Archive for July, 2014

Ex-MegaDeath Drummer Records UFO – Bonus: Reveals how humans evolved

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2014

The video pretty much explains it all. Nick Menza, who used to play for MegaDeath before things got ugly between him and his bandmates, spotted something weird in the sky over his home and hit record.

“I was standing in my front yard with my two boys and this is what we saw. [It had] the shape of a triangular object with rounded tips glowing yellow and white. [I am] not sure what it is, but it looked totally awesome.”

Menza also added, in true I’ve-been-a-rockstar fashion that he’s privy to humankind’s origins:

“Before, back in the Stone Ages, like when we were just regular humans, we didn’t have brains in us and then the aliens came down and they intervened and they put brains in our heads and now we’re all smart and we’re starting to figure things out, ascending to the next level and a higher level of conscious awareness and that sort of stuff.”

He obviously never peruses People of Walmart…

Wait…maybe that actually explains People of Walmart!

[Blabbermouth.Net]

Posted in Aliens, UFO | Comments Off on Ex-MegaDeath Drummer Records UFO – Bonus: Reveals how humans evolved

Ancient Sea Creature Brain Discovered in China

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2014

Anomalocaridids.

That’s the name for a bucket of strange insect-like creatures with terrifying pincers that crawled around on the ground billions of years ago and ate other, not-as-scary insect-like creatures with only semi-terrifying pincers that crawled around on the ground billions of years ago.

Chinese scientists have recently discovered the fossilized brain tissue of a group of animals called Lyrarapax unguispinus, a fun group of nasty creatures that have no modern day relatives save for a much smaller worm that isn’t quite as terrifying found in the tropics.

Dear scientists…just keep working on the cute, furry woolly mammoth. These don’t need to come back.

Ever.

[Washington Post]

Posted in Animals, Brain, Bugs, Dinosaurs | Comments Off on Ancient Sea Creature Brain Discovered in China

Podcast: Russia’s Big Hole

Monday, July 21st, 2014

Skitched 20110225 175343Andrew return from the land of boiling roads, a massive hole erupts in Siberia and how to build your own VR rig for fun and profit.

 

 

Try out the brand new PODCASTR player, featuring wireless syncing between desktop browsers and iOS devices.

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Download url: http://www.itricks.com/upload/WeirdThings072014.mp3

[podcast]http://www.itricks.com/upload/WeirdThings072014.mp3[/podcast]

 

Picks:

Andrew #1:

Particle Fever

Justin:

Edge of Tomorrow

Andrew #2:

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Posted in Podcast, Podcasts | Comments Off on Podcast: Russia’s Big Hole

Scientists Create Material That Absorbs All the Light

Tuesday, July 15th, 2014

Using nanotubes, British scientists have created a material called VantaBlack that acts like a bunch of very, very tiny blackhole when it comes to light.

The material is so black that our eyes can’t discern any type of edges or features an object covered in the material might have.

We’ll leave the explanation to the scientists in the above video.

To get a quick grasp of just how light-sucking and black this material is? Take a look at the piece of aluminum in the photo below. The black portion of the foil is just as crinkled as the silver portion. Think about that.

And then think about what you might cover in VantaBlack…

Or what a top-secret government agency might cover in VantaBlack…

Or how many ninja might begin using VantaBlack.

[BGR.com]

Posted in Invention, Science, Weirdest Inventions | Comments Off on Scientists Create Material That Absorbs All the Light

DARPA’s Bullet of the Future Follows Its Targets

Friday, July 11th, 2014

Welcome to the future, kids. DARPA has just released video of its first actual test of EXACT (Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordinance) 50 caliber bullet.

Big deal, right?

Read that acronym again. Mainly the part that says ‘Tasked Ordinance’. EXACTO bullets are bullets that’ve been given instructions. Bullets that will come find their targets.

Here’s the write-up from DARPA’s site:

For military snipers, acquiring moving targets in unfavorable conditions, such as high winds and dusty terrain commonly found in Afghanistan, is extremely challenging with current technology. It is critical that snipers be able to engage targets faster, and with better accuracy, since any shot that doesn’t hit a target also risks the safety of troops by indicating their presence and potentially exposing their location.

The Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO) system seeks to improve sniper effectiveness and enhance troop safety by allowing greater shooter standoff range and reduction in target engagement timelines. The objective of the EXACTO program is to revolutionize rifle accuracy and range by developing the first ever guided small-caliber bullet. The EXACTO 50- caliber round and optical sighting technology expects to greatly extend the day and nighttime range over current state-of-the-art sniper systems. The system combines a maneuverable bullet and a real-time guidance system to track and deliver the projectile to the target, allowing the bullet to change path during flight to compensate for any unexpected factors that may drive it off course.

Technology development in Phase II included the design, integration and demonstration of aero-actuation controls, power sources, optical guidance systems, and sensors. The program’s next phase includes a system-level live-fire test and technology refinement to enhance and improve performance.

That just about covers it.

The phrase ‘Dodged a bullet” is about to become a thing of the past.

[Topless Robot]

Posted in DARPA, Military, War, Weapon | Comments Off on DARPA’s Bullet of the Future Follows Its Targets