Vat19 took video of "weird stress balls" being destroyed, which is more satisfying than using them. You can skip all the bits with talking. Read the rest

The patterns that emerge from plywood once it's sanded to a sphere are beautiful, but it all comes down to step 1: get the maths, the measuring and the cuts exactly right. Step 0 is, of course, "own a lot of expensive shop equipment." [via]

Previously: Gray's Shapes. Read the rest

Fuck this kid.

Fuck that kid.

Fuck you too. pic.twitter.com/BfKxJhEEtw

— Jay Kirell (@JasonKirell) August 5, 2018

Rock that ball, kid.

Thanks, Jay! Read the rest

From NASA Johnson: "Astronauts on the International Space Station dissolved an effervescent tablet in a floating ball of water, and captured images using a camera capable of recording four times the resolution of normal high-definition cameras. The higher resolution images and higher frame rate videos can reveal more information when used on science investigations, giving researchers a valuable new tool aboard the space station. This footage is one of the first of its kind. The cameras are being evaluated for capturing science data and vehicle operations by engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama." Read the rest

K. Thor Jenson, one of the enduring lights of web culture, spent two years writing clickbait about balls for a good cause: testicular cancer research.

I signed on with the foundation in early 2015. Together, we developed a business plan for the site. We quickly realized that a 100% testicle-focused site would run out of material pretty quickly, so we started brainstorming what would be under the umbrella. Testicular stories, sure, but also stories of “ballsy” behavior. Sports, as long as the ball was the focus of the piece. Ball pits. Energy balls. Balls of snakes. You get the idea.

Since 2015, The Ball Report has published 1,073 posts, many astoundingly successful, and with serious journalistic work amid all the bollocks: "When a viral story about a gang member dying after spray-painting his testicles gold started to spread, I was one of the first to debunk it. I wrote a dense history of the practice of “teabagging” in video games."

[Cheers, John!] Read the rest

Maximum points awarded for the best possible use of the vincerò from Turandot's Nessun Dorma. Read the rest

"This is why aliens will never want to be friends with us," says a loud NSFW Australian. [via] Read the rest

The Gulf of Ob is a remote Siberian reach of the Russian empire, and its beaches are covered in gigantic snowballs up to a meter across. The BBC reports that they're the result of a "rare environmental process where small pieces of ice form, are rolled by wind and water, and end up as giant snowballs." (Photo: SERGEI BYCHENKOV) Read the rest

Someone, please throw George a ball. [Video Link via Arbroath] Read the rest

Between 2002 and 2010, 142,144 adults went to the emergency room with "genitourinary" injuries. Sporting equipment (bikes, bats, various balls) were the products most likely to be involved in such an injury, appearing in 30% of all cases. This is probably not a surprise to anyone who has watched "America's Funniest Home Videos". What is a little surprising: Men only accounted for 69% of the injuries. Ow. My ovaries. (Via Ivan Oransky) Read the rest