Since construction began in 2004, the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai has been racking up superlatives. It holds records for the most floors, highest elevator, and tallest free-standing structure overall, standing at 2722 feet. Now the imposing tower can add another achievement to the list: Its facade doubles as the largest LED screen on Earth.
According to Motherboard, work on the screen began in 2014—four years after construction of the building was completed. The LED panels were put in place on the front of the Burj Khalifa by hand. One of the biggest challenges the team faced was inclement weather: Engineers often had to wait for rain, strong wind, and sandstorms to pass before going back out and finishing an installation.
The project concluded in 2015, and today the Burj Khalifa serves as the venue for one of the world’s most spectacular light shows. To see the behind-the-scenes process and the final result, you can watch the stomach-turning video below.
Harry Potter visited a number of locations during his adventures through the wizarding world, but the journey all started at one special site: 4 Privet Drive. Now, the real-life building that served as Harry’s childhood home in the first film is on the market, CNBC reports.
The house—made famous by its fictional address in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)—is located about 40 miles west of London in Martins Heron, Bracknell. The online listing includes an asking price of £475,000 (or about $620,000), which is comparable to other, less-iconic properties located in the same cul-de-sac.
The three-bedroom home’s description page states it recently underwent a “complete renovation to an extremely high standard.” Notable features include a revamped alarm system, an en-suite bathroom, and a backyard garden with a large patio. (The listing makes no mention of owl-proof doors or a cupboard under the stairs).
The house has been sold a couple times since making its film debut in 2001, first in 2004 and then again in 2010. Harry Potter fans who don’t have $620,000 to put down on the original Dursley home can visit the set used in later films on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour.
The ability to think fast in an emergency situation is crucial. It’s also easier said than done, which is why designers at Zhejiang University in China came up with the idea for a First Aid Blanket with easy-to-read instructions printed right onto the fabric.
The emergency blanket is intended to be kept in areas where drowning is a risk. According to My Modern Met, it includes a spot to place the victim as well as guidelines for administering CPR and checking for a pulse.
The tool is just a concept for now, but it’s already received recognition for its potentially lifesaving applications. In 2014, the Zhejiang University team received a Red Dot Award for their design. The description from the contest page reads: “…First Aid Blanket is a feasible and efficient way to make every rescuer ‘skilled.’ In addition, it can provide confidence to the inexperienced rescuer, which also plays an important role in a successful rescue.”
A straight line may be the fastest route from point A to point B, but a 300-step contraption is considerably more entertaining. Rube Goldberg popularized the idea of completing simple tasks in the most elaborate ways possible with his beloved cartoons in the early 20th century. Since then, new generations of tinkerers have been constructing impressively absurd Rube Goldberg machines of their own. Here are 13 apparatuses that prioritize fun over efficiency.
1. THE 300-STEP MONSTROSITY // PURDUE UNIVERSITY
Every year, inventive minds gather to compete in the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. A different challenge is presented with each competition—in 2012, participants were given the task of inflating a balloon and popping it. The winning team that year, from the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers, went above and beyond with their design. In addition to completing the charge at hand, the machine executed every challenge from the contest’s 25-year history, including juicing an orange, changing a light bulb, crushing a can, and sharpening a pencil. Their 300-step Rube Goldberg machine nabbed the Guinness World Record that year for the largest one ever constructed. In 2015, that record was crushed by a Hungarian team and their 382-step behemoth.
2. PHOTOGRAPHY-THEMED MACHINE // 2D HOUSE
It’s easy to see where Canadian photography studio 2D House found the inspiration for this epic machine. The photography-themed project, planned over the course of three months in 2011, took two months to build—and the video went viral. Since then, 2D House has built several Rube Goldberg machines, including ones made for Target and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
3. THIS TOO SHALL PASS // OK GO
OK Go is known for their insanely creative music videos, and in 2010 the band took a page out of Rube Goldberg’s book with their video for This Too Shall Pass. Engineers at the Los Angeles-based arts and technology collective Syyn Labs were commissioned to construct the set-up, which was filmed in a single shot after more than 60 failed takes.
4. MELVIN THE MACHINE // HEYHEYHEY
The Dutch design studio HEYHEYHEY described their contraption as a “Rube Goldberg machine with a twist.” During each performance, “Melvin the Magical Mixed Media Machine” would take pictures and video of its audience and upload them to its blog. According to the team’s website, Melvin has been out of commission for the last few years. But even without the interactive component, watching video of the machine’s umbrellas, pinwheels, and parachuting toy army men is entertaining nonetheless.
