DARPA has funded a lot of crazy, science fiction-inspired projects before, but this is the first one that will be able to determine whether or not you’re socially awkward. According to Wired, the Assessment of Asymmetric Social …
Diversions
Butt Dials to 911 Are On the Rise
We’ve all been on the receiving end of a butt dial. Your phone rings, you pick it up and then all you hear is the ruffling of your friend’s phone against his or her jeans or the incoherent cacophony of a crowded bar.
Usually …
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Now Wikipedia’s Brandon Harris Can Follow You Around the Web
Oh Wikipedia programmer Brandon Harris, how we’ve become accustomed to your glaring visage, all but commanding us to donate money to Wikipedia with the wild hair and crazy eyes of a modern day Rasputin. Alas, when we leave …
College Student Can’t Afford iPad for Girlfriend, Builds One Instead
Wei Xinlong couldn’t afford an iPad for his girlfriend, so he did the next best thing—built one himself. According to China Daily, Wei made the homemade tablet with secondhand laptop parts and a touchscreen and battery that he bought online.
The entire thing cost 500 yuan (around $78) and took him 10 days to build from information …
Man Hacks Siri to Start His Car
Is there anything Siri can’t do (besides recognize Scottish accents)? Providing further proof that one day we’ll rely on our smartphones for just about everything, developer Brandon Fiquett hacked Siri to work with the Viper SmartStart system in his Acura TL, meaning he can start and stop his engine via voice command, as well as pop the …
Ride the Giant, Inflatable Ant-Roach Robot
What would it look like if some mad Dr. Moreau combined an anteater, a cockroach and a bounce house? You’d get the Ant-Roach, the 15-foot inflatable walking robot.
It was developed by Otherlab in San Francisco, a small lab that has done some pretty cool things with what it calls “pneubotics,” including this inflatable robotic arm. The …
Helmet Automatically Cools You Down After Eating Spicy Food
We’ve all been there, stranded after chowing down on a plate of tacos topped with tongue-scalding salsa without a glass of water or milk in sight. Luckily the altLab in Lisbon has found a solution to all of humanity’s spicy food-related problems: the Nuclear Taco Sensor Helmet Gameshow.
That’s the name of the project the team …
Nintendo Builds Real-Life Mario Karts for LA Auto Show
Scared Mario Kart 7 for the Nintendo 3DS won’t be 3D enough? Worry not, because Nintendo recently teamed up with West Coast Customs to create the most real-life Mario Kart experience ever—they actually built physical karts from the game for the 2011 LA Auto Show.
West Coast Customs, who first became famous for pimping various …
Giant Robot Snake Meets Walking Mechanical Spider
Titanoboa meets Mondo Spider! It sounds like the premise for a bad B-movie, but no, it’s all terrifyingly real, thanks to the artists and designers over at eatART.
In one corner, Titanoboa, the 35-foot electro-mechanic snake that uses its 20 aluminum vertebrae to crawl just like its flesh and blood cousins. In the other, Mondo Spider, …
Crazy 360-Degree Battlefield 3 Simulator Uses Infrared Cameras and Paintball Guns
Battlefield 3 the way it was meant to be played—in a 30-foot igloo full of projectors.
Louisville Football Coach Blames Modern Warfare 3 for Loss
Cardinals coach Charlie Strong blames the team’s anemic performance against Pittsburgh on the latest, record-breaking game in the Call of Duty series.
