STUFF: News, Technology, the cool and the plain weird

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The World's First Triple Front Flip Bike Trick Is Plain Nuts

Backflips, I get. You launch in the air, you tilt backwards, and you flip. Front flips are a whole other story. You launch in the air, you tilt forward (which is downward but you’re still going up), and then you flip? Crazy talk. And this triple front flip from Ryan Williams? Definitely more than three times the crazy. The thud and crashes and spills he took in trying this (even if it was padded ground) is nuts.

[MIKA27]

THE WEATHER STATION BY BEST MADE CO.

Sure, there’s countless ways to see what the weather’s like, and many would argue that your phone is the best choice for checking what things look like outside your door. But we’d argue that few of those options are as gorgeous as The Weather Station.

Built in Germany and designed by our friends at Best Made Co., this analog gauge is the perfect piece to complement any living space or office. Wrapped in solid brass casing, this precision instrument features both a thermometer and hygrometer that together give you the literal comfort level of the outside weather conditions. Whether it’s a sweltering heat wave, or a gloriously crisp morning, you’ll know before you walk out the door every morning. And, as with all Best Made products, this thing is guaranteed for life. [Purchase]

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HP ENVY CURVED ALL-IN-ONE PC

HP continues to push the envelope of innovation with their latest PC, the HP Envy Curved All-in-One, as it is the world’s widest curved all-in-one home computer.

The computer has a massive 34-inch diagonal curved display that’s designed to impress, captivate, and immerse users who gaze upon its glory. It has a high resolution of 3440×1440 and a 21:9 aspect ratio. HP also added an exceptionally rich audio experience that uses state-of-the-art features by Bang & Olufsen. The all-in-one comes standard with a 6th generation Intel Core processor, up to 16GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce 960A graphics that will allow you to use the latest design and photography software, as well as play the latest games. It’s the first all-in-one PC to be Technicolor Color certified for true-to-life color. It also comes with a 3D RealSense Camera that has a best-in-class depth sensor and 3D scanning capabilities. The Envy will quickly deem you the envy of all of your friends when it launches in November. [Purchase]

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PADDLE BOARDING WITH WHALES IN AUSTRALIA

We’ve seen a plethora of great drone footage videos hit the web lately. Now, there’s a new drone video by YouTube Jaimen Hudson, who took footage of whales swimming beside a paddle boarder.

The footage, which was shot in 4K resolution, was taken off the coast of Esperance, Western Australia. The gorgeous blue water and the size of the whales, which never ceases to amaze on-lookers, makes for an awe-inspiring video. The video has over 4 million views and 10,000 thumbs up, and somehow, it has 96 thumbs down. In my opinion, those 96 people are either insane or jealous

[MIKA27]

The Rise of Irish Whiskey

Irish whiskey is the fastest growing category in spirits. It’s growing faster than scotch, faster than vodka and faster than bourbon.

“Consumers love its accessibility, and they love the fact that it’s different from all the more predictable whiskies,” says John Quinn, the Tullamore D.E.W. Global Brand Ambassador.

It hasn’t always been like this. Irish whiskey has spent years trying to recover from a string of cataclysmic events that put them far behind the competition.

When the Irish Free State was created in 1922, Ireland was finally free from the wide reaching arms of Great Britain. While it was great to be free, it made the whiskey trade extremely difficult. “The exporting of all Irish products to the British colonies was banned by the British authorities,” says Quinn. “So we lost access to key colony markets.” During the early 1900s, it was extremely fashionable to drink whiskey in elegant bars in the world’s major cities. “But, prohibition, two World Wars and Ireland’s economic war with Britain made it difficult to export and reach the popularity of scotch,” says Quinn. Thankfully, people like Daniel E. Williams, founder of Tullamore D.E.W., prevailed, navigating waves of history with a steady, calm hand and an inability to give up.

Irish whiskey’s tumultuous past was also heavily affected by American Prohibition. As a result of the strict laws, Irish whiskey was all but wiped out in the United States and, in fact, may have actually been saved by Irish coffee.

Places like Tom Bergin’s, a bar steeped in history, is one of the only true local pubs in Los Angeles. “We have the second oldest liquor license in L.A. county, says Derek Schreck, the bar’s owner. When Tom Bergin opened this pub in 1936, he created a place that drew upon his Irish heritage, and it was designed to be authentic, warm, and inviting. Tom Bergin’s and San Francisco’s Buena Vista Café were the first American bars to serve the hot, whiskey-fueled drink.

