Cooper Griggs

Authorities shouldn't trust their UAVs too much, even if they're of the more expensive variety. Nils Rodday, a security researcher working for IBM, demonstrated at the RSA security conference in San Francisco how a high-tech, pricey police drone* can...

It's quiet. In fact, it's completely silent. The motorcycle is on and ready to whisk me away. But before I twist the throttle, I sit and listen to the birds, traffic and a neighbor yelling at a barking dog. Everything but the Zero DSR electric bike i...

A photograph of Hillary Clinton with former Senator Robert Byrd was circulated by media outlets in March 2016.

Swedish musician Martin Molin has long had experience with esoteric instruments like the glockenspiel, traktofon, or Theremin, but he may have topped his musical prowess with the invention of his own new instrument: the Wintergatan Marble Machine, a hand-cranked music box loaded with instruments including a circuit of 2,000 cascading steel marbles. As the devices cycles it activates a vibraphone, bass, kick drum, cymbal and other instruments that play a score programmed into a 32 bar loop comprised of LEGO technic parts. The marbles are moved internally through the machine using funnels, pulleys, and tubes.

Molin began work on the marble machine in August 2014 and hoped to spend about two months on the project. Its complexity soon spiraled out of control as all 3,000 internal parts had to be designed and fabricated by hand, a time-consuming process that eventually took 14 months. An early version was designed using 3D software, but it was easier for Molin to create parts on the fly leading to it’s Frankenstein appearance. The musician shared much of his progress in regular video updates that he shared on YouTube.

Despite the extreme interest an oddity like the Wintergatan Marble Machine is bound to generate—especially on the internet—don’t expect to see it on tour anytime soon, as the contraption has to be completely disassembled to move it. Molin hopes to build additional music devices, some smaller, or perhaps more suited for transport. You can read a bit more about it on Wired UK.

Poor honeybees. Back in 2010, the USDA found a possible link between pesticides used to kill varroa mites and colony collapse disorder. Now, researchers from the University of Otago in New Zealand have discovered that they can "suffer severe learning...

The US military already tests the security of its networks, but it doesn't feel that's enough in an era when cyberattacks are a constant reality. It's starting up an experimental competition, Hack the Pentagon, that invites private citizens (carefull...

sandandglass:

#MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain

[video]

Believe it or not, Google hasn't offered Cardboard through its own online shop -- you've had to go through third parties to get a taste of its virtual reality experience. Logic is finally prevailing, though, as Google has started offering Cardboard...

There's no doubt that electric skateboards can get you around town in a hurry, but they don't hold a candle to this. Mischo Erban recently set a Guinness world record for the fastest speed on an e-skateboard, hitting 59.55MPH on NGV's four-motor NEXT...

Energizer broke fresh ground when it made the first disposable batteries from recycled cells, but that immediately raised a question: where are the rechargeable versions? As of today, they're here. The company has introduced new Recharge AA and AAA...

Donald Trump's ancestors changed the family surname from "Drumpf" to "Trump," but the timing of that change isn't clear.

those who fail to learn from history…

with phil working late i’m free to nerd out on streaming history videos. tonight, on super tuesday, i started in on “world war II in color”. and i am now, on this important primary day, officially freaked out.

even if you are not a history buff like me, watch the first episode of this thing. seriously, just give it a half hour. tell me that mussolini’s rise to power is not eerily like that of mr. drumpf.

prochoiceamerica:

This week, the Supreme Court will hear the biggest reproductive rights case in decades.

we’re losing this one, day by day, state by state.

i was a clinic defense volunteer during the randall terry years in the late 80s and early 90s. 3 years ago when we were moving i found my volunteer shirts (”this clinic stays open” and the like). i considered letting them go. but then i thought, “i hope this isn’t true, but i may need these again.”

i cannot believe i need these again.

Minnesota-based graphic designer Paul Johnson has long been fascinated with creating art in the dirt, so to speak, every since drawing in sand with a stick at the beach for hours on end as a child. In college he soon learned of several modern artists working at the intersection of land science and art such as Robert Smithson, Andy Goldsworthy and Jim Denevan. In his Earthworks in Motion series Johnson utilizes some of the same patterns and general ideas from these artists but sets them in motion using meticulous stop motion animation techniques.

