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Tech NewsSploidSurfer Does His Best Superhero Impression With Effortless Backflip
Backflips are extremely difficult in surfing, and no one has never landed one in a competition. That is, until Gabriel Medina did exactly that at the Oi Rio Pro, coasting out with a bewildered shrug to perfect 10s from the judges. The 22-year-old Brazilian has been on the rise since taking first place in the … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsReport: Russia Led a State-Run Doping Program for the 2014 Sochi Olympics
The New York Times published a blistering exposé today, detailing how Russian Olympians engaged in a state-run doping program in order to win as many gold medals as possible during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. At least 15 medal winners were reportedly involved. Grigory Rodchenkov, who was head of the country’s antidoping laboratory at … Continued
By Darren Orf -
io9Daredevils Jump Out of Plane, Play Quick Game of Quidditch Before Landing
Quidditch is a real sport, adapted by Middlebury College students for non-magical players on the ground. However, a team has gone and shown us that it’s entirely possible to play the game while in the air: while skydiving. Colombian telecommunications company Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogotá (ETB) filmed the short film, sending a group of … Continued
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Tech NewsSploidEffortlessly Good Juggler Might Not Be Human
Maybe its the vacant expression on his face, but juggler Łukasz Uczkiewicz looks like he could pull off these tricks in his sleep. Which is all the more frustrating, because he’s so damn good I can just barely follow what’s going on. Lukasz seems to have all but abandoned his YouTube channel, but he’s still … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSploidCompetitive Hackysack Routines Are Goddamn Bonkers
Hackysack is basically designed for stoned people. It requires coordination but not a lot of actual effort. It’s the perfect activity for ripping bowls in an abandoned soccer field. Or at least that seemed to me the case until I found out about “competitive footbag.” Footbag tricking (“Hackysack” is technically a brand name, and thus … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSploidSuper Smart Ping Pong Table Teaches You How to Play Like a Pro
Table tennis is a hard game that requires quick instincts and even quicker reflexes. But what if you had some help? Like, what if the table could tell you what to do? This ‘smart’ ping pong table shows you where to serve, tracks each shot you take, and gives you oodles of data on your … Continued
By Casey Chan -
Tech NewsSploidThis Guy’s Middle Fingers Are Deadly Weapons
If you’re like me, pull-ups are an impossible dream. That is the not the case for Jamshid Turaev. Last month, the Uzbek fitness enthusiast set a world record for pull-ups using just two index fingers. Turaev is no stranger to Guinness records, but these two-finger pull-ups are visibly grueling, even for someone at his level … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
NBA Players Can’t Stop Checking Their Phones During Games
Yesterday, The New York Times published a hilarious or apocalyptic (depending on how much you like basketball) account of NBA players’ attachment to their smartphones before and after a game—and sometimes during. Halftime is the where the frontlines of a generational divide is splitting some NBA teams in half. Older players regard halftime as a … Continued
By Darren Orf -
Tech NewsSploidMaking Traditional Wooden Lacrosse Sticks
Here’s how a traditional wooden lacrosse stick gets made. You get to see how it’s done from the search for the right type of hickory tree to the splitting of the wood in halves and quarters and eighths to the steaming and bending and knitting and everything in between, it’s actually a humble process to … Continued
By Casey Chan -
io9TelevisionDrone Racing Is Coming to ESPN, Which Is a Big Deal
Drones are most associated with clandestine missions, Amazon deliveries, and mutilated babies—in other words, not the makings of an exciting sport. But first-person-view drone racing is a fast-developing and immensely thrilling contest, and thanks to ESPN, a whole bunch of people are about to discover it. ESPN and the International Drone Racing Association have inked … Continued
By Chris Mills -
Tech NewsSploidWatch Daredevils Land Skate Tricks While Their Boards Are on Fire
These guys may have melted the soles of their shoes a bit, but it was worth it to capture these jaw-dropping tricks in stunning slow motion. Skateboarders Christopher Chann, Mike Davis, Gabe McCoy, Blake Jossi, and Merari Paz teamed up with BeyondSlowMotion, and the first order of business was lighting everything but themselves on fire. … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSploidPlaying Soccer with a Flaming Ball Looks Beautifully Dangerous
I get it now! That’s why soccer doesn’t let players use their hands. Just in case they decide to start playing with a fireball. Watch Joltter, Andrew Henderson, and Melody Donchet do tricks with a ball that’s on fire and also hit a free kick too.
By Casey Chan -
Tech News
Rio’s Slums Might Be Left in Even Worse Shape After the Olympics
Rio’s Summer Olympics are just a few months away, and it’s not looking good for the city. The water is still polluted, stadium budgets have been slashed, and a scary virus is frightening athletes and spectators. Now, there’s also growing concern that the Games will be a financial disaster—and the poorest areas of Rio will … Continued
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Tech NewsSploidWatch These Spinning Top Masters Pull Off Awe-Inspiring Trickshots
How is it even possible to have this much control over an ordinary piece of string? Once again, Kuma Films have taken an unusual interest and captured it in stunning detail—in this case, some of Taiwan’s finest traditional spinning top enthusiasts. Watch as they land their tops on objects of every size or height with … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech NewsSploidSick Swordfighting Skills Keep This Drone From Crashing
Obstacle detection and avoidance is one area in which drones fail utterly, which is too bad because human pilots just aren’t that good at flying them. The obvious solution? Teach a drone to think like fencer. Ross Allen and Marco Pavone, researchers at Stanford University’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, have been trying to perfect … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
Twitter Scores Rights to Stream Thursday Night NFL Games
Next fall you might be watching Thursday Night Football on Twitter, according to Bloomberg. Apparently the social network has won the rights to stream Thursday night NFL games online. We’re having a very hard time picturing what this looks like. The newswire claims that Twitter won out in a bidding war against Verizon, Yahoo, and … Continued
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Tech NewsSploidThe Reason Baseball Bats Break Is More Complicated Than You Think
Shattering bats might look cool, but they’re really dangerous for both the players and the fans. Why does that happen, and how come bats always seem to snap in the same way? Consider the following: baseball bats are made of wood, and being a natural material, wood has certain innate structural flaws. One of the … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
Tech News
NBA Players Chill With Neil deGrasse Tyson for a Bit of Star Talk
What do NBA basketball players do when they have some down time in New York City? The Philadelphia 76ers dropped in on the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium to hobnob with director and famed astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson. It just so happens that head coach Brett Brown is a long-time fan of Tyson’s, … Continued
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Tech NewsSploidGoofball Covered in Skis Cruises Down a Mountain on Every Limb
Jean Yves Blondeau’s ski suit conjures up a lot of images. It’s sort of like a Transformer. Or The Stig for winter sports. But mostly I’m concerned about if the person wearing it is able to stop. The suit has ski pieces that strap to the feet, ankles, hands, forearms, and chest, with a smooth … Continued
By Avery Ellis
