NASA Outsources To High School

Source: NASA

You may have heard something of the recent Japanese unmanned spacecraft Hayabusha that was destroyed while in orbit above the Australian outback in order to retrieve its precious contents (the first ever harvested asteroid material).

What you may not have known those responsible for recording the planned detonation of the Hayabusha were a few high schoolers and their science teacher. Turns out the students were out of the loop assuming that what they were working on was just another school assignment and they didn't find out it was actually the real deal until 6 months into the project.

High school science teacher and expert in "optical observations, tracking, and spectroscopy" Ron Dantowitz had actually been tapped by NASA to record "The Hayabusa Re-entry Airborne Observing Campaign" and he figured it was time to introduce a few of his students to the wonderful world of applied sciences.

So the hypothetical science project turned real culminated in the students boarding a NASA DC-8 plane after months of work to record the Hayabusha event.

Here is the amazing footage that a few high school students captured; do your self a favor and watch it. Do it for the explosions but most of all do it for science!

Damn, I remember doing similar space related projects in middle school, like colonizing Mars and such. My astronauts almost always died.

How many brave souls lives were lost to my rushed miscalculations?! I need a drink ...

Manstruation Machine

Source: Gizmodo

No, that title is unfortunately not a typo. And be forewarned those of you with weaker stomachs should just stop reading this article and click here.

(That link is also good for those of you who need comforting after reading the following article. Good luck, you brave souls.)

"What the f*ck am I looking at?" I assumed you asked. Well let me tell you, it is a machine for men to experience menstruation.

Now I assume most of you just shortened the question to a simple "What the f*ck?!" Well allow me to attempt an explanation.

This crime against nature was part of a film project by Hiromi Ozaki, a student at the Royal College of Art in London. The project is a music video called Menstruation Machine (or alternatively Takeshi's Take) and I will allow his synopsis to fill in the details while I hide in the corner and try to collect myself.

"It’s 2010, so why are humans still menstruating? ... What does Menstruation mean to humans? Who might choose to have it, and how might they have it? Fitted with a blood dispensing mechanism and lower-abdomen-stimulating electrodes, the Menstruation Machine simulates the pain and bleeding of an average 5 day menstruation process of a human. Menstruation Machine (Takashi's Take) is a music video about a boy ‘Takashi’, who builds the machine in an attempt to dress up as a female, biologically as well as aesthetically, to fulfill his desire to understand what it might feel like to be a truely kawaii (cute) girl."

If you have made it this far you might as well subject yourself to the music video:

I know, I know ... and I am sorry.

Titanic 2 in August

Source: ScreenCrave

Those crazy bastards over at The Asylum are up to their shenanigans again.

From the studio that brought you sci-fi classics such as Transmorphers and The Terminators, scared you senseless with Snakes on a Train and ... well actually improved upon Indy's most recent adventure with Temple of the Skulls proudly announces its next project: Titanic 2

No, that isn't the official poster (Though it should be ...) this is the official poster:

Starring the *ahem* talents of Brook Burns (Baywatch) and that old senator dude from the X-Men movies (Bruce Davison) the film is pretty much exactly what you would expect. Let me regale you with the official synopsis:

"On the 100th anniversary of the original voyage, a modern luxury liner christened Titanic 2, follows the path of its namesake. But when a tsunami hurls an ice berg into the new ship's path, the passengers and crew must fight to avoid a similar fate."

Hold onto you female clothing, because come August 24th it will be time to abandon ship all over again!