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View full post on YoutubeIt may not have been exactly stop-motion, but The Lego Movie still had to be built brick-by-brick through a combo of real Lego sets, large scale, plastic models, and CGI. As this clip shows, it all adds up to a long, laborious process to make one of the most unique and entertaining movies.Whichever medium the filmmakers used in a scene, whether it was physical or virtual, they made sure it contained Lego bricks so each scene appears authentic....

Media Platforms Design Team(Photograph by Getty Images)The two most observant scouts for the San Francisco Giants watch every home game from their reserved seats—high up on the first and third baselines. They measure how far and fast the center fielder travels to snag a shallow looper and record the exact distance of every hit ball, fair or foul. And, since they are completely electronic, these scouts never need to get up for the seventh-inning stretch....

Media Platforms Design TeamHow do you see the state of the car business and your business in particular?We’re in a turning point on a lot of fronts. Whether you’re in Thailand or Brazil or China or developed markets like Europe or North America, there are huge fuel economy and CO2 requirements that are changing the business and really changing the offerings that OEMs are going to be able to provide from a technology perspective....

Media Platforms Design TeamThere is a new iceberg in the Southern Ocean, and it’s big: 50 miles long by 20 miles wide. Until February, it had been the tongue of the Mertz Glacier, sticking out from the East Antarctic ice sheet into the Southern Ocean. Large cracks had been forming over the last few years, crossing the tongue almost from one side to the other, but it took a nudge from a similarly huge iceberg to finally set the chunk of ice free....

Media Platforms Design TeamThis weekend, the launch company Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) ignited all nine Merlin rocket engines in a static fire test that marks a milestone in private space industry. The 3.5-second test occurred at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral. “The test validated the launchpad propellant and pneumatic systems, as well as the ground and flight-control software that controls pad and launch vehicle configurations,” the company announced. The success was a relief after a setback last Tuesday when launch technicians aborted the test with just 2 seconds to ignition....

Media Platforms Design TeamTen years ago today (August 14), the darkened the homes and businesses of approximately 50 million people across Ontario, Canada, and the states of Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. In Cleveland, the water supply went down and the mayor denounced stores for price gouging. The Cyclone roller coaster at a Six Flags in Massachusetts stopped on its rails. A tunnel linking Detroit and Windsor, Canada, went dark, stranding thousands of motorists....

Media Platforms Design TeamIf humans cleaned floors the way robots do, they would be fired, or rushed to the hospital. Imagine a janitor slamming into desks and chairs and walls, vacuuming the same corner five times, yet always missing that one dust bunny by an inch. You would not find this person cute, no matter how be beeped and shuffled around. You certainly wouldn’t go bragging about his autonomous capabilities and learning algorithms....

You need to know two important things: One, there is still a World’s Fair. Two, the U.S. has a totally awesome vertical farm there. Across 1,494 towers standing about 4.3 feet high, 42 crops grow. Hot peppers, kale, eggplant, and other plants are arranged in a color palette that brings out gorgeous contrasts. It’s both a vision of the future—one in which humans so horribly pollute our soil that we’re going to need to grow crops any place we can—and a work of art....

Media Platforms Design TeamSANTA MONICA, Calif. — The most impressive thing about the Wii Zapper—Nintendo’s new gun-shaped controller housing for the Wii—might be that its already playable. A few hours after it was unveiled at the company’s press conference, we were in a hotel suite holding the submachinegun-size Zapper, gunning down zombies (the old-school, shambling kind) in a new Resident Evil title from Capcom. Picking it up feels like coming home—instead of imagining your pretty little remote control is a gun, you now have a gun....

Media Platforms Design TeamPlenty of teenagers build their own go-karts, but not all of them strap a homemade jet engine onto the back. Chris Tomko, an 18-year-old from Connecticut, built this jet engine himself, building it from scratch rather than a kit. (We’re sure he didn’t quite smelt the metal himself, nitpickers.) Tomko updates followers on the progress of his jet-powered machines on Tomkotech. There have been two variations of the engine....

