LEGO Ferris Wheel Great Ball Contraption

Designed and built by Berthil van Beek for the Eurobricks T23 competition (where I’m sure it will be a contender), this LEGO Great Ball Contraption (GBC) is a massive functional Ferris wheel, with a diameter of a 91cm (~36″). For those of you unfamiliar, Great Ball Contraptions are modular machines built to move LEGO soccer or basketballs from one place to another in unique and unusual ways. A Ferris wheel definitely fits the bill. So would a tilt-a-whirl or a gravitron.

Berthil built the ferris wheel GBC using 128 strings, 63 pods, 2.5 meters of 3 mm rigid hose, and is 100% LEGO. For reference, my nephew is always around 1% LEGO depending on exactly how many pieces he’s eaten in the past few days. He takes after his uncle.

I can still remember the first time I got a LEGO soccer ball stuck in one of my nostrils. I panicked and went to the doctor. What an idiot I was! Now I just leave them there and wait for a good sneeze.

[via GeeksAreSexy]

Pikachu Face Graces Giant Ferris Wheel in Japan: Acrophobia, I Choose You!

Of all the Pokémon, Pikachu is probably the best known. This is because he is cute and yellow and makes that Pika…PIKA… PIIIIKKKKAAAAA scream right before he electrocutes the shit out of something. Japan is obsessed with Pokémon, as is much of the world right now thanks to Pokémon GO.

pikachu_ferris_wheel_1zoom in

Pikachu has turned up on the iconic Cosmo Clock 21 ferris wheel in Yokohama. It’s pretty cool and while the image isn’t exactly high res, you can definitely tell that it’s your favorite yellow animal thing.

No word on how long his face will be gracing Yokohama, or if hoards of Pokémon GO fanatics are gathered around the wheel trying to catch him.

[via Kotaku]

Nik Wallenda to perform one of his craziest stunts ever


Nik Wallenda is set to perform the craziest stunt of his life so far. The famous aerialist and “The King of the High wire” will walk on the new 400 foot giant Ferris wheel Orlando Eye while it is...

Vegas Ferris Wheel is the World’s Tallest Wheel


The High Roller happens to be the tallest Ferris wheel on the face of the planet. Its setting is the Strip in Las Vegas. Being 550 feet high, it takes half an hour to make a single revolution. But...

Attraktsionus Double Ferris Wheel: Twice the Fun, Possibly Twice as Dangerous

I love a good amusement park ride as much as the next guy, but even I might have some second thoughts about riding on this unusual double ferris wheel if it ever showed up at my local Six Flags.

attraktsionus double ferris wheel

Designed by the frequently whimsical, always creative team at Art Lebedev Studios, the Attraktsionus concept would link two ferris wheels together with a single set of cars that can travel between them.

attraktsionus double ferris wheel 1

Presumably, some sort of giant belts or cables would drive the cars between the two wheels, thus combining the sensation of riding a ferris wheel with that of a gondala ride. Thanks to the different wheel sizes, the whole thing looks like a giant bicycle chain when viewed from a distance.

attraktsionus double ferris wheel 2

I’m doubtful that we’ll ever see this ride turn up at real world amusement parks, but I do think it would be cool to create a whole series of fantastic and impossible rides like this. Oh yeah, there already is

London Eye to Become Giant Twitter Sentiment Meter

I’ve always thought one the most interesting landmarks in England was the London Eye. I would call it a ferris wheel, as I think most people from the US would, but it’s simply known as the Eye in the UK. A former British Olympic athlete named Daley Thompson has come up with a plan to help use the massive ferris wheel to promote the London Olympic Games kicking off soon.

london eye

Working with EDF Energy, the wheel’s sponsor, an algorithm will sort through positive and negative tweets sent with the tag #Energy2012. The wheel will be lit up depending on the portion of positive comments sent with the tag. The algorithm was designed by experts on sentiment analysis. For example, if 75% of the tweets are positive, 75% of the wheel will be lit. The more positivity, the more lights.

The wheel will also be lit up in various color patterns to celebrate major sporting moments of the day. If you want help control how much of the massive wheel is lit, you need to start tweeting when the games kick off. The last show will be held each night at 2100 BST that the Olympics are underway.

[via BBC]