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Coolest band in the world plays with musical instruments made from ice

What’s cooler than being cool? Ice cold. Exactly. The Swedish town of Luleå took that saying literally because they formed an incredible ice orchestra called Ice Music that uses musical instruments sculpted from ice—yes, ice—to performs songs inside a concert hall that’s basically an igloo. Different bands show up to use the icy musical instruments…

The Weirdest Thing on the Internet Tonight: Fart Gymnasty

Finally, a way to simultaneously make watching the floor routine bearable and satisfy the humors of the 9-year-old in all of us. Come to think of it, most every Olympic event could benefit from a flatulent overdub. Either that or get the MST3K guys to provide commentary.

Here’s what a mathematically perfect centered pool break looks like

If you’re curious about what would happen if a perfectly hit cue ball hit a perfectly aligned pool rack perfectly in the middle, well here’s what it will look like. It’s mathematically perfect. Not even the best pool players in the world, magnet breakers or robots can even get it to look like this. Why?…

Make a Cut-up Song to Celebrate William S. Burrough’s 100th!

Disquiet Junto Project 0110: WSB100 Each Thursday at the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.com a new compositional challenge is set before the group’s members, who then have just over four days to upload a track in response to the assignment. Membership in the Junto is open: just join and participate. Tracks by participants will be…

Panasonic’s Lumix GH4 Packs 4K Video Into a Sweet Mirrorless Shooter

Accessible 4K video shooting is still in its infancy, but it was only a matter of time before it started showing up in consumer cameras. The Panasonic GH line’s history of robust video capability makes it a natural fit for 4K, and the new Lumix GH4 squeezes as much as it can into a familiar…

What if all the ads in the world were replaced by beautiful art?

Artist Etienne Lavie had a lightbulb bursting idea: what if all the advertisements we see on a daily basis in the street, on subways and billboards and so forth were replaced with beautiful works of art? Instead of seeing a C-list celeb shilling a sugar drink or a traditionally beautiful faceless model selling strips of…

Here is what Earth looks like from Mars

Yeah, I can totally see it! How can you miss that? It’s right there. Clear eyes, full Earth, can’t miss. Wait, really? No of course not. Anyone who tells you that is either a liar or a hawk. Earth looks incredibly tiny up in that Martian sky. Sure, if you squint hard enough and fake…

Awesome dad builds giant luge track in his backyard for his family

When life gives you snow, don’t just make a snowman. Make a giant luge track in your backyard for the whole family! A Dad in Minnesota does that every year to have some fun with winter and the track is pretty impressive with great slopes, windy turns and expertly designed snowbanks. Just look at his…

Nearly all experts agree that bacterial and viral diseases will have been virtually wiped out [by the year 2000]. Probably arteriosclerotic heart disease will also have been eliminated. — February 25, 1966 issue of Time magazine

The Insane 1950s Flight Sim That Taught Airmen to Refuel in Midair

Performing a midair fuel transfer between aircraft is among the most technically challenging maneuvers in aviation, especially when flying a prop-driven, WWII-era C-97 Stratotanker. That’s why neophyte pilots spent hours at the controls of this life-size simulator before they ever set foot in the real thing. Built in 1953 at a cost of $853,000—one of…

This Skiing Backpack Turns Parents Into Sled Dogs

Being a parent isn’t always a glamorous job—in fact, it rarely is. But you’ll do anything for your kids, including serving as a human sled dog when you’re out skiing and your spawn are too tired to forge through fresh powder, thanks to the Snowmule backpack. Available in 15 and 25 liter capacities, the Snowmule…

Extraordinary photo of rocket launch taken from space a few minutes ago

I’ve seen some spectacular photographs of spaceships launching to orbit, but this has to be one of the best: The contrail of an Ariane 5 rocket launch taken “just a few minutes ago” by astronaut Rick Mastracchio from the International Space Station. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

New Form of Graphene Should Finally Make Graphene Electronics Possible

F0r years, scientists have struggled to build graphene-based electronics that could do the same thing as silicon superconductor chips. A new breakthrough from an international team of scientists might just change all that. These geniuses just invented a new form of graphene that’s ten times more conductive. The trick to this new form of graphene…

Scientists reveal origin of mysterious sea circles (spoiler: not human)

Scientists have finally unraveled the mystery of the strange crop circles that appeared off the coast of the Island of Møn, Denmark, in 2010. Unlike the crop circles on land, however, these are not made by humans. They are not made by alien spaceships either. Or rest of craters from bombs dropped during World War…

GI Joe Has Been Fighting the War on Cobra for Half a Century Now

GI Joe fans are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the world’s first action figure’s debut this month. Over those five decades, the GI Joe brand has seen wild swings in its popularity—a barometer of the public’s regard for the US military—and undergone numerous design evolutions. Conceived by Don Levine, Hasbro’s head of research and development…

Seeing a kiss from inside the mouth is pretty damn gross

Yikes. Never kiss anyone again, people. Because while you’re politely closing your eyes and giving someone a smooch, your slimy mouth is inhaling another set of lips in what looks like squirmy worm sex on a stained enamel bed. It’s gross. So gross. Okay, maaaybe a little bit sexy in a vomit-inducing, I feel weird…

You Can 3D Print This Magnificently Medieval Chess Set at Home

Everybody needs a chess set. And if you’re going to have a chess set, it might as well be a fun chess set, like MakerBot’s Dragons of Glastonbury chess set. That way, if you get bored playing chess, you can always just stage a huge medieval battle in your living room. This whimsical 3D-printed ensemble…

Concept Art Writing Prompt: The Cyborgorilla and the Banana Robot

In the ruins of a city, an unlike pair comes together. Are they predator and prey? Post-apocalyptic pals? Or just strangers passing each other at the end of the world? Sam Nielson, an artist for Disney Interactive’s Avalanche Software, came up with these striking cyborg characters. As always, we invite you to come up with…

You’ll Soon Be Able To Explore Museums After Dark Using These Robots

It’s already a pretty great time to be a couch-bound art lover, and this summer the gallery experience is getting even more futuristic—because anyone with a working Wi-Fi connection will be able to sign up to pilot light- and camera-clad robots around the Tate Britain late at night, offering a self-guided tour with a drone’s-eye-view.…

The most important moment in the evolution of life

There’s a fundamental mystery at the core of our evolution. No, it’s not how we went from fuzzy shrews to humans — it’s how bacteria made the jump from single-celled existence to something more complex. The weird part is that evolutionary jump only happened once. Over at Nautilus, Ed Yong has a terrific essay about…