Andrew Tarantola

Soviet Hobbits, Dave Chapelle’s First Set, and a Naval Explanation of Bath Salts

BATH SALTS: It’s not a fad…It’s a NIGHTMARE Just in case you weren’t already convinced, the US Navy would like to reiterate that bath salts are not just peyote sans the whimsy, they’re a designer amphetamine and will severely ruin your week. Хоббит (The Hobbit) Whaddya mean you don’t speak Russian? Well then you are…

6,000 Soundproof Bricks Create a Rooftop Zen Garden in Downtown Hiroshima

With its limited land mass, real estate in Japan is a premium commodity. As such, there isn’t a lot of extra urban space for private gardens—unless you build it on your roof, that is. Dubbed the Optical Glass House, this 330 square-meter building was designed by famed Japanese architect, Hiroshi Nakamura, and resides on a…

This Is the First Live Recording of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit

Few bands have so fundamentally affected the American music scene—with a single song, no less—as Nirvana did in 1991 with the debut of Smells Like Teen Spirit. The Beatles did it in 1964 with “Please Please Me” and set off the British Invasion, Grandmaster Flash did it in 1981 with “The Message” and brought Hip-Hop…

NASA’s Developing Robotic “Hedgehogs” to Explore a Martian Moon

Exploring micro-gravity climates like Mars, which has just 38 percent of the Earth’s force, or its moon, Phobos, which has 1000 times less gravity than that, can be a challenge for rovers that rely on wheels or skittering legs for traction. That’s why Stanford researchers plan to survey the Martian moon with an fleet of…

This Is a Naked Woman

Shinichi Maruyama, a NYC-based Japanese artist, has long studied the interactions between motion and time. However, for his most recent set, Maruyama has traded in his water sculptures for a nude dancer, though you’d never know if from the results. While each image looks as though it’s a single long-exposure shot, it’s actually comprised of…

How to Put a Tiny Tree in a Fish Tank and Call It Art

The Japanese art of Bonsai propagation has endured for more than a thousand years, though never quite like this. Botanical artist Makoto Azuma has combined modern technology with an ancient practice to create this impressive submerged specimen. Azuma first adorned a dead Juniper branch with live java moss to simulate leaves, then sunk the “tree”…

How To Set Off New Years Fireworks Without Losing a Hand

Every occasion is a good occasion for fireworks—The 4th of July, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, Guy Fawkes Day, Chinese New Year, your birthday, your anniversary, a home run, a touchdown, graduation, Tuesday… Unfortunately, such an abundance of occasions also resulted in more than 8,000 fireworks-related injuries in 2011. Four of them fatal. Here’s…

The Gauntlet Is Down: LG Unveils 4K and OLED Sets for 2013

Early adopters will have something to crow about in the new year. LG has just announced its 2013 television lineup, which will be headlined by a massive, 84-inch 4K and 55-inch OLED sets. In all, LG is rolling out 19 models for the new year—a trio of 42-, 50, and 60-inch plasmas, 15 22- to…

The SC: Six Bingers What Cost More Than Your Rent, Maybe Your Car

Fully Color Worked, 3-D Marble Glass Ice Bong with a Fixed Stem and Inline Perc – $687 Sometimes, even simplicity comes at a price. This 17-inch beaker-base glass binger does feature an inline percolator as well as some sweet inside-out color work but for the most part is a basic borosilicate bong, which is why…

How America’s First Delta Wing Fighter Prevented WWIII

Despite the general incompetence of Soviet long-range nuclear bombers, the US couldn’t allow a single such plane to reach American airspace. Its response—a new breed of fighter jet with an unprecedented wing design and handling. https://gizmodo.com/the-ussrs-first-supersonic-bomber-failed-harder-than-so-5966072 The Convair F-102 “interceptor” was the first fighter to incorporate a tailless delta wing design anywhere in the world.…

The Secret Origins of the Chicken Nugget

Chicken nuggets haven’t always been made from pink slime, nor were they invented by McDonalds. Turns out we know surprisingly little about how these ubiquitous golden hunks of deep-fried poultry ever actually made it onto fast food menus. https://gizmodo.com/chicken-nuggets-are-made-from-this-pink-goop-5654066 Contrary to popular belief, McDonalds was only the first entity to commercially sell nuggets, not invent…

12 Ways to Swim Without Water

While your New Year’s resolution to get back in shape is commendable, there’s gotta be a better way than on one of these ludicrous dry land swimming trainers. Our friends at Oobject have assembled a dozen of the most outlandish examples. Be sure to also dive into these abandoned swimming holes and awesome private pools.…

Westinghouse is rolling out a 4K UHD 110-Inch television at CES—most likely via fork lift.

The SC: Mechanical Mutts, Pale Blue Dots, and Your Token Hyperlapse

DO NOT FALL IN NEW YORK CITY The Biggun Dreams production crew proves that Punisher films don’t have to be as terrible as that Thomas Jane tragedy or as hokey as the one with Dolph Lungren. You could even go so far as to say that this shoestring fan flick is pretty awesome. The Festival…

Transect China in Half the Time Aboard the World’s Longest High-Speed Rail Line

High speed rail may be a quixotic public works project here in California but for China, it’s a cornerstone of the country’s transportation infrastructure. Yesterday, Chinese officials expanded that infrastructure by inaugurating the longest such rail line on Earth and announced plans for seven more. While not nearly as fast as the Tokyo-Nagoya mag-lev line…

The Stoner Channel: The One with All the Awesome Classic Bluegrass

Dr. Ralph Stanley – Wind Gap – 2012 You may know recognize the name from the O’ Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack (he did O Death and origianlly wrote Man of Constant Sorrow) but Dr. Stanely is actually a pioneering force of the genre. He and his brother Carter began recording ole-timey tunes all the…

I’m a Tech Writer Thanks to This Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strip

I wasn’t supposed to be here today. Growing up, I was obsessed with dinosaurs and dreamed of becoming a paleontologist—the thought of sifting through heaps of stone and soil was far more enticing than fighting fires or learning Ninjutsu, my two fallback careers. But then Calvin’s dad went and blew my mind. “How is that…

Boeing’s Concept SUGAR Plane Plugs In Like a Prius

In November of 2011, American commercial airlines consumed 48.3 million gallons of fuel—every day—and paid a total of $49.8 billion that month to do so. And with increasingly tight operating budgets, fuel efficiency has quickly become a primary concern for the airlines. Boeing thinks one possible solution is its new plug-in hybrid jet concept that…

LG Unveils a Gigantor 100-Inch Laser Projector: You’re Gonna Need Bigger Walls

Conventional video projectors have remained largely a niche market for dedicated home theater enthusiasts on account of their difficult installation. However, a new breed of “home projector” has developed over the past few years into an increasingly viable alternative to flat panel televisions. And if LG’s new 100-inch class LG “HECTO” Laser TV is any…

The Stoner Channel: A Drummer’s View of NIN, Devo Plays Paris, and Bob Dylan Takes a Drug Drive with John Lennon

James Brown Demolishes Olympia Washington with a Wall of Sound This 1971 film is one of the rare times James Brown’s original supporting lineup was ever caught on tape. [Open Culture] John Lennon and Bob Dylan Share a Taxi, Groovy Pandemonium Ensues The pair of legendary musical artists got into an London taxi, both high…