Wherever people gather, there will be discussions about something strange and unexplained, and those conversations will grow into urban legends. The internet is a rich field for those kinds of mysteries and legends. You and I know that just because something isn’t explained, that doesn’t mean there’s something nefarious going on. But then again, you never know. For example:

A mysterious video first posted in the late-2000s, no-one can agree on the origins of ‘I Feel Fantastic.’ What they can agree on is that it’s unbelievably creepy. Featuring a blank-faced female android stood in front of a dark window singing “I feel fantastic” in a robotic monotone, it’s like an image ripped from David Lynch’s nightmares.

The video’s backstory is no less weird. Reddit claims it first appeared under the title ‘I didn’t make this.’ When users contacted the original poster, he would only tell them he’d got hold of it from a company specializing in weird/rare videotapes, and this was #17 in their collection. They, too, had no idea where it came from. All they would note is that it appeared to have been filmed on a set, using fake windows – a thought that makes it seem even creepier.

Others have conjectured it shows the aftermath of a murder. At one point, the video meaninglessly cuts to a zoom-in on a patch of grass. The story goes the android represents a woman who was killed and buried there, and the video is the murderer’s sick way of turning it into a joke. Even if you don’t buy this more-outlandish theory, there’s no doubt that robotic voice and empty stare will send shivers up your spine.

There’s probably nothing to it. However, you can see the video and read about other internet mysteries -and one from television, at Urban Ghosts. Warning: some videos and images may be disturbing to the sensitive.

With the massive mission NASA was charged with in exploring space, not to mention other countries, there’s always been plenty of brainstorming going on along the way. And that means there were plenty of ideas that were considered, and sometimes even tried, but never got off the ground. Or got off the ground and then failed. Take the Stanford Torus, for example, a 1975 plan for a sustainable space colony.

The Stanford Torus wouldn’t just become incredibly iconic. It was ultimately selected by NASA as the most practical design that was submitted. A circular craft formed by bending a hollow tube, the Stanford Torus has been the basis of countless sci-fi movies and books… but, we’re calling it a Retro Fail because it never made it off the drawing board due to a few logistical problems that still haven’t been solved.

Students calculated that if the station was formed from a tube of specific measurements (130 meters in diameter, 5.6 km long, and the circle was 1.8 km across), spinning it at a rate of exactly one revolution per minute, those on board would be subjected to the same effects as The Earth’s gravitational pull. It would also have enough room to support 80,000 people, and could be fitted with all manner of creature comforts from parks and gardens to homes like we have on earth.

The plan was ultimately much too ambitious, and lives on only in science fiction: it was used in the movie Elysium. Other ideas included the Personal Rescue Ball, the Dyna-Soar, the MOOSE, and more. They will remind you of movies, though, from The Mouse on the Moon to Gravity. Read about ten such projects at Urban Ghosts.

(Image credit: Don Davis)

Motoman MH-24 is an industrial robot made by Yaskawa. They programmed it with the moves of Iaijyutsu master Isao Machii. Then they compared the two in performance. It appears that Machii is faster, but the robot is just as accurate. Still, the more terrifying of the two is the robot, because with the sword master, you can always yell “Uncle!” or something and get him to stop. A robot can be programmed as a unstoppable killing machine.

(YouTube link)

Oh, did you think they were going to fight each other? This is not a snuff film, but rather a corporate video to show off the programmable robot’s features. They did that well, with lovely videography, especially in the slow-motion sequences. They’ve also given us an idea for a rather scary science fiction action movie. If you think this will leave you with nightmares, go see the videos from the DARPA Robotics Challenge; that should make you feel better.  -via Metafilter   

Rocco Buttliere is building Chicago, one skyscraper at a time, in LEGO. The architecture student has already completed over 30 buildings over the past few years, and isn’t about to stop. Buttliere figured it could take another decade t complete the downtown Chicago area. The buildings are on a 1/650 scale. Curbed interviewed Buttliere about his project.

The biggest challenge is keeping all the models within my uniform scale of 1:650. Any restrictions of working with LEGO tend to go back to the consistency of scale. LEGO pieces are their own modules, meaning one piece can be used at any scale for whatever purpose. It's finding the right piece at my scale for the right purpose that can be restrictive. Starting out on a model, I like to picture a moment or quality of the architectural fabric that would translate nicely into a combination of pieces I am picturing in my head. Sometimes this can take years, as was the case with my Marina City model.

You can also see more pictures there.  -via Nag on the Lake

In the 1920s and ‘30s, French glassmaker René Claude Lalique produced 30 different designs of pressed-glass hood ornaments, also known as mascots. Since they were made of glass, they are quite rare.

Once upon a time, the wealthy strapped such trophies to the radiator caps of their Bentleys, Bugattis, Citröens, Packards, and Mercedes—the McLarens of their day. But even back then, when a new Lalique mascot cost around $50 versus the $50,000-$300,000-plus they can command today, most of Lalique’s well-heeled customers only brought their glass treasures out for special occasions, like a Concours d’Elegance car show. One simply did not run errands—or send one’s servants to do so—with such fragile works of art mounted to the hood of one’s car. Lalique knew this, which is why he licensed Breves Galleries of London to fashion metal mounts for his mascots, so that his clear, gray, milky-blue, topaz, green, or orange-yellow menagerie could be tastefully displayed inside the manor where their owners were almost certainly born.

