3D illusion paintings
I love the optical illusion art of French art collective Paper Donut. [Via NotCot]
art
The beginning and end of life, a wall animation
More great wall animation by BLU! BIG BANG BIG BOOM: an unscientific point of view on the beginning and evolution of life … and how it could probably end. More: Combo: A Collaborative Animation by Blu and David Ellis
Robot parade!
In July of 2008, Jared Foster’s family was having a quiet, normal family gathering when it was invaded by ROBOTS!
Weyland-Yutani patents handy facehugger removal device
The worst thing about summertime in Austin is the facehuggers. They’re more than just a nuisance; if you’re allergic to alien embryos, like I am, they can actually be quite dangerous. Plus there’s that whole chestbursting thing–inconvenient, embarrassing, and uncomfortable to say the least. I’ve gotten pretty good at removing them using the old spork-and-a-defibrillator trick, but it’s terribly slow and, no matter how careful I am, I always seem to end up burning myself with molecular acid and having to stick those little bits of toilet paper to my face. Fortunately, thanks to space medic Ronald Renne, now there’s a better way. [via Gizmodo]
MakerBot Wristwatch Enclosure
Open-source fabrication advocate and 2010 TED Fellow Dominic Muren just sent word of his latest project: an enclosure for a MakerBot Wristwatch called Makerwatch SSG.
Exactly perfect little glowing mushroom lamps
I don’t know how else to put it. These lamps, by a Japanese craftsman known as The Great Mushrooming, feature handblown glass mushrooms, with internal LEDs, mounted in found driftwood bases with conspicuous on/off switches. I don’t think they could get any better. [via Inhabitat]
Zipper boat!
Yup. Somebody–specifically Japanese artist Yasuhiro Suzuki–went to the trouble of building a motorboat shaped like a zipper pull just for the sake of the aerial sight gag of its wake suggesting a parting zipper. And just for the record, this is clearly a jacket-zipper-pull motorboat, not a pants-zipper-pull motorboat, so let’s not have any off-color jokes about what strange creatures might be surfacing in its wake. [via Dude Craft]