World’s tallest LEGO tower built in England

Posted on May 8, 2008 by Zathur

If you’re looking for the tallest tower of LEGO in the world, here’s a picture of it right here. This monster was built in the Legoland Windsor theme park in the U.K. of 500,000 LEGO bricks, and stands just shy of 100 feet high. That eclipses the old record of 96.1 feet from August of last year by more than three feet, and has been submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records for authentication.

Notice the stabilizing guy wires, holding the enormous tower of plastic steady as it reaches to the sky. Good thing they had a crane to place the half-millionth piece atop the huge stack. Why all this falderal? Well, if you can believe it, this is the 50th anniversary of LEGO, a half-century ago shoving aside Erector Sets, coonskin caps and Hula Hoops to become one of fave diversions of ersatz builders the world over.

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Single-column bridge is not for the faint of heart

Posted on May 8, 2008 by Zathur

How brave are you? Because from the looks of it, the Sky Bridge in Langkawi, Malaysia will require some guts to gross. That’s because this majestic cable-stayed bridge is supported by only one support column as it wraps its way around a mountain a whopping 2,250 feet above sea level.

Even scarier? The single support column is placed at an angle. Seriously, were they trying to make this thing look precarious? I’m sure it’s perfectly safe, but come on. This bridge is pure terror. Hit the jump to see a video taken from its span.

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Data recovered from Seagate drive in Columbia shuttle disaster

Posted on May 8, 2008 by Zathur

It was one of the most iconic and heart-stopping movie images of 2003: the Columbia Space Shuttle ignited, burning and crashing to earth in fragments.

Now, amazingly, data from a hard drive recovered from the fragments has been used to complete a physics experiment – CXV-2 – that took place on the doomed Shuttle mission.

Columbia’s fragments were painstakingly and exhaustively collected. Amongst them was a 400MB Seagate hard drive which was in the sort of shape you think it would be in after being in an explosive fire and then hurled to earth from several miles up with a ferocious impact.

The Johnson Space Centre workers analysing the shuttle crash sent it off the CVX-2 (Critical Viscosity of Xenon) experiment engineers, who sent it on to Kroll Ontrack in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to see if the data, any data, could be recovered. For researcher Robert Berg and his team it was the only hope, a terribly slim hope, of salvaging significant data from the experiment looking at Xenon gas flows in microgravity.

The Kroll people managed to recover 90 percent or so of the 400MB of data from the drive with its cracked and burned casing. Now, a few years on, Berg and his team have analysed the data and reported the experiment and its results in the April edition of the Physical Review E journal. These showed that, rather liked whipped cream which changes from a fluid to a near-solid after being whipped or stirred vigorously, the gas Xenon change its viscosity from gas to liquid when similarly treated in very low gravity. The phenomenon of a sudden change in viscosity is called shear thinning.

It was a highly complex experiment needing prologed and detailed analysis of the data on the hard drive to discover the shear thinning effect. But it, like the drive, was eventually found. So ends a twenty-year research project and in doing so helps bring to a finish the dreadful story of the Columbia Space Shuttle mission.

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Peekaboo pledges pole-dance kit for Wii

Posted on May 8, 2008 by Zathur

The Wii’s all-white, but it’s hardly a raunchy unit. So, if you’ve been looking for ways to sex-up your console, then how about a private pole dance?

US manufacturer Peekaboo, which already sells a pole-dancing kit endorsed by Carmen Electra, is currently inking plans to teach millions of gamers how to pole dance in their living rooms with a Wii videogame.

Although nothing’s finalised yet, the pack could include an extendable pole – fnarr, fnarr – and a videogame that would teach gamers all they need to know about sliding up and down, spin around andy dangle provocatively.

Apparently, Peekaboo thinks the as-yet-untitled game will be in a similar league to the Guitar Hero series, which lets gamers rock out to classic hits with a guitar-style accessory.

A spokesman for the company has already claimed that the game will help people tone-up, burn calories and, most importantly, improve their pole dancing skills. However, he clearly hasn’t considered other markets yet, such as the game’s ability to train future firefighters.

Register Hardware eagerly awaits more news about the videogame, but we are hoping the title doesn’t come with a hidden table fee.

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Squirting Videos Make Federal Prosecutor Mad as a Wet Hen

Posted on May 7, 2008 by Zathur

Deep in the bowels of Washington, a federal US Attorney is watching porn videos. Lots of porn videos. They are looking for crime, they’re looking for a cause, a way to bring back integrity to the US Attorney’s Office.

