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

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M. HOSTOMME ABYSSE OCEAN-AGED CHAMPAGNE

A steady temperature and lack of light is an ideal environment for aging Champagne, but only a few houses in France take that to the extreme by aging their liquid underwater. Abysse is one of those, a Grand Cru Brut that 12 months under the sea off the coast of Southern France locked in a steel cage, after 48 months of aging on the lees in stainless-steel tanks and Burgundy French oak barrels. Abysse is the only ocean-aged Champagne being exported to the United States, with only 60 bottles being made available. $1,900.00

 

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This Olympic Athlete Removed Her Breasts To Drive Faster And Spied And Tortured For The Gestapo

Mastering rough roads shelled into near-oblivion, Violette Morris sidestepped the artillery craters on her motorcycle. It was 1916 on the slopes of the Somme in the midst World War I, and Morris, a field nurse, was on her way to the battlefield. The soldiers who righted her bike when she fell weren't aware that they were helping a woman. With a shapeless outfit and close-cropped hair, Morris could easily pass for a man on the battlefield.

Morris was a tomboy from the start. Growing up in a French convent, she fell in love with sports and physical education, excelling in weightlifting, boxing, swimming, football, running, water polo, and javelin alike. There was nothing she couldn't do. 

When war was declared in 1914, Morris' new husband Monsieur Gouraud was sent to the Front and Violette's boxing club was transformed into a Red Cross station. She traversed the battlefields as a nurse during the Battle of the Somme and a courier during the Battle of Verdun, she traversed the ravaged countryside via ambulance or motorcycle until she fell sick and was sent home to Paris.

In the interwar period, her athletic career really picked up, according to Fast Ladies: Female Racing Drivers 1888 to 1970 by Jean François Bouzanquet. She took home javelin and shot put victories in the first female Olympics in Monte Carlo. Her rise to prominence saw offers from motorbike and cyclecar sponsors, which admittedly started out as publicity stunts - until Morris got behind the wheel of a Benjamin car for the 1922 Bol d'Or and shocked everyone by taking home a 4th place finish and setting a record fastest lap. And then, determined to do better, she went on to win the difficult race from Paris to the Pyrenees and back again just two weeks later.

She was proving to be a force to be reckoned with. In 1923, she entered her same Benjamin in a race from Paris to Nice, where she not only won her class but also took home the team cup, the women's cup, and the President of the Republic's cup.

Looking to further enhance her success, Morris divorced her husband and started working on her physique. And here's where the trouble started. She was definitely not the stereotypical feminine woman: Morris prized her muscle and her very masculine figure, accentuating it with crew cuts, three-piece suits, three packs of cigarettes a day, and and her traditionally uncouth behaviour (i.e. she was real fond of swearing and wasn't afraid to use her fists to get what she wanted in a football match).

Morris kept entering races until 1928, when the French Women's Athletic Federation refused to renew her licence with them, therefore barring her entrance from the 1928 Olympics. Heartbroken, Violette opened an accessory shop and devoted herself so wholly to racing that she followed the path of the Amazons and had a double mastectomy. Her breasts, she reasoned, were a hindrance to her speed, and she wasn't interested in the conventions of raising a family. Why not get rid of them?

Rumours kept swirling. She appealed the decision of the Athletic Federation in hopes of having her licence renewed, but it was too late for her to do much about it. A former lover, Raoul Paoli, had left Violette after her mastectomy and went public with Morris' bisexual inclinations.

Hungry for scandal, the press blew the story out of proportion. Morris had never done much to hide the fact that she definitely wasn't 100% straight, but according to Bouzanquet, she was accused of making passes at her fellow female competitors in the changing room and of spending time at questionable bars where women were the only suggestive patrons. Her case was dismissed and her accessory shop failed, and with the French public against her, Morris wasn't going anywhere.

And then she reunited with Gertrude Hannecker. A former racing rival of Morris's, Hannecker had become a German journalist who was looking to recruit for the Nazi Secret Service. It was only the first of a series of events that lead Violette Morris to become Hitler's VIP at the 1936 Olympics, where she was awarded with a medal to recognise her past sporting achievements that France had ignored.

