Using mechanics based on everyone’s favorite cephalopods (no, not cuttlefish, you weirdo), scientists from the University of Southampton, MIT, and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology have developed what I am now dubbing the Hella Fast OctoBot, because why the heck not.

The OctoBot fills itself with water and then quickly expels it in order to reach 0-to-60 speeds usually only seen in … Read More → "Tiny octopus robot is the fastest underwater vehicle ever made"

A 3D-printed, partially-solar-powered, battery electric car created by students at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is all set to hit the racetrack at Shell’s Eco-marathon Asia later this month. With a body shell comprising 150 printed parts, mounted on a carbon fiber single shell chassis, the NTU Venture (NV) 8 is an urban concept car that can reportedly achieve a top speed of about 60 km/h (37 mph). Racing in the solar … Read More → "Singapore’s first 3D-printed urban electric car and tilting three-wheeler ready to race"

The White House’s 2016 budget request for NASA is $18.5 billion dollars, and a large chunk of that sweet, sweet space cash is going to fund a mission to“the destination within the solar system most likely to harbor current life“: Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa.

The budget requests $30 million dollars for the Europa mission, signalling that … Read More → "NASA planning a mission to Europa to determine if it’s habitable"

In addition to being a gifted illustrator, Dutch artist Stephan Brusche has created a surprisingly diverse body of work in an unlikely medium: the humble banana. Brusche has created a menagerie of adorable banana animals, as well as banana homages to classic works of art by Michelangelo and Gustav Klimt, among others.
via Laughing Squid

< … Read More → "Artist Stephan Brusche transforms bananas into creative art"

If you’ve ever thought about cracking open a bowling ball, what’s inside may surprise you. A marketing video released by bowling ball manufacturer Storm offers a rare look into how the balls function. An oddly shaped structure called a weight block helps give the ball the momentum it needs to roll down the lane properly.
via … Read More → "You’ll never guess what’s inside a bowling ball"

Researchers from the University of Manchester and University of Sheffield have developed a new prototype semi-transparent, graphene-based LED device that could form the basis of flexible screens for use in the next-generation of mobile phones, tablets and televisions. The incredibly thin display was created using sandwiched “heterostructures”, is only 10-40 atoms thick and emits a sheet of light across its entire surface.

The University of Manchester has a long history of working … Read More → "Flexible graphene-based LED clears the way for flexible displays"

The UK’s House of Commons overwhelmingly voted in favor of a law that would allow scientists to genetically engineer babies from the DNA of three people. Before your mind wanders to some of the more… salacious possibilities, the technique — a spin on traditional in vitro fertilization — is meant to help women with mitochondrial disease have families without fear of passing the illness down.

It’s a hell of an illness, too. … Read More → "The UK inches closer toward making babies from three people’s DNA"

An artist has invented a book with built-in face-scanning technology that will only open if your face bears an emotionless expression to make sure you’re not judging it by its cover. He has successfully created the world’s first willfully hypocritical book.

Thijs Biersteker created the judgmental book cover as a prototype for the cover of the 2015 annual edition for the … Read More → "Face-scanning book judges you by your cover, decides whether you can read it"

Scientists have learned how to unboil an egg. But can they make a reverse boiled egg? Apparently with a few supplies and a delicate touch, yes!

This video is in Japanese, but the step-by-step instructions make it easy enough to follow without a knowledge of that language. Wrap tape around an egg, which I assume is to help it maintain structural integrity. Then place it inside a … Read More → "How to make a reverse boiled egg"

… Read More → "Why you should always catch the coin to make a toss fair"