A chef by the name of Joe Sheridan invented Irish coffee at the Shannon Airport in County Limerick, Ireland in 1938. “It was in the old days of flying when float planes would land on the Foynes and passengers would be brought ashore in boats, shivering from the cold.” So Sheridan decided to create a fortifying drink to warm them and calm their nerves. He filled the glass with hot coffee, stirred in a nice dose of Irish whiskey, and topped it with a floating inch of Irish Cream

Right after Sheridan invented the drink, a newspaper columnist from San Francisco tried it at the airport. He decided to bring the frothy beverage to the Buena Vista Café in San Francisco. “A few weeks later, he brought it over to Tom Bergin’s, making us the second establishment in the U.S. where one could order an Irish Coffee. It’s been on the menu ever since.” While Irish coffee gained in popularity, Irish whiskey sales still lagged well behind its counterparts.

In the last few decades, the popularity of Irish whiskey has increased because of the coming together of all the family-owned distilleries.

“Murphys family business, which owned Paddy whiskey, and the Jameson family business … together with the arrival of Bushmills in 1972 meant all the Irish whiskeys of the time worked in harmony (rather than competing against each other),” says Quinn. This allowed focus on certain brands in certain markets and a more focused effort for the category overall.

In recent years, consistent investment behind the top three brands in particular (Tullamore D.E.W., Jameson, and Bushmills) has helped make Irish whiskey extremely popular. “Consumers and trade alike are interested in discovering whiskey styles other than the predictable or well-known styles, and so Irish has become a discoverable category—much like the growth in craft beers has taken consumers to beer choices that weren’t in their consideration ten years ago.”

[MIKA27]

Bourbon and Scotch Toothpicks is a thing!

Relaxing with a fine single malt or a bit of bourbon after a meal is a luxury we stand behind. To help you segue from steak to scotch or beef to bourbon, keep a pack of these toothpicks in your pocket. As you let one sit in your mouth, the subtle flavors of the hooch will start to come through and remind you of a relaxing night with a splash of the good stuff. Whether you need to clean your chops after a rack of ribs, or you just want to enjoy the fine flavors packed in each toothpick, carrying a pack is highly recommended.[Purchase]

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HOW TO SURVIVE ANYTHING

The authors of "Outdoor Life” have been providing outdoor and urban survival expertise to millions of readers over the years, their new book How to Survive Anything helps you get prepared for whatever life throws at you, be ready for the everyday threats such as earthquakes, avalanches and hurricanes, meteor strikes or killer viruses. With over 200 pages of wonderfully illustrated guides, the all-purpose A to Z manual, lays out the survival situations we’re all likely to face, and gets you prepared for whatever this world throws at you.

[MIKA27]

FERRARI F12TDF

Named in honor of the Tour de France — not the bike race, but the endurance road race held around the country from 1899-1986 — the Ferrari F12tdf harkens back to the days of the 1950s and '60s when Ferrari GTs dominated the race. This track-ready road car is powered by a 769 hp V12 mated to a special version of the F1 DCT transmission to deliver a 0-62 time of 2.9 seconds and a top speed of over 210 mph. Other unique features include redesigned components that shave nearly 250 pounds off the car's weight, wider front and rear tracks, and the use of bare carbon fiber in both the interior and aerobridge. Limited to just 799 examples.

[MIKA27]

James Cameron's Battle Angel Alita Is Finally Happening, and It Got the Best Possible Non-Cameron Director

James Cameron has been trying to direct the sci-fi action film Battle Angel Alita for years. But then, a little thing called Avatar happened. So now, instead of waiting another decade to helm the anime, he recruited Robert Rodriguez to do the honors.

Deadline reports Cameron and producing partner Jon Landau have hired Rodriguez, director of From Dusk Till Dawn, Desperado, Spy Kids and Sin City, to direct the live-action adaptation of the popular graphic novel by Yukito Kishiro.

Set in the 26th century, Battle Angel Alita follows a female cyborg who becomes a deadly assassin.

“Robert and I have been looking for a film to do together for years, so I was pumped when he said he wanted to do Battle Angel,” James Cameron said in a press release. “He’s very collaborative and we’re already like two kids building a go-kart, just having fun riffing creatively and technically. This project is near and dear to me, and there’s nobody I trust more than Robert, with his technical virtuosity and rebel style, to take over the directing reins. We’re looking forward to learning a lot from each other while we make a kick-ass epic.”

