Friday, August 9, 2013

Why are things creepy?



A really interesting video by Vsauce on what makes things creepy and why we react to them the way we do...just a warning though, some of the images and stuff in the video can actually be really unsettling, but it's fascinating anyways. I highly recommend you watch the whole thing even if you get creeped out, because it's totally worth it. At least...I think it is. But don't take my word for it. d:



- Vsauce

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Seeing without Eyes


Daniel Kish has been blind for as long as he can remember. From birth he had a vicious form of eye cancer, which led to the removal of both eyes by the age of thirteen months. They're now replaced with prosthetics. He has no memory of having any form of sight, yet he can navigate his surroundings with an astoundingly agile competence. How? The same way as bats: Echolocation.

Video:

By clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth in a specific way, Kish makes sounds that are sharp enough to produce vibrations that bounce off of the objects around him. Using this method he can identify what his surroundings are, their distance, and their size sufficiently; this ability allows him to live like any other person and participate in even activities that most would assume would require full eyesight, such as riding his bike. 

Kish maintains that Echolocation can offer a liberated lifestyle like his own to other visually impaired people, if only it was commonly taught. This unconventional method is opposed by a majority of the blind community as too difficult to learn. Kish, however, subconsciously started using it by the age of two years old and believes that therefore the human brain is wired to allow use of echolocation, but it's a sense of "sight" that becomes dulled by dependence on the eyes; this portion of the brain's sense could be stimulated by practicing echolocation, and by studying it further a convenient teaching method could be designed.
Although most blind organizations don't support and even oppose Kish's method, he runs his own non-profit organization that teaches echolocation to the visually impaired called World access for the blind

Video:


- Oddity Central

Otter gets drink from vending machine


                                                                               
                                                                             - YouTube

Sunday, June 16, 2013

The Yo-yo Master



Japanese Yo-Yo Master Black, born in Tokyo, started with his first Yo-yo at 14; just four years and 10,000 hours of practice later he won the title of world champion Yo-yo master of 2001. After six more years of sprucing up his act and venturing into more complex Yo-yo techniques, Black won the 2007 World Yo-yo championship again. He later auditioned for Cirque du Soleil and is now a performer with them. Here's his website for info and (more) videos.

Black's Nunchaku reminiscent drills are not only impressive but mesmerizing to watch.

A Six min performance of his Yo-yo techniques (stick around til the end, the second half is incredible):
                                                                            Video:

And a very short video compilation showing some of his cleverly executed tricks (such as flicking a coin off a volunteer's ear with his Yo-yo):
Video:







Saturday, June 15, 2013

World's fastest clapper


Bryan Bednarek breaking the world record of 721 claps per min by 81 claps. All I can say is...his hands must be really sore after that. 


- Youtube

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Laser/Fiber Optic Star projectors



Stars From Mars is a professional fiber optic company that typically supplies the fiber optic decorations to construct a star field on the ceilings of many businesses, From Restaurants to NASA Space exhibits to Disney and Universal Studios. Costing thousands of dollars to install, their work is absolutely phenomenal.

                                          A video tour of one or their star field rooms:
                                                                           Video:
                                                  (I suggest watching it from YouTube)


There are Home projectors that aren't half as stunning as the Stars From Mars star field but are affordable. The Sega Homestar Planetarium is one (you can buy it here):

                                                                           Video:

                                                                     

  and the slightly cheaper, Nebula-resembling Laser Stars Projector is another (Which you can also buy here):    

                                                                                     

Whether you plan on buying one or not, the videos are always really neat to watch.

And as an even cheaper option, you can buy a simple planets projection nightlight, which I actually have and highly recommend. (:  



Then there's always the free option. :P




- YouTube, Amazon, QVC

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Making an Artificial eye



A National Geographic video on the process of making a prosthetic eye. It's a slightly tedious process that includes measuring the proper size, constructing a mold with several different materials, accurately depicting the iris and veins, and polishing the finished product. They're so realistic that it's hard to tell which eye is real.


-National Geographic

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Fishing with Otters



A short video (presumably from a documentary program, not sure which program however) about Fishermen in Bangladesh with their river otter assistants. The otters are trained rather like hunting dogs and treated with a portion of fish from the catch.

                                                    The sounds they make are so cute. ^-^




                                                       - Youtube, video property of owner

You might also like:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...