Now they’ve found one: filing an obscenity case against porn legend John Stagliano, and his company Evil Angel— for “squirting fetish” footage.

You remember what happened to the federal prosecutors under the Bush admin, right? Everyone who was interested in white collar crime, corruption, extortion, and child-kidnapping was told to fly right and start focussing on porno:

Two of the fired U.S. attorneys, Dan Bogden of Nevada and Paul Charlton of Arizona, were pressured by a top Justice Department official last fall to commit resources to adult obscenity cases, even though both of their offices faced serious shortages of manpower. Each of them warned top officials that pursuing the obscenity cases would force them to pull prosecutors away from other significant criminal investigations.

In Nevada, ongoing cases included gang violence and racketeering, corporate healthcare fraud, and the prosecution of a Republican official on corruption charges. In Arizona, they included multiple investigations of child exploitation, including “traveler” cases in which pedophiles arrive from elsewhere to meet children they’ve targeted online.

Anyone who didn’t toe the line, was fired and replaced with one of the Bible College grads who could follow simple instructions.

Yes, but this is old news. What’s interesting is that the screening room hasn’t shut down. The feds are watching more porn than ever. The ones that freak them out the most aren’t the hard cocks, the interracial sex, the homosexual taboos that so often frequented past federal investigations. That’s so 80s.

No, the movies they’re going after this time, are a milestone in obscenity trials. No one ever used to pay attention to female orgasm in porn tapes before… it was like Queen Victoria dismissing lesbianism. It just didn’t count for them. Dick was all that mattered.

In Milk Nymphos, Storm Squirters, and Fetish Fanatic 5 , the one common element is women simulating orgasm, and demonstrating such by squirting up a storm. The scenes are surreal, they’re so inauthentic, but what’s remarkable, in legal history, is that the ostensible pleasure on screen is depicting the thrill of female orgasm.

I think we have a breakthrough here. The feds want to make visible female excitement an obscenity.

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Is this the most beautiful bathtub ever?

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Zathur

This Teuco Sorgente bathtub is pure class, but you’ll essentially need to build your bathroom around the thing to get the desired effects from it. That’s because it sits flush with the floor, meaning you need to dig down below to install it. But once you do, hot damn do you have a sexy bathtub on your hands.

Sitting flush with the floor, the water flows right to the brim, making it look like a pond sitting in the floor of your bathtub. Once you get in, 8 hydrosilent jets take action. Did I mention how slick it looks? I want one.

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$15 million eco house is maybe a little overpriced

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Zathur

For your money you’ll get a house that produces more energy than it uses, which will save you money on your monthly utility bills. Not enough to make up for the initial price, but still. It’ll use geothermal heating to get the job done, which is a unique aspect to a private home. But seriously … $15 million?

Cirrus ‘The-Jet’ mockup tours the world, teasing rich flyers with personal jet model

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Zathur

Got an extra million dollars hanging around? Put down a $100K deposit on the upcoming Cirrus “The-Jet,” a tiny single-engine aircraft that doesn’t exist yet. Full-sized models are now touring the world, and when it does fly, the personal jet will go 345 mph, up to 25,000 feet, and have a range of 1000 miles.

Like all Cirrus airplanes, The-Jet will have a parachute in its nose, giving you extra assurance that you won’t be included in the ranks of “doctor-killer” aircraft casualties. Cirrus has reportedly leased a hangar in Minnesota to begin building the 7-seat (if three passengers are babies) jets, and plans to manufacture the small planes out of lightweight carbon fiber.

Like most schemes to sell non-existent products by collecting deposit money based on buzz alone, Cirrus is secretive about the jet. But industry wags think it might be ready for FAA certification by sometime next year, with a possible 2011 delivery date.

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Strap-on rocket-powered helicopter lets you demonstrate your bravery

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Zathur

There are some devices where the expression “you go first” always pops into my head, and this is certainly one of them. We’ve seen some other wacky designs from Tecnologia Aeroespacial Mexicana that have actually made it into production, so there’s a chance that their Libelula Rocket Helicopter concept could turn into a real product.

By using tiny rocket motors at the tips of the rotor blades, the Libelula eliminates the torque which makes a tail rotor necessary in a conventional helicopter. This in theory makes it much more reliable, which is a good thing when you’re hanging from a backpack a few hundred feet above terra firma.

