Awesome Awesome

This record-setting LEGO machine was on display at the Brick show last year in London. Made by Maico Arts and Ben Jonkman, the insanely complex build used 88 interconnected modules to shuttle balls from one end to the other.

The wax figure makers of Madame Tussauds London have launched one of their most impressive exhibitions ever, a collection of insanely accurate sculptures of characters from the Star Wars saga, set into detailed backdrops.

Norman Chan from Tested got to go behind the scenes with effects and makeup genius Rick Baker to check out some puppets and animatronics from the Men in Black series. Some of his creatures are up for auction this month.

The recent Maker Faire Bay Area gave us a brief glimpse into our robopocalyptic future, as the 15-foot-tall MegaBot pelts its victim with deadly paintball cannons. Its makers want to eventually create a league of giant battling MegaBots.

We’ve been mesmerized by hydrographic printing, but one limitation of the technique is that it’s impossible to align precise designs. Now, students from Columbia University have developed a method that solves this problem.

Japanese artist Shinri Tezuka carries on an ancient tradition of lollipop making, creating insanely detailed edible works of art using sugar syrup, food coloring and starch to replicate animals such as fish, frogs, snakes, and more.

Modern machinery has enabled the creation of all kinds of seemingly impossible objects. But this amazing three-layered cube was created using a hunk of metal, a lathe and drill bits, masterfully manipulated by craftsman Engineer BrunS.

Automation company Festo has developed a mechanical ant which not only looks and walks like the real deal, it can grip objects with its pincers and cooperate with its robo-friends. We love how they recharge with their antennae.

Celebrate Star Wars Day with some Imperial destruction! After spending 16 hours building a massive LEGO Star Destroyer, WIRED did the unthinkable – they smashed it and captured the recording at 1000fps for our enjoyment.

Quite possibly the best thing to happen to the ice cream cone since the waffle cone, Dude Foods came up with this cone formed from Fruity Pebbles, butter and marshmallows. Naturally, the same could be done with Cocoa Pebbles.

A chemistry teacher demonstrates a really cool property of liquid methane by pouring the rapidly-extinguishing substance onto the floor while afire. We’re not sure how safe this is, but it sure looks cool. Original video here.

This incredible machine is the Plasser & Theurer RU 800 S, and what it’s doing is building a railway line by laying rock, beams, and track with minimal human intervention – a once monumental task if you’ve ever seen an episode of Hell on Wheels.

RISD film and video professor Dennis Hlynsky recorded this mesmerizing footage of hundreds of starlings as they move from power line to power line. Using a high-speed camera, he was able to record the flight path of each individual bird.

A BMW dealer in New Zealand took out an ad that looked like an April Fools Day prank, promising a brand new BMW to the first person who brought in any old car on 4/1 and “Ask for Tom.” Turns out it wasn’t a prank.

Just when you think you’ve heard every possible musical genre, someone comes around to shake things up. Mongolian throat singer Zorigoo performs this unique rap track, accompanied by Zaya. The closest thing we can think of is Shaggy.

This watch won’t help you tell time at all, but you’ll still have the coolest watch on the block – since yours will be a fully-functional (though very small) ant colony. Comes with sand, a feeding dropper, tweezers, and of course, five live ants.

Woodworker Izzy Swan of Think Woodworks created this ingenious portable dining set which folds up into a 20″ x 20″ x 30″ block for transport, but pops open to provide a dining table and chairs for four. Buy the plans here.

By replicating the form of a power drill using a 3D printed model, engineer Lance Abernethy created a tiny drill that measures just 0.67″ long, and holds an spins a tiny 0.5mm drill bit. He’s already working on a smaller version.

Ion Productions Team is readying what they’re calling the commercially-available handheld flamethrower. It’s meant for clearing snow and ice, ridding pavement of weeds, starting bonfires, or just showing off.

Textile artist and sculptor Shauna Richardson has created an amazing series of realistic, life-sized taxidermied animals which have been handmade using crocheted wool, mohair, glass eyes, fake teeth and claws.

To promote the partnership between British luxury outfitters Hackett and Williams Martini Racing, they dressed the team’s pit crew in Hackett’s finest formal suits and then had them change some tires. (Thanks Rory!)

This insane variant of air hockey subjects players to a barrage of pucks instead of just a single one. Much like multiball mode on pinball, most of them will drain quickly, but the longer you can hang on, the more you score. For 2 or 4 players.

The international airport in Saint Martin is known for having its runway insanely close to the beach. Here, world traveler Paul Luning captured one of the landings in slow-motion, and it’s visual that’s so unreal that you’d think it was a VFX shot.