“Battle Angel is an incredibly rich and vibrant epic in the tradition of Jim Cameron’s spectacular, character-driven films,” Rodriguez added “Getting to work from Jim’s terrific and visionary script while learning the cutting edge techniques he’s pioneered is a master class in filmmaking. It’s an honor to explore the world of Alita along with Jim and Jon, whose films have impacted me for decades.”

20th Century Fox will release the film, which has no release date set.

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Multimillion-dollar photo of Billy the Kid playing croquet was $2 junk shop find

A close-up of the figure that Guijarro believes to be Billy the Kid

Henry McCarty, known in Wild West lore as Billy the Kid, lived a brief and violent life, stealing and killing before his death in a gunfight aged 21. He lived with a gun in his hand – and sometimes, it seems, a croquet mallet.

In a surprising historical twist, the second photo of McCarty ever to be authenticated shows him and his posse, the Regulators, playing the sport in New Mexico in 1878.

The faded image was among a pile of photos inside a cardboard box at a junk shop in Fresno, California, unearthed by a collector in 2010. Randy Guijarro paid $2 (£1.30) for the image, which is now estimated to be worth millions of dollars. The only other confirmed photo of Billy the Kid, from 1880 sold for $2.3m (£1.5m) in 2011.

The photo was authenticated by a San Francisco-based Americana company, Kagin’s, which identified Billy the Kid along with several members of the Regulators, as well as friends and family. It was taken after a wedding in the summer of 1878, just a month after the gang took part in the brutal Lincoln County war.

The full tin type photograph.

When the photo was first brought to the company, its experts were “understandably sceptical”, said David McCarthy from Kagin’s. “An original Billy the Kid photo is the holy grail of Western Americana.

“We had to be certain that we could answer and verify where, when, how and why this photograph was taken. Simple resemblance is not enough in a case like this – a team of experts had to be assembled to address each and every detail in the photo to ensure that nothing was out of place.”

The team spent a year investigating the photo, and even found the location where it was taken, in Chaves County, New Mexico. There they unearthed the remains of the building shown. “We found the old lumber underneath,” said Jeff Aiello, director of a National Geographic Channel documentary on the find, scheduled to be broadcast this month. “We found those exact rock piers are still there.”

Liz Larsson, from the UK’s Croquet Association, said the series of photos from the scene left little doubt what game was being played: “It’s clearly croquet. You can see the hoops, the balls, the mallet, the centre peg. They’re all there. It’s a fascinating picture.”

The first croquet club in England was founded in 1865, the same year the game was immortalised in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Larsson said.

“Croquet became popular in the 1860s because it was the first sport that women could play on the same terms as men, and men and women could play each other. It had a huge boost in its popularity.” In the UK, however, it was still not a game for the masses: “Not really. You needed a lawn, and a fairly large one.”

Things were, however, slightly different in the US, where companies making croquet gear created a smaller-scale version of the sport, which could be played on rougher turf, using cheaper, lightweight equipment.

During the 19th century, the game in America had a somewhat different image to the genteel, cucumber-sandwich stereotype of Britain, according to a history by the United States Croquet Association: “Croquet as a public sport suffered a setback in the 1890s when the Boston clergy spoke out against the drinking, gambling and licentious behaviour associated with it.”

All types of Americans played. In 1867, General George Custer wrote to his wife, Elizabeth, from his frontier fort in Kansas, asking her to “bring a set of field-croquet” when she next visited.

Thom Ross, a US artist specialising in historic scenes, has previously painted both Native Americans and cowboys playing croquet, saying this is based on extensive historical research.

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The Hateful Eight 70mm Roadshow Version will be 12 min longer:

We already knew Quentin Tarantino's "Roadshow Version" of The Hateful Eight was going to be a rare experience; first, it's going to be shown in 70mm, which is an insanely beautiful film format. Second, the movie will have an overture and intermission, a collectible program, and Tarantino himself.

In an interview with Variety, Tarantino says that Roadshow Version's overture and intermission will add six minutes of screen time, and another six minutes of extended scenes.

Tarantino: “The 70 is the 70. You’ve paid the money. You’ve bought your ticket. So you’re there. I’ve got you. But I actually changed the cutting slightly for a couple of the multiplex scenes because it’s not that. Now it’s on Showtime Extreme. You’re watching it on TV and you just kind of want to watch a movie on your couch. Or you’re at Hot Dog on a Stick and you just want to catch a movie.”

The sequences in question play in “big, long, cool, unblinking takes” in the 70mm version, Tarantino said. “It was awesome in the bigness of 70, but sitting on your couch, maybe it’s not so awesome. So I cut it up a little bit. It’s a little less precious about itself.”