How rare are they? It’s very hard to determine, because the Lalique production records are nowhere to be found, so we don’t know how many of each design were made. But the prices of existing Lalique mascots gives us an indication that they are indeed precious. Read about Lalique’s glass hood ornaments at Collectors Weekly.

Did you get enough doughnuts to eat on National Donut Day? Here’s some more! Although the TV series Twin Peaks only lasted two years, FBI Agent Dale Cooper managed to get more than his share of donuts in that time. Here’s a “peek” at the donuts of Twin Peaks.  

(YouTube link)

BRB, going to see if there’s any jelly-filled donuts left at the grocery! -via Uproxx

Maybe our new robot overlords could use a hand up. The DARPA Robotics Challenge is going on today and tomorrow. There is a $2 million prize up for grabs, and the most advanced robots in the world are competing. Each robot is tasked with doing all these things in order:

1  Walk to a vehicle
2   Drive a vehicle
3   Open a door
4   Find and close a valve
5   Bust through a wall
6   A surprise task
7   Navigate some rubble
8   Climb up stairs

(YouTube link)

That’s a lot to ask of a machine. Popular Mechanics has 11 short videos of robots who did not quite perform perfectly. The overall impression is that of people who’ve had way too much to drink. And those are only from Friday morning, so there may be more added before the contest is finished. -via Digg

I have an intimate relationship with Google Search because it’s a tool of the trade. But I often forget that other people only use it when they need to find something. If you only do that occasionally, it can be frustrating. So here’s a few tricks of the trade that might make looking for something a bit easier.   

Not sure of a word’s meaning?  You can skip having to look at the dictionary or even having to go to Webster’s online. You can go straight to Google and use the “define:” command.  For example, if the meaning of “pneumonia” has for some reason left your, then searching for “define: pneumonia” will show you all you need to know.

A couple of the tricks on this list are just for fun, while others might save you time and hassle in the future.

I hear they make teenagers that way so that you don’t mind so much when they leave home. Yet age four isn’t so easy, either. Four is barely out of toddlerhood. Maybe if kids could stay seven years old, with gaps in their teeth and homework a parent can understand... that would be nice. This is the latest comic from Lunarbaboon.

They say that cockroaches will outlive all other life forms on earth. If that’s the case, they may have a hard time figuring out the life forms they left behind during the apocalypse. Like the 21st-century teenager in his natural habitat. This is from Pie Comic by John McNamee.

Henry McGauley of County Louth, Ireland, found a stray cat in a tree. That’s not unusual, but the cat was curled up in a bird’s nest where she had birthed four kittens! The white cat is familiar to the neighborhood, and McGauley wife Fiona had fed her before. The nest is about eight feet above the ground.

The couple think the nest may have belonged to a pair of wood pigeons who left it a few days ago and now it has furry, not feathered, squatters. Fiona said she will be moving the happy family onto terra firma as the kittens do not have the required wings to ensure a safe landing if they fall.

Henry chuckled as he said: “I always thought the cat was a bit bird-brained but I never expected her to move into a nest.”

The couple planned to move the kittens out of the tree to prevent them falling out of the nest. -via Arbroath

(Image credit: Ardee Petsupplies)

Doctor Who fans might know this artwork that places the TARDIS into Van Gogh’s The Starry Night. A lovely image! That would look good on a cake, wouldn’t it?

Maybe it would, but behold the decorator’s actual interpretation of the image. This cake is part of a roundup at Cake Wrecks called When Photo Cakes Go Wrong that will put you off ever trying to use a photograph on a cake.

Sausage Party did a shot-by-shot remake of the Jurassic World trailer using food. The people are made of hot dogs (and other edibles), the velociraptors are chicken patties, and in a genius move, the genetically-modified monster dinosaur Indominus Rex is …a dog! Of course, he has the perfect motivation to eat everyone else in the movie.

(YouTube Link)

To see how well this follows the real trailer, you can see them side-by-side in this video.  -via Buzzfeed

The Annamite striped rabbit, native to Vietnam and Laos, was first described in 1998 and has rarely been seen since. Sarah Woodfin, a graduate student at the University of East Anglia, set out on a three-month expedition with a team from WWF Vietnam to find and study the rabbit.

She said; "I didn't expect that I would ever see one up close. I thought that if I was very lucky, I might see one from a distance in the forest. I certainly never expected that I would have the opportunity to hold one of these magnificent animals. I was utterly delighted.

"My team and I encountered the rabbit completely by chance on the first night of my trip.

"It was found hopping along a stream bank eating vegetation. One of my team members managed to catch it and brought it back to camp, where we were all able to have a good look at it.

You can read more about the search for the Annamite striped rabbit at Science Daily. But the question remains: what does a team of researchers do for the next three months once their goal has been attained? We all know they can’t give the surplus grant money back. -via reddit

(Image credit: University of East Anglia)

The Flintstones Bedrock City is a theme park and campground built in 1972 in Williams, Arizona. Now the entire compound is for sale, and you can snap it up for a mere $2 million. That includes a gift shop, restaurant, RV park, convenience store, volcano, train ride, a 3,800-square-foot house, and a Brontosaurus with a back you can slide down. Oh, there are other dinosaurs, too, and life-size figures of The Flintstones. See pictures at ABC News. -via Boing Boing