ICE agents are dressing up as utility workers in Multnomah County, Oregon, in order to trick people out of their homes. Local lawmakers are urging residents to be aware and use caution.

Additionally, Oregon public utilities are issuing warnings and informing locals how to check their workers' bona fides. — Read the rest

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Here's a painting of a cat completely derailing important paperwork. Painted in 1882 by Frank Paton, the scene captures the exact moment an inkwell tips over, sending ink flooding across what looks like a last will and testament.

The cat has likely just undone someone's careful legal work during the brief window when its owner stepped away from the desk. — Read the rest

The post 1882 painting captures the chaos of living with cats appeared first on Boing Boing.

Here's a cool website you should check out if you love astronomy and want to see what the Hubble and Webb Space Telescopes are looking at right now (or close enough). "Space Telescope Live" is a web application originally developed in 2016 for Hubble updates. — Read the rest

The post Cool NASA tool shows near-live space telescope observations appeared first on Boing Boing.

It comes courtesy of the Cline Observatory at Guilford College (I have used Photoshop here to lower the noise in the image and to raise the relative brightness of the asteroid). The folks there took it as a challenge to find the minor planet with my name on it (figurately, not literally), and having located what looks to be it, compared the image to an earlier image of the same patch of sky to make sure that what they thought as the asteroid was indeed wandering through. Johnscalzi is currently at magnitude 17 (extremely dim), so the fact they managed to image it at all is kind of remarkable.

If you’re looking for it yourself, it’s currently in the vicinity of the constellation of Leo, near the lion’s butt. The precise location, for this or any other day, can be had by going here, then clicking on the “Ephemeris” link near the top, and having done that, clicking the “generate ephemeris” button at the page you’re taken to. It’ll then generate all the information you need to find it. That said, again, it’s at about magnitude 17 right now, so you’ll need a big telescope, or the ability to do time-lapse image stacking, or, probably both.

I have neither at the moment, so I’m thrilled that the folks at the Cline Observatory took a little bit of time out their evening to give it view. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m hugely thrilled to have a minor planet named for me. Being able to see it, even just a little, is also hugely thrilling.

— JS

Look, this isn’t a real post. It’s just me sharing a story that might help you if you’ve been in my same predicament. When I was little my great grandmother (on my mom’s side) used to make the most incredible peach cobbler but she absolutely refused to share the recipe with anyone because the womenContinue reading "The Peach Cobbler that went missing for 40 years."

The most chilling part of JD Vance's statement is not its aggression. It's its calm.

"I want every ICE officer to know that their president, vice president, and the entire administration stand behind them," Vance wrote on social media, responding to public outrage over an Immigration and Customs Enforcement killing that was neither lawful nor justified. — Read the rest

The post When the vice president blesses the killing appeared first on Boing Boing.