Frontier Communications is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the first ever flip-phone, so the Utah-based ISP decided to offer $1,000 to someone willing to ditch their modern smartphone for a week. There are a few requirements for the winner, and they include recording how long it takes them to do simple tasks such as texting, sending emails, how much sleep they get, and whether their productivity increases during the experiment. Read more for another video and additional information on how to enter.
Photo credit: Amazing Escapes
At first, these geodesic domes may appear to be a set location for an upcoming science fiction movie based on another planet, but in reality, it’s just the Kachi Lodge at the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia. There appears to be four different structures, with two being the sleeping area, another a dining hall, and the last just a relaxation dome. with plenty of lounge chairs as well as breathtaking views of the barren landscape. Read more for a video, additional pictures and information.
Razer’s new RESPAWN is touted as mental performance drink mix designed for gamers, by gamers and comes in four unique, sugar-free flavors: pomegranate watermelon, blue raspberry, tropical pineapple, and green apple. It contains green tea extract, choline, B vitamins, and 95mg of caffeine to help support increased focus, reaction time, and mental stamina, according to the company. Each 20-pack box is priced at $24.99 and the optional metal shaker cup at $29.99. Read more for a taste test video and additional information.
Photo credit: Kaffeform
Designer Julian Lechner saw other people using coffee grounds to create composite materials. So, he decided to combine his love of coffee with practical design, and thus Kaffeeform was born. These espresso cups and saucers are made entirely from old coffee grounds called, and he spent over five years developing the process. It all starts by mixing the grounds with sustainably sourced wood and natural glues to create stunninng accessories for the perfect cup of coffee. Read more for another video, additional pictures and information.
Composite metal foam (CMF) is not what you find in packaging, but instead formed from hollow beads of one metal within a solid matrix of another, such as steel within aluminum, and boasts a 5-6 times greater strength to density ratio as well as more than 7 times greater energy absorption than previous metal foams. A single plate less than one inch thick has enough resistance to turn a .30-06 Springfield standard-issue M2 armor piercing bullet to dust. Read more to see it easily withstand a .50-caliber bullet.
Circus Roncalli, founded inn 1976, has just replaced real animals in performances with lifelike 3D holographic projections, whether they be elephants or even a goldfish. Roncalli’s agency TAG/TRAUM in cooperation with Bluebox chose Optoma as the best solution for this project and installed 11 ZU850 laser projectors for an immersive holographic experience. “We have been using Optoma projectors for 6 years and have consistently had a very positive experience in price, performance and reliability. We needed a high contrast projector with great colors for the 3D effect and the ZU850’s 2,000,000:1 contrast is perfect for this project,” said Birger Wunderlich at Bluebox. Read more for a video and additional information.
Produced by extracting the liquid component of a gel through supercritical drying, Aerogel is officially the world’s lightest solid. Since this synthetic porous ultralight material is derived from a gel, in which the liquid component for the gel has been replaced with a gas, it becomes a solid with extremely low density and low thermal conductivity. It’s 99.8% air, and features a porous solid network that contains air pockets, with the air pockets taking up the majority of space within the material, making it near weightless. Read more for an in-depth video and additional information.
Microsoft Inc. has teamed up with the makers of Axe body spray (Lynx in markets outside the US) to release a line of Xbox-branded personal care products that include a body wash, deodorant and shower gel. “Lynx Xbox is a fresh scent of pulsing green citrus, featuring top notes of kaffir lime and winter lemon, aromatic herbal middle notes of mint and sage, and woody bottom notes of patchouli and clearwood. Containing a range of natural essential oils, the Xbox Lynx range comes with a sleek new look and features a body spray, deodorant, and shower gel,” according to the official description. Unfortunately (or fortunately), it will be exclusive to Australia when it launches in July. Read more for an Xbox One X extreme drop test video with a $1,900 Samsung parachute and additional information.
US Navy pilots reported seeing hypersonic (over 3,800 mph) UFOs that had no visible engine or infrared exhaust plumes performing impossible mid-air maneuvers at 30,000-feet off the east coast of the United States between 2014 and 2015. The pilots reported that the objects were able to accelerate, make sudden stops and then instantaneous turns, or in other words, maneuvers beyond the capacity of current aerospace technology. Read more for an interview with one of these pilots by documentary filmmaker Jeremy Corbell and additional information.
The Pyraminx is basically a regular tetrahedron puzzle in the style of Rubik’s Cube, divided into 4 axial pieces, 6 edge pieces, and 4 trivial tips that can be twisted along its cuts to permute its pieces. Just like it’s cube counterpart, the goal is to scramble the colors, and then restore them to their original configuration. Chinmay Prabhu, a 20-year-old from India, managed to achieve the record title for the Most Pyraminx (Rubik’s Cubes) solved underwater and all in a single breath. How did he prepare for this record setting run? He’s been solving Rubik’s cube puzzles since 2015. Read more for the video and additional information.