The Pluto flyby was ever so brief – just a few hours long after nine years of build up – yet it’s returned so much information about the patchwork world at the outskirts of the solar system. The terrain of the world is unlike any ever seen: multiple ices dotting the world in various colors, new and old terrain mingling, and smooth plains contrasting with jagged peaks and giant craters. Now, the New Horizons craft has returned the best resolution images, meaning that this is the best view of Pluto we’ll have until we next return....

What’s the best kind of bird? Jackdaw? Robin? Trick question, because the best kind of bird is a robotic bird.The Maryland Robotics Center , which is part of the University of Maryland, created a solar-powered robotic raven that flaps its little wings to fly. The aptly named Robo Raven, now in its fifth evolution, even comes equipped with a searchlight! For night missions!View full post on YoutubeNow, this most recent incarnation also includes the use of propellers to add a bit more lift, so it’s not technically accurate to say the thing flies by flapping its wings....

In 2005, Jason Scott Sadofsky finished the extensive series BBS: The Documentary. A story told in eight parts, it’s the tale of the pre-internet bulletin board system (BBS) culture where you dialed into message boards that were home to all kinds of information, software, coding advice, and even early hacking communities. BBSes weren’t quite part of the internet as we know it now. They were run largely as private services on private servers, requiring a specific number to dial-in and download the daily updates....

Media Platforms Design TeamMy dad called himself Ned Nye, Boy Scientist. His life was changed and shaped by four years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in World War II. All watches were confiscated, and he lived without electricity, so he would keep time by observing shadows. Fortunately, he survived, and he came home and immediately married his college sweetheart. He left the bad memories of the camp behind, but his love for sundials stuck with him....

During an interview Monday evening, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that Apple Pay, the company’s mobile payment solution, saw over a million credit card activations during its first 72 hours of availability last week. That’s a huge number, and one that Cook says makes the payment service the most successful mobile solution out there.While customers are enthusiastically adopting the service, one group of retailers is digging in against Apple Pay. They’re so against you using the service that even though their registers can handle accepting the payment, they’ve disabled them....

Santa Monica—It’s tough not to fall instantly for this bike. In fact, the first time we saw photos of the new Harley-Davidson Forty-Eight, we were smitten. We still are. Harley has been experimenting with retro-designed bikes lately. But to our eye the Forty-Eight is exactly the right mix of badness and beauty. Of course, bikes have to be more than just garage art; they have to work well, too. So how does the experience in the saddle stack up against the Forty-Eight’s style?...

Media Platforms Design Team DETROIT—In simple terms, the MKT is Lincoln’s version of the award-winning three-row Ford Flex. As a Lincoln, it’s meant to be the more powerful and swankier of the two. While it’s nearly as long as a Lincoln Navigator, the MKT eschews any pretense of truck-like ability in exchange for greater comfort and luxury. Its low roofline and long body make it look a lot like a traditional station wagon, but Lincoln’s new front grill is elegant, and the full-width rear taillamp adds some richness....

On Sale Date: MayPrice: $32,000–$35,000 (est)Competitors: Nissan Frontier Pro4-X, Chevrolet Colorado Z71Powertrain: 4.0-liter V-6, 236 hp; 266 lb-ft (sport mode)Estimated Fuel Economy (city/highway): 16/21What’s New: Toyota has had a capable and popular TRD off-road package on its Tacoma pickups since 1998. The grouping of parts, developed by the team at Toyota Racing Development (TRD) includes one essential component for slow-speed four-wheeling: a selectable locking rear differential. With it, the TRD package has made the Tacoma a solid four-wheeler....

Media Platforms Design TeamCars may be more and more efficient these days, but they still waste more than 60 percent of the energy they consume, mostly due to heat lost through the exhaust system or radiator. Saving even a small fraction of that energy—as little as seven or eight percent—by using thermoelectric generators that convert heat into electricity could save 1.5 billion gallons of diesel a year in heavy trucks alone, according to Clemson University physicist Terry Tritt....

The great bane of pickup basketball players is net-less hoops, which plague outdoor courts around the country. Without a net, the ball comes streaking through the hoop with nothing to slow it down and bounces all over the place. Everyone hates chasing down an errant ball, and metal chains will wear down the leather on your Wilson faster than anything.That’s why BlackNet came up with a simple solution: a net you can easily install on any rim....