As a part of their ongoing efforts to destroy the universe, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva created a small version of the process that may have triggered the Big Bang. The experiment resulted in the highest temperature and densities ever created in a controlled setting. David Evans, one of the researchers, said:

"We are thrilled with the achievement," said Dr Evans.

"This process took place in a safe, controlled environment, generating incredibly hot and dense sub-atomic fireballs with temperatures of over ten trillion degrees, a million times hotter than the centre of the Sun.

"At these temperatures even protons and neutrons, which make up the nuclei of atoms, melt resulting in a hot dense soup of quarks and gluons known as a quark-gluon plasma."

Quarks and gluons are sub-atomic particles - some of the building blocks of matter. In the state known as quark-gluon plasma, they are freed of their attraction to one another. This plasma is believed to have existed just after the Big Bang.

Link via Geekosystem | Photo: CERN

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We've previously covered the increasingly daring stunts of jetpack pilot Yves Rossy. Last Friday, he performed loops in the air:

The former fighter pilot and extreme sports enthusiast, 51, described himself as "very happy and satisfied" with the stunt and said he now hopes to fly his custom-made jet pack through the Grand Canyon.

Rossy performed his aerial display at an altitude of 7,874ft (2,400m) after jumping from a replica of the Breitling Orbiter, the first hot air balloon to complete a continuous around-the-world flight.

He said on his website: "The flight went well, despite a little problem when starting my engines. I was able to do my two loopings and I am very happy."

Link via Comics Alliance

Home theater specialists Bowser & Wilkins makes a high-end model of speaker called the Nautilus. They're pricey at about $60,000 for a set. Alfonso de Rojas wanted some, but didn't have the money. So he spent 400 hours building a set on his own. The finished product, which you can view at the link, certainly looks like a Nautilus.

Link via Technabob | Second photo: Kilpsch.com

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This video from 2009 shows an emergency landing of a single-engine plane on a street in Winter Haven, Florida. Kyle Davis, the pilot, and Joe Surowiec, his passenger, were recorded on camera during this frightening experience:

The landing of the dual-seat SkyRanger airplane shortly after 10 a.m. was caught on video by Surowiec, a professional videographer, and was posted on YouTube.[...]

Deputies were called to the scene, but there wasn't much for them to do. Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board cleared the incident, Wood said.

Two cameras on the plane captured the drama. One focused on the cockpit, taping their conversation, and the other was facing the plane's engine.

Link via reddit

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It was simple and brilliant play by the football team of Driscoll Middle School from Corpus Christi, Texas. The quarterback took the ball and casually strolled forward, acting as though the play hadn't started. But it had, and he passed the opposing team's defensive line before they realized it.

Link via Wired

This isn't a cake in the traditional sense of the term because it's cooked with ground turkey breast, yams, and mashed potatoes. But Amy Wisniewski's concoction is shaped like a cake, so you might as well serve it for dessert. You can find the recipe at the link.

Link via Geekologie | Photo: Amy Wisniewski

A man was arrested and charged with trying to rob a food store in Manchester, New Hampshire. He was unsuccessful because one customer beat him with a nearby squash:

The market's owner said Cullen came in, displayed a threatening note, and verbally told her, "Give me your money, or you're going to die."

The owner said one of her neighbors walked in and she told him she was being robbed.

He sprung into action, forcing Cullen to the ground, as the store owner called police.

Witnesses said Cullen tried to get away but another man delivering food to the market picked up a large squash and used the fruit to hit Cullen over the head.

Link via Say Uncle | Photo (unrelated) by Flickr user La Grande Farmers' Market used under Creative Commons license

Bill Owen of Mod Brothers made a PC case mod out of a 1:6 scale RC ZR1 Corvette. It still drives after the conversion! At the link, you can view an extensive list of process photos and a video showing how Owen did it.

Link via Geektoplasm | Photo: Mod Brothers

Food artist Barbarann Garrard made a birthday cake inspired by the Kill Bill movies:

the bottom represents "the bride".. the scene in which Beatrice is gunned down in the opening scene.. there is white bridal lace with blood and realistic chocolate bullets...the next teir is a Japanese pagoda.. this represents the scene toward the end in which Beatrice fights the "crazy 88's" and O-Ren Ishii..it has the traditional rooftiles and curves and bamboo of a pagoda.. all edible .... the top is yellow with a black stripe to represent the suit Beatrice wears when she is fighting O-Ren Ishii contains an edible peice of notebook paper made of fondant with Beatirice's "death List five" , and katana..
( which was not edible.. i thought it would make a nice keepsake) and a mask that represents the "crazy 88 ".. with a whole lotta royal icing blood splatter = )

Link via Super Punch

A camper was stolen from its owner in Linton, UK. But a Google Street View picture may reveal the man responsible for the theft:

The owner, who has not been named, believes the Google image may have been taken shortly before the theft. The 4 x 4 was backed into the private drive and is parked yards from the caravan, with a side and rear door open.

When the homeowner spotted the image in March this year, the 4x4's registration plate had been obscured.

Link via Jalopnik | Photo: PA

A restaurant in Chandler, Arizona will serve free food to anyone over 350 pounds. It's called the Heart Attack Grill, and its managers just hired a 600-pound man named Blair River to be a model in their commercials:

Blair River stands 6 feet 8 inches tall and weighs about 600 pounds. His weight and his enthusiasm for the food at Chandler's Heart Attack Grill have won him a $100-an-hour modeling contract.

This week he shot a YouTube video commercial to promote the grill, which invites anyone over 350 pounds to eat for free.[...]

The Heart Attack Grill, at 6185 W. Chandler Blvd. near Kyrene Road, has a medical theme. Waitresses are dressed in skimpy nurses' uniforms. Customers, called patients, wear hospital gowns over their clothes. The menu features no diet drinks and high-calorie food called such memorable names as Double Bypass Burger. Fries are cooked in lard.

The restaurant is owned by former nutritionist Jon Basso, who ran a chain of seven Jenny Craig weight-loss centers in Oklahoma.

Link via J-Walk Blog | Official Website (warning: sound)

Food artist Gina Lee made a bento boxes inspired by the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas:

Ol' Jack is made up of nothing more than rice, black sesame seeds, and nori.

Sally got it going on with a face of eggwhite, eyes of cheese, seeds and nori. Nose of mustard seeds, mouth of nori and bologna. Her hair is Beni Shoga.

Link via Super Punch | Artist's Blog

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There's not a lot of information about this video, but apparently it depicts a Japanese Coast Guard vessel in the Senkaku Islands. The sailors, dressed as schoolgirls, sing and dance for the entertainment of passengers on a nearby ship.

via Gizmodo

Suiseki is the Japanese art of selecting and arranging stones in aesthetically pleasing forms. Bill Webster has created a garden using traditional Japanese norms, including several works of Suiseki. You can view images of them at the link, as well as read a lengthy article about this medium.

Link via The Presurfer | Photo by the artist

Actor LeVar Burton played Geordi LaForge, the chief engineer on board the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation. NASA had some problems with the space shuttle launch, so Burton offered his technical expertise.

Link via Urlesque