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God only knows what they will build next when they tire of playing with their robot spiders and snakes. I would say that these people need to be stopped, except that if I do say it, they will probably send these metal demons to my house and I will be slowly digested over 100 years in this snake’s belly.

One of the creators says that Titanoboa is supposed to make people contemplate historical climate change. No, that didn’t really work for me. It just makes me want to kill it and save humanity, even though I’d probably just hide in the corner and whimper when that failed.

[via TDW Geeks via Geekologie]

Take, for example, this automaton which looks like a human hand.

This  interactive hand sculpture has sort of a steampunk vibe to it, with its structure and mechanical parts made from brass, along with wood accents and the articulating hand itself made from resin.

It kind of reminds me of Thing from The Addams Family, but it’s just a cool mechanical hand that taps impatiently as you turn its hand-crank. Here, check it out in action:

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Pretty cool (and a little creepy), no? This very special automaton sculpture was handmade by UK artist automatonman, and is being sold in a limited edition of just 20 over on Etsy. While it does sell for a rather pricy $750 (USD), you’ll be in great company, as one of these already sold to Pan’s Labyrinth/Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro.

Murphy, who undoubtedly possesses a strong stomach and an unbelievable resistance to nightmares, decided to look into the illusion further with the help of his colleagues Jason Tangen and Matthew Thompson. The three called it the “Flashed Face Distortion Effect”. Watch the video below and follow the instructions to make your brain creep you out.

Scary huh? Although Murphy, Tangen and Thompson have yet to fully explain the illusion, it seems as if it happens because we’re only given a short period of time to examine the pictures. For some reason our brains want to differentiate the two faces that we’re seeing, and to do so under the time constraint it ends up exaggerating the features of each face. For me it’s the slanted, evil eyes that creep me out the most.

[via Matthew Thompson's website & Perception via Videosift]

If you don’t agree with me on that one, then you might want to take a look at the Hanako 2 Dental Robot.

Can the pretty girl say “ahh”, please?

The Hanako 2 Dental Robot, as its name suggests and implies, is meant to be used as a practice dummy for dentistry students. Pull her teeth out, give her a cleaning, examine her molars–it’s all entirely up to you.

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The Hanako 2 is a far cry from its predecessor in terms of what it can do. This version of the dental robot can sneeze, blink, roll its eyes, open and close its mouth, cough, and even gag if you stick your fingers too far back into its throat.

And thanks to the robot’s development team collaborating with some sex toy makers, Hanako 2′s skin now feels more realistic and human.

[via DigInfo TV via Dvice]

My goodness. That is a wild Pikachu. It’s still adorable though, if a bit big-headed. But it’s all downhill from here. Have a look at some of the other results of Lefcourt’s experiment:

I think more than the proportions or the dull skin, fur or texture, it’s the dead looks on their faces that are really unnerving. Check out Lefcourt’s Flickr set for more pics of these pocket monsters. He plans on adding more so keep checking back if you want. I’ve seen enough.

[via Geekologie via Archie McPhee]

Balch made the mouse mostly by culling parts from other objects. He started out by gutting an optical mouse. The mouse wheel is actually a coin, the left and right gold-plated bronze contacts are from “scrap electronics”, the mouse cable is covered by a shoelace, the glass dome is from a Victorian gas mantle, the railing is from a fake oil lamp, and the brain is from a failed experiment to make an organic computer mouse made from Fimo. A color-changing LED glued to the nut inside the dome is connected in parallel to the LED of the mouse, giving it that added creepy science factor.

Check out Balch’s website for more pictures and instructions. You can also send Balch an email if you don’t have the tinkering skills but you do have the ability to pay, and he’ll gladly make you a brainy steampunk mouse.

