Youtuber WorldScott lined up a string of 100 red balloons held down with specially modified glasses of water to keep them from blowing away as balloons pop around them. Once the 100 balloons were set up, the laser was switched on and the beam was fired through what appears to be some sort of magnifying glass. The balloons pop surprisingly quickly, considering how far away some of them are.

The laser used is a Spyder III Krypton in the 750mW – 1000mW power range. The last balloon definitely needed the longest time to explode, but it did eventually go. The video has been submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records to see if it is in fact a world record. Record or not, it was certainly cool. Be sure to check out the video and see it for yourself.

Look, the balloon popped. I’m willing to bet that if you had been hit by that beam, you would have screamed and dropped to the floor like a Ferengi losing a latinum fortune. It would have at least hurt you a little. We aren’t sure if the sound is part of the weapon or added later, but it completes the effect.

[via Geek]

Google says that friends at The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science have been working to devise a method of collecting the sort of imagery that’s cheap and easy to access for all people. The kit that the Public Laboratory came up with has been dubbed the balloon mapping toolkit.

It allows anyone to take their own aerial images using a cheap point-and-shoot digital camera and a few other items. The kit would cost about $100 including the balloon, helium, line, and other items needed. The Public Laboratory also has an online tool called MapKnitter that aligns the photos into a geo-referenced image that Google Earth can use.

[via Google Lat Long Blog]

For $24.99 (USD), you can get your own inflatable Star Trek captain’s chair. The chair is decorated to look just like the one Kirk used on the bridge as he boldly went around the universe in the original series. The chair measures 27.75″(H) x 29.25″(W) x 18″(D), and will hold a maximum weight of 120 pounds, so normal-sized adults can’t really sit on it – at least not more than once. I wonder if the chair would float upright if you used it as a pool toy.

This would be the perfect chair for your little Star Trek geek while you watch reruns together. Personally, I would rather see an inflatable recreation of Jean-Luc Picard’s chair, but that’s just me.

Yesterday, Baumgartner climbed into the specially made capsule, taken to an impressive 71,581 feet by a helium balloon. That works out to about 13 miles off the ground. After running through his checklist and depressurizing the capsule, he leapt into the thin cold air. He free-fell for 3 minutes and 43 seconds. At 7,890 feet, he pulled his parachute and floated safely to the ground about 30 miles from Roswell, New Mexico. During the free-fall he reached a peak speed of 364 mph.

The video clip below shows the preparation for the jump, but skips over the jump itself – presumably to keep us in suspense until the 120,000 foot leap.

The team discovered during the test jump an issue that will have to be tackled before the record-setting attempt is made. Baumgartner says that his hands were so cold from the frigid temperatures at that altitude he could hardly move them.

[via Space.com]

Edible balloons are now a part the menu at Chicago’s high-end Alinea’s Restaurant – known for its mastery of molecular gastronomy techniques and ingredients. Each of these balloons are filled with helium, tied with a string that’s made from dehydrated apple. The restaurant’s chef, Grant Achatz, recommends that diners pop the balloon with their tongues, then suck the helium out.

Here’s a video of a diner enjoying his Granny Smith apple balloon:

I’m not sure what the balloon is made of, but it’s definitely edible. What would you sing after you’d had your serving of balloon?

[via Eater via Geekologie]

Baumgartner will be placed inside a capsule to attached to a gigantic helium filled balloon which will carry him to about 120,000 feet in altitude. The air temperature at that altitude is -70°F and there isn’t enough oxygen to sustain life. The daredevil plans on wearing a custom-made pressure suit that is designed to handle the velocities he will attain on his return trip. It will take him roughly 3 hours to get to 120,000 feet while it will take him only 5 1/2 minutes to freefall to 5,000 feet, at which point he will pull his parachute ripcord.

