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Awesome Videos

Laser Beam Umbrella

Laser Beam Umbrella

Some people have tried to make unconventional umbrellas, but for the most part, a traditional design is the most efficient way to keep raindrops from falling on your head. In this clip from Randall Munroe and Henry Reich’s What If? series, they explore a hypothetical and impractical invention – a powerful laser that vaporizes raindrops out of the sky as they fall.

Boston Typewriter Orchestra: Selectric Funeral

Boston Typewriter Orchestra: Selectric Funeral

The Boston Typewriter Orchestra is hoping to score a spot on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert. Their 2024 submission to the popular show is this mechanical tour de force titled Selectric Funeral, a rhythmic and enigmatic track performed on four vintage typewriters, bells, and effects pedals. It’s also their first song to incorporate an electric typewriter.

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Making an Industrial Machinist’s Chair

Making an Industrial Machinist’s Chair

Maker Neil Paskin returned to his workshop to build another great piece of functional craft. He fabricated this vintage-style industrial chair using hand-cut and bent steel for its legs and support structure and gently curved wood for its back and seat. We love how he made his own plywood from reclaimed floorboards.

Patterns in Heated Fluids

Patterns in Heated Fluids

When you heat fluids, they typically produce patterns. Science expert Steve Mould built a special rig that lets us see how these turbulent patterns emerge when applying heat. He tested with a few different liquids and particles to visualize these fascinating flows. Things get really interesting when mixing oil with mica.

The Wizard of Oz in Alphabetical Order

The Wizard of Oz in Alphabetical Order

In 2004, editor Matt Bucy chopped up The Wizard of Oz and rearranged every sound and word into alphabetical order. The result is the nonsensical but oddly compelling Of Oz the Wizard, or as commenter Jenny Reiswig put it even better, The Wizard of A to Z. Despite the task’s apparent complexity, he says most of the work only took about 20 hours.

10 LEGO Elevator Designs

10 LEGO Elevator Designs

After testing various LEGO door mechanisms, the Brick Experiment Channel is back with another series of engineering tests using LEGO and Technic parts. While most of their brick-built elevator and lift designs are motorized, one of them runs on pneumatic power. That scissor lift and rotating lift inspired by Scotland’s Falkirk Wheel are really neat.

Fiber Optic Pixel Display

Fiber Optic Pixel Display

It’s easy to find LED grids that can be programmed to display animations. So this build by Dr. Tõnis Gadgets that uses fiber optics to direct light into a smaller matrix seems unnecessarily complicated. It still looks cool, like something out of the engineering lab in a science fiction movie. The display was inspired by Elliotmade’s fiber optic display from Instructables.

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ATLAS Takes a Dance Break

ATLAS Takes a Dance Break

A good work-life balance is essential for all of us. Apparently, the same holds true for robots. In this short video from Boston Dynamics, their talented ATLAS bipedal robot takes a break from working to show off its dance moves. We’re waiting for the robo-supervisor to come out and tell ATLAS to get back to work.

Qiddiya: Set Play Free

Qiddiya: Set Play Free

This promo spot for Saudi Arabia’s planned leisure district Qiddiya starts off with a bunch of bored people going through the motions with their humdrum entertainment, then takes the rails off the rides, freeing them to truly enjoy their playtime. Director Nick Roney’s execution of the concept is fantastically inventive and filled with fun moments.

Epic Snowboarding POV

Epic Snowboarding POV

Most of the snowboarding videos we’ve seen have been edited to show the best action. Olympic and X Games snowboarding medalist Sage Kotsenburg shared nine minutes of unedited first-person GoPro footage from his rides through the fresh powder at Eagle Pass, BC. If you’ve never taken a backcountry route, it’s the closest you’ll get to being there.

High-Speed Bottle Blowing Machine

High-Speed Bottle Blowing Machine

This machine is moving so quickly that it’s hard to believe how much it is doing. The high-speed blow molding system can crank out and quality test roughly 45,000 bottles per hour – that’s 750 bottles per minute. We need The Slow Mo Guys to stop by this factory with their high-speed camera.

Rocket-powered Skateboard

Rocket-powered Skateboard

We’ve seen some of Bob “Rocketman” Maddox’s insane rides before. This vehicle is an improved version of his jet-propelled skateboard that he can stand on while riding. This pulsejet-powered board has handlebars to hang onto, though the helmet-less Robert uses one hand to hold onto his selfie stick. The lack of steering and brakes makes it even more sketchy.