5. THE STORY OF PASSOVER // TECHNION – ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Constructing Rube Goldberg machines isn’t considered a typical Passover tradition, but this project from students at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology makes a good case for it. The chain reaction is set into motion when wine is poured into a kiddush cup. From there, a toy Moses in a basket, a burning tin foil bush, and matzo cracker dominoes illustrate the story behind the holiday. The journey ends when a lid is lifted to reveal a traditional Seder plate.
6. THE WORLD’S TINIEST // SEIKO
A Rube Goldberg machine doesn’t have to be imposing to be impressive. The Japanese watch company Seiko fabricated their miniature apparatus from 1200 tiny mechanical watch parts. The end goal? Delivering the final component to a delicately assembled watch.
7. SODA MACHINE // BERLAGAWESOME
Thankfully, most vending machines don’t take 175 steps to deliver a can of Coke. But if you have the patience, YouTube user berlagawesome’s Rube Goldberg soda machine is well worth the four quarters to set it in motion. He spent 140 hours in total putting the above video together. After all that effort, the soda must have tasted extra refreshing.
8. RUBE SLOWBERG // BOB PARTINGTON
Inventor Bob Partington pulled out all the stops when developing what he claims to be the world’s slowest Rube Goldberg machine. Growing grass, melting popsicles, a stream of molasses, and a tortoise are a few of the methods used to deliver a golf ball from one end of the structure to the other. The whole process took six weeks, three days, seven hours, and two minutes to complete. Fortunately for the viewer, the video has been sped up quite a bit.
9. THE PAGE TURNER // JOSEPH HERSCHER
As far as Rube Goldberg machines go, kinetic artist Joseph Herscher’s are surprisingly useful. The Page Turner does exactly what’s promised—Herscher triggers it by taking a sip from his coffee mug, and by the time he’s done reading the front of the newspaper the next page is turned for him. This further proves that Rube Goldberg machines and lazy mornings go hand-in-hand.
10. THE FORTUNE TELLING MACHINE // HEVESH5
This fortune telling machine doesn’t feature an animatronic psychic or require a quarter to operate it. Instead, YouTuber Hevesh5’s creation uses balls, beads, and dominos to achieve its ultimate goal. It ends when a dumbbell rolls over a fortune cookie, releasing the fortune inside.
11. DOG GOLDBERG MACHINE // PURINA BENEFUL
Dogs can be trained to do many things, including act as the components of a living Rube Goldberg machine. Purina turned to the creative agency Deep Focus to make this machine happen. The agency planned out the video with numerous sketches and tests to ensure every piece of the puzzle came together, and even created a miniature 3D model of the machine to help them catch any snags before filming. When it finally came time to shoot, tennis balls, kibble, and frisbees were used to motivate the canine stars to do their part.
12. LEGO PHYSICS // CHRISTIAN BECHINIE
LEGO blocks can be used to recreate scenes from literature, construct a fully functional caravan, and, as Christian Bechinie demonstrates, build dynamic machines. The LEGO constructor’s Rube Goldberg machine topples 200 domino pieces throughout its minute-long run. If you’re looking for something to do with your childhood LEGO collection at home, this video should provide some inspiration.
13. MAGNETS AND MARBLES // KAPLAMINO
There are some insanely complicated Rube Goldberg machines on this list, but comparatively simple structures can be equally mesmerizing. Marbles and magnets are the primary components featured in this Rube Goldberg machine, from domino artist Kaplamino. After the frustrating process of perfecting each step, we’re left to enjoy the immensely satisfying results.
The low fuel warning light on your car’s dashboard is a familiar sight to many drivers, and if you’ve ever allowed the needle to dip below “E” on your gas gauge, you already know that “empty” doesn’t necessarily mean your tank is bone dry. But depending on your vehicle, it could be barely enough fuel to make it to the nearest gas station, or it could get you home with some to spare.
The auto repair service YourMechanic put together a handy chart detailing what the low gas light really means for various makes and models. As you can see below, the featured cars cover a wide range. Motorists behind the wheel of a Chrysler 200, for example, can squeeze as many as 108 miles out of their tank after the light turns on. The owners of a Chevy Silverado don’t have as much room to press their luck: The warning light means they only have 25 miles until their tank runs dry.
Just because your car can run past the empty line doesn’t mean you should pull a Cosmo Kramer and push it as far as possible. The fuel pump of a near-empty tank burns hotter than it does with a full tank of gas, so the more you drive your car down to the last drop, the greater the risk becomes of burning out the pump. Keep the chart in mind for emergency situations only.
As far as incriminating social media posts go, you might assume sharing pictures of your own child is safe territory. But it led to legal trouble for one Austrian couple when their 18-year-old daughter slapped them with a lawsuit for refusing to remove hundreds of embarrassing baby photos, The Local reports.