If you're a Tarantino fan this is just the cherry-on-top of a cool screening experience. We'll report when tickets become available for the "Roadshow Version" of The Hateful Eight, which are sure to sell out insanely fast. The standard theatrical release will come to theaters December 25th (USA).

[MIKA27]

Hilarious animation imagines Back to the Future traveling to our real life 2015 instead

Everyone knows that the 2015 that Doc and Marty time traveled to in Back to the Future II was so much cooler than our 2015. They had hoverboards and self-lacing sneakers and flying cars and fusion reactors! We don’t have any of that. Instead we have bad fashion taste, global warming, selfies, Internet bullying and boards that people call hoverboards but definitely do not hover.

College Humor imagines if BTTF went to our 2015 instead of the fictional 2015 instead in this super funny animation.

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How the US Air Force reloads the largest combat jet gun on the planet

When you got one of the biggest guns in the world, you can’t just pop in a new magazine and start firing again. Well, you can but the new ‘magazine’ for the GAU-8 Avenger is so ginormous it needs to be trucked in and requires multiple Air Force guys to get the gun reloaded. It takes time to get giant bullets on board! Here’s the interesting process on how the largest combat jet gun gets reloaded.

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Uber Is Using Its Drivers To Look For Missing Children in America

With a team of digitally connected cars roaming a city’s streets, you can probably do more than simply drive people places. Uber knows that as well as anyone, and now it’s using its drivers to look for missing children.

Uber has announced that it’s joining forces with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to send AMBER alerts to its drivers in America. The messages will notify the drivers about children that are in danger within their proximity, allowing them to keep an eye open as they drive through the city.

The AMBER alert program is an American scheme that allows urgent messages to be sent out when serious child-abduction cases occur. It’s a scheme led by law-enforcement agencies, who send out the messages via broadcasters, transportation agencies, and the wireless industry. Since it launched way back in 1996 it’s helped recover 772 children from danger.

Sending geographically targeted AMBER alerts to Uber drivers is a smart move: an intelligent use of a huge, mobile, digitally connected network that can receive information in an instant. In fact, it makes you wonder what other good the Uber fleet could be used to achieve.

The AMBER system isn’t afraid of innovation: earlier this year, California began using the (merciful) redundancy in the system to find cars involved in hit-and-run crashes.

Uber’s involvement with the scheme starts today, with the alerts rolling out in 180 cities around the U.S.. It’s perhaps some welcome good news after the headaches that the taxi service suffered yesterday.

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This Year Looks Just Like 1997's Insanely Terrible El Niño

This year America’s winter “will definitely not be normal,” NASA has said. It is, however, awfully familiar.

It’s not just the sea surface heights, like those above, that look alike — NOAA and NASA both confirm that they’re also seeing wind patterns and water temperatures that look eerily similar to the ’97 conditions.

Researchers have been noting the budding similarities between 1997’s El Nino and America’s current conditions since early last year. With El Niño definitely having kicked off now, though, researchers are saying it will almost certainly peak this winter. So what happened get last time an El Niño that looked like this hit hard in the winter?

1997-1998 was one of the warmest and wettest winters America had seen in over a century. There were record-breaking levels of snow, sleet, and rain all over the country. There were deadly floods in California, intense ice storms in the East, and a rash of tornadoes in Florida.

Exactly what particular cocktail of winter storms El Niño is mixing this year is still unclear — but if history is any guide, it will be a tough one.

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This Artisanal Car-Powered Slip 'N Slide Looks Like Magnificent Fun

Huge, wacky Slip ‘n Slide projects appear around the world every summer. But this wooden creation built into the French countryside appears to be the first to use a beat up old Peugot to launch the rider halfway across a lake. It looks awesome.

A recently uploaded YouTube video shows the construction of the so-called “artisanal” water slide in Cantal, a mountainous region of southern France. Constructed alongside a quaint cottage, the resultant track curves up onto a ramp at the edge of the lake. The rider mounts a raft attached to a rope that’s attached to pulley, which is in turn attached to a front-wheel drive car, just to add some horsepower to the fun. Just try counting how many seconds the riders are in the air from the moment the leave the ramp until they splash into the lake.

The best part? There’s a fisherman on hand to hook the raft and bring it back to the (apparently drunk) kids having all the fun. Vive la France!

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Samurai Slices A 160 Kph Baseball In Half

Master swordsman Isao Machii is back! This time he’s here to cut a fastball in two.