Morris was moved. She had spent nearly a decade in limbo, a slighted pariah in her own country. Hannecker had sensed her weakness, and before long, Morris had become sympathetic to the Nazi cause.

Doors opened to her for the first time in years. She served as a spy for the Nazis, betraying French secrets like the Maginot Line layout, lists of telephone conversations, strategic military locations within the city, and even the plans for France's Renault-Somua S35 tank. She still lived in Paris because the French government hadn't quite caught onto her, eking out a living through driving and tennis lessons once the scandal surrounding her had settled down.

When Paris fell to the Germans in 1940 (with significant help from Morris' work), Violette could be found in the Gestapo headquarters in Rue Lauriston, where she became a driver for black market goods and often colluded with the mob. It caught the eye of the French Gestapo, the Carlingue, and by 1942 she was put in charge of dismantling terrorist revolts. She was, unfortunately, really good at it; Morris wasn't afraid of brutal interrogation techniques, weaponry, or seduction to get what she wanted.

Morris might have avoided detection by the French military in time for them to stop her, but England had had their eyes on her since the late 1930s. She had taken down a group of English drivers who had been rumoured to be part of the resistance. The group was led by Charles William-Grover and former Bugatti Grand Prix driver Robert Benoist. Benoist was the only one to escape and was left to spread the word about the "hyena of the Gestapo" who had chased them down.

Finally, in 1944, Morris hit the end of her road. She had been tasked with taking down the Special Operations Executive, a British-run resistance organisation. Little did she know that her name was on the lips of plenty of higher-ups in London who were launching a commando operation against her. She was killed by the French resistance on a country road during a drive with friends, gunned down behind the wheel of her car. No one claimed her bullet-ridden body, and so Violette Morris, with her 20 national titles, 50 medals, 200 football matches, and three Ballon d'Ors, was buried in a mass grave.

It's hard to feel sympathy for someone like Morris. I was drawn to her as an unnamed figure in the background of Hellé Nice's biography, The Bugatti Queen, wondering what woman dared challenge the rigid social mores to remove her breasts so that she could race better. I didn't stop digging in the archives until I found her, eager to devour her achievements. The rest of her story is fascinating - but more like when you can't look away from an imminent car crash than as someone you'd want to look up to.

Like Nice, there's a reason why the motorsport world doesn't remember Morris. Her achievements have rightfully been darkened in the shade of the wrong side of history. But it's also important that we don't ignore the past. Violette Morris was a trailblazer for women's athletics, but even the most influential people can end up being the ones remembered with distaste instead of pride.

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IT’S NOT EVERYDAY THAT BATMAN’S CAR COMES UP FOR SALE – THE 1966 BATMOBILE “#5”

THE ORIGINAL 1960S BATMOBILE

The original Batmobile from the 1966 TV series was famously built by George Barris with just 3 weeks notice. The contract to build the Batmobile had first been given to well-known car customizer Dean Jeffries, who began the project using a 1959 Cadillac as the starting point.

The contract was pulled from Jeffries and given to Barris when the studio decided to move up the forthcoming TV series, resulting in the car needing to be ready in 3 weeks. Barris agreed that he could do it, but he had a trick up his sleeve that was going to cut over 80% of the job’s time requirements – he was going to use a preexisting car and modify it into a Batmobile rather than build a Batmobile up from a donor chassis.

A few years before he had been approached by 20th Century Fox Television for the Batmobile job, Barris had bought the Lincoln Futura concept car, a vehicle that had cost $250,000 to produce at the time (over $2,000,000 in today’s money). Amazingly, Barris had been able to buy it for just $1 as its usefulness to Lincoln had largely evaporated after it had been toured around various motor shows and displayed to the public (If you’d like to see the original Lincoln Futura you can scroll to the bottom of the page).