Filmed in various nature preserves, parks, and wildlife refuges around the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, each animation involves the careful placement of sticks, snow, ice, light, and rocks to create moving geometric formations. We’ve seen a number of animated land art pieces here on Colossal, but Johnson’s precision and ingenuity really set these apart. Watch the video above or see new clips as he creates them on Instagram. (via Colossal Submissions)

Rips everywhere except where it should
#traderjoesfail #boxfail #noripfail

Google's self-driving cars have been in accidents before, but always on the receiving end... at least, until now. The company has filed a California DMV accident report confirming that one of its autonomous vehicles (a Lexus RX450h) collided with a b...

Nicky Bay (previously here and here) is the master of capturing the exceptionally small, photographing insects typically passed over without acknowledgement or recognition. The Singapore-based photographer stays acutely aware of these tiny creatures, using macro photography to highlight each minuscule detail. While taking a closer look at the micro world found deep in the rainforest, Bay began to notice tiny structures built by his favorite subject. The bug buildings appear manmade—tiny log cabins, gates, tents, and fortresses blocking each insect from the world just beyond their carefully placed twigs and segments of silk.

My favorite microscopic discovery of Bay’s was the Bagworm moth larva’s twisting stack of twigs it builds to protect itself as it grows inside. These stacked structures are almost perfect in their symmetry, each side built with twigs that are equal in length and width. Another favorite is the Arctiinae moth pupa’s cage produced from caterpillar hair and silk, a semi-protective fortress that appears almost like chicken wire.

Ray has collected several other examples of these tiny architects, including a web tower and silk-covered tent which you can see over on his macro photography blog. You can also follow his day-to-day macro photography on Facebook.

Bugatti's answer to Ferrari and Lamborghini is here. The LaFerrari, McLaren P1, and Porsche 918 Spyder have all come and gone, yet people the world over still put one hypercar on a pedestal above them all. It might not have had the hybrid electric po...

A US magistrate judge in New York has ruled that the government can't force Apple to help law enforcement unlock an iPhone using the All Writs Act. This case in question is about drug trafficking and is not related to the San Bernardino shooter case.

(via nigelolympia)

via http://imnotwordy.tumblr.com/

knitmeapony:

allerasphinx:

jesslcajones:

this tea is absolutely Scalding

It’s real. 

Damn.  I knew I liked her.

Balancing Bubble
#compass #level #spiritlevel #bubble #macro #marvista #losangeles #california (at Mar Vista, Los Angeles)

Curve on a Square
#DTLA #pershingsquare #losangeles #california #park #locationscouting (at Pershing Square)

“Trump isn’t the first rich guy to run for office. But he is the first to realize the weakness in the system, which is that the watchdogs in the political media can’t resist a car wreck. The more he insults the press, the more they cover him: He’s pulling 33 times as much coverage on the major networks as his next-closest GOP competitor, and twice as much as Hillary. Trump found the flaw in the American Death Star. It doesn’t know how to turn the cameras off, even when it’s filming its own demise.”

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How America Made Donald Trump Unstoppable by Matt Taibbi for Rolling Stone (via azspot)

Excellent read.

I also liked this section:

Like the actual circus, this is a roving business. Cash flows to campaigns from people and donors; campaigns buy ads; ads pay for journalists; journalists assess candidates. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the ever-growing press corps tends in most years to like – or at least deem “most serious” – the candidates who buy the most ads. Nine out of 10 times in America, the candidate who raises the most money wins. And those candidates then owe the most favors.

Meaning that for the pleasure of being able to watch insincere campaign coverage and see manipulative political ads on TV for free, we end up having to pay inflated Medicare drug prices, fund bank bailouts with our taxes, let billionaires pay 17 percent tax rates, and suffer a thousand other indignities. Trump is right: Because Jeb Bush can’t afford to make his own commercials, he would go into the White House in the pocket of a drug manufacturer. It really is that stupid.

thepetcollective:

so fluffy, send help

tastefullyoffensive:

(photo by prettymm)

nnnnnaaaahhhhhh:

My cat in a CAT box

tastefullyoffensive:

(via Sushi_love)