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Cool photos of jet engines with their shell open

I like to see everyday objects under different, almost unrecognizable perspectives. Like these jet engines with their shells open. Above: a General Electric GEnx turbofan engine. Above: A General Electric CF34. The red light is heating lamp used to cook off the resin used in a lining repair. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us…

These beautiful Lego birds available soon!

Along with the announcement that they are going to make a Lego set based on The Big Bang Theory, Lego has chosen another, more artistic theme to produce in the next round of Lego Ideas. Thomas Poulsom‘s Lego Birds Project hopes to see these sets in zoos, museums, wildlife centers and of course the Lego…

Stephen Hawking Biopic Might Steal Your Heart, But Won’t Blow Your Mind

The Theory Of Everything is a remarkable, moving portrait of Stephen Hawking, who overcame unthinkable obstacles to revolutionize science. It’s a beautiful romance that spans the 1960s through the 1980s. Too bad the movie mostly glosses over the actual science that Hawking became famous for. Minor spoilers below… Based on a book by Hawking’s first…

A Bunch of People Wearing Oculus Rifts and Falling on Their Butts

Let’s talk about the physical realities of virtually blasting your brain into another world: People are falling on their faces and butts. The first time I saw the video below (which is GIFed above), I laughed and laughed and laughed. Haha! That poor schmuck! He was just innocently getting his senses rearranged in some mall…

How many times keys get pressed in a Chopin piano piece

If you like classical music, Joey Cloud’sPlanogram is a fascinating toolto analyze the frequency of notes in different piano pieces. Above you can see Chopin’s Etudes Op. 10. Listen to it below. SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Fast-Acting Nuclear Reactor Will Power Through Piles of Plutonium

Even the latest generation of nuclear power reactors can only harvest about five percent of the energy stored in their radioactive fuel supplies, and the toxic leftovers must then be buried deep underground to slowly decay over hundreds of thousands of years. But thanks to a new breed of sodium-cooled pool reactor, we may soon…

Vladimir Putin’s Batshit Crazy Attempt To Create an Alternate History

Russian president Vladimir Putin is saying that Britain and France are responsible for allowing the Nazis to run roughshod around Europe before the war, while saying there was nothing wrong with the USSR’s pact with Hitler. It’s a pathetic attempt by Putin to abuse history in a way that asserts his authoritarian rule. These comments…

Telepathy Over the Internet Is Getting Real

Researchers at the University of Washington just successfully demonstrated a brain-to-brain interface in a six-person study. This is the second such study, but with more people, more confidence, and enough success to presume that telepathy might just leap out of the realm of sci-fi. Basically what happened is this: One subject was located in one…

Here’s How We’ll Build A Cheap, Safe Lunar Base

The “magnificent desolation” of the Moon might offer some great views, but otherwise it’s a lousy place to live. Human explorers would need protection from a constant bombardment of radiation and extreme temperature shifts. A new video shows how we can inexpensively build an ideal shelter with robotic 3D printers. The concept video, produced by…

Guy spent two years building a working replica of the 1989 Batmobile

Zac Mihajlovic—a 29-year-old Batman fan from Camden, Australia—spent two years building this impressive and fully-functional 1989 Batmobile. The car is road legal and he uses it mainly to make sick kids happy—together with the Make-A-Wish foundation. Zac bought some parts from the original car and built others. Apart from the weapons, the car is pretty…

Lego will make an official The Big Bang Theory set

Submitted by Alatariel to Lego Ideas, this set quickly gained the 10,000 supporters it needed to be entered into the review phase. Today, Lego announced they will produce a set based on the The Big Bang Theory in near future. Bazinga! Watch Peter Espersen make the video announcement. The Big Bang Theory set should have…

A New Obscene Superyacht Is Getting Its Own Private IMAX Theater

How’s this for obscene. Yacht-maker Ken Freivokh Design is in the process of engineering a brand new 500-foot superyacht for a client that will boast the world’s first floating private IMAX theater below deck. And when it’s not being used to show movies, the Nemo Room, as it’s being called, will display live underwater images…

Darth Vader Sounded Hilarious Before Voice-Over

The Force Awakens will introduce us to some new Sith villains for sure, but Darth Vader will always be the most iconic. James Earl Jones was his threatening voice, but the body was an English actor who didn’t just gesture around in silence like a mime during filming; he voiced all the lines in a…

The Biggest Lies About Science in the U.S. Government’s “Wastebook”

Over the last five years, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) has published an annual Wastebook, documenting what he considers the 100 most wasteful federal projects. This year he got a lot of media mileage by ridiculing several science grants—which, in fact, were among the cheapest and most worthwhile projects on his hit list. Coburn and his…

These Caramel Apples are as sweet as Baymax Himself

Big Hero 6 hits cinemas this weekend, and is practically guaranteed to have people gushing over Baymax in all forms. Why not get ahead of the curve and celebrate with Caramel Apples that look just like him? Adorable. These sweet creations come fromFood Adventures in Fiction, who’ve been ramping up to the movie’s release this…

These Are The Pages Being Ripped From A Biology Text Book In Arizona

The Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board in Arizona recently voted to “redact” a page from a ninth-grade biology text book because it includes a brief section on an abortion pill. School officials have responded by literally tearing the page from the texts. Thankfully, the Internet has come to the rescue. The offending section from Campbell…

New Software Will Give Doctors a Panoramic View Inside Your Bladder

Images of long sandy beaches, breathtaking mountains, and even bustling cities come to mind when you think about an extra wide panoramic photo—not the inside of somebody’s bladder. But new software promises to give doctors a better view inside a patient’s plumbing by stitching countless images from an endoscope together, making it easier to spot…

If Amazon Echo Said What It Was Really Thinking

Amazon’s Echo looks promising. It’s Amazon’s most interesting—and important—product in years, if it lives up to its promise. But what if it works, and also hates you? Amazon’s original promo is pretty optimistic (if also a little awkward). Redditor The_Invincible is a little less so, and edited together a new promo video that offers an…

Climate change deniers may find it hard to make their case when they’re constantly sneezing. Allergy-causing grasses produce more pollen when atmospheric CO2 is higher, says a new study. An increase in atmospheric C02 levels from 400 ppm (current level) to 450 ppm could result in a 25% increase in pollen production

This Tiny Home Uses Sliding Walls to Transform One Room Into Four

We’ve seen our fair share of transforming apartments around here, from MIT’s super-advanced version to this Ikea-esque wonder. But none of them can compare to the sheer inventive genius of this apartment, in which huge sliding racks make it possible to pack a whole household into a tiny corridor of space. It’s called the All…