[via Hacked Gadgets]

The man who bought the tickets was app developer Hazem Sayed. So now Foote has enough money to buy an iPad 2 and still have some left. Right? Actually she said was thinking of buying tickets to a Lady Gaga concert. This is what blows my mind about this whole thing, that she sat there for two days with no intent to buy an iPad 2 – she was just banking on selling the coveted first spot. And she was right. Here’s Mashable’s short interview with Foote:

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That was all for you Lady Gaga, I hope you gave Amanda one hell of a performance. Now you Mr. Sayed, you are one crazy rich Apple fan.

[via Mashable via T3 via Chaotic Planet]

This is Geminoid-DK, the first of its kind that’s being built outside Japan. It was created to “advance android science and philosophy”, and answer questions regarding identity, presence and what makes a human being human. I feel like I’m in an episode of Ghost in the Shell. Here’s a thoroughly amazing and/or creepy demo of Geminoid-DK:

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Here’s the first time he smiled. The nervous laughter you’ll hear in the background are from Geminoid DK’s designers, who are no doubt wondering what the hell it is that they have done:

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I think the android’s breathing is a bit exaggerated, the skin is a bit pasty and the hair is dead giveaway that he’s not a real man. And yet I’m calling him he. Just a few more tweaks, and then we’re screwed. Nah. Bruce Willis will save us.

[via CrunchGear via Switched]

Osaka University’s AFFETTO was created to model a baby’s facial expressions. This was done in order to endear it to human caregivers. Ultimately, I think that the opposite was achieved. Yes, it’s creepy, very creepy.

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This might have something to do with the uncanny valley phenomenon in robotics, where humans are actually repulsed by robots exhibiting near or human-like behavior. You have to admit that this does look like a prop from a horror movie.

[via Ubergizmo]

It wears a dress and has a pointy head that’s rather like Sputnik. The bot was created at the Tsukuba University in Japan and was intended to improve the interaction between man and machine. The bot is supposed to master non-verbal communication with humans and serve as a guide by moving the head, arms, and waist.

The collar the bot wears has cameras and a laser range finder to help it determine position and direction.

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The thing reminds me of a character from some sci-fi flick or show, but I can’t quite place it. It will drive me crazy all day, so if you know the one I am thinking of, feel free to share.

[via Plastic Pals via CrunchGear]

While you will, in fact, be able to buy this replica Splicer welder mask, it’s not shipping until sometime in November. That’s okay, buy one anyhow, and wear it to your office Christmas party. I’m sure that won’t freak anyone out.

[via FashionablyGeek]

It can do backflips, even triple backflips, pass through narrow spaces without breaking a sweat, and can even be upgraded with Velcro. Just like dogs.

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How freaky would it be to have a swarm of these hunting you down?

[via DIY Drones]

Wait what the –

It’s a dead robo-bird! Artist/illustrator/futurechologist Justin Chase Black, more respectfully addressed as Mr. ThrowingChicken, recently finished the awesome looking  Creatures of the Mechazoic Era, a series of sculptures that look like fossilized remains from a time yet to come.

According to monsieur ThrowingChicken, “Over the past several months I have been gathering reference photography, gathering animal bones, doing sketches, talking with geologists and fossil experts, working with fellow artists, building the bucks, making the molds and pulling the casts. This series offers a little look at what we might be digging up millions of years from now, and it just might be the remains of technology that has yet to be created.”

Who’s creeped out by the android? *raises hand*  Who wants more Mechazoic fossils? See a few more pics at ThrowingChicken’s deviantART page.

[via Metafilter]

Taken by Flickr user earthdog at FanimeCon 2010. I sure am glad he wasn’t Shun Goku Satsu’d when he snapped this pic.

