Delightfully mad sculptor David Cranmer makes functional art pieces that put the fun in funky, and his strange contraptions often make a pretty funky racket too…

Flipping the switch labeled “Activate Owl” causes the owl to arise while the theremin starts up, and as the player waves their hand to make sweet, spooky “music” the owl silently judges … Read More → "A curious and creepy owl theremin"

Researchers at the University of Connecticut were inspired by the skins of squids and jellyfish, which can change color or texture in response to certain factors in their surroundings.

In a move that would make Q from the James Bond series blush, the scientists—who presented their findings at the 52nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical … Read More → "This jellyfish-inspired material can conceal secret messages"

A recent flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Manila, Philippines took an unexpected turn when a pregnant woman went into labor about halfway through the nine-hour journey, 36,000 feet in the air, The Guardian reports. According to another passenger, the woman returned to her seat with baby Haven shortly after giving birth in the front of the plane. It was the first time a … Read More → "Baby born on international flight gets 1 million airline miles"

Scientists believe that many millions of years ago, our aquatic ancestors made the leap from inhabiting the oceans to living on dry land, marking the evolution of the first four-limbed vertebrates known as tetrapods. Although the tetrapods that inhabit the Earth today – including humans – possess fragments of this aquatic past deep in the genetics that make up their bodies, researchers are still struggling to determine how fish developed … Read More → "Mutant fish help uncover link between fins and fingers"

Speed cubing champion Anthony Brooks is used to racing the clock when he’s solving a Rubik’s Cube puzzle, but since we’re in the middle of the 2016 Olympics, he decided to challenge the world’s fastest man, running the 100 meters, to a head-to-head race.
via < … Read More → "Watch a Rubik’s Cube master race the fastest man on Earth"

4. A CHAPTER OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

By this point, it might seem like Apollo 15 did nothing but muck around when they went to the moon, but in addition to leaving behind tiny sculptures and rocks, the three astronauts (David Scott, James Irwin, and Alfred Worden in the Command Module) founded the first space-based chapter of their university’ … Read More → "Strange things that have been left on the Moon"

If you haven’t heard yet, NASA aims to capture an asteroid, drag it to the orbit between the Earth and the moon and ultimately send people to scour it for samples. While that sounds like a crazy plot from an astronaut movie, it’s very much real. In fact, the agency has just announced that it plans to ask for help from aerospace companies to make it happen. Under the … Read More → "NASA wants some assistance catching an asteroid"

Every time a kid sends a Hot Wheels car hurdling down a twisty track, in the back of their mind they’re imagining what it would be like to be at the wheel of that tiny vehicle. With a GoPro Hero4 Session strapped to the roof, this video, featuring eight different track sections cleverly edited together</ … Read More → "What it’s like to drive a Hot Wheels car on a twisting daredevil track"

If you’re trying to kill bacteria in tainted water, one of the best ways is simply to leave that water in a clear bottle in direct sunlight, letting the ultraviolet rays do the work. That said, this method can take six to 48 hours to be fully effective. Instead, scientists at the US Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have developed a quicker alternative. It’s … Read More → "“Black rectangle” uses the sun to make water safe to drink"

Want to feel more connected to your partner all day long? A new ring from tech company TheTouch promises to help, by delivering the pulse of one wearer’s heartbeat to the other with the tap of a button, Mashable reports.

Similar to Little Riot’s Pillow Talk wristband, the … Read More → "Feel your partner’s heartbeat in real-time with these rings"