Baumgartner says that from the time he steps out of the capsule and begins his freefall, it’ll only take 30 seconds for him to break the sound barrier. He claims that testing has been completed and the jump window is set for July. The stunt will be performed somewhere over New Mexico. I hope he has a camera that can survive the jump. I want to see some first-person video.

[via Fox News]

Just like that, you have an instant shelter. When you are inside, the material reflects your body heat to keep you warm. If you reverse it, the material will reflect the sun to keep it cooler inside. While it’s not likely to keep you from freezing to death in the wintertime, it’s still a simple and imaginative design.

[via SmartPlanet via Dvice]

The toy will retail for appx. $63(USD), and is a 26 inch-tall inflatable R2-D2 on wheels. A foot pump is included so that you don’t need to beat your lungs to death to satisfy your child (or yourself.) The Jumbo R2-D2 model is the first of the new Star Wars Pump and Play series – more will be coming later if the droid unit turns out to be a big hit. Now, this is all wonderful, but I need to ask – has anyone already called dibs on the Princess Leia demonstrating the toy? “I did.” *Sulking*

Pump and Play is a term that reminds me of my old days, when I used to shoot hoops with my boys. We’d pump up the ball, go out to the court, and then I would help them play by giving them water when they felt that they were thirsty. Those were good times – hey, if you think you’re falling in love with the Jumbo RC Inflatable R2-D2, you’re going to want to have a look at the R2-D2 Garbage Can and the R2-D2 Apron.

[Via Pocket-lint]

Contributor Jack Kieffer owns Cool Gizmo Toys, a blog that rants about random geeky products.

Obviously the real Doctor has been kidnapped and this bozo has turned the TARDIS into a balloon structure. It’s still bigger on the inside, but it now looks like a circus under the big top.

Anyway, this is a nightmare scenario. It’s up to you to save the Doctor. Of course! Every balloon-blowing clown has the same weakness. Retrieving a pin from your pocket, you run to the Balloon TARDIS and pop one of the balloons. The Clown-Lord’s eye seems to disappear. You pop another and his hand fades away. He’s getting angry and starting to come for you. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. He is no more now that his TARDIS is gone.

That’s one clown defeated, and somewhere in the universe the Doctor is safe once again and back in existence. That’s what you do if you ever see a balloon TARDIS. Don’t just stand there and reach for the $1 special (as in the image above). The Doctor needs you!

[via The Mary Sue via Geeks Are Sexy]

This lighter-than-air balloon vehicle is called the Bloon, and it was created by the Barcelona-based company Zero2infinity. It lifts off using a specially-crafted inflatable dome. There is a central pod with windows, that can house 4 passengers and 2 pilots. The ship is connected to a large helium balloon. That’s the only propellant this balloon uses.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

In order to land, the pod is decelerated using a parafoil. There are also eight inflatable landing struts that will absorb the shock upon touchdown. The prototype was tested successfully up to 20.5 miles. That’s in the Earth’s stratosphere.

The first human test flight is expected to happen in 2012, and they’re expecting passengers will be able to go up 36km by 2015. A 3-hour flight will cost €110,000 ($160,000 USD) per person if you want to ride in the Bloon.

[via designboom]

This balloon is almost 86 feet tall with the platform attached, and it has immediately become my favorite balloon. I can’t imagine how awesome it must look when you first see it. The balloon makes special appearances all around the world and it’s coming to Reno in September.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

This incredible-looking balloon will take place in the Great Reno Balloon Race on September 9th through 11th, 2011.

[via Laughing Squid]

These awesome photos are the result of milk, paint, and water that are mixed together to make all sorts of rich colors. Some of the photos are of simple drops, and they look so cool. I like the plain white one; it reminds me of a mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion. My favorite is the drop with the rainbow colors around it though.

The water balloon ones are very cool too. It’s interesting that the camera shutter is so fast that it can capture the water from inside the balloon, still in the shape of the balloon after it pops. These photos are some of the coolest I have seen, and you can check out the artist’s Flickr page for more.