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Table Football XXL, the largest Foosball table in the world

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Zathur

Attention Foosball players: Here’s the largest table football game in the world. In fact, Table Football XXL is so huge, two entire soccer teams — 22 players — could face off with it, settling their challenges without ever setting foos on a real field.

This monster was built by Amsterdam brewer Amstel, a stunt that coincided with the European Champions League Finals. While this is not the fanciest Foosball table in history, you still might want one for yourself, but good luck with that. If this one were available, you’d need six flight cases just to ship it to you.

Eeeeew! Study shows some computer keyboards are far dirtier than a toilet seat.

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Zathur

In a study just published by Britain’s Which? Computing magazine, alarming levels of dangerous bacteria and other gross-out biological matter was found on many computer keyboards. A microbiologist examined and measured bacteria levels on 33 keyboards in an office, and one was found to be five times dirtier than the office toilet seat, carrying 150 times the acceptable limit of bacteria. Two others had ‘warning’ levels of bacteria, and a further two had elevated levels of coliform, which is usually associated with fecal matter.

Eating at your desk along with poor personal hygiene are primarily responsible for these problems, so it might make sense to invest in some kind of cleaning device. Some have also said that you can actually wash a standard keyboard in your dishwasher as long as you remove it before it melts in the dry cycle, but don’t take my word for it.

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The one-horsepower vehicle with an actual horse inside

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Zathur

This is a one horsepower vehicle. Literally. Get it?! It has a horse inside powering it, meaning it is literally powered by one horse! One horsepower! Do you get it? Hold on, let me explain more clearly for you.

It’s called the Naturmobil, and it was built by Abdolhadi Mirhejazi of Dubai. Yes, it has a horse on a treadmill inside which powers the car. But it also has a battery, which the horse powers while it walks and that can take over the power when that poor horse gets tired, with enough energy left over to power a couple of LCD screens on the side of the vehicle. Because what good is a crazy contraption like this if you can’t slap a couple of ads on the side?

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Navy launches U.S.S. Independence, first of new class of weapons-bristling speedster trimarans

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Zathur

We’ve been hearing rumblings about the U.S. Navy’s triple-hulled ships, but here’s one that was launched last month, the U.S.S Independence. Built by General Dynamics, it’s called a “littoral combat ship” (LCS), and the trimaran can move huge weapons around faster than any ship in the Navy. Ironic that with all that high tech built in, the ship reminds us of the Merrimac ironclad from Civil War days.

Littoral means close to shore, and that’s where these fleet-hulled babies will operate, tailor-made for launching helicopters and armored vehicles, sweeping mines and firing all manner of torpedoes, missiles and machine guns.

These ships were designed to be relatively inexpensive — this one’s a bargain at $208 million — and the navy plans to build 55 of them. This trimaran is the first of the new fire-breathing breed, ready to scoot out of dry dock at a rumored 60 knots. It’s like a speedy and heavily-armed aircraft carrier for helicopters.

Future Skylines: plans for amazing green skyscrapers in Singapore

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Zathur

The Brits are once more taking Singapore by storm, but this time with their snazzy, sustainable architecture. Firm Foster + Partners has plans for an over-1,600,000-square-foot (filling an entire city block), mixed-use structure that’s completely decked out with green-friendly tech.

The design of the structure maximizes the amount of natural light that filters throughout the building, and is studded with solar panels to help power elevators, lights and other amenities. Its slanted facades are designed to help airflow by catching and directing the wind, which’ll also keep things cool. On top of that, it’ll harvest rainwater, use geothermal heating and employ ice-based cooling. Can smart design trump our love of air conditioners and gluttonous electrical needs? When it looks this good, it’s got a good shot.

Check out the gallery below for more views of Singapore’s future skyline.

Screw perfume, buy her a Chanel rocket launcher

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Zathur

We already showed you how to stay fashionable in urban combat situations. Along the same lines, Peter Gronquist has jazzed up retired rifles, chainsaws, machine guns and artillery shells and slapped big names on them: Louis Vuitton, Coach, Gucci — probably not the brands you think of when you imagine a rocket launcher or an electric chair. There’s even a Pac-Man grenade.

Dubbed “The Revolution will be Fabulous,” Gronquist’s show opened last night at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles. The pieces ranged from anywhere from a few hundred bucks to several thousand and several, such as the Louis Vuitton chainsaw, have sold.

Check out the gallery below for more fabulous weaponry.
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