This latest clip is done in one continuous take so you can see that Machii doesn’t need camera trickery.

He only needs a sword.

In the clip, they show how the radar clocks the ball’s speed at 161 km/h (100 mph). Machii cut the ball at 9.22 meters from where the pitching machine fired it.

Incredible.

Machii, who’s often called a “modern day samurai,” is staggeringly quick on the draw.

[MIKA27]

Human Impact on the Earth: Switzerland's Great Aletsch Glacier

Ahead of the UN Climate Conference in December, Reuters has released the fourth of their “Earthprints” series focusing on how humans change the landscape of the planet, featuring Switzerland’s shrinking Great Aletsch Glacier. From Reuters:

“One of Europe’s biggest glaciers, the Great Aletsch, coils 23 km (14 miles) through the Swiss Alps—and yet this mighty river of ice could almost vanish in the lifetimes of people born today because of climate change. The glacier, 900 meters (2,950 feet) thick at one point, has retreated about 3 km (1.9 miles) since 1870 and that pace is quickening.” Reuters also quotes Andreas Vieli, a professor at the University of Zurich’s group of glaciology experts, who says that “the Aletsch may lose 90 percent of its ice volume by 2100, with the lower reaches melting away.” He adds, “My kids are going to see a very different scenery in the Alps.”

The Great Aletsch Glacier in Switzerland, animated between a combination of NASA satellite images taken August 18, 1987, and June 8, 2014 (when the glacier is narrower and shorter). The glacier, 900 meters (2,950 feet) thick at one point, has retreated about 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) since 1870, and that pace is quickening.

Hikers walk on Aletsch Glacier near the Eggishorn in Fiesch, Switzerland, on August 22, 2015.

Hikers climb the 460 steps up to the Konkordia Hut on Aletsch Glacier on August 28, 2015.

Goats stand on rocks at the Platta viewpoint on Aletsch Glacier on August 12, 2015.

Hikers get ready under the full moon at the Konkordia Hut above the glacier at Konkordia Place, Switzerland, on August 29, 2015

Mountain guide Christian Pletscher looks towards the Aletsch Glacier from the Jungfraufirn Glacier in Switzerland on August 28, 2015

Water from the melting glacier runs down through a hole, photographed on August 28, 2015.

Ice melts on the Aletsch Glacier on August 12, 2015.

Mountain guide Christian Pletscher stands in a cave beneath the Aletsch Glacier on August 29, 2015

A close-up of ice viewed from inside a glacier cave beneath Aletsch Glacier on August 29, 2015

Aletsch Glacier at dusk in Fiesch, Switzerland, on August 11, 2015

Goats and sheep rest at the Platta viewpoint on Aletsch Glacier on August 12, 2015

Marks left by retreating ice are pictured on a rock with the Aletsch Glacier in the background on August 12, 2015

Mountain guide Christian Pletscher walks on Aletsch Glacier on August 29, 2015

A group of hikers (top left) walk on Aletsch Glacier on August 12, 2015

Hikers walk down steps onto the glacier on August 29, 2015

A goat rests at the Platta viewpoint as a group of hikers (background, right) trek in the distance on the glacier on August 12, 2015

Aletsch Glacier viewed from the Eggishorn summit in Fiesch, Switzerland, on August 22, 2015

[MIKA27]

THIS CHILLING PHOTO SERIES REVEALS OUR ADDICTION TO SMART PHONES

Eric Pickersgill's thought-provoking series Removed perfectly captures the role digital devices now play in our lives. In an age of hyper-connectivity, we're constantly in conversation with people elsewhere and typically expected to be available at all times. The result of all this means we're often looking at our phones rather then the people around us.

In Pickersgill's series, he captures the eeriness of our digital addiction by removing the devices his subjects were looking at. Instead of staring at a screen, the subjects are blankly staring at their hands. To achieve this bizarre effect, Pickersgill would ask friends and strangers to put their phones away and resume their pose as if still looking at their device.

The inspiration for the series came during a meal at a New York Cafe.

“Family sitting next to me at Illium café in Troy, NY is so disconnected from one another,” Pickersgill writes in his notes from that day. “Not much talking. Father and two daughters have their own phones out. Mom doesn’t have one or chooses to leave it put away. She stares out the window, sad and alone in the company of her closest family. Dad looks up every so often to announce some obscure piece of info he found online.”

The eeriest part of this series is how realistic it truly is. We can all relate to these situations and even Pickersgill admits to being a phone addict. This constant connection can't be healthy.

