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.

Twisting Steel with LEGO Motors

LEGO bricks are some of the most awesome things on earth. They’re incredibly versatile for building all kinds of structures, and you can make some pretty impressive machines with them when you combine them with Technic and Mindstorms parts. I’ve always assumed that LEGO motors and gears aren’t particularly strong, but it turns out with the proper engineering, you can use them to bend and twist steel.

Brick Experiment Channel loves to create LEGO machines that show off their strength. He recently built a rig that uses a pair of LEGO Power Functions XL motors along with a number of gears to reduce their speed and increase their torque output. The result is a machine that that outputs 15 Newton meters (~11 lb-ft.) of torque, and is capable of taking a stainless steel axle and twisting it like a drill bit (or a Twizzler).

The builder’s ultimate goal was to see if he could actually break the steel rod before the LEGO parts would fail. By twisting the metal back and forth numerous times, he was ultimately able to introduce enough metal fatigue to to make the axle crack. It’s pretty amazing that this is possible, and looks like a fun science experiment for LEGO fans to try and replicate at home.

Melting Metal LEGO Minifigs Like Mini Terminators

What you’re about to watch is either a James Cameron movie with a VERY low budget, or a bunch of LEGO minifigs made out of gallium and melted for fun. It’s actually the latter, and it is very fun to watch. YouTuber DaveHax used LEGO minifig shaped ice molds to make some figures, then melted them like little T-1000s. It may just be the best thing ever.

Gallium is a solid metal at room temperature but has a melting point of around 86°F (30°C), and that’s what allows the magic to happen so easily. Minifigs look awesome in gallium, but they look even cooler when they melt. Too bad Dave couldn’t find a way to make it wear a tiny police uniform.

First, he tried to put them on a hot tray, but only the feet melted. Then he tried candles under the tray, but still no Terminator melting. They did melt, but not in the coolest way, but once he leaned it against the back of the tray, that’s when he got that sweet Terminator action. Check it out:

BTW I love Dave’s sciency voice.

[via The Awesomer via Geekologie]

Snowmen Blown up with Gas Bombs: Frosty the Bomberman

It’s been freezing lately across the country, and many of us are getting more than our fair share of snow too. I’ve had enough of the cold and snow. We need a way to take out our frustrations, and there’s no better way than to beat up a snowman. YouTube channel Beyond the Press has the right idea. They made a video in which they blow up some snowmen with homemade explosives. It’s time to fight back against winter and it’s snow people.

In the video, Lauri and Anni Vuohensilta created a couple of snowmen and then blew them to hell with 100-liter trash bags full of oxy-acetylene gas, which is usually used in tanks for welding and cutting. How do ya like that, Frosty? If you want to jump right to the explody bits, skip to 7:24.

It’s kind of sad seeing these snowmen getting blown to smithereens, but also very satisfying. They look so goofy and sad and when things go boom, they just sort of explode and drop down, collapsing into nothing, becoming one with the snow again. Given the winter we are currently having, I don’t feel too bad for them. I would go on a snowman killing spree if I could. Now thanks to this video, I know how to kill them with gas.

[via Nerdist]

What Happens When You Microwave an Airbag?

Inspired by a classic YouTube video, The Slow Mo Guys decided to deploy a couple of airbags in microwave ovens so that they could capture the destruction at 2,000 frames per second. It is an awesome idea, because who doesn’t love to watch things getting demolished in slow motion?

The results? Well, the first microwave is merely demolished, while second microwave’s door shoots off like a missile. These guys got really lucky, because at one point, they parked the microwave near the house windows and fortunately parts didn’t go flying through when the airbag deployed.

So that is your fun destruction for the day. You’re welcome.

Also, if you were thinking about installing an airbag in your microwave to protect your meals, something tells me that it isn’t going to work.

[via Sploid via Geekologie]

What’s Inside a Stop Light?

If you have ever wondered what is inside of a traffic light and just how the system works, you are going to enjoy father and son team Dan and Lincoln Markham’s latest episode of What’s Inside.


This time out, they got their hands on an actual stop light and then cut it open to find out what is inside. We also get to learn a bit about the computer system that runs the stop lights. It is actually really interesting. The lights themselves are not complicated, but the system that runs them all sure is. These days, traffic lights don’t just run on timers, but actually detect traffic and adjust their timing accordingly.

On a side note, how many people can convince their city to let them do this?

[via Laughing Squid]

Firework Powered Model Plane Has Very Short Flight

For the 4th of July, somebody’s uncle had the genius idea to fly a firework powered model plane in the middle of a crowded residential area. As you can imagine, the flight did not last long and ended with a cool explosion.

The plane flies for maybe a second before the guy realizes that this was a very bad idea. Then the plane appears to shoot a missile at that house in front of them, before it dives at the house and explodes awesomely.

Sadly, we don’t have any video of the neighbor running out of his house and beating this guy’s ass, which he deserves for the vertical video alone.

[via Geekologie]

Crash Testing LEGO Cars with an Air Cannon

Not long ago we watched a video of a LEGO Porsche being strapped to a real crash test sled and smashed into an obstacle. The LEGO Porsche was thoroughly destroyed in the test. Now we have another LEGO car being crushed into blocky bits after being fired out of some sort of air cannon.

Beyond the Press loaded up their pneumatic cannon with a couple of different LEGO cars and sent them flying. The car was busted up well and good. In fact, it seems that most of the video consists of picking up LEGO pieces scattered across the landscape.

The slow motion footage actually shows how the force of the air from the cannon was enough to start the car breaking into bits long before it hit the rocks. The last time I saw a LEGO car get smashed up this good, it was shortly after it was thrown at my brothers head and hit the wall instead.

[via Laughing Squid]

Watch a Giant Knife Stab an Old Toyota

Like Crocodile Dundee once said, “That’s not a knife. This is a knife.” When they’re not building giant fighting robots, the guys behind Megabots like to smash and slice stuff with giant knives. They decided to use a 500-pound knife they custom built to stab a scrapyard Toyota.

Watching this knife piercing the car is very satisfying for some reason. It cuts through the roof like butter and even digs into the asphalt below.

If that isn’t enough, you can watch their robotic creations break things with the giant knife here, as long as we are on the subject of giant knives.

Now that’s a knife.

[via Sploid]

Nintendo Switch Survives 1000-foot Drop, Keeps Playing

While most of us can’t even get our hands on a Nintendo Switch, some guys are out dropping theirs repeatedly on the ground already. The guys from UnlockRiver took the Switch with its two Joy-Con controller attached, tied it to a string and used a drone to lift it 1000-feet into the air.

They then cut the string and let the Switch fall 1000-feet to the concrete parking lot below. You can watch the video and see the drop test for yourself.

Impressively, other than the left Joy-Con controller breaking, the Switch continued to work. Chances are that had it landed screen-side down, the results might have been different, but it appears to have landed on its left edge.

It’s a cool test, but I hate to see gadgets and game systems busted just for YouTube views.

[via GameSpot]