The Action Lab set up an interesting proof of concept using a smartphone plus a cheap radio frequency 3D imaging doo-dad to sense motion in another room. Read the rest

The guys from Waterjet Channel took a request from a Minecraft fan who wanted to see them cut an obsidian cube, even supplying the obsidian. They also made some super-thin batarangs that could almost be used as sunglass lenses. Read the rest

SoCraftastic tested six marker types on a non-porous surface to see which one allowed the ink to float on water. The effect is pretty cool with a stick figure. Read the rest

Heath Knuckles created this beautiful burl and resin sculpture he names "Red Dawn." A very satisfying and relaxing video, in large part thanks to the great music choices. Read the rest

Code Bullet claims in this demo video, "I was able to create what I believe to be a perfect minesweeper player." Read the rest

YouTuber euverus modded Cities: Skylines to demonstrate how 30 different types of intersections have dramatically different amounts of traffic flow. A four-way intersection with no traffic lights gets a flow of 191 vehicles per minute, where a stack interchange can handle 1099 vehicles in the same time frame.

The mods used, Traffic Manager: President Edition and Network Extensions 2, are both available for free on Steam.

The big surprise for me was the roundabout, because we rarely have them in the Midwest or the West Coast. They seemed like a lot of extra space needed for an incremental benefit, but it appears they can be more efficient and safer, even weird ones.

• Traffic flow measured on 30 different 4-way junctions (YouTube / euverus) Read the rest

Sculptor Fred Eerdekens created aluminum and copper works that look like abstract squiggles until lit from the right angle. When lit just right, each spells out a word. Read the rest

A little over a year ago I pieced together my own 'low-rent' Peloton spinning cycle. This cheap spinning bike has become an invaluable tool managing my so-called fitness, as well as the pain my degenerating discs provide. Read the rest

Nashville maker One Man One Garage created these fun flat-pack birdhouse kits that assemble into vintage campers. Read the rest

Josh King directed this delightful video for Texas-based Khruangbin's song Evan Finds The Third Room. The casting is perfect, and her smiling is infectious. Read the rest

Stephanie Kilgast makes lovely sculpted work with environmental and nature themes, like this old can she painstakingly covered with brightly-colored sea creatures, flowers, and mushrooms. Read the rest

National Geographic reports exclusively on a project in Peru using low-altitude drones to identify dozens of ancient geoglyphs undetectable by the unassisted human eye. Read the rest

Surfer Magazine recently headed over to Kelly Slater's Wave Company, a humongous wave-generating engine on rails that lays out glassy slab after slab. Read the rest

Most of us are pretty good at wrapping a cube or cuboid box, but this handy video shows how to wrap a bunch of weird shapes, including pyramids, cylinders, and those annoying cardboard-backed blister packs for things like tools and action figures.

I needed to wrap a popcorn tin the other day, and this was very handy. It looked way better than my gifts usually do! And as for opening the package itself, that's another matter.

• How to Wrap 10 Challenging Shapes! (YouTube / Paper Guru) Read the rest

Elin Thomas uses real petri dishes and fills them with beautiful crocheted felt and wool spores, mold, and fungi. Read the rest

Andy from How To Make Everything went out in the Utah desert, gathered up volcanic glass, then through trial and error learned how to make an Aztec-style edge weapon.

The episode includes an interesting history lesson from anthropologist Gilbert Tostevin at University of Minnesota, who shows Andy how Aztecs used a haft embedded with smaller obsidian pieces to make formidable weapons.

• Turning Volcanic Rock into a Blade that's Sharper than Steel (YouTube / How To Make Everything) Read the rest

YouTuber Mr. Puzzle demonstrates Revomaze, a maze puzzle hidden inside a metal cylinder. Read the rest