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Watch a huge asteroid crash into the Moon

Of course, rocks and asteroids crash into the moon all the time (there’s a reason it’s so cratered.) But there’s something about seeing it in action — and at this size — that’s pretty amazing. So how big was the crash? So big that researchers say the flash it created was very, very briefly was…

Scientists trapped on a Medieval Hellworld, in Hard to be a God trailer

Before Hard to be a God was a hit video game, it was a novel by the indispensible Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, adapted into a 1989 film starring Werner Herzog. And now it’s been adapted into a new, black-and-white film that looks incredibly grueling and intense. In Hard to be a God, scientists from Earth…

New Paper-Based Urine Tests Could Detect Cancer and Heart Disease

Diagnosing cancer and heart disease generally requires extensively trained personnel and expensive instruments. But one MIT research group that wants to solve that problem has designed a single injection and paper-based detection system they’re hoping to ship them everywhere a letter can travel. Sangee Bhatia’s team developed a molecular detection system that brings a bunch…

Thinking positively could undermine your ability to succeed

It’s become a truism to say that thinking good thoughts can lead to good things. Self-help gurus tell us to visualize success, and psychologists tout the “power of positive thinking.” But some scientist have found that positive fantasies lead to bad things. Adam Alter has a great article in the New Yorker about what really…

Zappos Isn’t a Cult? All Tony Hsieh’s Friends Got Matching Tattoos

Online retailer Zappos is known for its zany, zealous corporate culture. But one stunt seems to bridge the gap from “culture” to “cult”: For CEO Tony Hsieh’s 40th birthday party, his inner circle of friends—apparently calling themselves “Zapponians”—all got the same tattoo. The story of the tattoo party opens a long feature in the Las…

Scary punk magically transforms into posh girl—but what’s better?

Well that was unexpected. Meet Mel. She’s an intimidating punk rocker who has a hot pink mohawk, more piercings than she can count and has never found a studded leather jacket she’s never worn before. And then meet Mel again after her made for TV makeover. Who is the better Mel? The makeover was done…

Does The Scream depict a real-life volcano explosion?

The explosion from the Krakatau volcano in 1883 was so strong that it unleashed a 130-foot tsunami and turned the skies red for months. But is it also responsible for this famous painting by Edvard Munch? Munch painted The Scream in 1893, ten years after the volcano erupted in Indonesia. Researchers in Sky & Telescope…

A scientific explanation of why Sriracha tastes so damn good

If you put sriracha on over 50% of your foodstuffs like me, you know what makes the Thai chili sauce so good — magical pepper elves. But it turns out there’s also several scientific reasons why our taste buds recognize sriracha as one of the best condiments on Earth, and this videos breaks ’em down.…

These Awesome Cardboard Sculptures Are Math in Motion

It’s hard to tell whether Erik Åberg is a magician or a designer—maybe it’s a little bit of both. Åberg is the creator of Ghostcubes, a cardboard system of folding boxes that, in his hands, demonstrate perfect, calculated precision. We don’t know terribly much about Åberg: This is his first and only video on YouTube,…

Kitten wiggling its ears like a real life gremlin while he eats

Here’s a tiny kitten so happy to eat that he wiggles his ears out of pure enjoyment—or something—like Gizmo the mogwai. Apparently, animals moving their ears when they feel pleasure is a thing. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

These Machines Are So Giant They Could Challenge Godzilla

There is simply nothing better than a giant machine. Nothing. Not convinced? We’ve got a gallery of some of the most enormous machines in history that will take your breath away. The 803 ft 10 in (245 m) long LZ 129 Hindenburg, the largest aircraft ever flown. It carried 50-72 passengers and had a crew…

An Incredible, Disgusting Scroll of Real-Time Porn Searches (NSFW)

Sexual proclivities are like snowflakes—bizarre, kinky snowflakes. Many are similar but no two are alike, as evidenced by PornMD’s (HIGHLY NSFW) live-scroll of global internet porn habits. Even the most staunchly non-vanilla folks could probably find something here to clutch their pearls about, but for the most part it’s just a fascinating glimpse into the…

Scientists cultivate bacteria from baby poop to make healthier sausages

Well, this lends new meaning to “not wanting to see how the sausage is made.” A team of Spanish scientists has been using bacteria cultivated from infant poop in order to ferment healthier sausages. Researchers at Catalonia’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Research’s (IRTA) food-safety program in Girona, Spain, have, in fact, been using baby…

Why Ghostbusters Is Such An Awesome Architectural Film

The sad news that actor, screenwriter, and director Harold Ramis passed away earlier today has unsurprisingly resulted in a wave of cinematic nostalgia, with #ghostbusters trending globally on Twitter and seemingly everyone, at least in this office, talking about films such as Groundhog Day, Caddyshack, and National Lampoon’s Vacation. http://gawker.com/remembering-harold-ramis-best-moments-1529786146 This newly intensified attention to…

6 Incredibly Accurate Predictions About TV From 1989

It’s easy to laugh at futurist predictions. But when they’re proven accurate, it’s hard not to be impressed. Especially when it comes to technology that we now use every day. Pausing and rewinding live TV? Dialing up virtually any movie you like without leaving home? Watching films on the go? For the most part, these…

Before and after the war: The dramatic aging of Abraham Lincoln

On the left, Abraham Lincoln in 1858 during his campaign for the Senate of Illinois, just three years before becoming President of the United States. On the right, President Lincoln in 1865, just before his assassination. It’s only seven years, but it looks like two decades. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join…

​Discover the terrors of space in the comfort of your own home

Did you blow your chance to watch Gravity in 3D and/or in Imax? You poor bastard. You can’t possibly recapture the experience on your home TV (yes, even if you have one of those giant home theaters with stadium seating), but at least you’ll get to pause to use the bathroom. Plus Thor, Harry Potter,…

Changes in Red Hook, violence in Kiev, and new ideas for Paris from mayoral candidates. Plus Bogotá bans cars for a week, California might divide into six states, and the surprising history of Hollywood. These are all the Urban Reads you need. “The trolleys were a reminder of a different era in Red Hook, a…

Fan-Made Game of Thrones trailer is better than all the HBO trailers

Instead of using hyper-fast cuts of characters looking ominously just past the camera YouTube user LadyDogTrailers cobbled together all the official Game of Thrones trailers HBO’s released, and recut it so you can see what’s actually happening, to Lorde’s cover of the Tears for Fears song “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” It is fan-fucking-tastic.…

Whoa, Watch Bacteria Instantly Turn Water Into Ice

Believe it or not, making ice is more complicated than just making water really cold. One thing that helps is bacteria. Yes, bacteria! In this captivatingly magic video, it takes just a second for Pseudomonas syringae to turn a whole jar of water into ice. How does it work? It’s the same principle behind how…