Awesome

A few years back, Trackapalooza built what is likely the longest Hot Wheels Sizzlers track ever. Measuring in at 1969 feet long, we’re amazed that the cars had enough power to make it all the way around the fat track. Time-lapse build videos here and here.

Just because you have a fancy fire suppression system in place doesn’t mean it will work when you need it. To ensure their system is fully functional, the Fort Indiantown Gap Army Reserve switched on the extinguisher system in their helicopter maintenance facility.

Bob Products makes these large-scale professional displays which use electromagnets to play with the strange and unusual properties of ferrofluid. The systems can be programmed to manipulate the magnets and fluid while displaying lighting and sound effects.

“This skill is quite easy to do…” yeah, riiiight. Archer Lars Andersen demonstrates techniques which allow him to shoot arrows around objects and people, over walls, and even ones that turn like a boomerang. And here we thought shooting in a straight line was tricky.

RCSparks Studio shows off an epic build – a 1/6th scale, all-metal remote-controlled tank from Armortek. The Ferdinand Elefant weighs in at 240 pounds, has dual 24-volt motors, working tracks and realistic sound effects. In total, this monster cost about $6500.

Hypnotic and wonderfully-satisfying footage of a high-speed laser engraver rapidly etching an intricate geometric pattern into a metal disc. Z-Tech Lasers‘ video wasn’t sped up either, and was shot in real time.

The European Space Agency shared this stunning time-lapse footage captured from the vantage point of the International Space Station, as astronaut Alexander Gerst watched a Russian Soyuz rocket take flight and head towards the ISS with fresh supplies.

There’s something immensely satisfying about this video of the SANOVO OptiBreaker, a specialized assembly line machine which ingests over 200,000 eggs hourly, gently cracks each one, then separates the whites from the yolks. It also can wash itself automatically.

Makeup artist Flower Fiore creates impressive works of cosmetic art, revealing a second persona hiding on half of her face. The other visage becomes whole when she combines it with a smartphone photo.

ilsangisang’s clever lamp features a design that makes it look like it’s always turned on. It sits at the intersection of your desk and a wall, providing a mock beam of light that doubles as a display for small objects. It also really does light up. Measures about 15.5″ tall.

At first glance, this might look like a sheet of discarded plastic floating around the ocean, but what you’re looking at is a Leptocephalus, a young eel that is transparent when in its larval stage. The footage was captured by HRF Underwater Productions off the coast of Bali.

A look at the ginormous Antonov An-225 Mriya jumbo jet as it came in for a landing at Oakland International Airport. Apparently, the massive airplane was hired by the US Government to pick up typhoon relief supplies bound for Guam, and had to stop to refuel on its way from Kiev.

A real Bugatti Chiron will set you back $2.5 million, but this one cost just 1,000,000 bricks… and 2,304 LEGO Power Function motors… and 4,032 Technic gears. This 3,300 lb Chiron makes just 5.3 hp with a top speed of 12.4 mph and is every bit as awesome as the real deal.

Michael David Young’s patent-pending framing hammer can be loaded with sets of collated framing nails, which it can eject one at a time when you press a button on the side. It has a safety lock so that the hammer can be used like a traditional one.

LEGO Technics expert builder Shadow Elenter adds another ride to his miniature theme park. His latest build is a dizzying thrill ride which would make even the most iron-stomached Minifig lose its LEGO lunch. Be sure to stick around for a little bonus at 3:13.

For his latest build, Jackman Works created a jumbo-sized, hand-carved wood replica of a utility knife. It’s fully-functional, and just the right size for opening Paul Bunyon’s Amazon packages. He got the inspiration for the giant knife blade from fellow builder Jimmy DiResta.

Artist Lucy Sparrow specializes in crafting felt sculptures. Her largest installation is Sparrow Mart, a “supermarket” in The Standard, Los Angeles that features 31,000 hand-sewn and hand-painted felt replicas of grocery items. It took her and her team a year to make.

Tested’s Adam Savage has built some incredibly complex projects, but here he returns to his model-making roots, and shows us how to make a completely unique robot sculpture using parts cobbled together parts from Weta Workshop’s Giant Killer Robots board game.

Aircraft maker Airbus presents video footage of its funky looking A330-based jumbo jet as the first plane makes its way through the factory. The BelugaXL’s unusual shape is designed to provide cargo capacity for large airplane parts like wings. Watch it take flight here.

Disney Imagineering has been developing robots that could possibly be used to perform stunt work in theme park live shows. Their so-called “Stuntronics” are humanoid robots with impressive acrobatic skills, such as the ability to flip and nail a perfect landing every time.

For a recent DARPA tech demo, CMU National Robotics Engineering Center developed wheels which can transform back and forth between round and triangular shapes instantly, with tank-like grip on soft surfaces in track mode, and a more conventional ride in wheel mode.

We’ve seen some awfully impressive NERF weapons over the years, now Adam Savage throws his hat into the ring with an impressive one-day build of a NERF Rival Nemesis that has a removable see-through magazine to expand its capacity to 1,000 rounds per load.

Cosplayer and steampunk gadget maker Frisk P shows off an awesome NERF blaster hack. By adding a spinning Phantom LED wand that pops out of its front, the gadget casts a Doctor Strange-like holographic spell in mid-air using a persistence of vision illusion.

To prove just how versatile cardboard can be, Houston-based Victory Packaging turned up to a tradeshow with a 16-foot-tall gear-driven sculpture reminiscent of the space travel portals from Stargate. This isn’t the only time they built something awesome with cardboard.

Rails? We don’t need no stinkin’ rails! That’s what this little toy train is clearly thinking as it somehow manages to continue its journey even when the tracks come to a sudden end. Thanks for the nudge, Mr. Wall!

Tested dropped by Monsterpalooza 2018, where artists and showed off some amazing creature creations, not the least of which being Pat Magee’s incredibly disturbing take on Despicable Me’s normally adorable minions. Pat’s kids must win Halloween every year.

A look at an incredible handmade structure being used to access and repair damaged temples in Bagan, Myanmar. These scaffolds are constructed entirely from bamboo and coconut husks, yet are apparently strong enough to hold several construction workers.

LEGO Certified Professional Ryan “The Brickman” McNaught and his team recently completed this replica of NASA’s SLS Rocket. The model measures nearly 25 ft tall, weighs 1100+ lb, and was built using 460,323 LEGO bricks, and took over 563 hours to complete.

YouTuber 3D Printing!!! shows off a build that simply wouldn’t have been possible without 3D Printing!!! – a motorized R/C tank with a cockpit based on the skull of the mighty T-Rex. We want one of these for our office so badly.

JohnnyQ90 shows off a sweet miniature gas-powered stirling engine. It’s powerful enough to spin a propellor to nearly 2,000 RPM, so keep your fingers away. While Johnny made the turbine fan, he’s quick to point out that you can buy the engine itself from Banggood.

We’re completely mesmerized by this little machine – the Orlandi RAP 10 trimmer – whose sole purpose in life is to take unkempt natural shrubberies, and trim them into perfectly groomed, spherical bushes. Skip to 3:20 for the Edward Scissorhands action.

Make: author Caleb Kraft came across this nifty plaything by Mike’s Electric Stuff, which uses sensors and a cylindrical grid of LEDs that simulate falling snow or sand as it’s flipped end-over-end. Mike needs to turn this thing into a toy you can buy. He’d sell thousands.