You’ve also probably heard of the Symphony of Science, a project by John Boswell and some other guys. The project is beautiful in that it combines the learning of scientific concepts with music, which is a winning combination in my book. I think I discovered them early last year, and shared a Symphony of Science video with you guys as well.

If you have not checked it out yet, then I suggest that you do. They have a new release, which will catch your interest if, as I said earlier, you like watching BBC documentaries. The new release is dubbed The Greatest Show on Earth, which you may recognize as the title of Richard Dawkins’ book. The video features Sir David Attenborough himself, British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, and scientist, engineer, comedian, author, and inventor Bill Nye.

The music may not particularly impress, but the concept of the Symphony of Science is catchy. The footage from the following videos will definitely catch and hold your attention, though:

• Richard Dawkins’ “There is grandeur in this view of life” speech
• BBC Life
• BBC Planet Earth
• David Attenborough’s First Life
• Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life
• Bill Nye Evolution episode

Enjoy the video!

Created by YouTube user eryth0rbic, the stop motion video is actually a project for a photography class. There isn’t much happening except for what Pac-Man always does: run around eating those pellets all the while avoiding the deadly ghosts. Still, the video is something that can amuse you, albeit temporarily, on a lazy Friday morning (or afternoon, depending on when you get to read this).

Oh, the creator of this Pac-Man stop motion video says it took him around 2 to 3 hours to sculpt the creatures and the entire setup, then about an hour to shoot the video, and then about 3 to 4 hours to edit. There are around 100 frames for the game, while the credits is simply sped up video and not stop motion. If you ask me, that is a lot of work for less than a minute’s video! (Then again, that shows how much I know about making videos. I just enjoy watching them.)

What did I say? Temporary distraction, yes? I do have to say that the sculpted creatures made me want to dig out the clay my nephews play with. Maybe creating my own stop motion video will do me some good.

What do you think of this Pac-Man stop motion video? Cool or a waste of time?

Featured photo via raider3_anime

This contest is held yearly, this year being the 7th installment. The purpose of the contest?

The contest is a celebration of the ingenuity and creativity of the world’s premier visual illusion research community. Visual illusions are those perceptual experiences that do not match the physical reality. Our perception of the outside world is generated indirectly by brain mechanisms, and so all visual perception is illusory to some extent. The study of visual illusions is therefore of critical importance to the understanding of the basic mechanisms of sensory perception, as well as to cure many diseases of the visual system. The visual illusion community includes visual scientists, ophthalmologists, neurologists, and visual artists that use a variety of methods to help discover the neural underpinnings of visual illusory perception.

The average person may just have some fun with these illusions, but they do have real value for researchers. While we may have some readers who can find that value, you don’t have to be a researcher to enjoy looking at these illusions.

The first prize went to “Silencing Illusion”, which illustrates how motion can silence visual change. Here are the instructions:

Play the movie while looking at the small white speck in the center of the ring. At first, the ring is motionless and it’s easy to tell that the dots are changing color. When the ring begins to rotate, the dots suddenly appear to stop changing. But in reality they are changing the entire time.

Were you able to detect the continuous change of the colors even though the ring was moving? I tried for a while, but it was hopeless!

The second prize went to Grouping by Contrast, while the third prize went to The Loch Ness Aftereffect. Both are displayed using Flash, so please visit the contest’s official web site to view.

This kid, who is only 15 years old, managed to wow everyone watching with his Rubik’s Cube skills, especially when he solved a 3x3x3 cube in merely 6.24 seconds. That’s less time it would take some people to name all the colors in the cube without looking!

Watch how he did it. Oh, and contrary to a brilliant comment in the YouTube page, just because Feliks is not Asian, it doesn’t mean the video is fake. ;)

For those who need some help in conquering the Cube, you may try getting hold of Feliks, although reading Rubik’s Cube for Dummies might be more feasible.

Last February, a competition was held in Copenhagen, where this record-breaking creation took home the goods. I wouldn’t know how to build one of these things, but the entire video just mesmerized me. Pay attention to how those little balls move around – sometimes smoothly, sometimes in a jerking motion – then tell me later if you don’t find yourself staring at your screen in fascination.

Giving credit where credit is due – the team behind the Great Ball Contraption:

1. Maico Arts, Holland
2. Jean-Marc Nimal, Belgium
3. Klaus Hansen, Denmark
4. Lasse Deleuran, Denmark
5. Martin Nygaard, Denmark
6. Trine Jensen, Denmark
7. Steven Alperts, Belgium

The whole thing has a mind-boggling 93 modules, and after watching the video, I am pretty sure no one can deny just how fascinating it is. If you want to learn more about the Great Ball Contraption, head on over to their web site.

A guy named Patrick Priebe put his DIY talent to good use and created a homemade pulse laser gun. This is not science fiction, folks. It may be homemade, but it works! Here’s the dish on the gun:

• It has a small pulse laser head.
• Small it may be, but it has lots of energy – a 1kW pulse of coherent infrared light.
• It is 320 mm long and weighs in at about 2 pounds.
• The casing is made of brass and aluminum, while the center plate is made of plexi.
• This baby can shoot through plastic and thin metal, as well as styrofoam.  I can only imagine what it can do to human flesh!
• It took Patrick 70 hours to complete the gun, which is all handmade.