Barris had the Futura sitting in his showroom when the TV studio came knocking, and he immediately realized that he could convert his $1 concept car into a unique new Batmobile, and license it back to the TV studio for a handsome profit. Years later in 2012 George sold the Futura-based Batmobile at auction for $4.2 million – a remarkable profit margin by any yardstick.

THE ORIGINAL 1960S EXHIBITION BATMOBILES

The popularity of the TV series saw a demand for a series of 4 Batmobiles that could be used for promotional purposes – all of these cars were fully functional, and they travelled around the country appearing at shows and country fairs.

Of the 4 that were built, one was a special fiberglass-bodied drag racer driven by wheelstanding driver Wild Bill Shrewsberry fitted with a dual-quad Holman Moody Ford 427 V8 engine.

All of these show cars had fiberglass bodies and were based on the 1965-1966 Ford Galaxie (except the drag racing special), and great pains were taken to get them exactly correct and indistinguishable from the screen-used version.

Of the 4 cars that were built all are still accounted for, and they’re highly sought after by collectors and enthusiasts.

THE 1966 BATMOBILE “#5” SHOWN HERE

The example you see here is known as Batmobile #5, it was built by engineer Jim Sermersheim in 1966 and was owned by George Barris for a time. It’s in remarkable condition throughout, and even on close inspection it appears to have only just rolled out of the Batcave for the first time.

Amazingly Jim built the car himself from metal (not fiberglass) using minimal photos and the Batman TV show as a reference, his accuracy was remarkable. He used a 1958 Ford Thunderbird as his base, with a 351 cubic inch V8, an automatic transmission, and all the correct functioning lights and gizmos.

After touring the USA and Canada with his personal Batmobile for 2 years Jim sold it to George Barris, who had been taken aback at the level of detail and the excellent fit and finish. Barris loved the car so much he took the unprecedented step of penning a letter of authenticity for it – officially recognizing it as an original 1966 Batmobile.

Enthusiasts now call this car Batmobile #5, recognizing it as the 5th car after the original TV car, with the other 3 built by Barris and his team.

It’s rare that a TV-inspired car with heritage like this comes up for sale, so it’ll be interesting to see what it sells for when it rolls across the auction block with RM Sotheby’s in mid-May at the Auburn Spring Auction. If you’d like to register to bid or see more of the car you can click here to visit the listing.

 

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Bob Dylan Launched a Whiskey Brand

We can think of few better ways to pass a lazy Sunday than with a dram of the good stuff and the needle on some classic Dylan. Now the legendary singer-songwriter is providing more than the soundtrack; he’s providing the booze. Heaven’s Door is a new distillery in Tennessee from Dylan and seasoned entrepreneur Marc Bushala. Situated inside a deconstructed church, Heaven’s Door offers a range of American whiskeys, including a a rye whiskey, double barrel whiskey, and a Tennessee bourbon, starting at $60. Dylan’s a whiskey fan, which is something easily discernible from his catalog, and he wants his expressions to tell stories, not unlike his songs. The bottles are set to ship toward the end of May and you can pre-order now through the Heaven’s Door website. Then dust off your copy of “Blood on the Tracks” and pour yourself a glass.

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The New Ant-Man And The Wasp Trailer Is The Perfect Infinity War Antidote

Ant-Man and the Wasp opens July 5.

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Watch A Parachuting Skier Take Flight Moments Before An Avalanche Buries Him Alive

Downhill skiers hit tremendous speeds as they race down a mountain, but it still isn't fast enough to outrun an avalanche. Fortunately for Maxence Cavalade, the parachute he was using to speedride down Mont Charvet in France carried him to safety and probably saved his life.

It's worth pointing out that the avalanche was undoubtedly triggered by Cavalade's snow-shredding antics - it wasn't necessarily a "wrong place at the wrong time" scenario. But his terrifying aerial footage of the avalanche also reveals the tracks of countless other ski runs, so he probably he assumed the mountain wasn't primed for disaster that day. (We have no idea if he tested the snow for avalanche conditions ahead of this run.)

Still, the gamble paid off, whether he knew he was making it or not. I wonder what other dangerous sports could benefit from the addition of parachutes?

