced amygdala activation reduces our pangs of guilt, thereby greasing the slippery slope, but they think it’s pretty likely. “This is in line with suggestions that our amygdala signals aversion to acts that we consider wrong or immoral,” said co-author Neil Garrett. “We only tested dishonesty in this experiment, but the same principle may also apply to escalations in other actions such as risk taking or violent behavior.”
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October 25, 2016 – 10:30am
When director Sam Raimi released the original The Evil Dead in 1981, Stephen King dubbed it “the most ferociously original horror film of the year.” The splatter flick about a small group of friends enduring the consequences of selecting a demon-infested cabin for a weekend getaway spawned two sequels, a 2013 reboot, and a current television series, Ash vs. Evil Dead.
None of that may have happened if Raimi hadn’t first elected to shoot Within the Woods, his 1978 prototype short that helped convince investors he could make an effective horror film. And while The Evil Dead may be one of the best-known examples of a genre filmmaker offering a proof-of-concept project, it’s far from the only one. Check out eight other horror features that started life as short scares.
It took director Jennifer Kent nearly a decade to turn her 10-minute short, Monster, into a feature, but the wait paid off: The Babadook received some of the best critical notices of any film in 2014. In both the short and full-length story, a single mother and her child confront a monster in their home that turns out to be as much a metaphysical threat as a real one. Kent said she expanded the short as a result of financial constraints: financiers in her native Australia found other scripts for her first feature film too ambitious, leading her to return to the more intimate (and less expensive) narrative. Kent calls the original a “baby Babadook.”
Mike Flanagan’s logline was simple: throw a guy into a room with a haunted mirror and see what happens. Oculus: Chapter 3 – The Man With the Plan, a 29-minute short, was the result. (There was no chapter one or two.) Flanagan got plenty of offers from Hollywood following its release—but few wanted to entrust him to direct a feature. After using Kickstarter to fund the small independent movie Absentia, Flanagan was able to expand the mirror idea for Oculus, a film starring Karen Gillan (Doctor Who) that opened up the narrative to include more than one time period.
There was just one additional wrinkle: Flanagan didn’t want to do it as a found footage film, which studios kept insisting upon. After negotiations, he got his wish: Oculus found a receptive audience without the gimmick.
It’s rare that a 6-minute short bears more recognizable performers than the eventual feature film, but director Paul Solet’s Grace is an exception. Shot on a microscopic budget in 2006, Solet was able to convince Beverly Hills, 90210 star Brian Austin Green to participate. The short—about a mother experiencing a very unconventional and very alarming pregnancy—was filmed strictly as a calling card, as Solet had written a full-length script prior but had problems getting interest. After touring the festival circuit, he managed to obtain funding from ArieScope Pictures for a film. Although it’s not known what effect watching the short has had on viewers, at least two men passed out during the feature’s premiere.
Japanese horror has been fertile source material for plenty of Hollywood remakes, but there are still a number of fans who prefer the originals. In the case of Ju-On, director Takashi Shimizu’s tale of a family pursued by accursed entities, the English version was actually the third to be filmed. In 1998, Shimizu shot two brief projects on videotape for the Japanese horror TV series Haunted School G that contained several of the core concepts found in the features, including the infamous “crawl” of leading creepy girl Kayako.
Comic book writer Joe Harris’s short film, Tooth Fairy, had an irresistible hook for film studios: a malevolent tooth fairy that hunts children. After the film made festival rounds, Revolution Studios purchased the rights for a full feature adaptation. Harris said in 2010 that he wrote several drafts of the film before a “heavily rewritten” version made it into theaters.
When a Stranger Calls may not hold up for its entire running time, but most who have seen it will tell you that its opening 10 minutes (above) might be among the scariest committed to film. The sequence—which features Carol Kane getting some disturbing calls from a mysterious voyeur while babysitting—was largely mapped out in director Fred Walton’s short film, The Sitter, which was made for $12,000. While the feature drew criticism for not having enough plot to sustain itself past those early moments, they’re worth the price of admission. In 2006, Simon West directed a remake of the feature version.
How short can a film be and still attract interest from major studios? Maybe as short as three minutes, the approximate running time of director David Sandberg’s Lights Out, a 2013 film that consisted of nothing more than a woman being terrified by something in the dark. It was enough for producer and filmmaker James Wan (The Conjuring) to sign Sandberg for a full-length version. In addition to that pivotal opportunity, Wan is also positioning Sandberg to direct the sequel to the killer-doll film Annabelle. Not bad for a film barely longer than a commercial break.
Likely one of the few senior thesis projects to inspire a feature, Michael Dougherty’s animated short from 1996 preceded his horror anthology from 2007. In both the college and feature films, the ominous trick-or-treater, Sam, is front and center. Dougherty reportedly cut his hand while hand-drawing the animation, with the blood specks making it into the finished edit.
