Ford has created a full-size replica of the company’s new Explorer crafted from Lego bricks. The sculpture was created by 22 designers over the course of 2,500 hours. All told, there are 380,000 individual bricks at work, weighing in at a hefty 2,654 pounds, and a 768-pound aluminum platform supports the creation.

Ford debuts its Lego Explorer at its Chicago assembly plant before shipping it to the new Legoland theme park just outside of Orlando, Florida. The block Explorer will ride all the way down to the sunshine state in a transporter with transparent sides so fellow motorists can view the creation.

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We’ve seen plenty of fail videos showcasing things gone wrong, like crane fails, car-chase fails, and car-race fails. They’re as addictive as the proverbial… well, you know. But when someone behind the wheel gets it right, that can be just as awesome.

That’s why whoever is behind the two wheels of this backhoe deserves a case of something congratulatory: in under three minutes he (or she) puts the earthmover into a dumptruck bed then back on the ground, and sticks both landings. Follow the jump for the video, and of course, don’t try this at your construction site…

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Our history with the tricycle is somewhat spotty. The inherently unbalanced design is only associated with skinned knees and brushes with asphalt in our memories, but apparently not everyone had the same experience. A trio of daredevils have taken to slinging themselves down mountain passes on modified big-boy trikes with nothing but the soles of their shoes for deceleration. Judging by the footage after the jump, the crew can crest speeds of 55 miles per hour, blowing by traffic and generally abandoning all regard for their well-being in the process. We love it.

Now, we’d be derelict in our duties if we didn’t mention that you’d have to be completely mental to try this on your own. If you do decide to take to public streets on a homemade trike, just don’t tell the authorities we told you to do it. Hit the jump to see the insanity for yourself.

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We know that the peeps over at Saudi Arabia is rich, and I’m not talking about just some CEO-class rich that rides on 7-series and had a Porsche 911 as a weekend car. No, those people ride in style, but what is style? Well, when you’re that filthy rich, you get one of the world’s most expensive vehicle, and turn it ten fold the vale it has. Maybe ‘ten times’ is rather underrated here, because the vehicle you see above is a Bentley plated in gold. Real, hard cold gold! Shows you how much loaded these people are. Could do with a more sexy wheel though.

Thanks to our reader Marlon Kho for the image!

Artist Jonathan Brand likes working with a variety of mediums, but he is wildly skilled when it comes to handling paper. Brand is also a fan of the 1969 Ford Mustang. Combining his passion for both in a way that only a skilled artist can, Brand has set about the task of building the full-scale Ford entirely out of paper. Not just the shell, mind you, but every single item on the original car will have been born from a tree.

So far, the Brooklyn, New York artist has completed the engine, a wheel and tire, and one of the doors. The accuracy he can achieve in this medium is amazing, and we are eagerly awaiting the day when he folds that last piece and the whole thing comes together. We’re guessing it’s going to be a while, but we’ll be waiting. While you’re waiting, check out Brand’s work in more detail at his website.

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Coffins are always black and rectangular, looking dull. Not like we really bother about it when most of the time we’ll be thinking about the person in it, not the thing that’s containing him or her. But some people that have fashion taste will also want to leave this world in fashion right? When you’re alive, you look good. Would you want to leave in a dull black box? Well here’s something extremely unique in its own. A coffin that doesn’t look like one!

Paa Joe’s sculpted coffins blur the line between art and craft. Each work is carefully constructed to reflect the ambition or the trade of the person for whom it was made. They are not dead things but are instead a manifestation of and indeed an affirmation of life. The works are wholly African and are a contemporary embodiment of traditional tribal burial rituals and art practice. They link back to pre-colonial West African sculpture but also recall the pomp and extravagance of ancient Egyptian royal tombs.

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This pico projector is more than meets the eye. Underneath that bland, plastic exterior the Tursion TS-102 is actually a dual-core Android computer. That pair of 624MHz cores is pushing the surprisingly outdated Eclair through a lamp that can project an 800 x 600 image up to 100-inches in size at 20 lumens. While you can hook the TS-102 up to another device, there is no need to. It’s capable of displaying media stored on the internal 8GB of flash or on a microSD card, and you can navigate apps with the integrated touchpad. Tack on a WiFi radio and an 80-minute rechargeable battery and you’ve got the makings of a pretty awesome little toy. You can order your own now on Amazon, but the luxury of owning your own pocketable, big-screen computer (and the bragging rights that go with it) will set you back a steep $449.

SOURCE via Amazon

Hurricane Irene was an impressive storm by every measure. Despite losing some of its ferocity before making landfall, the system brought torrential rains to parts of the country that were already suffering from severely saturated soil. As a result, widespread flooding occurred up and down the east coast. One enterprising soul in Oceanside, NY decided to make the most of the situation by taking his jet ski out for a little romp down Lawson Boulevard.

Now, we should probably take a moment to point out that playing in flood water is all sorts of dangerous. Besides obvious threats like hidden currents, obstacles and fluctuations in depth, floods also pack all sorts of bacteria washed up from septic and sewer systems. Yummy.

Even so, it looks like this guy is having a blast in his own personal water world. Hit the jump to take a look at the video for yourself, and be sure to consider sending donations to the American Red Cross or relief organization of your choice.

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Toys are infinitely cooler these days than they were when we were kids. While we had to subside on crappy Lego houses and weak Nerf guns, youngsters now get to craft accurate models of the Millennium Falcon and play with a foam arsenal that would make the CIA blush with envy.

The same goes for remote-controlled vehicles. We’ve already seen exactly how much fun can be had with a point-of-view camera, an RC Jeep and a little time. Now another crafty RC aficionado has applied the same camera tech to a remote-controlled F16 fighter jet.

There aren’t words to describe how awesome this is. By using a live feed from the camera, the pilot effectively gets the same view out of the cockpit that an actual pilot would enjoy. The creator even wired up an altimeter so the pilot can tell exactly how far off the ground the plane is at any given moment. Hit the jump to check it out.

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