It seems to be some kind of budding process.  

A Western Screech-Owl. One of these. Photographed by Brad Wilson. Via PootBlog. 

Apocalyptic weather forecast brought to you by AccuWeather. // Candy carpet. // Catherine the Great’s erotic cabinet. // Sex device patents of note. // Some first-time experiences of virtual reality porn. // Pocket operator. // Unboiling eggs now possible. // Leather and paper. // Leather-bound, shock-absorbing designer crutches. // Alaskan native snow goggles, circa 1900. // Everyone remembers that sad Saturday. // Snow plough of note. // 1.4 explosions per minute. // Playing cards of yore. (h/t, drb) // Monks and sand. // Shooting New York from above. // 18 everyday objects photographed up close. // Big rings. // Board game of note. // “What if everything were cheap?” // When women draw vaginas. “Oh God, wow.” // And finally, scientifically, how to draw mushrooms on an oscilloscope.

Nunchucks, baby. // Frozen bubbles. // Flowers in ice. // Where fairy tales could happen. // 1940s Detroit. // Dashcam footage of note. // The epiphanies of Jessica Fletcher. // Popeye loops. // “Given the choice between 20 lashes spread over 5 days or 3 years in prison, which would you choose?” // Cinema etiquette circa 1912. // Ionising radiation and where to find it. // Haulage. // Owls. // Big beasts of the sea. // “The estimated cost for dropping four beavers from a plane was around $30 in 1948, that’s about $294 in today’s dollars.” // Adopted dogs. // Designer chocs. // Exciting new product from Weyland-Yutani. // The truth is out there. // This is not a UFO. // Unapplauded skillz. // Tools. // And finally, via Simen, Succulent is an interactive game involving hairy men and lollipops.

At last, “We send glitter to the people you hate.” // Ice huts. (h/t, Coudal) // Under ice. // Cuba before communism. // Christopher Hitchens on the awful cosmic joke that is Muhammadanism. // A montage of Hitchcock motifs. // Knots and how to tie them. // 47, 973. // Playing with fire. // How to slyly steal pizza. // Perhaps a bit long in the tooth for this sort of thing. // Eiffel Tower coffee maker. // “Rules for men in feminist movements.” (h/t, McCain) // Ladies, I bring you fashion. // The thrill of bri-nylon. // Balloons. // Luggage. // Bugs of Singapore. // Sub-optimal driving conditions. (h/t, Randall) // A billion degrees of separation. // Building without nails. // How to build a snow shark. // And finally, loftily, the science of monkeys and mirrors. Or, “Hey, that’s my arse!”