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Made With 28,800 Thumb Tacks, This Star Wars Conference Table Is A Finger-Killing Masterpiece

We've all been guilty of raiding the office supply closet for non-work reasons. Maybe it's to build a paperclip chain, or to cover a co-worker's cubicle in sticky notes. But few of us have gone so far as to create a tabletop Star Wars mural using 28,800 painstakingly embedded thumb tacks.

This masterpiece was created by employees at Viking, a UK-based office supply seller who probably had easy access to the tens of thousands of thumb tacks needed to complete the stormtrooper mosaic.

Except for maybe spending an equal amount of time designing and building a robot to do the hard work, there's no short cut to jabbing 28,800 thumb tacks into a table. It all had to be done by hand, requiring multiple employees to spend 39 hours on the project.

The final result was covered with a raised glass surface to protect the stormtrooper underneath, to make it usable as an actual conference table, and to presumably discourage employees from stealing thumb tacks from it as they run out.

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Here's Our Best Look Yet At Red Dead Redemption 2

Here's the new trailer for Red Dead Redemption 2, a video game about cowboys that I think a couple of people might be anticipating. It's our best look yet at the upcoming Rockstar Western.

Among other things, the trailer reveals that the Red Dead Redemption sequel is set in 1899 and that Dutch Van der Linde's gang apparently has at least one woman in it. Hopefully she's playable.

This is, of course, a prequel to the first Red Dead Redemption, which was set in 1911. In that game, you played mostly as John Marston, an outlaw-turned-mercenary who was tasked with hunting down and killing the members of Dutch's gang, of which he used to be part.

Here's Rockstar's full description of the story:

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America, 1899. The end of the wild west era has begun as lawmen hunt down the last remaining outlaw gangs. Those who will not surrender or succumb are killed.

After a robbery goes badly wrong in the western town of Blackwater, Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang are forced to flee. With federal agents and the best bounty hunters in the nation massing on their heels, the gang must rob, steal and fight their way across the rugged heartland of America in order to survive. As deepening internal divisions threaten to tear the gang apart, Arthur must make a choice between his own ideals and loyalty to the gang who raised him.

 

Red Dead Redemption 2 will be out on October 26 for PS4 and Xbox One. No word on a PC version.

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THE REMARKABLE WATKINS M001 – A FUTURISTIC POLISH-BUILT BMW

When you see the Watkins M001 for the first time you spend a good 5 minutes staring, trying to wrap your mind around it. It’s equal parts complex, unusual, and unfamiliar, almost as if a motorcycle from the Blade Runner universe was modified in the Marvel universe, before somehow exiting a wormhole and landing on Earth.

Despite its science-fiction-inspired appearance, the Watkins M001 was entirely built here in our universe, in the garage of a Polish engineer with a PhD in mechanical design, who works as a lecturer and researcher at the Gdańsk University of Technology, as well as heading the technical division of an industrial firm in Gdańsk, Poland.

His name is Jack Watkins, and if you need a vehicle designed from scratch for the A-Team, Iron Man, or Batman, he’s the kind of guy you go talk to.

WATKINS M001 STAGE 1 – THE DESIGN
The project to build the Watkins M001 began 9 years ago when Jack first saw Stellan Egeland’s revolutionary BMW Harrier – a wild custom motorcycle that was a decade ahead of its time when it was released in 2009. The Harrier had hub-center steering, a trellis frame, bespoke metal work and carbon fiber throughout, and Jack loved it.

His engineer’s mind immediately set to work conceptualizing his own BMW-based custom, rather than a trellis frame he would use two flat sheets of precise laser cut steel, that would be bent almost like origami in six very specific places – to give a 3 dimensional form that would provide the basis for his curious creation.

He decided very early on in the design phase that he would use the BMW R1150 RT engine (and transmission) and swing arm, so he found one for sale locally, went to inspect it, had a test ride, bought it, and disassembled it with the owner, before driving home with the engine and swing arm in the trunk of his car. He had no need for the rest of the bike, so he left it with the owner to part out for a little extra money.

