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I was pretty disappointed that when NASA’s space shuttle program (STS) was shut down, they didn’t have a replacement ready to go. The replacement was actually canceled last October due to budgetary constraints. Nevertheless, check out this ingenious way to get into space, using a balloon instead of a rocket,…

While I’ve always liked Darth Vader, I don’t think I ever would have thought about creating a hot air balloon out of his helmet. That’s what Belgian balloonists Benoit and Michel Lambert did when they commissioned Cameron Balloons to build this Darth Vader Balloon, after getting the official approval of…

I have a DSLR camera that I bought mostly for the fast shutter speed, so I could actually get pictures of my kids rather than photos of elbows or ears thanks to the wait for the shutter to go off on a point and shoot. I’m not artistic enough to…

I have tried my hand at flying remote control helicopters a few times. Once the copter flew away never to be seen again. I suspect this was a response to seeing how poorly I landed my RC plane. The second time I crashed it shortly after takeoff. A RC pilot…

A couple of engineers from Dyson decided to build a balloon accelerator, which uses Dyson Air Multiplier fans to speed along a balloon on its merry way, kind of like what a particle accelerator does, albeit at a much slower speed.

I think that it works well for a publicity…

I always enjoy seeing Space Invaders turning up in unlikely places. This time, it looks like the Space Invaders… took over parts of Girona, Spain last month.

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

The city of Melbourne, Australia currently has two suns. There’s the normal one that it shares with the rest of the world and goes away during the night, and there’s the one in Melbourne’s Federation Square, rising at night, about 100 million times smaller than the real Sun.  This little…

OK, I am no rocket scientist or NASA researcher, but even I know that winds aloft can be much stronger than the winds on the ground. You would think that despite a day being deemed calm on the ground, a group of scientists might check wind speeds aloft in preparation…

Ah, Russian Roulette. The subject of many jokes and at least one awesome film. But actually trying the game to have some fun with your friends will probably have some undesirable consequences, like dying. Just probably, but still. Anyway, be on the safe side, and have a small piece of…

Bring the solar system into your living room with these floating lights from Japan’s TakaraTomy.

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…