Dropping a Giant 2-Ton Thor’s Hammer on Objects from 100 Feet

Remember that 2-ton Thor’s hammer the folks at YouTube channel Hacksmith built? Of course, you do. If you were a superhero, you would be The Memory Master. Well, now the fun-loving builders have taken that hammer and dropped it from 100 feet on various objects, including a minivan. The results are every bit as glorious as you’d expect, provided you expected very glorious.

They begin by crushing some everyday household objects like a refrigerator, dresser, and television, slowly working their way up to the big ticket items like a truck and minivan. They also nail a giant nail, destroy a kiddy pool, and wreck a cinder block castle. I only wish I’d been invited to witness the carnage.

The fun doesn’t come without its risk of serious injury, though, and the crew almost gets taken out by splintered 2 x 4’s when dropping the hammer Gallagher style on a pile of watermelons, and at one point, the decorative metal grating comes off the side of the hammer and almost hits a crew member. So yeah, if you’re going to try this yourself, definitely stand behind somebody.

Gunpowder Powered Nutcracker Cracks Even The Stubbornest Nuts

Cracking nuts while sipping cocktails and making small talk with relatives: it’s a timeless holiday tradition. But what about those stubborn nuts that refuse to crack so easily – what about them? I’m looking at you, macadamias! Well, engineer Shane Wighton of YouTube channel Stuff Made Here has just the thing for those nuts: an explosive nutcracker powered by up to four maximum power firearm blanks. Nuts, prepare to be shell-shocked!

The world’s strongest nutcracker has a steel piston that fires upward with an acceleration of around 18,000 G’s to make sure that no nut is left uncracked. As a matter of fact, it won’t just crack nuts, it’ll obliterate them, and you’ll probably be picking pieces of shell out of your living room walls for many Christmases to come.

Shane stresses in the video that you should not try this at home, which is like issuing me a personal challenge. I mean he might as well have insulted my family and slapped me in the face with his glove with the whole town watching because I am definitely about to seriously injure myself trying this at home.

[via The Awesomer]

Watch General Electric Crush Stuff with 100,000 Pounds

I have to admit, it’s pretty fun watching stuff get crushed with 100,000 pounds of force. In this video, they also blast holes in materials with 140 mph winds using an air gun. Destruction is fun when it is all about making more durable products. Not so much when it happens to our stuff.

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Last April, General Electric began releasing videos showing how their materials testing procedures affected everyday objects. This is a supercut. It’s amazing to see all kinds of objects get crushed – everything from a rubber duck to a baseball, to a ball of rubber bands and a die-cast car.

It’s all to make better and stronger products, but it is fascinating and fun to watch.

[via Nerdist]