Jack scanned the engine and swing arm into his CAD program, which allowed him to design and test the majority of parts digitally, including the frame, fuel tank, exhaust, and complex hub-center steering system.

WATKINS M001 STAGE 2 – THE CONSTRUCTION
Once the fundamental design of the Watkins M001 was complete the construction and fabrication  phase could begin. Fortunately as a result of Jack’s work, he has a long list of contacts – many of whom owe him a favor or two.

The laser cut steel monocoque frame was designed to attach to the engine mounting points and use the power unit as a stressed member. The fuel tank is also load-bearing – it’s mounted under and forward of the seat for mass centralization, but it also takes the load from the rear monoshock and distributes it into the chassis.

Perhaps the most engineering-intensive part of the build was the hub-center steering system, it’s an entirely bespoke design that appears alien to most non-engineers. Jack used a Yamaha XJ6 wheel with a milled hub, into which he fitted his steering system, as well as twin disc brakes, tucked neatly inside the double-sided swing arm, with horizontal shock absorbers mounted to each side.

Hub-center steering gives a series of advantages over more traditional forks, the HCS system sends load back into the chassis during braking which helps avoid the dive experienced by forks. If you’d like a more detailed look inside the HCS system we’ve added an exploded view below courtesy of Jack.

The completed motorcycle is a remarkable testament to Jack’s ability – and he has no plans to stop now. He’s already planning for future motorcycles in this series that will have 7000 series laser cut aluminum monocoque chassis and a slew of upgrades.

If you’d like to see more of Jack’s work or register your interest in buying one of his creations you can click here to visit his website.

 

 

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Driving Advice For Women In 1909: Don't Forget To Bring A Gun

Life wasn't easy for women in the early 20th century and race car driver and motorist Dorothy Levitt knew that for a fact. That's why she published The Woman and the Car: A Chatty Little Handbook for all Women who Motor or Who Want to Motor in 1909. It tells women how to take care of themselves and their cars, and reminds them to always carry a gun.

The book was published for women a little like Dorothy: someone who wanted their own little slice of freedom but who weren't sure how to get it. The automobile provided a huge opportunity to give women autonomy, and Ms. Levitt wanted women to know how to take control of their lives in this one, simple way. So, in a very conversational tone, she guided young ladies through the process of purchasing, starting, driving and repairing their own cars.

Now, it might not seem like there's a whole lot to learn from a turn-of-the-century book like The Woman and the Car. Automotive technology is almost unrecognizably different now, and the social conventions that barred women from driving at the time are pretty much nonexistent in the Western world today. And in some ways, you'd be right.

But I firmly believe the handbook should still be a piece that everyone read, both for its importance to history and for the advice that can stand the test of time.The Woman and the Car costs less than ten dollars on Amazon and clocks in at just over 150 pages, most of which are decorated with illustrations elucidating Levitt's descriptions, which means it's a quick afternoon read. And that's just what she intended.

The Woman and the Car is approachable. Levitt makes sure her readers can see that she knows what she's talking about while also assuring them that nothing is quite as difficult as it seems. She dedicates multiple pages to talking about all the things you need to do before you even think about driving. Locate the petrol and oil takes and make sure they're full. Learn what all the knobs and levers do, learn what they control, learn why, and learn how to solve these problems on the go. Test your brakes to make sure they grip well. Oh, and make sure you turn on your battery, too - but do not touch anything metal underneath the car while there's still a current flowing.

Not once does she leave any potentially confusing term undefined, and when she finishes the chapter with, "let me assure you that while it has taken some little time to explain these things in the plainest possible language, it will take you but a few minutes to carry them out," you actually do believe her.

Her information regarding the purchase of a car is certainly outdated but also shows that, for all of her pioneering work regarding women, Levitt still believed in some of those sexist myths herself. For a woman, she highly recommends a single-cylinder De Dion that generally fell under eight horsepower. This, she says, is important, because it requires no muscle at all to start and has the most graceful lines. As such, it's appropriate for any women to handle.

