Sploid: Where awesome, wild, and breathtaking tech moments burst into view.
The European Space Agency has successfully launched its mission to study how Earth’s magnetic field protects us against cosmic radiation onboard a Russian rocket. And then, the awesome thing above happened: the payload divided into three in a cool maneuver worthy of a (good) Ridley Scott sci-fi movie. From ESA: ESA’s three-satellite Swarm constellation was…
I’ve always marveled at the fact that the US Air Force put hugeartillery cannons inside airplanes. Watching them in action is impressive. https://gizmodo.com/this-is-not-a-lost-scene-from-aliens-5761946 Imagine all the energy that has to be absorbed so the airplane doesn’t flip around at every shot. A wonder of military engineering. Video by Airman 1st Class Stephen Ellis Hurlburt Field…
Our friend Val Klavans sent me this teaser trailer for the outstanding In Saturn’s Rings, a truly incredible look into the most photogenic planet in the solar system. Please support their Kickstarter project to fund the soundtrack for the film: the recordings of Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” by the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra. In Saturn’s…
Comet Ison is getting brighter and more beautiful every day. Juan Carlos Casado took this stunning photo on November 21, 2013 at the Teide Observatory, in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. Remember: get out of the city on November 28, the day when comet Ison will be at its brightest.
A new request by the Air Force Research Lab reveals that the USAF is planning to have laser weapons built in the next generation of fighters by 2030, the US Naval Institute reports. The new jet fighters will be equipped with both defensive and offensive lasers. I’m glad we’re getting ready for the incoming alien…
This short video is absolutely terrifying and heartbreaking. In just 30 seconds, the home and life of this Washington, Illinois, couple was utterly destroyed at the hands of a monster tornado. The footage is a gut-wrenching look at how quickly a natural disaster can wreck everything.
What are limits? Nothing to Aaron Fotheringham, also known as Wheelz. He can do more tricks with his wheelchair than you can with a skateboard. Fotheringham has been using a wheelchair full time since he was 8 and has worked with Box Designs Wheelchairs to better tweak his custom chair so he can do more…
Christianity. Islam. Judaism. Buddhism. Hinduism. All the major religions have basically competed with each other in an epic, historical game of Risk. Who can gain the most converts? Which religion is the most right at being right? Who has the most color on the board? Those who start strong early can flame out, others can…
Man, humans are boring. House pets aren’t much more interesting. Bugs can get kind of cool but they’re disgusting. Disagree with any of that? Well, check out these fantastic animals. They’re absolutely incredible. Translucent, colorful, oddly shaped, spiky, wiry, egg-like and completely out of this world even though they’re from our world. These animal photographs…
Oh my God. Look at this car violently tumble over and over and over again in a crash at a land speed event. The car is mutilated and destroyed and is hardly even recognizable as a vehicle anymore. It’s horrific. It’s awful. And it’s completely unbelievable that the driver of the car, racer Brian Gillespie,…
This is the Ferrari Arno XI Racing Hydroplane and is, without a doubt, the most beautiful speedboat ever made. Its 1953 Flash Gordon design still feels beautiful today. It’s not only a design masterpieces. It’s an incredible machine too. This one of a kind ship—sold on a May 12, 2012 auction for about a million…
Crabs are red alien water tarantulas who regenerate like mutants. Just look at this crab literally climb out of its old shell and toss away that used exoskeleton like it’s a dirty pair of pants. So gross but so cool. I kind of wish I could shed skin like this. It’d probably be the most…
NASA has published an incredible photo that shows a “far-flung trio of primitive galaxies nestled inside an enormous blob of primordial gas nearly 13 billion light-years from Earth.” What’s amazing about this is that you are looking at something being created in the Cosmic Dawn, the period “when the universe was first bathed in starlight.”…
Rem Koolhaas’ new building in Rotterdam is in reality three towers joined by common spaces into a single massive unit that contains offices, apartments, and a hotel. More than a normal skyscraper it feels like a chunk of the Death Star teleported to the Netherlands. https://gizmodo.com/rotterdams-biggest-building-opens-after-16-years-of-wo-1469185298
Watch the International Space Station’s cannon in action. It’s name is J-SSOD and it’s attached to the Japanese module Kibo. But wait, you say, what happened to the no weapons in space thing? Is this Death Star Alpha? Don’t worry, this cannon doesn’t fire projectiles or laser beams or proton torpedoes, which is good because…
Errol Morris talks with Tink Thompson—the author of the must-read Six Seconds in Dallas—about the photographic evidence of JFK’s assassination in this new fascinating video. From the New York Times: The Kennedy assassination changed Tink’s life. In 1967, he was an assistant professor of philosophy at Haverford, when he published “Six Seconds in Dallas.” Short,…
It seems that nothing is wrong with this Boeing Dreamlifter, standing by at Jabara Airport, in Wichita, Kansas. Except that’s not the airport this airplane was supposed to be and, worse, its runway may be too small for it to take off. The Dreamlifter—a cargo airplane designed to take Boeing parts from its factories around…
This is a taxi in Hong Kong, with 13 phones attached to its dashboard, some smart, some dumb. And believe it or not, there’s a method to this madness. One of the Reddit commenters says that most Hong Kong taxi drivers have “three to six dumb phones glued to the dash, plus a personal phone.”…
It may not be accurate anymore, but I want a hard copy of this beautiful 1854 graphic that shows the longest rivers and the tallest mountains in the world—so I’m definitely taking this high resolution file and printing it. Click here for more information about these charts.
Thank you Japan for oshizushi, nigirizushi, manga, sukiyaki, anime, Akira Kurosawa, Majinga Z, katsu, shabu-shabu, tentacles, Gatchman, and now this space bus that belongs in sci-fi movie. Sure it’s gimmicky, but where else can you find a bus with a flight joystick to play games on each seat? https://kotaku.com/japans-space-buses-are-out-of-this-world-1468833076
