With how fast technology is progressing, just hearing someone say “world’s fastest” doesn’t quite have the same effect it used to, that is unless…you’re talking about this shed. Based on a 1999 Volkswagen Passat, this vehicle had to be completely built from the ground up with an additional metal frame to give the wooden exterior strength, while power comes from an Audi RS4-sourced 4.2-liter V8 engine generating 455-horsepower, all running the Quattro all-wheel-drive system. Read more for two videos and additional information.
Always wanted to stay in the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile? If so, then you’re in luck, as it’s now available to rent in Chicago through Airbnb, but only for a limited time, or to be more specific, during the annual Lollapalooza music festival (August 1-4). The booking page will go live on July 24th and be priced at $136-per-night for two-person occupancy. Inside, you’ll get a one-bed, one-bath, a mini-fridge “stocked with Oscar Mayer hot dogs and all the Chicago-style hot dog essentials” and even an Oscar Mayer brand grill that guests can take home with them. Read more for the news report, additional pictures and information.
Elon Musk’s start-up Neuralink, founded in 2016, wants to connect your brain directly to computers. How does it work? It involves drilling holes into the brain with a custom machine to embed thin threads that connect to a tiny processor, which communicates with a smartphone over Bluetooth, and as more people sign up, the installation process will be as quick and painless as Lasik eye surgery. Musk wants to have its first human patient equipped with the technology before the end of 2020 after FDA approval. Read more for another video, additional pictures and information.
Two extremely rare rainbow blanket octopuses were captured on camera during a night dive off the coast of Romblon, Philippines by Joseph Elayani. Its rapid color change is due to a reaction it has to the different light levels from the camera, and doubles as a defense mechanism against would-be predators. This rare species of cephalopod is native to tropical and sub-tropical regions deep down under the waves, thus they rarely m,ake contact with humans. Read more for a video and additional information.
Put simply, metamaterials are basically artificial materials engineered to have properties not found in naturally occurring materials, best known as materials for the ‘invisibility cloak’. AI is capable of precisely designing artificial atoms that are smaller than the wavelength of light and by controlling the polarization and spin of light, new optical properties are created not found in nature. Current methods require various trial and failures until the right material is obtained, but AI is expected to provide a hyper efficient solution for this problem. Read more for a video and additional information.
How To Make Everything’s Andy George wanted to combine his industrial and musical skills into a single project, and thus this flame-throwing Mad Max: Fury Road Coma-Doof Warrior style electric guitar was born. Long before the project began, he pitched the idea to famous online guitar teacher Marty Schwartz, and then took down notes on the best way to approach this fiery instrument. Read more for two videos and additional information.
As of today, over 550,000 people have signed up on Facebook to invade the secretive Area 51 base this September. How did this all come about? During the week of July 1, a public Facebook page joined forces with a Twitch video game streamer named SmyleeKun to organize an event called “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us,” an even where attendees are invited to fly out to Lincoln Country, Nevada, and “all meet up at the Area 51 Alien Center tourist attraction and coordinate our entry” at 3 am Pacific on September 20. Many are familiar with the “cammo dudes” that patrol the base and surrounding areas, so they assume that if a swarm of people ambush the high-security base at once, they won’t be able to stop them. Read more for another video and additional information.
Photo credit: nelife_13
Now that you’ve seen the Siberian Maldives, it’s time to check out Monte Neme in the A Coruña province of Galicia, Spain. This may looks like an idyllic tropical lagoon, but during WWI and WWII, this area was a tungsten mine that supplied the material necessary for making light bulbs and hardening steel. Doctors strongly warn that bathing in the waters of Monte Neme could be hazardous since the surrounding mounds are large masses of heavy metals that leak directly into the water. Read more for two videos and additional information.
Photo credit: Jean-Baptiste Béranger
This giant golden egg Solar Egg, created by the artist duo Bigert & Bergström for Riksbyggen, may look like a sculpture of some sort, but step inside, and you’ll realize it’s actually a solar-powered luxury sauna. It can be found now in Rättvik, Sweden and consists of a pine wood interior covered by highly reflective gold steel panels. The 4-meter wide interior can fit up to eight people comfortably, and is a normal sauna with a wood-heated heart-shaped stove to keep the room around toasty at around 170°F. Read more for a video, additional pictures and information.
Photo credit: Kearny Police via Peta Pixel
About 2-months ago on May 16th a brazen phone thief stole an iPhone and then proceeded to post a bizarre selfie to the victim’s Instagram account. Police in New Jersey are currently searching for the thief, and have turned to social media in hopes someone recognizes the person who is still on the loose. “The Kearny Police Detective Bureau is turning to our facebook community for assistance in identifying a person of interest in the attached photograph,” said a representative. Read more for a news report video and additional information.