This handy little book came out in an era when women were usually expected to be seen and not heard, and your outfit was of massive importance when you were out and about with your car. Levitt was known for racing in outfits that accentuated her feminine figure, and The Woman and the Car lays out all of the most important style cues. She advises against leather that gets cracked and stiff in poor weather and recommends wearing shoes instead of boots, as they give the best freedom of ankle movement. Dress as you normally would for the season (except, don't wear your nice silks) and make sure to protect your neck with a scarf. You must absolutely wear a hat, but make sure that it fits well, lest it blow away. Y'know. The important things.

But what's truly revolutionary is Levitt's constant emphasis that women can do this themselves. Motoring is the realm of women, and a woman can drive as well as any man and fix her car as well as any man. She offers a full list of the tools women should have available to them at all times, runs through every single problem that Levitt believes a woman could encounter on the road, offers pointers on how to spot them, and then details how to fix them. Is your engine misfiring? It may be a faulty plug or a sooty plug - remove and replace both with a spanner. Is your car coming to a standstill after a few misfires but you know your petrol tank is full? You might have a choked carburettor. Your spare hair pins can take car of any dirt in the carburettor pipe. As long as you've got your overalls and some Antioyl soap handy, wrench away!

Dorothy Levitt doesn't assume that these avid lady motorists are going out on drives with their husbands - she expects that women will go out by themselves. As such, she highly recommends purchasing a Colt revolver, which has little recoil, and practicing your aim in your spare time. If you'd like a companion, bring a dog; They love driving and most will curl up on your seat with delight. Never, ever let anyone else drive your car, because "a strange hand" will "put your car out of tune." Carry a hand mirror to check behind you. And make sure to keep chocolate in the drawer under the seat, because they can be soothing in stressful times (such as, in her own case, when she's unable to figure out a mechanical issue). Nowhere does she mention men.

And that, I think, is the most revolutionary part of her book. She took on the automotive world almost single-handedly in order to carve a path for her fellow women to follow and then made sure she guided them along the way. When you read The Woman and the Car, it's hard not to feel a twinge of confidence in yourself. I've never laid eyes on a De Dion in my life, but Dorothy Levitt's assurance makes me feel like I could go out and operate one, no problem. It's a powerful counter-argument to the claim that women were far too weak to handle an automobile, and she had no interest in trying to persuade the men to believe her. Levitt just wanted women to get behind the wheel.

Dorothy Levitt knew that women deserved to have fun. She wrote The Woman and the Car: A Chatty Little Handbook for all Women who Motor or Who Want to Motor to let the world know. And in between her advice on road rules and driving procedures and how to file paperwork with the bureaucracy, she let you know that it's never a bad idea to let yourself loose once in a while.

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"Keep within the legal limit of speed all the time except on a good and clear stretch of road, where there happen to be no "blind" corners or dangerous cross-roads or traffic. Then there is no real harm done to any one in trying to see what you can get out of your car."

 

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The 150-Year-Old Invention That Created A Whisky Like No Other

If you’re a whisky drinker, you’ll know that a good single malt Scotch leads the pack when it comes to choosing a quality bottle.

What you may not know is that single malt Scotch - meaning produced at just one distillery in Scotland - is the result of hundreds of years of innovation and technological advances.

In fact, it can be traced back to one man’s mission to refine the whisky-making process at the Glen Grant distillery in Scotland, way back in the 1800s.

This is the story of how James ‘The Major’ Grant ushered in a new era that helped lead Scotch whisky to become revered across the globe.

Unlawful Beginnings

Illegal whisky producers had popped up all over Scotland by 1823, until the government introduced fairer laws and taxes, turning one-time smugglers into entrepreneurs and innovators.

Taking advantage of these favourable changes were the Grant Brothers John and James, who sought one of Scotland’s finest locations for barley and highland water to set up a distillery.

Glen Grant was born, and the family quickly gained a reputation for invention - and not just for the whisky.

They helped bring the industrial age to Speyside and championed the first major railroad in 1851.

