Tag Archives: Insects

LEGO goes ASMR with this calming nature-inspired playlist created using the sounds of LEGO blocks

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LEGO launched its newest Insect Collection this week which was originally conceived by LEGO fan José Maria from Spain. Maria submitted the design to LEGO Ideas, where it received over 10,000 votes, and was later converted into a real collection. To celebrate the launch, LEGO also unveiled a little surprise – an ASMR “Green Noise” playlist to accompany the collection. This nature-inspired playlist includes the sounds of each insect in the collection reimagined using the clicks and clacks of LEGO bricks.

Designer: LEGO

LEGO teamed up with Emmy-nominated Foley artist Sanaa Kelley, who is an expert at creating interesting sound effects from everyday objects. “Our collaboration has felt like a full-circle moment as a few years ago, I embarked on a course to learn more about insects to debunk my fears and enhance my knowledge of the sounds they make,” Kelley said in a statement. “This was a first at my studio and challenged me to be incredibly creative with my approach to Foley.”

The collection includes diverse insects such as the blue morpho butterfly, Hercules beetle, and Chinese mantis. Kelley used the bricks that would be used to build each insect and recreated their beautiful iconic flutters, by utilizing the clicks, clacks, and snaps made by those very bricks and combining them with Foley techniques. Each track is almost forty-five minutes long and can be streamed directly on LEGO’s website by anyone, including those who haven’t purchased the set. The whole playlist is three hours long in total, which should give you enough time to build the collection while listening to it.

The LEGO collection is available for preorder and will be launched on September 7th. It is intended for adults since it is known that 3 in 5 adults spend less than an hour each day relaxing. This adorable set is an effort on the part of LEGO to bring some peace and calm into our everyday chaotic lives, and give us an opportunity to relax and unwind with a soothing activity. And I can totally imagine LEGO lovers building the Blue Morpho Butterfly sitting on a branch in the South American Amazon Rainforest with a flower and a tiny honeybee on it, or the Hercules Beetle sitting on a piece of decaying log with its removable bricks, and calming their frenzied minds!

The post LEGO goes ASMR with this calming nature-inspired playlist created using the sounds of LEGO blocks first appeared on Yanko Design.

Scientists Remotely Control Cockroaches with a Solar Powered Backpack

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An international team of mad scientists at Japan’s RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research (CPR) has created cyborg cockroaches capable of being steered remotely by humans. And not only that but each cockroach is outfitted with a solar-charging backpack and lithium polymer battery to provide it with all the power it needs to consistently power its steering capabilities. This will end well. And by well, as usual, I mean badly.

The cyborg cockroaches are controlled via minute electrical impulses to either the left or right side of the abdomen (administered via wireless button press by a human), which causes them to turn in that direction. That’s cool, but don’t even think about steering them in the direction of my kitchen.

The scientists imagine the cyborg roaches being used for worthy causes like search-and-rescue missions, although I have the sneaking suspicion they’ll also be used for unworthy causes, like crawling up my pant leg with one of my friends at the controls.

[via TechEBlog]

Vintage Porcelain Painted with Tiny, Lifelike Ants: Teaparty, Ruined!

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German artist Evelyn Bracklow paints tiny, realistic black ants on vintage porcelain, making the pieces appear to be crawling with the insects. Why exactly, I’m not sure, but they certainly make for an interesting conversation piece. Or my wife screaming we’ve got ants in the house and breaking a piece of expensive dinnerware with a thrown shoe.

Evelyn makes some of her pieces available for sale through her Etsy shop, but they’re not cheap. So if you fancy yourself an artist, you might want to consider buying some used dinnerware from the thrift store and try painting your own. That’s what I did, and let’s just say maybe Evelyn’s prices aren’t so unreasonable after all.

I love whimsical objects, and these certainly fit the bill. The hardest part is going to be convincing my wife to let me spend $360 on an antsy teapot when I don’t even drink tea. Now I’m not trying to sound too hoity-toity here, but I’ve always been more of a grape soda kind of guy.

[via Colossal]

This Wearable Anti-Insect Tent Is a Real Product That Exists

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The great outdoors: it comes with a lot of bugs. And what if you don’t like those bugs? Enter the WalkingPod Mesh personal anti-insect tent, a wearable fine-gauge mesh tent that prevents pesky bugs from getting too close. Plus it makes you look cool while you’re mowing the lawn or picnicking with your significant other.

