TV celebrity chef Martin Blunos created this gourmet cheese sandwich. It costs $178. The sandwich:

[...] is dressed with 100-year-old balsamic vinegar and the sourdough bread - which costs £5 alone - is sprinkled with powdered E175.[...]

Blunos worked with expert cheese-makers at local west country producer Pilgrim's Choice to create the special white truffle blend, which gives the sandwich its hefty price tag.

He said: "We Brits are known to love our cheese sandwiches, and here's one that not only comes with a royal price tag but is fit for the banqueting table.

'The white truffle fuses beautifully with the West Country Farmhouse Cheddar and the edible gold leaf gives it a really special look.'

Link via Geekosystem | Photo: SWNS

Students at the University of Karlsruhe in Germany designed and built an electric vehicle and the track that it runs on. The car can recharge using electrical conduits built into the surface of the track. It doesn't have to stop in order to recharge:

All the individual components of the car including its steering, breaks and chassis are designed by the students from high-tech materials. Apart from these, e-Quickie’s shell that plays a central role in the vehicle’s weight and aerodynamics is made from the carbon fiber to ensure the optimal mobility. The total weight of the car is 60kg, which, as per the project director, can be reduced to 40kg. The car is powered by a 2kw motor but achieves a top speed of 50 km/h. The batteries serve as a buffer, therefore they are much smaller than by electric cars, from which they draw energy exclusively.

http://www.automotto.org/entry/students-develop-e-quickie-ev-that-runs-on-energy-transmitted-from-ground/ via DVICE | Photo: Solar Driver

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What do you do if your car gets stuck in the mud? Well, get some guy to pull you out with his car. But what if he gets stuck in the mud? Well, you get some other guy to pull both of you out. But what if the third person gets stuck in the mud while trying to rescue the other two cars?

via The Presurfer

Karen Portaleo of Highland Bakery does some impressive cake work, such as this 200-pound octopus cake. Other examples at the link include a poker table, a porta-potty, and a Q*bert figure.

Link via Super Punch | Artist's Website

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Rapper MC Frontalot composed this tense love song about a man who constantly reveals the ends of movies, books, and even historical events to his girlfriend. The video, directed by Max Isaacson, is quite creative. You can read the lyrics and credits at the video link.

Warning: it really does have a lot of spoilers.

Previously by MC Frontalot: You Are Likely to Be Eaten by a Grue

via Urlesque

The Venus of Willendorf (right) is a stone statuette dating back 23,000 years and found near the Austrian town of Willendorf. Archaeologists have studied it at length and speculated about its significance in the history of women and religion. Artist David Chelsea offered this modern version depicting Wonder Woman. He plans to auction it off next month to benefit domestic violence shelters in Portland, Oregon.

Link via Comics Alliance | Information about the Venus of Willendorf | Image (right): University of Evansville

Aviointeriors, an Italian design firm, unveiled its vision for a jetliner interior with increased passenger capacity. Passengers will be able to fit into a smaller space:

They'd sit at an angle with no more than 23 inches between their perch and the seat in front of them — a design that could appeal to low-cost airlines that have floated the idea of offering passengers standing-room tickets on short flights.[...]

"We feel extremely confident that this concept will ... have great appeal to airlines for economic purposes," says Dominique Menoud, director general of Aviointeriors Group.

Link via DVICE | Photo: Aviointeriors

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The Shredder is a new military vehicle by a start-up company called DTV. It's an individual transportation device that can go up to 30 MPH and haul 1,200 lbs. The machine is powered by a 200cc four-stroke engine and can tackle slopes up to 40 degrees.

Link (warning: self-starting audio) via Glenn Reynolds

In the 1960s, the British government built seven buses with movie theaters inside. Only one survives to this day, but it's been lovingly restored to its original grandeur. The bus can hold twenty-two people and is used by its owners to promote the cultures and arts of southwestern England.

http://www.moviebus.org.uk/gallery/ via DVICE | Image: Movie Bus

Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley have developed an artificial form of skin. It might be used in the future to give robots or people with prosthetic limbs the ability to feel:

The Berkeley group's synthetic skin can either be transferred to another material like a plastic or glass by either directly transferring it over from a flat substrate which is then “rubbed” onto a polymer film made of polyamide. It can also be “rolled” onto the surface using a device that works much like a lint roller in reverse; the fibers are deposited to a sticky surface rather than picked up.

The e-skin can detect pressure in the range from 0 to 15 kilopascals, or similar to the pressure needed to perform normal daily tasks. In other words, when your cyber-being goes to clean the wine glasses from last night's party, it won't break them, and when your robot goes to make you a sandwich, it won't flatten it to the size of your silicon microprocessor.

Link via Geekologie | Image: Paramount

A bill that would have imposed regulations and taxes on Romania's witches and fortune tellers failed to pass in that nation's legislature:

The witch bill would have cracked down on the industry by requiring witches and fortune tellers to keep and produce receipts (somehow "receipt" is not a word I've ever associated with witches), and would also have provided that fortune tellers could be held liable for getting predictions wrong.

Link | Image: EMI Films

Previously: Romanian Witches Go Online for Work

Twenty-five years ago today, the first Super Mario Bros. game was released in Japan. Keith Stuart of The Guardian has a round-up of 25 bits of Mario history trivia, including one on the origin of the titular character's name:

Mario was originally known as Jumpman. However, when Nintendo's US office were trying to think of a better name in time for the American release of the game, they were interrupted by their landlord Mario Segale, after whom they christened the character.

Link via Geekosystem | Image by deviantART user LabrenzInk

Every year, the National Maritime Museum of Britain gives awards in the field of astronomical photography. Prizes are awarded in five categories: Earth and Space, People and Space, Our Solar System, Deep Space, Young Astronomy Photographer and Best Newcomer. Pictured above is the grand prize-winning Blazing Bristlecone by Tom Lowe.

Link via The Agitator

The Museum of Soviet Arcade Games is a small basement museum in Moscow that houses vintage arcade games from the Soviet era. Anjel Van Slyke and Connal Hughes of A Dangerous Business visited the facility, played its games, and took many pictures.

Link via Fanboy

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Boyz N the Ring is a parody of The Lord of the Rings in which gangsta hobbits help Gandalf defeat the ambitions of Sauron. It was created by the comedy troupe Pistol Shrimps. Content warning: some foul language.

via Nerd Bastards