A decade later, they also installed the North’s first engine house, becoming the first distillery in the area with electric light.

A Whisky Revolution

By 1872 both founding Grant brothers had passed away and John’s nephew, James ‘The Major’ Grant, inherited the business and really pushed ahead with the technological advances.

In search of malt whisky perfection, The Major invented unique purifiers to be used in the distillation process that ensured only the lightest, most complex flavours developed into spirit.

He was also one of the first to design tall, slender pot stills for this stage in the whisky-making process. Together with the purifiers, they delivered a uniquely smooth and delicate style of malt whisky.

To this day, Glen Grant remains the only distillery in Scotland’s whisky region of Speyside to complete the entire whisky-making process on one site - from barley to bottle.

Always forward-thinking and unconventional, The Major continued his family's reputation for innovation by becoming the first owner of a motor car in the Scottish Highlands.

Major Legacy

The Major passed away aged 84 in 1931, but his legacy of running one of the most famous distilleries in the world lived on, with the appointment of his grandson, Douglas Mackessack, as custodian of the business.

Also a Major in the military, Mackessack expanded the brand into new markets beyond British shores.

In 1961, Master Distiller Dennis Malcolm started his first job at the distillery as an apprentice cooper. Since then, Malcolm has dedicated his life to maintaining the quality and integrity of Glen Grant.

Even His Royal Highness Prince Charles stopped by to open the new bottling hall in 2013, giving Glen Grant the royal seal of approval.

And if you’re wondering, only whisky produced in Scotland like Glen Grant can use the term ‘Scotch whisky’ on the bottle - a matter enshrined in law and subject to strict standards.

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THE CLUSTER BOMB DRINKS CABINET – STORE YOUR WHISKEY IN AN AUTHENTIC (DEFUSED) CLUSTER BOMB

The Cluster Bomb Drinks Cabinet is one of the more famous creations from Plane Industries, a firm that makes high-end furniture from decommissioned aircraft parts and munitions. Each drinks cabinet is made from a decommissioned (and obviously defused) BL755 cluster bomb originally designed and built by Hunting Engineering Ltd. for the Royal Air Force.

The BL755 was developed in the 1970s and used into the 1990s by the UK, Yugoslavia, Zimbabwe, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Each BL755 weighs in at 600 lbs and measures in at 8 feet tall and 16.5 inches wide. Before decommissioning this example would have contained 147 submunitions which are ejected by a central cartridge and individual inflatable bladders for each bay (similar to car airbags).

Even by the standards of weapons of war, cluster bombs are nasty, and the more of them that are converted to hold whiskey rather than submunitions the better.

The team at Plane Industries acquired this BL755 after decommissioning and set to work creating what is almost certainly the most 007 drinks cabinet ever devised. The now empty interior contains three glass shelves that revolve around a gold-plated spindle, in the base there’s a sliding platform built from lacquered American walnut conceals an armoury of custom-made cocktail utensils.

All interior and exterior aluminum is polished to a mirror finish, with each being built by the Plane Industries workshop in the United Kingdom.

Buy Here

 

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ASTON MARTIN COULD BE BUILDING THE NEXT JAMES BOND SUBMARINE

Aston Martin has announced that it will officially begin producing its absurd luxury submarine after it passed the design phase this week.

The project which was announced a year ago as a concept collaboration between Triton Submarines drew a significant degree of attention thanks to its striking design and luxury appointments – basically things you’d never find floating around in a submarine.

Project Neptune will feature seating for three including the pilot and can reach speeds of up to 5 knots and a depth of 500 metres. Interior-wise it’s all about the tanned leather and slick carbon finish whilst a front canopy allows passengers 360 degree visibility under the sea.

Marek Reichman, Aston Martin EVP and Chief Creative Officer, said that “Project Neptune’s interior was a great challenge.”

“Unlike a sports car where the interiors are installed into an open-sided cabin before the doors are fitted, everything you see inside will be lowered through the upper-hatch and assembled within the completed sphere of the pressure hull. We have been able to present a congruous aesthetic that defies its multi-part complex installation.”