Available from Under The Weather, the limited edition (act now!) $90 pod stays in place via backpack-style shoulder straps and an adjustable belt. It also has an elastic waistband to prevent bugs from entering from underneath, and two elastic holes to stick your arms through, making your exposed forearms an all-you-can-eat buffet for mosquitos.

So, did you already buy one? I bet you didn’t, because I already bought them all out of stock. Now I’m reselling them on eBay for twice the price like PS5s, although they’re not exactly selling like the hotcakes I expected them to be. As a matter of fact, I’ve actually had to take a loss on most of them. Also, there’s a 100% chance I forget I’m wearing my WalkingPod and smash a hotdog into the mesh.

[via CNet]

Real Dead Giant Murder Hornets for Sale

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Want to own your own giant murder hornet (Vespa mandarinia) as a memento to remember 2020 by? Well, you’re in luck, because BicBugs has got some very nice specimens available. Sold with their wings spread, they’re available either unmounted ($47), or pinned and framed ($59), and are sure to be one of this Christmas’s must-have gifts.

Just look at that beast! What was Mother Nature thinking when she created these things? Some human must have really upset her, and we should probably find that person and make them apologize before she decides to develop murder versions of everything and makes going outside a deadly proposition.

So once a murder hornet is dead it can’t still sting, right? Like even if you touch its stinger in a panic? Asking for a friend who plans on placing one on his wife’s shoulder when she least expects it.

[via This Is Why I’m Broke]

Miniature robotic camera backpack shows how beetles see the world

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After creating tiny sensor backpacks for bees, researchers from the University of Washington have built a more advanced model for beetles. Dubbed “a GoPro for beetles,” the robotic backpacks carry a tiny steerable camera that can stream video at 1 to...

Termitat is an Ant Farm for Termites

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If you live in a house constructed with a wood frame or wooden siding, this is the last thing you ever want to buy. But if your dwelling is made from brick, concrete, stone, metal, or glass, read on… Do you want to see what termites can do to a piece of wood? With the Termitat, you can grow your very own termite community, and observe the destructive little buggers as they chew through a slice of wood. They’re like Sea Monkeys, but with wood instead of water!

The see-through container comes pre-loaded with a hunk of wood, and an already-installed Pacific Dampwood termite community. Simply give them a weekly dribble of water, and the wood-eaters will gradually bore their way for all to enjoy. The makers of the Termitat claim the acrylic desktop habitat is “escape-proof,” so theoretically wood structures will be safe from a termite invasion, but I’d rather not take the risk.

Still, the Termitat is a cool desktop novelty for those interested in insect behavior, or science in general. If you’re ready to raise your very own termite community, prices range from $139.95 to $159.95. Once your community runs out of wood – in about 2 to 3 years, you can send it back to Termitat, and they’ll rejuvenate the environment for another $75.

[via r/shutupandtakemymoney]

Get ready to eat bugs if you want to live beyond 2050

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By 2050 there will be an estimated 10 billion humans living on this planet. That's not just a lot of mouths to feed, those folks will be, on average, wealthier than today's population with a taste for the foods found in regions like the US and Wester...

This McDonald’s Is Staffed by Bees

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Sweden now has the world’s smallest McDonald’s restaurant. It may be tiny but it is packed with workers called drones, and has room to serve thousands of guests. They don’t make burgers and fries though. They have just one item on the menu: honey. That’s because it is filled with bees.

This fully-functional beehive is designed to look like a McDonald’s. I mean it looks exactly like the fast food restaurant, only in miniature. The McHive has all of the details of the real deal, including the iconic Golden Arches standing on the removable miniature rooftop, glass doors, full pane windows complete with promotional posters, railings, and even a couple of drive-thru windows.

Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz, I’m lovin’ it.

Of course, now there’s going to be a Burger Queen beehive that opens up across the street and the competition is going to be fierce. I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about it. Then there will be a Wendy’s, and before you know it Sweden is going to be overrun with fast-food beehives. Then the fattened-up bees and their miniature restaurants will take over the world, with no humans left to eat their honey.

[via Mike Shouts]

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Insects could be extinct within a century, scientists say

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Insects are dying so rapidly, they could disappear within 100 years, according to the first global scientific review on their decline. A third of species are endangered and more than 40 percent face the threat of extinction in the next few decades, a...