James Baker, Author at Gizmodo

Every pop culture icon ever mashed up Terry Gilliam style

Guy Trefler is a synthetic human being made from the DNA of Terry Gilliam and Andy Warhol but without any of their originality. And that’s ok, because he says nothing is original in this seizure-inducing video mashup. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

Sploid James Baker Jul 30

These freaky talking heads will be in your nightmares tonight

These freakish heads, little more than disembodied mouths, were created for a poster for a festival—but then designers Dvein decided to breath life into their creations, animating and adding sounds from the event. Is this really how artists envisage their audiences and critics? Here are the original posters and some images from the event. Dvein…

Sploid James Baker Jul 30

This rescue of kayakers trapped in a cave freaks the hell out of me

A group of kayakers take a wrong turn and end up trapped in a cave. Luckily they are prepared and know exactly what to do. I am not sure I would have stayed nearly so calm. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

Sploid James Baker Jul 29

Don’t watch this if you don’t want to freak out about your life choices

Filmmaker Paul Trillo takes a look at the infinite options that fill our daily lives and how the consequences of our actions can transform the multiple paths that we can take, combining over a lifetime to define us as people. Some choices we think we can affect, others seem too small to contemplate. SPLOID is…

Sploid James Baker Jul 29

Insane boy leaps off 5-story building to land in pool several feet away

Watch this crazy guy leap from a roof terrace on top of a five story building to land in a swimming pool. Miraculously, he judges the distance right, the water is sufficiently deep and nobody else is around to be hurt. Unfortunately, this ends in disaster more often than you think. In places like Spain,…

Sploid James Baker Jul 28

How a desert cat uses its super ears to hunt birds in mid-flight

This footage of a desert cat taking out a bird in mid-flight is another impressive reminder of the astonishing power of natural evolution. The small but agile caracal uses 20 muscles —in three distinct groups—to independently control each of its ears, which act as supersensitive parabolic sound antennas. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome…

Sploid James Baker Jul 28

This is how a bombing run looks through a B-52’s bomb bay doors

Watching 16 tons of explosives fall on this tiny little island is awe-inspiring—unless you are some animal living in that island, that is. Then it’s pretty terrible. Sometimes it surprises me how something as horrible as this raw destruction power fascinates humans so much. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on…

Sploid James Baker Jul 25

Watch water doing crazy stuff on hydrophobic surfaces

There are a lot of great applications for materials being developed that display extreme water repelling properties, inspired by nature and particularly desert life. This video doesn’t explain any of them and that’s fine—I just like to watch all those crazy water droplets doing crazy stuff. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join…

Sploid James Baker Jul 25

Baseball team is so bad it had to install robots to cheer up human fans

The Hanwha Eagles—a South Korean baseball team famed for losing—now have robot fans to cheer them on. Absent supporters can use social media to deliver messages and show their faces on the robots’ LEDs. This has to be the saddest, most depressing thing I’ve ever seen in any sport. The Hanwha Eagles have won the…

Sploid James Baker Jul 25

The prettiest science experiments of the year according to Princeton

Princeton University is celebrating the beauty of science, a selection of of experiments and research papers that result in amazing displays of color and motion that can be classified as contemporary art. Here are the prettiest ones. Plenty of Fish to See. This video shows how fish can see far more than a few nearest…

Sploid James Baker Jul 25

Amazing six-year-old kid roller skates under 39 SUVs

Watch this six-year-old roller skater limbo under 39 SUVs—a clearance of about seven inches. Gagan Satish, from India, coasted the 230-foot distance in just 29.8 seconds. The flexible kid has been rollerskating for about three years and practises regularly when he is not at school. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us…

Sploid James Baker Jul 24

Antarctic ice looks so tempting as summer temperatures soar

Photographer Martin Bailey captured these gorgeous images of Antarctic ice during a seven week working trip to the continent. As summer temperatures soar it is hard not to see these sublime and moving landscapes in terms of giant slices of ice cream. Martin Bailey is a Tokyo based nature and wildlife photographer. He has a…

