Awesome Cold

The out-of-the-box designers at Discommon Goods have solved the problem of watery cocktails. Instead of diluting spirits by stirring over ice, they created a pricey machined aluminum cup to store in the freezer until it’s needed to instantly chill spirits to the perfect serving temperature. It doesn’t make slushies, but we hope that’s next.

Much of America has been gripped by a deep freeze this week. One interesting effect of the deep freeze is something known as Arctic sea smoke – a vapor that forms when frigid air blows across warmer water. EarthCam captured this amazing time-lapse footage of the phenomenon as it occurred over Lake Michigan across from downtown Chicago.

With a record low temperature of -64.4°C (-83.9°F), Yakutsk, Russia, is known as the coldest city in the world. Local resident Kiun B braved the outdoors on a typically chilly winter day to perform six experiments to show just how quickly stuff freezes there. We need to try that banana hammer trick here in Chicago.

We’re based in Chicago, so we know a thing or two about cold winters. But we’ve never experienced anything like Yakutsk, Siberia, which has recorded a low temperature of -96°F (71°C). Discover With Cenet takes us on a trip to this frigid city, which is home to over 300,000 residents, and contends with some unique challenges due to the cold.

Scientists needing to access Antarctica’s Troll Research Station used to have to travel by boat and on foot to access their outpost. These days, airplanes make the trip easier, but there’s nothing easy about the preparation needed to land a jumbo jet on a runway built on the slick blue ice of a glacier. Flightradar24 explains.

Magnet Tricks stepped out into the frigid cold of Finland to capture a series of compelling and unusual images created by freezing soap bubbles atop a magnetic levitation platform. Inspired by the idea, the guys at Magnetic Games then created their own version with a floating bubble inside another bubble.

Nibbling on crushed ice can produce a satisfying and cooling sensation. But we can’t advise doing the same with dry ice. What If explores what kind of terrible things would probably happen to you if you downed a big hunk of the solidified carbon dioxide that likes to maintain a temperature around −109.3 °F.

When they’re not crushing things with their hydraulic press, Lauri and Anni are fooling around in the snowy countryside of Finland. This week, they managed to create a single-person hot tub made entirely from ice. The color of that hot water is more than a bit sketchy.

Aleksander Gamme recently went on a lengthy expedition to the South Pole, on day 86 of his trek, he found his final cache of goodies he left behind for himself – and boy is he happy with its contents.

Looks like something from a lab (way cooler than your current coffeemaker) but the Hario cold water dripper makes a smoother coffee concentrate that’s perfect for iced beverages and cooking.