Here is a video showcasing the gun in action.

Needless to say, this thing is NOT a toy. You wouldn’t want to give the pulse laser gun as a gift to a little boy (or girl, for that matter). However, if you are a responsible adult who can handle such a weapon – it is a weapon – then you can get in touch with Patrick. He says that he is making one soon for sale. Of course, you will have to be patient as it seems that he is already inundated with requests!

As for me, I can’t help but think that the gun will soon catch the attention of regulators and that they might just do something about it in the near future.

Made as part of a contest for Aint it Cool News’ Butt-Numb-A-Thon 12, Benni Diez of Cologne, Germany created this bad boy. This was the winning entry in the contest, and Diez claims it took only two days to create.

The video features the famously climactic scene in James Cameron’s Aliens, edited with new effects to look like it’s taking place in the world of Tron, aka “the Grid.” Hit the link above to see eight more “TRONitized” movie clips.

On a side note… Have you tired of all the Tron stuff yet? Are we nearing overload, or do you say, “Keep it coming!”?

Muse may not be every geek’s choice when it comes to music, but this one has a thing for Matthew Bellamy and his gang.  One, he does have a British accent (yeah, some are suckers for that).  Two, he is not bad looking at all (ask Kate Hudson).  Three, he is a musical genius! (Maybe I should have listed that first…)

So anyway, a friend posted an 8-bit music video of Muse’s Uprising, and I had so much fun listening to it. Never mind that the magical voice of Bellamy is gone or that the “real” instruments cannot be heard – listening to the melody and being transported back to many many summers ago is so worth it.

Non-Muse fans may just give me a blank stare, but I am taking the chance that are some Muse fans on FG. Here’s that video.

Here’s another song – I think my current favorite: Super Massive Blackhole.

If you want to know more about Muse, you can visit their official web site. (I strongly suggest that you do if you want to listen to awesome music.)

Now what about other songs that you might want to hear in 8-bit? Do a quick search on YouTube – you’ll find lots. From what I have read, I think you can DIY. Does anyone know how to do this exactly? (For those times when you feel like tearing your hair out because of boredom…)

StarCraft and Lego put together – it was bound to happen sooner or later, but how can you go wrong with this combination?

I think the recreation – from the Terrans and Protoss to the bunkers to the mineral deposits – is quite impressive. The background music and the chatter is reminiscent of the original game, and since I haven’t had the chance to get my hands on StarCraft II (netbooks do have their disadvantages), I cannot really say much about the “new” experience. Suffice it to say that after watching this video, I once again am feeling the urge to play.

Enough chatter – watch it for yourself!

Need I say more? The World Cup spirit has definitely caught on, and people all over the world – from all walks of life – are glued to their television sets just to watch the latest game. Earlier today, I saw the match between Spain and Switzerland. Spain, as some of you may know, is one of the favorites to win the World Cup. Surprisingly, they lost to Switzerland – 0 to 1. I guess it just goes to show that the predictions just might not turn out to be that good.

Anyhow, here’s another surprising rseult – the US was able to eke out a draw in the match against England. I was not able to catch that game, but the Lego recreation is just as good. Maybe it is even better!

This video from YouTube is an entertaining bit about that game. It’s probably not going to satisfy the die hard World Cup fun, but there is no denying that it is FUN to watch. I don’t know about the authenticity of the costumes, but hey, how often do you get to watch the World Cup in Lego?

Don’t get me wrong, I do like Tarantino but Rodriguez is the more mature director of both. Luckily they worked together regularly, even if on under-rated movies such as Four Rooms or over-hyped movies such as the Grindhouse duo.

This time the honour is Tarantino’s to create a fake trailer for Rodriguez’ upcoming feature film ‘Machete’ but the trailer we are really interested in here at FG is the LEGO version by Youtuber gigerbrick.

LEGO makes everything better. Even Roberto Rodriguez.

Eyes, by Passion paris.

The conception of this project consistently derives from its underlying architecture – the theoretic conception and visual pattern of the Hamburg Kunsthalle. The Basic idea of narration was to dissolve and break through the strict architecture of O. M. Ungers “Galerie der Gegenwart”. Resultant permeabilty of the solid facade uncovers different interpretations of conception, geometry and aesthetics expressed through graphics and movement. A situation of reflexivity evolves – describing the constitution and spacious perception of this location by means of the building itself.

Complete Youtube playlist.

Via Gametrailers.

I do not know if we needed to get the special _bonus_ of Neil Diamond though.

[Via Geeks are Sexy]

Snatch Wars (NSFW) is a mashup of Guy Ritchie’s Snatch and Star Wars. NSFW because of the high octane language. Video after the jump.

Fairly large video download, by the way. And obviously, it has sound. So maybe you’ll want to save it for home, not the office.