Photo credit: Chenchen Zhang
McDonalds Spam + Oreo Burger made a splash a couple of weeks ago when it was offered for just a single day in China. Now, the chain has begun selling a spicy chili oil sundae. Unfortunately (or fortunately), this is also a one-day item, available just on January 25th. However, residents living in Beijing city, Hebei or Liaoning provinces may need to travel outside of those regions to get their hands on one of these. Read more for a picture of the actual item.
Johani Mamid has filmed crocodiles in the past, but his most recent trip to the Crocodile Park in Broome, Western Australia almost ended up in disaster. While he’s a trained crocodile feeder, this reaction by one of the giant crocodiles was a surprise, as it leapt up to attack his drone. Fortunately, it was able to be flown away in time, just before the animal grabbed ahold of the drone, although plans may need to be changed in the future. Read more for the video and additional information.
Remember the jetpack guy from a few months ago? If so, the mystery could have just been solved, and it’s a lot stranger than you think. Apparently, this is not a real human at all, just a remote-controlled mannequin shaped like a real human built by Ralph Kayser. It features a duocopter design with KK 2.15 flightboard, powered by two 250Kv engines that draw power from a 10S 3000mAh Lipo battery. Read more for the videos and additional information.
Some already know that “Musou Black” can absorb 99.4% of visible light, but what happens when you cover an entire room in this paint? The Action Lab set to find out, and the results are dark to say the least. When using the same light as in the unpainted room, the “Musou Black” version makes it feel as if you’re stepping into outer space, mainly because the walls now absorb nearly all the visible light. Read more for the video and additional information.
“The Imperial March,” also known as Darth Vader’s Theme, was composed by John Williams for The Empire Strikes Back, and it premiered on April 29, 1980, three weeks before the opening of the film. Today, it’s still one of the best known symphonic movie themes, and over the years, fans have found unique ways to play this iconic tune, including with a toaster. That’s right, an engineer who runs the Device Orchestra channel managed to do just that, with the help of electric toothbrushes and a typewriter. Read more for the video and additional information.
H/T: Car Scoops
What you’re looking at is the world’s first and only 1989 Ferrari 412 turned El Camino-style pickup. This conversion was shown on the History Channel’s ‘Ultimate Wheels’ show (Season 1, Episode 1) and basically consisted of replacing the rear seats with an wood-clad open bed. A parcel shelf was also added behind the seats, but unfortunately, they had to remove the original 4.9L V12 engine and replace it with a 5.7L small-block Chevy V8, paired with an original GM 3-sped automatic transmission. Read more for additional pictures and information.
If money is no object, you can transform literally any vehicle into a limousine, including this 2013 Dodge Challenger SXT. It’s been stretched to 140-inches and fitted with four gullwing doors. Inside, there’s a bench-style seat in the rear, a small dry bar, headrest speakers and the obligatory TV. Why was this turned into a limo? Well, it’s a salvage vehicle first off, and the title states flood damage. Fortunately, the dealer states that there are no mechanical issues with the car. Read more for additional pictures.
Photo credit: Lim Huey Teng | Reuters
A team of researchers from Malaysia have figured out how to turn the fiber found in discarded pineapple leaves into a rigid material that can be used to manufacture frames for drones. These unmanned aircraft made from bio-composite material were found to have a higher strength-to-weight ratio than those made from synthetic fibers, while also being much more cost efficient. The result is a drone with a lighter frame that is easier to dispose of, as damaged units can just be buried in the ground and have it degrade within 2-weeks. Read more for a video and additional information.
There’s a lot going in within the US government right now, whether it be an agreement on how to distribute vaccines or attending normal business of creating the legislation that keeps the country funded, but one item may surprise you. When President Trump signed the $2.3 trillion COVID-19 relief and federal funding bill, a “committee comment” attached to the annual intelligence authorization act includes language that “directs the [director of national intelligence]…to submit a report within 180 days of the date of enactment of the Act, to the congressional intelligence and armed services committees on unidentified aerial phenomena.” Read more for a video of mysterious cloud spotted in the Santa Clara skies recently and additional information.
You may have heard or seen the Ames window illusion before, but for anyone who wonders hot it works, Derek Muller of Veritasium is here for the job. Put simply, the illusion involves a flat piece of cardboard that appears to be a rectangular window but is, in fact, a trapezoid. The cardboard is hung vertically from a wire so it can rotate around continuously, or is attached to a vertical mechanically rotating axis for continuous rotation, and both sides have the same image. Read more for the video and additional information.