The teen, whose name has not been released to the public, claims the over 500 childhood pictures posted to the social networking site without her consent violate her privacy. “They knew no shame and no limit—and didn’t care whether it was a picture of me sitting on the toilet or lying naked in my cot—every stage was photographed and then made public” she told The Local. “I’m tired of not being taken seriously by my parents.”
She alleges that she had repeatedly asked her parents to take down the photos in the past, but to no avail. When she turned 18, she was officially allowed to take legal action. Her father insists that he has the right to share images because he’s the one who took them.
About 700 of her parents’ “friends” currently have access to the photos on Facebook. This case is the first of its kind in Austria, but as more children of Facebook over-sharers reach legal age, it could start to become more of an issue. France has already taken a hard stance on the matter: Under the country’s privacy laws, parents could face a year in prison or a roughly $50,000 fine if sued by their kids for sharing photos without their permission.
Lombard Street in San Francisco is laid out like a driver’s worst nightmare, but that hasn’t stopped fleets of tourists from lining up to conquer it. Each year, about 2 million visitors head to the sloped road to experience its zig-zagging trajectory, annoying local residents in the process. The traffic has gotten so out of hand that San Francisco is considering imposing a toll and a reservation policy on the famed roadway, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Those are two potential solutions to Lombard’s congestion problem currently on the radar of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. The department has launched a study looking into ways to reduce disruptive visits to the attraction. Other strategies include offering discounted cable car fares to the site to discourage driving and closing the block to nonresident pedestrians and vehicles.
The commotion on Lombard Street isn’t a new issue for the Russian Hill neighborhood. Locals are used to dealing with litter, vandalism, and car break-ins on a regular basis. In one recent case, a resident had to use a golf club to chase two men off his roof.
The city has experimented with solutions before, like employing traffic ambassadors and briefly banning cars from the area in 2014. So far, nothing seems to have changed the situation for the better, but an admission fee may provide the neighborhood some relief.
Meet your new Librarian of Congress: Seven months after being nominated by the president, Carla Hayden was officially sworn in on Wednesday, September 14. She is both the first woman and the first African American to assume the title, The New York Times reports.
Another factor that makes Hayden a remarkable choice for Librarian of Congress is her experience as an actual librarian. The two men who held the job before her were historians, and before them many other Librarians of Congress had been scholars or writers.
Hayden has already racked up several impressive credentials over the course of her career, including chief librarian of the Chicago Public Library system, president of the American Library Association, and CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. Part of what qualified her for the role in the eyes of the president, he said in a statement earlier this year, was her devotion “to modernizing libraries so that everyone can participate in today’s digital culture.” She remarked after Wednesday’s swearing-in ceremony that she’d liked to see more historical documents, like Rosa Parks’s notes and letters, reach a wider audience through the power of the internet.
The previous Librarian of Congress, James Billington, ended his 28-year tenure in 2015 following criticism for his failure to properly adapt to evolving technology. Along with his nomination of Hayden, President Obama also signed a law reducing the office from a lifetime role to a 10-year term.
As Librarian of Congress, Hayden will be responsible for handling congressional relations, appointing staff members such as the national Poet Laureate, overseeing the Copyright Office, and many other duties that come with running the world’s largest library.
Today’s hottest cat celebrities are doing it all. Lil Bub released her first album last year, and Grumpy Cat is a bestselling author at the age of four. As RocketNews24 reports, Mash is the latest web-famous cat to expand his brand with a new collection of furry, high-fashion shoes.
The photogenic Exotic Shorthair is widely beloved in Japan with over 182,000 followers on Instagram. Now fans of the feline can update their wardrobe with footwear inspired by Mash himself. The shoes from the Japanese fashion brand Randa feature tufts of beige and brown fur, and each comes with a paw print on the bottom of the sole. The most distinctive piece from the line is the Fur Pumps, a fluff-trimmed shoe with a tiny, plush Mash head positioned above the heel.
The shoes range in price from $100 to $150 and will be available to purchase online this October. Fashionistas with their hearts set on the heel bearing Mash’s smushed mug will hopefully be in Japan around that time, as RocketNews24 reports they’ll only be sold in 16 select stores nationwide.
Cooking may be an art form, but baking is an exact science. Add too much or too little of an ingredient and your cookies could come out looking like pancakes, or something that’s inedible. If you’ve been leveling off measuring spoons with an index finger, a product (spotted by Core77) is here to make life in the kitchen a lot easier.
With a quick pinch, Dreamfarm‘s Levoons produce precise measurements. The unique design includes a metal handle that, when squeezed, scrapes off any excess dry ingredient like flour or baking powder that is sitting above the rim of the spoon.
For $14.95, Levoons come in fanned sets of four spoons and can be purchased in a variety of bright colors. Now, you can get to work on baking the perfect chocolate chip cookie as soon as possible.