October 25, 2016 – 10:00am
by Alex Carter
Google Earth is a virtual globe that lets its users “fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, from galaxies in outer space to the canyons of the ocean.” To achieve that goal, the service must regularly stitch together individual photos from its library of satellite images in order to create a wider view. In two dimensions, that’s not so hard. But trying to convert that to three dimensions—especially in places where the visuals can get tricky, like where roads overlap—is where the algorithm can break down, and the resulting topologies can resemble what looks like an M.C. Escher painting viewed through beer goggles.
Postcards From Google Earth collects just such images, a few of which are presented below. For even more fun with Google Earth, visit Postcards From Google Earth‘s website.
October 25, 2016 – 9:30am
Dezeen // YouTube
The insanely fast Hyperloop system has been pegged as the future of transportation since Elon Musk first proposed the idea in 2013. One of several places looking to get in on the technology is the United Arab Emirates, where engineers are planning a roughly 100-mile track connecting Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
As Dezeen reports, the Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) recently released a sneak peek video of their design for Hyperloop One. The structure, which propels passenger pods through a semi-vacuumed tube, could be especially beneficial to commuters in the region. Jakob Lange, director of a unit of the firm called BIG Ideas, says in the video below: “Suddenly you spread out the possibilities for everybody to live where they want.”
Hyperloop One is one of several groups working to execute Elon Musk’s vision. The company has also looked into constructing systems in Russia, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the UK. When they first tested the technology in the Nevada desert earlier this year it reached speeds of 116 mph—fast, but not quite up to speed with Musk’s original proposal of 760 mph. The details of their United Arab Emirates project will become clearer once the full design is released on November 7.
[h/t Dezeen]
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October 25, 2016 – 9:00am
| Questions: | 5 |
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| Backwards navigation: | Forbidden |
5 Questions: Previously on TWD
Tuesday, October 25, 2016 – 02:45
Carrying around enough water to keep you hydrated throughout the day can be a tricky task, especially if you don’t want to travel with a bulky water bottle. A new Kickstarter campaign hopes to make getting your daily H2O easier. The Conway bag is a small purse with a hidden water pouch inside—a fashionable solution to dehydration.
“From clunky water bottles that you lose on a weekly basis to forgetting to drink water all together, 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated,” the campaign explains. “The Conway makes drinking water throughout your busy day easier than ever.”
The creators of the Conway aim to combat a number of problems that plague thirsty Americans. Constantly buying plastic water bottles is expensive and bad for the environment, but carrying around a cumbersome water bottle can be annoying—especially if you lose things easily. With this new bag, they hope you’ll no longer have to worry about these issues.
Each bag has a hidden 17-ounce water pouch that fits snuggly inside a water resistant pocket. Designed by Platypus, the container is easily removed and refilled. It has a flat shape, giving plenty of room for all your other belongings. A long drinking tube is snaked through the strap and can be accessed through a zipper, giving you a sneaky way to quickly get a few gulps in on the go. (The page does not explicitly say you can fill this bag up with wine and sneak it into an event, but we’re all thinking it.)
The bag comes in two styles: Classic Black and Weekender. The subtle look and shape of the bag is meant to be a sleek option for customers that don’t want to trade fashion for function. The bag is 9 inches tall and 10 inches wide, but only 1 inch deep, meaning it falls flat on your hip but still has plenty of room for your wallet, keys, and phone. It’s also made from a light cotton material, so it won’t feel heavy, even with 17 ounces of water sloshing inside.
You can pre-order your own bag right here and say goodbye to shoving water bottles in your purse.
October 25, 2016 – 6:30am
We’ve seen plenty of dogs and cats dressed up for Halloween, but they aren’t the only animals getting into the holiday spirit. Check out some other critters who have dressed up for the occasion, even if they don’t go door-to-door begging for candy.
This little Count Dracula is as adorable as he is elegant.
There’s something creepy coming your way, but very, very slowly. Even tortoises can get in on the Halloween fun with custom-made tortoise costumes from Etsy shop Deerwood Creek Gifts. Shop owner Cindy Breninger makes tortoise costumes to order, like this spider, or maybe you’d prefer your tortoise to dress as a witch, a shark, or a bat.
A tortoise can dream of being big and scary like a stegosaurus, and can live out that dream on Halloween. Etsy shop KreaturesCreations sells all sorts of crocheted shell cozies that will turn your tortoise into a pumpkin, mushroom, or a battle tortoise.
If you’re going to put your bearded dragon or other beloved lizard in a Halloween costume, this would be the one to choose, if only for the opportunity to use the phrase “wizard lizard.” Quite a few pet owners have done it, as you’ll see in a gallery called “You’re a lizard, Harry” at imgur.
A dragon should be able to fly, right? If you want to go the DIY route, you can learn to make your own wings and harness at Instructables, which will have your bearded dragon looking like something out of Game of Thrones in no time.
Check out this playful ferret in a Super Mario costume. We bet he could run the course in no time at all and save Princess Peach every time.