[via Gamefreaks]

A Black Fox equipped vehicle will have a camera that continuously scans the thermal texture of the surroundings, which are then processed by onboard computers. The computers will then make the plates match the background scene, thus concealing the vehicle.  I’m obviously oversimplifying things, but I hope this is still as jaw-dropping for you as it is for me. Here’s a hilarious presentation from Eltics, with a cameo from Capt. Obvious:

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“Now we are invisible, indeed.” The demo in the end of the video confused me a bit at first, and in case it’s got you stumped as well, watch it again and look at the background, and you’ll see that part of the car looks exactly like the background, such that the person’s waving hand seems to be floating in mid-air. I don’t know why they didn’t just cover the whole damn car with the plates. Below is a much easier comparison; just look at the Black Fox plate at the rear of the car:

Stealth add-ons? Fake thermal signatures? Sounds like the real world is finally catching up to video games. I won’t be surprised if someone makes a real Metal Gear. With stealth. Okay I’ll probably die from seeing too much awesome if that comes out.

[via Defense Update]

When Bioshock was released, Nathan Sharatt made a Big Daddy costume. Now that the game’s sequel is out, it makes sense that he’d make a Big Sister costume too. What’s mind-boggling is how complex the costume is:

Who helps Big Sister put her armor on? Does she even take it off?

[via College Humor]

Basically, the objective of the game is to drive around your neighborhood in an ice cream truck, and take their orders for delicious ice cream cones. Later, you play Peter Piper and lure your customers back to your lair to turn them into new flavors of ice cream to serve to your next round of victims. I kid you not.

Here’s the official description of the game in case you don’t believe me:

“You are a werewolf. By day, you drive an ice cream truck around the local neighborhood, playing your tune and attracting a base of dedicated customers. By night, use that same tune to lure the addicted townsfolk back to your hideout so you can gobble them up, regurgitating them to make new ice cream flavors before heading to the next town to do it again.”

If you’re ready to be disturbed (or are already there), head on over to Adult Swim Games and play Cream Wolf now. I promise, you won’t be able to get that creepy music out of your head any time soon. And I don’t think I’ll be eating ice cream for a while.

[via TIGdb]

Made from folded laser-cut parchment, the Masked collection consists of four masks that each have at least one “air-purifying respirator with replaceable-cartridge white N95 filters”. Great for Halloween in Metro Manila.

The masks will start scaring the hell out of people this May; price not yet available.

[via likecool]

The game has two endings and can be finished in as little as 5 of the creepiest minutes of your gaming life.

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If you have 3D glasses (the cheap ones with red and blue filters) you can view the game in 3D – just go to its YouTube page. You can download Inel’s game for free at GameJolt. Your PC must at least have Windows XP and a graphics card with Pixel Shader 2.0. For people like me who can’t (or refuse to) play the game, there’s another video on YouTube that shows one of the ways to finish the game.

As he passed through the monument on the day of its inauguration in August 1989, Saddam declared, “The worst condition is to pass under a sword which is not one’s own or to be forced down a path which is not willed by him”. The monument, which is located in Central Baghdad, does indeed look similar to a drawing in one of the movie posters of The Empire Strikes Back:

Not too convincing a connection right? New Scientist‘s Jessica Griggs tries to fan the flames of parallelism: “You may have heard that when US troops stormed one of Saddam’s palaces they stumbled across lurid posters by fantasy artist Rowena Morrill.” Griggs says that Morrill is a “close friend of Boris Vallejo,” the artist who drew the Star Wars poster shown above. Rakowitz played on the similarties with his own version of the Hands of Victory:

Still not impressed? Neither am I. But this one’s crazy:

The helmet on the left needs no introduction; the one on the right was part of the uniform of Saddam’s army. The uniform was mandated by Saddam’s son, Uday, before he passed the command of the army over to his younger brother. Griggs said that Uday presented the new uniform to his father “as something to remember his (Uday’s) work by.”

What do you guys think? Personally I’d sooner believe that Guerilla Games stole the Helghast design from Kerberos Panzer Cop than Saddam Hussein being inspired by Darth Vader, but perhaps if I saw the whole exhibit for myself I’d change my mind. Rakowitz’ exhibit is currently at the Tate Modern in London, England.

[via New Scientist]