[via Colossal Art & Design]

The dude put the fireworks on the bottom of the copter, and used a match head on a resistor to light the fuse when he was in range of the enemy balloons (filled with highly-explosive hydrogen) in a snowfield. He also rigged up a camera tripod with some roman candle sentry guns for effect.

He then piloted the DIY copter into the fray and shot the balloons down. It’s cool even though I know beyond a doubt that if I tried this, I would have crashed into a tree two seconds after takeoff.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You can read more about the copter and its construction at RCExplorer.

[via Geek.com]

I think that it works well for a publicity stunt. It’s kind of like watching dominos fall over. You just can’t help but watch. It’s also cool to see all the different ways that the engineers tried to accelerate the balloon.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Unfortunately, unlike dominos, these puppies from Dyson cost $450 bucks each, so good luck trying to replicate something like this on your own. Still, it’s fun to watch.

[via DVice]

These installations were realized by El Colmado in collaboration with Quim Roqué and Helena Delgado for their (badly named) spaceinvARTders exhibition.

The structures were made made out of steel and PVC, filled with over 1500 balloons to simulate the pixels of the classic video game. And no, they weren’t filled with water.

[via Design You Trust]

It looks awesome, but I was surprised at how complicated this high-tech art really is. Since Solar Equation is a balloon, it bobs and sways with the wind. Simply projecting images onto a fidgety surface would not be cool at all. So, according to Switched, “Lozano-Hemmer and his engineering team had to develop a 3-D tracking system to monitor the position of the balloon.” This system monitors the balloon’s position an amazing 30 times per second, and then coordinates with the servers to which the projectors are connected to, ensuring that the projected animation is always smooth. But that’s not all; this sun is interactive too! Want to mess with the animation of Solar Equation? There’s an app for that. Visitors can use their iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad to. change the animation in real-time.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

So what’s the use of a second sun? Lozano-Hemmer says, “while pertinent environmental questions of global warming, drought, or UV radiation might arise from the contemplation of this piece, Solar Equation intends to likewise evoke romantic environments of ephemerality, mystery and paradox.” In other words, it can stand for whatever the hell you want it to, or you can just look at it and admire it’s sheer beauty. And then shake your head and say, what a huge waste of electricity. Solar Equation will be on Federation Square until July 4.

[via Switched]

You would think anyway. Apparently, the fact that as soon as the balloon was inflated the winds above the crane launch site were so strong that the balloon was a good distance from directly above the payload would have tipped someone off that there was an accident waiting to happen.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

No one in this video seemed concerned until the balloon broke free of the crane holding it and proceeded to drag the payload in a hilarious and destructive path of doom across a parking lot obviously placed too damn close to the launch site. All the scientists are running about undoubtedly screaming like little girls and sh*tting themselves as the payload crashes into a vehicle and flips it over.

Luckily, no one was hurt but the two people who were sitting “feet” from where the car was smashed in frozen horror probably needed new undies. The funniest part of this video to me is that one dude in the background is just sort of walking leisurely and checking the whole thing out while everyone else runs for the hills. I bet the calm guy is the one dude who told them parking there was a bad idea. I bet if you turn up the volume really loud, you could just hear him mutter “see I f’in told you not to park there.”

It’s just like Russian Roulette, except that the unlucky person will only have a water balloon explode on his face. Or you could fill up the balloons with pig’s blood; that way someone – i.e. you –  will still end up looking dead. The Party Roulette is available at Prank Place for only $18 (USD).

[via Nerd Approved]

These Fuwarito lamps look like the earth and the moon, but are just simple helium-filled mylar balloons with an LED built into the bottom. Each light comes with a two cans of helium gas and weighted base to keep them from floating away. Turn the lights off, and you’ll feel like you’re floating around the galaxy with these hovering planetary bodies. They can be found at Japanese retailer ASCII for ¥3,343 each (about $27 USD.)

All you need to do is add one of those laser star projectors to complete the effect.