As time goes on, do you think society will become more hyper-connected? Or could this be a tipping point in our culture where people decide to disconnect a little more?

MIKA: This is an epidemic in my opinion. We all use smart phones, some more than others and for many this puts a strain on relationships, marriages, family time. I LOVE technology but I also loathe it, in this instance smart phones is a killer in so many ways. I often get home from work and it's not surprising to see my wife and kids on mobile devices.

[MIKA27]

ONEBLADE RAZOR

Plenty of razors claim to be the best on the market, but OneBlade claims to be the “best razor on Earth. Period.” It’s too soon to tell if their claim holds true, but it certainly appears to be heading in that direction, at least.

It’s a single blade razor that pays extra close attention to detail. It is built from high grade German stainless steel and has a hand-polished finish with military-grade PVD coating for impressive corrosion resistance and feel. It has the optimal blade exposure and angle, and uses a quick-load blade system for easy blade replacement. The blade, itself, is made from hardened stainless steel and coated in platinum, and they’re scary sharp but provide a comfortable shave every time. Each OneBlade is individually numbered and is guaranteed for life (and each life thereafter). It’s available now for $299. [Purchase]

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TOPO DESIGNS X WOOLRICH ROVER PACK

Topo Designs have teamed up again with iconic American company Woolrich, this time around for a special edition on their popular Rover Pack. The classic backpack was given a new twist with some of Woolrich´s timeless fabrics, used on the upper. It also features a base made from rugged 1000d Cordura, an inner laptop sleeve, side compression straps, and two exterior zipper pockets.

[MIKA27]

VUARNET GLACIER SPECTRE SUNGLASSES

The latest James Bond film, Spectre, finds 007 donning these iconic Vuarnet Glacier Spectre Sunglasses to ward off glare and reflections during a trek through the mountains. Ideal for such an adventure, or possibly a day on the slopes skiing or snowboarding, the Glacier features a polarizing film that blocks out light reflection, mineral lenses for unparalleled optical quality, and a silver bi-shaded mirror to protect from the sun. Inspired by frames worn by 1930s airline pilots and preferred by most notorious intelligence agent of all time.

[MIKA27]

BOSE QUIETCOMFORT 25 TRIPLE BLACK HEADPHONES

Pioneers in the world of clean, quality sound, it's easy to trust Bose when it comes to headphones, especially these QuietComfort 25 Triple Black Headphones. This special edition was customized just for Apple devices, with a triple black look and all the same amenities that make the QuietComfort special. The lightweight, comfortable headphones sit snugly on your head, while the noise cancellation function monitors the noise around you and drowns it out to let you fully experience the deep, crisp sounds of your music collection.

[MIKA27]

SUUNTO KAILASH WATCH

Suunto makes plenty of watches for those who adventure around their home. TheSuunto Kailash Watch is made for those who adventure around the world. Named after a holy Tibetan peak, it offers several globetrotting-friendly features, including automatic time and location via GPS, readouts of the direction and distance back to your hotel/camp/home, and a new logbook that shows how many countries you've visited and how far you've travelled with a single button press. Of course, it also keeps track of things like the altitude, barometric pressure, sunrise/sunset, and how many steps you've taken, is water-resistant to 100m with a titanium bezel, sapphire crystal cover, anodized aluminum case, and silicone strap, and is available in four colorways.

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The Futuristic Bridge Rolls-Royce Designed For Its New Ships Looks Like A Spacecraft Cockpit

Norwegian shipping company Simon Møkster Shipping got a brand new offshore platform supply vessel back in August. That might not mean anything to you, but the ship’s bridge is the first to tout a new type of ergonomic design created Rolls-Royce — and it looks like an amazing place to work.

The ship, named Stril Luna, was designed by Rolls-Royce, which equipped its bridge with a system that the luxury carmaker calls a “Unified Bridge,” an ergonomic concept for ship management that, judging by the photos recently released by Rolls-Royce, is a futuristic vision of how ships are piloted that looks more like an office or gaming setup than a bridge.

The development of this cutting edge system took three years and was designed with the comfort of the captain in mind, Rolls-Royce says:

The Unified Bridge presents a physical work environment adapted to a person’s natural movements, representing a new, ergonomic approach to all the activity required on the bridge of a vessel.

A sister ship, due for delivery in 2016, will be equipped with this system too, and don’t forget that engineers at Rolls-Royce are working on the oX Bridge, the future brain of autonomous ocean-going vessels.