Awesome Awesome

Designed by Matt Cavanaugh for Kontextür, these awesome vinyl models offer lots of points of articulation, and a fun and easy assembly process using plastic screws to attach their parts. The shark and diver each measure 14″ long when swimming.

Back in the ’70s you’d see kitschy string art pictures of horses, rainbows, and owls. Artist Petros Vrellis shows off an amazing modern take on the artform, which results in a greyscale portrait which emerges by following a pattern dictated by a computer algorithm.

During SIGGRAPH 2016, a team of game developers and CG artists used Unreal Engine 4 to demonstrate a technique for shooting a live actor and turning their performance into a cinematic sequence in just minutes, rather than the weeks or months it might normally take.

Roboticist David Zarrouk’s and his team’s SAW (or “Single-Actuator Wave“) robot is both completely awesome, and serious nightmare fuel. This innovative robot can move on land or in water by wriggling its 3D-printed spine, and uses just a single motor to shimmy about.

Developed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, the Corrosion Resistant Aerial Covert Unmanned Nautical System is able to lurk for months, hundreds of feet beneath the water’s surface, then deploy to carry out aerial missions on command.

A visually stunning short film created entirely using the Unity Engine. The surreal science fiction short has amazing volumetric light and shadow effects, tearing fabrics, motion blur and more. Apparently, it can run in real time on a GeForce GTX980 card at 1440p resolution.

After numerous 3rd party clones, Nintendo are releasing their own Retro NES. This one looks just like the original and comes loaded with 30 classic games, from Super Mario Bros. to Metroid. Connects via HDMI, and comes with one controller. Drops 11/11/16 for $60.

Time-lapse footage of carver Valeriano Fatica as he spends 18 hours sculpting an intricate bust of Game of Thrones’ imposing Night’s King from a watermelon. Previously, he made a white walker from a pumpkin.

Creating commercials for new cars can be challenging because the cars aren’t always yet in production. The Mill’s amazing contraption acts a stand-in for virtually any car, simulating its length, width, wheels, and driving dynamics. CG artists can then wrap it in any virtual body.

After teasing us with a bit of his latest modular ball-moving contraption, LEGO fanatic Akiyuki shows off the completed machine, which he and his pals recently showed off at Japan Brickfest. The six-headed monster is super awesome.

Remix master Eclectic Method combines a number of his already awesome science fiction mixes into a single meta-mix that runs a nearly 27 minutes long, and is worth every single minute of your time. Hit play and crank it up right now.

Survival expert Tim Ralston’s latest creation is perhaps the world’s most versatile axe. The chromoly steel Timahawk is a crow bar, tomahawk, adze hammer, and all-around zombie killer, and comes with a sling pack for carrying. Also available in a deluxe Bug-Out kit.

An electronic musician’s dream tool, this Kontakt audio sample library lets you play a huge variety of chiptune sounds from classic gaming and computer systems like the NES, C64, SNES, GameBoy, SEGA Genesis and more. The library includes over 5,500 samples.

Located in Hangzhou, China, and designed by XL-MUSE, Zhongshuge bookstore has walls and ceilings covered with mirrors to exapnd its space to depict an inventory of books that rivals the Library of Congress. The kids’ section is especially awesome. (Photos by Shao Feng)

It took quite a bit of planning and engineering prowess, but the end result of Daniel Perdomo’s recreation of Atari’s arcade classic PONG as a game played with mechanical paddles and ball cube is quite impressive. (Thanks Philip!)

This unique timepiece from Y. Kimura and Seahope Ltd. features a display which tells time using blobs of liquid metal. The metal moves freely, then magnets under its face pull them into place to display the current hours and minutes. Comes in silver, black, or gold.

Another amazing LEGO creation from builder Talapz. This incredible mechanical construction starts out looking like a big book, but unfolds to reveal an intricate model of Japan’s iconic Himeji Castle. It looked a little precarious there when he went to fold it back up though.

Footage of one of the most epic kites we’ve ever seen take to the skies – Facebooker Erich Chew posted this clip of a fantastic flying octopus near Singapore’s Marina Barrage dam. The way it moves kind of reminds us of those Sentinel robots from The Matrix.

Glass and materials maker Corning Incorporated shows off an amazing use of their Fibrance light-diffusing fiber in these slick luminescent headphone wires designed by Glow which pulsate to the beat of the music. Pre-order now for Summer 2016 delivery.

A wonderfully accurate 3D representation of Bruce Timm’s iconic animated Batman, created by the master figure makers of Kotobukiya. This 1/10th scale figure measures 7.5″ tall and includes several interchangeable eyes, facial expressions, and hand poses.

Engineers from the MIT Tangible Media Lab have improved upon their earlier tactile display system, adding the ability to control the perceived amounts of flexibility, elasticity, and viscosity. The result is a display that can feel like a variety of materials, from rubber to water.

Pinball fanatic J.M. Ratkos created this kit which uses a Run-DMD board to convert the dot-matrix display (DMD) from a pinball machine into an awesome animated clock. You can reach J.M. via the Pinside forum if you’re interested in buying one for yourself.

Japanese LEGO fanatic Nobu Tary creates amazing sculptures which make the plastic building bricks look good enough to eat. While the burger and bento box look tasty, it’s the slice of everything pizza with gooey LEGO cheese that has us salivating.