Awesome Etc

Here’s a fun little video showing what happens if you place a bunch of spinning fireworks together inside an angled brick wall, then light one of them. As you might expect, the first one sets off a chain reaction, then they start bouncing around like pinballs – or Beyblades for 2000s kids.

The biblical story of Jonah includes a part where the prophet is swallowed by a whale and survives inside its belly for three days and nights. But what would happen if you really got gulped up by one of these giant sea mammals? House of the Future explores the practical realities of this folktale.

While staples like Rice Krispies and Frosted Flakes have stood the test of time, some cereals last only as long as the fads they’re associated with. Weird History Food looks back at some of the sugary cereals that popped up briefly on the breakfast scene from the 1970s to the 2000s. We still have a box of C-3POs that we should eBay.

The Creative Channel shows us how he built a rugged little tank-like vehicle that rolls around on wheels wrapped in car tire treads, letting it roll along with ease on rough terrain. Controlling the motorized tank uses a pair of joysticks for engaging its treads in forward or reverse, and another for applying throttle.

Melting steel normally requires a very hot, gas-fired furnace. But NileRed shows us how a relatively inexpensive induction heater can be used to turn a pile of nails into a molten blob, thanks to the heat generated by 3500 watts of electricity being conducted through the metal.

After melting all of the strings on his piano with high-voltage sparks, Mattias Krantz wanted to see if he could still make music with the thing. So he got to work building a series of circuits that fire plasma arcs onto the piano’s metal backboard to make sounds when he presses the piano’s keys. But it wasn’t easy getting it to work.

Tom Scott got to experience very special tour of Australia’s Parkes Radio Telescope. Not only did he get to see the technology behind the long-standing telescope, he was allowed to walk on its massive dish and take a ride on it as it tilted and changed angles. Because the dish is so enormous, Tom had a hard time keeping his bearings.

We used to watch TV shows and movies at home and understand the voices perfectly. But lately, we’ve had to turn the subtitles on much more often. At first, we thought maybe our hearing was just going, but Vox explains how changes in audio tech, acting styles, and filmmaking have made dialogue less intelligible.

This home security camera keeps watch over your dogs when you’re away. Not only does it provide crystal-clear HD video and audio of your pup, but it also has a rotating treat-tossing mechanism you can activate remotely. Its audio sensors can alert you when your dog barks, and you can speak back via your phone to provide commands.

With its mix of stir-fried noodles, protein, peanuts, veggies, and zesty condiments, pad thai is one delicious dish. Mental Floss series Food History delves into the relatively short history of the popular dish. While it was touted as Thailand’s national dish, its ingredients and origins came from other countries.

On a normal bicycle, the drivetrain only engages when you pedal forward. Move your feet backward, and the rear axle freewheels. But BigWR likes to build unusual bike mods, and created a unique gear and chain configuration that moves the bike forward whether pedaling forward or backward.

With the right lens curvature, it’s possible to project an image that’s not visible until light shines through it. Science educator Steve Mould explains the optical and mathematical properties of these uniquely engineered lenses. A similar effect can be created with mirrors and reflected light. Rayform specializes in the technique.

What you’re looking at is a tiny fire extinguisher called an E-Bulb. Designed to work in small, enclosed spaces, it can be installed inside electronics to prevent a fire from spreading. It works like a fuse and can stop the flow of electricity as well. The Slow Mo Guys captured footage of the invention at speeds up to 150,000 fps.

The buttons on our clothing are one of those things we take for granted. But it’s somebody’s job to make them for us. All of World Process takes us inside of a factory that cranks out buttons by the thousands. They pour liquid plastic into tubes or sheets, slice or cut out button shapes, then drill and tumble them until shiny.

Billy Crudup stars in this streaming series that takes place in a retrofuturist version of Earth, where gadgets like jet packs and hovercars actually exist. Crudup leads a team of door-to-door salespeople tasked with pitching another dream – selling timeshares on the moon. Coming to Apple TV+ on 2.17.23.

Is Mercury the hottest planet? Is the Earth a perfect sphere? Does Uranus smell bad? Mental Floss host Justin Dodd takes us on a mission to space for a look at things you thought you knew about our solar system’s planets, and probably had wrong. The bottom line, most other planets sound like pretty miserable places to live.

Is a pricey kitchen knife stronger than a cheap one? The Hydraulic Press Channel conducted the ultimate knife-on-knife battle, pressing blades against each other to see which cuts deeper. Which knife will reign supreme? We love how he says, “don’t try this at home,” as if we all have a 150-ton hydraulic press lying around.

King Process takes us inside a Korean factory that makes large industrial nuts. The process starts with rods of steel, which they heat in a forge, then use machines to shape the molten metal into hexagons, punch holes into them, and tap screw threads after cooling and polishing. If you need some bolts to go with, here you go.

This satisfying compilation video from Food Kingdom takes us on a tour of five factories in Korea that make different kinds of foods. We start off with rainbow-colored cake layers, followed by corn chip snacks, deep-fried and stuffed tofu pouches, chocolate nut mini brownies, and chocolate cakes. We’re so hungry now.

While Avatar: The Way of Water shot its underwater scenes by training actors to hold their breath, there are lots of other tricks that moviemakers use to create the illusion of underwater action. Insider explores some of the visual effects techniques – both practical and digital which bring underwater scenes to life.

We love the rainbow of colors that can be found on some titanium objects. If you’ve wondered how those colors appear without paint, The Action Lab explains the science at work when heating or anodizing titanium. By applying different voltages to the metal in an ionizing bath, you can change how light reflects off of its surface.

Atulie’er village is situated on the edge of a cliff in Sichuan, China. Historically, it took villagers a half-day to climb a series of 17 wood, rope, and vine ladders to get there. The China Traveller takes us on a tour of a more recent addition to the community, a metal ladder made from pipes that offers a more direct, but still exhausting route.

Marine biologist and shark expert Amani Webber-Schultz sat down with the folks from Insider to watch footage of sharks from movies and TV shows. With scenes from Jaws, The Meg, Finding Nemo, and more, find out which sharks are the most realistic and which took the most artistic license. What, no Sharknado?