Awesome Etc

Dwarf Lab takes its awesome DWARF 3 smart telescope and shrinks down its core features. The backpack-friendly DWARF Mini weighs captures detailed images of the moon, galaxies, nebulae, and more. It automatically calibrates, locates targets, tracks, and stacks images right on your phone. Pan, tilt, and rotation motors help precisely track deep-space objects.

This modular system lets beekeepers build custom hives to encourage honey production. Made from food-safe PETG, the 3D-printed Nectar Nest cleans up easily after seasons and allows for easy reprinting of new parts. Created by biologist and software developer Diego Grizi, and field-tested in apiaries, the Nectar Nest comes as STL files or ready-printed units.

Factories use machines like this roller to turn hot sugar into hard candies. LADB Restoration shows how he took this wobbly old machine and made it good as new. After disassembly, he made a new steel base plate, sandblasted off the rust, smoothed out rough spots, and finished it in a deep green paint. He even machined replacements for missing parts.

Mantids are some of the world’s most fascinating insects. Ze Frank explores the biology of the praying mantis from birth as cannibalistic, see-through creatures through their grown-up lives as stealthy predators. These creatures use their triangular heads and independently-moving eyes to track and snatch insects and even small animals.

After impressing us with his see-through katana, maker Mike Shake is back with another unusual weapon. Inspired by paper’s ability to draw blood, he got to work on a sword made from thick sheets of paper, stacked, slathered in epoxy resin, and cut into a katana shape. After experimenting with two blade thicknesses, he honed it to a razor-sharp edge.

A while back, Ivan Miranda made a go-kart using 3D printed parts, but it wasn’t exactly packable, and Ivan wanted to travel with it. So he engineered a much smaller and lighter kart. The new, three-wheeled design is about 1/3rd of the heft of the original, and still quite zippy. The first version was too easy to roll, so he redesigned it with a wider drive wheel.

It seems that the deeper you dive beneath the surface of the ocean, the stranger the creatures get. In this video from Mr. Science, we learn a bit about the strange evolutionary adaptations of deep-sea animals, and how little we really know about the unusual species living in the extreme conditions of darkness and pressure thousands of feet beneath the surface.

Ever wondered how crews knock down entire buildings? Mark Rober teamed up with UniFi to capture video of the demolition of a 24-story building from inside and out. After having some fun around the abandoned structure, Mark’s team rigged up an Angry Birds slingshot to trigger the implosion of the old Sheraton Crossroads in Mahwah, NJ.

Dance to the music, all night long, everyday people sing a simple song. Peter Gabriel joins Sly & the Family Stone and Stevie Wonder for a funk-filled good time courtesy of mashup master Bill McClintock. And if that isn’t good enough, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour is here to spice things up with an awesome guitar solo. Download the track here.

The kids of Hawkins are all grown up, but they’re still battling demons. The trailer for the final season of Stranger Things sees the gang on a quest to end Vecna and the terrors of the Upside Down once and for all. But will everyone make it out unscathed? Volume 1 drops 11.26.25, Volume 2 on 12.5.25, and the big finale hits on New Year’s Eve.

Artist John Kenn Mortensen’s mordant inked drawings have given readers Night Terrors, The Nightmare Factory, and The Bestiary. The Wrestler is his first graphic novel in English, and it’s a surreal masterpiece. Mortensen’s spidery B&W style brings the bizarro Fantagraphics tale alive, centering on the undefeated Sledgehammer as he wrestles with reality.

Editor and filmmaker Neil Cicierega created this short story and photomontage about a group of campers who encounter a strange and creepy man who stares at people while they sleep in their tents. But things get really weird once they accept a bribe from The Sleepwatcher.

We don’t send much stamped mail these days, but there was a time when postcards and letters were the best way to stay in touch. Mike from List 25 offers up some interesting tidbits about stamps, from the Post Office printing the wrong Statue of Liberty to the secret language of stamp placement, to the island with an underwater post office.

How big is the difference between a billion, a trillion, a decillion, and a googolplex? MetaBallStudios offers up a 3D infographic that illustrates the enormity of big numbers using cubes. Along the way, you’ll learn how many pieces Bach composed, and how many unique poker hands are in a 52-card deck, and how many humans have ever lived.

When you’re out riding your bike, you never want to get caught without the right tools. This compact multitool from Crankbrothers packs a wide variety of hex wrenches, along with flat, Phillips, and Torx drivers. It also has specialty tools like a tire plug remover, valve core remover, rotor straightener, and a chain tool for 8- to 12-speed bikes.

The creators of Wednesday use a mix of practical effects and CGI to bring Thing to life. Adam Savage went hands-on with the charismatic limb with Jesse Velez of Raptor House FX to see how an animatronic version of the hand works. This “hero” version of Thing was built using a modded Alt Bionics prosthetic hand controlled by a MANUS gesture control glove.