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Blowing up 5,000 Condoms

Blowing up 5,000 Condoms

Maker Ali Spagnola teamed up with the L.A. Department of Public Health to help promote sexual health. Her project? Inflate thousands of condoms for an art exhibit inspired by Andy Warhol’s Silver CloudsIt took three days to blow them all up. After filling some by mouth (and trombone), Ali and her pals sped things up with compressed air.

BUG

BUG

(Flashing lights) Jacob Weldon’s gruesome horror short film BUG has a slick, neon-lit style inspired by the 1980s. But there’s nothing glossy about what happens to its protagonist after she gets bitten on her arm by a pesky fly. It makes us wonder if the bug was related to Jeff Goldblum’s infamous Brundlefly.

Drone Flies Around China’s Tallest Skyscraper

Drone Flies Around China’s Tallest Skyscraper

Drone pilot and photographer Joshua Turner visited Shanghai, China, where he managed to fly his Iflight quadcopter alongside the nation’s tallest skyscraper. Currently, the third-tallest building in the world, the sleek 2,073-foot-tall Shanghai Tower looks incredible through the lens of Joshua’s GoPro11 Mini camera. He also flew around a few other tall structures.

The Soup

The Soup

This charming animated short by 16-year-old CG artist John Torres looks at a day in the life of a robotic farmer as it patiently waits to harvest vegetables to put into a pot of homemade soup. John says his film “highlights the virtues of perseverance, mindfulness, and the joy that can be found in the simplest of tasks.” Created with Blender.

LEGO Acoustic Guitar

LEGO Acoustic Guitar

A while back, we saw a bass guitar made from LEGO bricks. Musician BERNTH built a LEGO acoustic guitar. Other than the neck, strings, and bridge, his guitar is pure LEGO goodness. Rather than focusing on the build process, his video showcases his new song, Memories. We’re impressed he was able to such a rich sound from its plastic body.

How Every Epic Quest Begins

How Every Epic Quest Begins

“Your father is dead, young Tampax!” Comedian and actor Alasdair Beckett-King pokes fun at some common tropes in fantasy films. He kicks things off with the start of the journey for our hero – including the thinly veiled exposition and the seemingly endless list of characters you’ll need to memorize for the story to make sense.

Electroplating a 3D-Printed Iron Man Helmet

Electroplating a 3D-Printed Iron Man Helmet

3D-printed plastic objects don’t get very shiny. HEN3DRIK shows us how he electroplated a 3D model of Iron Man’s helmet to make it look like the ones in the movies. The process involves preparing the plastic and applying conductive copper paint before electroplating it with copper, gold, and palladium. The red was added using transparent red acrylic paint.

Disappearing Lines Illusion

Disappearing Lines Illusion

When you start to play this video, you’ll see a line bouncing around the screen. But if you pause it, the line vanishes. Chris Long explores this strange persistence of vision effect, which occurs when a line of pixels changes state between black and white. The method can also be used to share hidden text that can only be seen when the video is playing.

How to Travel with EDC Gear

How to Travel with EDC Gear

Air travel poses some challenges when it comes to carrying gear and toiletries. In this episode of Everyday Carry’s Carried Away podcast, hosts Bernard and Mikey chat about what you can or can’t bring through TSA checkpoints. Along the way they talk about their travel load-outs and suggest some alternatives to pocket knives and other prohibited tools.

Insects: From Babies to Adults

Insects: From Babies to Adults

When it comes to living creatures, everything starts small. This fascinating and creepy nature video from Adrian Kozakiewicz’s Insecthaus uses jump cuts to show how insects progress from eggs or larvae to their adult forms. Adrian also has no problem letting his menagerie of bugs crawl all over his face.

Making the Ultimate (Fantasy) Football Trophy

Making the Ultimate (Fantasy) Football Trophy

The Chiefs might have walked away from this year’s Super Bowl with the Vince Lombardi trophy, but that award has nothing on this handmade trophy by artist Blake McFarland. He crafted this beautiful scrap wood football sculpture for his pals who beat him at fantasy football. While he’s an expert at carving, Blake used the project to learn how to turn wood on a lathe.

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