Awesome Videos

We played so much Guitar Hero back in the day that we had blisters on our fingers. Bernz of the hardcore band Made for Midnight still loves to play the classic music matching game, but instead of music, he syncs up his playing with sounds like a dial-up modem connecting to America Online, the world’s most annoying car alarm, and this lady.

How Ridiculous performs one of their most dangerous acts of destruction by dropping objects into helicopter blades spinning at 400+ mph. They start with lightweight and soft items, eventually ramping up the impact to a bowling ball. A pro helicopter mechanic pointed out that even a small amount of damage could cause the blades to fail catastrophically.

Japanese Zen Buddhist monk Yogetsu Akasaka puts a modern spin on an ancient text. The Heart Sūtra, a core scripture dating back to the 8th century, gets a hypnotic update as Akasaka layers chanting, beatboxing, throat singing, and live looping. The result is a meditative soundscape that fuses tradition with technology. (Thanks, Orion!)

Posy has a knack for spotlighting visually intriguing objects, and this time, he turns his lens on the humble light bulb. From vintage Edison filaments to bright halogen lamps to vibrant RGB LEDs, each gets its moment to shine through Posy’s thoughtful and artistic lens.

George Lucas once described the Star Wars films as “basically silent movies.” Clearly, the movies had dialogue, but Danny Boyd of CinemaStix shows how the rhythms created by editing and music tell stories without words. He then explores what Star Wars might have been like as a silent film, plus a Kurosawa-style revamp of Revenge of the Sith.

After a five year hiatus, filmmaker Andy Lambert returns with four new ultra-minimalist shorts in The Mute Series. Each film follows three strict rules: no dialogue, no camera moves, and only one shot. The witty comedy shorts include The Prisoner, An Emotional State, Stop, and Clinical Intervention, delivering clever stories with maximum restraint.

The idea of having an endless supply of cash seems like a fantasy, but would it really be a good thing if you amassed all of the money on the planet? xkcd’s What If? explores this hypothetical scenario and what things might be like of you hoarded all the wealth for yourself. Would others even accept your currency? And where would you put it all?

Usually when Kurzgesagt dives into hypothetical situations, they’re things that are in the realm of possibility. This time they decided to show us their silly side and answered two ridiculous questions. First, could Tokyo be powered entirely by jellyfish? Then, what might happen if the skies opened up and rained bananas instead of water for 24 hours?

KaplaBen is an expert at building large, complex structures out of Kapla wood planks. He’s spent months working on this 18,000-plank tower and brought it crashing down in 13 seconds. The view from inside the tower at the end is so cool. Need more Kapla? Check out the 130,000-plank collab between Raffaele Salvoldi, KaplaBen, and Hevesh5.

Can’t wait for GTA VI? HELIX might satisfy your appetite. This free-to-play, multiplayer open-world sandbox game is built for role-playing and modding. It features enormous and detailed worlds, complex character modeling, customizable vehicles, and much more. Set up a server and build unique worlds with friends in real time. Closed Alpha sign-up here.

Christian Klein’s Black Mirror-esque short science fiction film envisions a near future where dating apps are filled with a mix of humans and digital avatars. While it’s easy to find a hot-looking match in this world, you get what you pay for when you swipe right on a superficial, computer-generated companion instead of picking a real person.

The rising tide doesn’t raise all boats. There are some of us who can’t float. The music video for The Flood features stunning cinematography and a passionate underwater performance by singer-songwriter Ben Caplan. Kudos to filmmaker Eduardo de la Cerda for the creative vision and stellar submerged scenes. Check out the behind-the-scenes video here.

Take a ride on the most chicken-friendly train in the world. The consistently awesome r/toolgifs subreddit posted this entertaining time-lapse video of an electric monorail that runs through a hillside poultry farm in China. The train delivers buckets of feed to the chickens waiting below, so workers don’t have to hand-carry them up and down the steep terrain.

Need a dose of smart-alec, slapstick comedy? The Warner Bros. Classics YouTube channel has posted some hilarious Looney Tunes cartoons compilations featuring Bugs Bunny making a mockery of Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, and Yosemite Sam. Be vewy, vewy quiet and hit play now.

In the Japanese city of Shimabara, Nagasaki, street gutters are so clean they double as fish habitats. While you won’t find koi swimming in every gutter, it’s not unusual to see fish or turtles in the waterways of rural Japan. These aren’t your average storm drains; they’re living proof of how clean and harmonious nature can be, even in unexpected places.

The woven pattern of carbon fiber is something special. In this fascinating video, you’ll see how the design emerges on freshly-sanded components as a glossy clear resin finish is applied. Even though our brains know the intricate weave was always hidden just beneath the surface, there’s something undeniably magical about watching it appear before our eyes.