This Instagrammer has several ferrets—and likes to dress them up. Gussy, shown above, says boy ferrets can wear tutus, too. She also sells these tutus on Etsy, in case you’d like one for your own ferret.
Never fear, Superbunny is here! Miss Laine has various clothing items and accessories for rabbits at her Etsy shop turvytopsy. She will make bunny costumes to order, like this superhero outfit. But if you’ve got something else in mind, she might be able to design and make something for your rabbit’s 2017 Halloween costume.
In 2012, Sandy Cramer painted her horse Raven as a skeleton for a Halloween costume contest. She only needed white paint, as Raven provided all the black background. The photos of her costume and horse became an internet sensation the next year.
This was a very popular Halloween costume for several years during the height of the Harry Potter craze. Young lady equestrians dressed as Hermione and did up their horses as Harry Potter himself. They wore matching Hogwarts uniforms, and oversized glasses made it clear who the horse was playing. You can see a gallery of Harry Potter horses at BuzzFeed.
DeviantArt member NocturneJewel loves to dress up her pet geckos, snakes, and tarantulas for special occasions. (Check out her Halloween Showcase to see them in various seasonal tableaux.) Shown here is Ariadne the tarantula in her witch hat, posing with a potion.
This costume may have been for Christmas, but it would be just as fun for Halloween. Instagrammer Katie Widger dressed her pet snake Hercules in a set of antlers and reindeer ears. All he needs is a red nose.
This snake’s name is Huxley, and he’s ready for trick-or-treating in his stylish witch hat, complete with feather.
With his black fur, this guinea pig fills out his bumblebee costume well. He was just one of several cuddly guinea pigs that dressed up for the occasion. Another pig in the same family dressed as a pirate.
DeviantArt member and cosplayer GrumpyDess should have won some kind of cosplay award for this costume that makes Madam de Pompadour the guinea pig into Thor. Madam de Pompadour (a male pig) also got to play Captain America.
All dressed up as “Squirrelduggery the Pirate,” this is the famous Sugar Bush Squirrel, who wears all kinds of costumes. (Visit her Facebook page to see more of her looks.)
October 24, 2016 – 6:00pm
Fall is the northeastern United States’ time to shine: Leaf peepers from around the world flock to New England to enjoy the changing colors of autumn. The tourism fall foliage brings is a major industry in the region, but its success depends on the weather. A few rainy or foggy days could obviously wash out visitors’ weekend plans, but more importantly, long-term weather—like months of below-normal rainfall—can have a big impact on how much color shows up in the trees.
The amount of rain that falls in the months leading up to autumn plays a major role in determining how vivid the yellows, oranges, and reds are come fall. Leaves appear green because of chlorophyll, a pigment involved in photosynthesis—the process that allows plants to turn sunlight into the energy they need to survive. As the nights grow longer and days grow cooler, chlorophyll production in tree leaves slows to a halt. Once dying leaves stop producing chlorophyll, they change back to their “true” colors, showing us the color we would see if they didn’t have chlorophyll.
Normally, this process occurs in late September and early October in the far northern reaches of the United States, and slowly creeps south through Thanksgiving. But drought disrupts the changing of the leaves.
Trees can withstand a short-term lack of water, but when a tree goes without water for too long, it will gear up to survive the drought. To do so, trees start shutting down chlorophyll production early and cutting off water to the leaves in order to conserve water for the tree itself. As the leaves start to dry out and die of thirst, the lack of chlorophyll mutes their colors before they fall off. In a normal situation, the leaf is still getting water as chlorophyll production slows, and so survives long enough to lose its green pigment and revert to its original color. This is why many drought-stricken areas don’t see their usual fall foliage.
Unfortunately, parts of the Northeast are in a serious drought this year. This past summer tied for the third-warmest summer on record in the Northeast states, with the region as a whole measuring an average daily temperature of 69.3°F—that’s 2.7°F above average. The weather patterns that caused the near-record warmth this summer also limited the amount of rain that fell over the region. For example, Boston, Massachusetts, typically sees a little more than 10 inches of rain during the summer months. This summer, the monitor at the city’s airport only recorded 3.92 inches of rain, the lowest summer rainfall on record since the weather station began operating in 1936. It’s a similar story across nearby parts of New England.
In the days leading up to the traditional peak in fall colors across the Northeast, the U.S. Drought Monitor—a weekly analysis of drought conditions across the United States—shows that as of October 18, nearly 53 percent of the Northeastern region is experiencing some level of drought. Almost 26 percent of the drought is bad enough to be considered “severe,” and 5 percent of the Northeast is in an “extreme” drought, the second-highest category on the dryness scale.
At least the good news for folks whose livelihoods rely on tourists gawking at trees is that the very worst of the drought is near the coast, while the best colors typically appear in the deciduous and densely forested areas farther inland. Daily satellite imagery provided by MODIS Today shows that fall colors are still in full bloom across interior parts of the region. While they’re not as vivid as they would be in a more normal year, the trees will still be a sight to see for the next couple of weeks.
October 24, 2016 – 5:30pm