Sploid James Baker Jul 24

Nightmare porcelain figures for evil grandmas

It seems that Danish artist Maria Rubinke makes classic porcelain in the greatest European tradition—until you see the gore details and blood over them. They would be perfect for your grandmother—if she were a vampire, a werewolf, or a psychopath. Images via Maria Rubinke’s Facebook SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us…

Sploid James Baker Jul 23

World’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge opens—and you can jump off it

The longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world has opened in Russia, with a 1,800-foot span. It offers breathtaking views of the Sochi landscape but it isn’t really designed for your daily commute—it is part of a skypark and you can bungee jump off it for a 650-foot drop, as shown in this video. Eight…

Sploid James Baker Jul 22

Cool new X-Wing Mark II revealed in new Star Wars VII video

A new J. J. Abrams’ Star Wars VII video shows a new version of the X-Wing starfighter. It may look like a Z-95 Headhunter because it doesn’t appear to have the classic s-foils that open to give it it’s X attack shape, but this official tweet says it’s the real thing. So, ladies and gentlenerds,…

Sploid James Baker Jul 21

Lonely skater explores eerie Los Angeles empty of any cars

Filmmaker Russell Houghten created the illusion that the skaters in this video were travelling alone thru an abandoned Los Angeles, an eerie view of a city that is always brimming with heavy traffic. A lot of the time they were in fact mixing with speeding traffic which he later patiently removed in post-production. The film…

Sploid James Baker Jul 21

Lunatic leaps on top of moving metro train as it emerges from tunnel

Watch a madman leap on to a moving train as it emerges from a tunnel in France. The idiot then tells the camera that he will try again soon because it didn’t work out how he had planned—as if it’s not easy enough to get yourself killed these days. SPLOID is a new blog about…

Sploid James Baker Jul 18

Optical illusion GIFs make classic horror characters three-dimensional

Saline used a well-known optical illusion to turn the greatest scary monsters of all time into beautiful postcards that feel three-dimensional on your screen. I love that they paid homage to the often gimmicky classic horror films of yesteryear with such a gimmicky technique. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on…

Sploid James Baker Jul 18

Scientists use wireless Oculus Rift to create real life holodeck

Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institut in Germany have created the closest thing we have to a real life holodeck using a wireless Oculus Rift and multiple cameras distributed inside a 32-foot by 32-foot room. Of course, it’s still far away from Star Trek, but it works. Watch the video to see how: Subjects in the lab…

Sploid James Baker Jul 18

How emojis invaded our lives

Emojis. Love them or hate them, they snuck into our daily lives and they are here to stay. This fun mockumentary shows how everyone has come to accept, live with and even depend on these silly graphics to express feelings and emotions through Facebook, Instagram and text messaging (as sad as that can be.) SPLOID…

Sploid James Baker Jul 17

James Baker

Every pop culture icon ever mashed up Terry Gilliam style

These freaky talking heads will be in your nightmares tonight

This rescue of kayakers trapped in a cave freaks the hell out of me

Don’t watch this if you don’t want to freak out about your life choices

Insane boy leaps off 5-story building to land in pool several feet away

How a desert cat uses its super ears to hunt birds in mid-flight

This is how a bombing run looks through a B-52’s bomb bay doors

Watch water doing crazy stuff on hydrophobic surfaces

Baseball team is so bad it had to install robots to cheer up human fans

The prettiest science experiments of the year according to Princeton

Amazing six-year-old kid roller skates under 39 SUVs

Antarctic ice looks so tempting as summer temperatures soar

Nightmare porcelain figures for evil grandmas

World’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge opens—and you can jump off it

Cool new X-Wing Mark II revealed in new Star Wars VII video

Lonely skater explores eerie Los Angeles empty of any cars

Lunatic leaps on top of moving metro train as it emerges from tunnel

Optical illusion GIFs make classic horror characters three-dimensional

Scientists use wireless Oculus Rift to create real life holodeck

How emojis invaded our lives

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