Awesome Etc

Most guitar players use their fingertips or a single guitar pick to strum. After “accidentally” 3D printing a triple guitar pick, engineer Mattias Krantz thought it might be fun to play with even more guitar picks at the same time. His compound guitar pick looks like it would a pretty good back-scratcher too.

From Batman to Beetlejuice to Birdman, Michael Keaton is a man of many personas. Keaton sat down for an interview with GQ to talk about some of his most iconic characters, their sources of inspiration, and how he got inside their heads. For some roles, the costume and makeup provided enough of a hook, while others required him to dig much deeper.

Jared Owen presents another fascinating animation of a complex machine—or, in this case, multiple machines working together. In this video, he walks us through the automated donut factory, which you can find at many Krispy Kreme locations. These machines can crank out up to 3000 donuts per hour. Our favorite part is the glaze waterfall.

A group of talented kids celebrated their friend’s birthday with a kick-ass performance of the Nine Inch Nails track Wish. The music video serves as a fundraiser for the O’Keefe Music Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps offer free music lessons and music camps to young musicians. Crank up the volume to 11 for this one. (Thanks, Myriam!)

This electromechanical plaything from Nikola Toy automatically steadies itself and balances on its point. Its curved Reuleaux triangle shape allows it to teeter while sensors, circuitry, and a spinning wheel help hold its position. It also has built-in RGB LED lighting.

Medieval weapon expert Tod’s Workshop happened to have five different types of crossbows in his workshop at the same time, so he thought it would be fun to compare how they work and how effective each is at its job. The collection ranges from a tiny handheld crossbow to massive ballista that requires a time-consuming tensioning process.

Animals come in all shapes and sizes. In this video from Posit Pixel, they use pixel art to describe some of the extremes of the animal kingdom, from diminutive parasitic wasps to a 42-foot-long snake. Along the way, you’ll learn about a fingernail-sized frog and Quetzalcoatlus, an extinct flying animal with a wingspan as big as a single-engine airplane.

After the guys from the Hydraulic Press Channel got their new 300-ton press, they built an industrial-strength bunker around it to protect themselves and their workshop from flying debris. With the bunker in place, they used the machine to compress some large springs to see if they could make them go flying. It’s surprisingly harder than it looks.

Mixing Diet Coke and Mentos can have explosive results. JLaservideo wanted to see if he could harness that fizzy energy on a larger scale to lift himself off the ground. After watching others fail miserably or cheat with other ingredients, he did some experimentation and engineered a homebrew jet pack that runs on the stuff.

From A to Z, every letter in the English language has a story behind its shape. Language expert Olly Richards digs into the origins of all 26 letters we use today, including how “E” started as a little dude with his hands in the air and how “H” was a fence flipped on its side.

Coca-Cola sells billions of cases of Diet Coke every year. How did the drink that replaced Tab in the 1980s become a sweet and fizzy juggernaut? Weird History Foods looks at the origins of carbonated beverages and low-calorie soft drinks and how Diet Coke achieved its cult-like status to leapfrog its competition.

John Malkovich is known for his distinctive voice and intense, quirky character portrayals. In this interview with GQ, the award-winning actor revisits his roles from Being John Malkovich, Con Air, Rounders, Dangerous Liaisons, Burn After Reading, and others. We love how Spike Jonze told him, “John Malkovich wouldn’t do it that way.”

We already know it’s possible to drive a car on a frozen lake using sawblades instead of wheels. The guys from CboysTV attempted the same feat with a dirt bike. To pull off the crazy stunt, they fabricated 100-pound steel sawblade wheels for both a dirt bike and an ATV. The blade wheels work shockingly well, though falling off could be deadly.

We’ve seen a raft made of soda bottles, but this is the first time we’ve encountered one made from red Solo cups. Drew Dirksen shared this clip of a simple but effective raft that floats because of the air trapped between pairs of party cups. We wouldn’t trust it on the open seas, but it seems to work pretty well as a pool float.

Don’t have it in the budget to buy NECA’s life-size Aliens Xenomorph Egg? Good news! The collectible toymaker has decided to release its foam facehugger separately for a much more wallet-friendly price. The creature measures roughly 3.5 feet long and has a poseable tail. Makes a great cosplay accessory. Pre-orders start shipping 7.2024.

Between the claustrophobia and the potential for nasty things living in it, a drain pipe is one of the last places we’d want to spend time. Daredevil Nicholas Coolridge, aka ModernTarzan threw caution to the wind and skateboarded down a drain pipe on his back for a low-budget thrill. It looked like a pretty clean pipe, but we’d still never do it.

AI voice generation software has made it relatively easy to create songs and speech that sound like anyone. But can an AI singer beat a professional like Anthony Vincent? The Ten Second Songs host asks you to be the judge. While the technology certainly is impressive, we will always be Team Human when it comes to creative pursuits.

We’ve heard the phrase “singing sands” but never really knew what it meant. James from Atomic Frontier headed to Australia to explore why some sand makes a squeaking noise when you walk on it. After putting some of the rare squeaky sand beneath a microscope, he explains how sand dune can make a much larger sound under the right conditions.

Mischief-making art collective MSCHF created a wild pair of Timberland-style work boots that will sell out quickly. The 2×4 Boots extend their chunky gum rubber soles onto their sides and tops like they were squeezed through an extruder. We don’t have a drop date yet, but you can sign up to be notified at the MSCHF Shop.

xkcd’s What If? is back with another hypothetical question. This time, a follower asked: “How long could a nuclear submarine last in orbit?” Along the way, you’ll learn if a sub’s hull could withstand the conditions in space, and more importantly, what might happen to its occupants and nuclear reactor.

Iron and steel are the most recyclable materials on Earth. So it’s no wonder we often see items made by melting and reforging metal. In this video from Maker B, the machinist shows us how he took an assortment of steel bolts and removed their threads to create the parts for a working combination lock – no melting required. He made the dial from a brass rod.

We like to make our own sandwiches. But a store-bought sandwich might have to do when you’re in a pinch. This video from How It’s Made takes us inside a factory that cranks out sandwiches, where humans and machines work hand-in-robo-hand to create lunches for thousands every day. Yep, there’s a robot designed solely to apply mayonnaise.

If you put a powerful fan on a boat and blew it at its sail, would the boat move? Engineer Mark Rober channels Mr. Wizard with a series of experiments and easy-to-understand explanations of this and six other perplexing physics questions. He also debunks a viral video along the way.