The question on every one’s lips though is whether or not this is James Bond‘s next submersible vehicle for Bond 25.

Whilst the British carmaker made no reference to Bond or Daniel Craig, the timeline for the submarine’s completion does make for a fitting speculation. With the design phase complete, Aston Martin is looking to have the first production model ready for unveiling later this year.

When that happens, Project Neptune will also come in an option of exterior colours and interior trim options. Did someone say British racing green? Here’s the 007 scene again in case you forgot how awesome spy submersibles were.

 

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OMEGA PROTOTYPE ALASKA III WATCH

In the world of watches, few are more coveted than those that were developed for space travel. Being associated with NASA and other space programs not only gives a watch a bit of a romantic aura, but it’s a testament to their mechanical prowess. Combine that with an ultra rare model, and you have something close to the stature of the Omega Prototype Alaska III being put up for auction this month.

The Alaska program, Omega’s code name for watches being developed for space travel, saw four separate iterations developed between the years of 1969 and 1979. This particular model went a step beyond the mechanical chronograph and instead employed the use of a new and revolutionary tuning fork. Omega made three versions of the watch, all of which would be sent to NASA in Houston on the 3rd of April 1978 for testing. NASA ended up passing on the new technology citing concerns that the battery technology wouldn’t be as reliable as mechanical movements, but the technology developed for the prototype would go on to become the Caliber 1255 movement. And one of those watches? It’s now being auctioned off by Phillips where it is expected to fetch a price between ten and twenty thousand dollars. Not bad for a reject. $10.6K

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Japan: The Cookbook

Japanese food lovers rejoice! This highly comprehensive book by acclaimed food writer Ms Nancy Singleton Hachisu, takes you on a journey through the diverse dishes that explore a range of Japanese cuisine. "Japan: The Cookbook" has more than 400 inspiring recipes, and walks you through making ramen, restorative soups, noodles, pickled veggies, sushi or stir fry. The iconic and regional traditions of Japan are organized by course and contain insightful notes alongside the recipes, in one stunning, impressive package. $39.00

 

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ROKU GIN

Internationally known for whiskey, Suntory has also made gin since 1936. Their latest release is named Roku (Japanese for six) and highlights the six Japanese botanicals represented. Those six — cherry blossom, cherry leaves, green tea, refined green tea, Japanese pepper and yuzu — are blended with eight traditional botanicals to create a distinct flavor profile. The gin is packaged in a hexagonal bottle with Japanese calligraphy across the label to further represent the Japanese aesthetic.

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Simulated Moon Dust Kills Cells And Alters DNA, Signalling Trouble For Future Lunar Colonists

Astronauts hoping stay on the moon for long-term missions have another reason to worry about moon dust: It could be quite harmful if inhaled, as demonstrated in a new study.

We've long known that moon dust could cause trouble. During the Apollo missions, astronauts complained of sneezing and watery eyes after tracking dust from their spacesuits back into their ships. Scientists need to take moon dust and rocks into account when designing lunar landing equipment, because it sticks to everything.

No mice or humans were sent to the moon for this new study. Instead, scientists grew both human cells and mouse cells in the lab, and exposed both to a simulated lunar dust. In both cases, the moon dust could kill the cell or damage the cells' DNA.

"Very small particles in the breathable range or smaller can interact directly with cells," study author Bruce Demple, a professor at the Stony Brook University School of Medicine, told Gizmodo.

Moon dust isn't like Earth dust. Without weather or an atmosphere, the lunar soil is dry and potentially electrostatically charged, according to the paper published last month in GeoHealth. And billions of years of bombardment from meteorites and micrometeorites may have pulverised it into teeny pieces.

The research is limited since it used mock moon dust, both crushed and uncrushed - it's hard to get your hands on the real thing. And the cells were grown in a culture, rather than inside living creatures. But this work confirms older research that suggests moon dust could be hazardous to health.

The simulated dust killed cells and altered DNA, especially right after it had been crushed up into smaller, micrometre-scale pieces. But there were surprises too: The dust's chemical reactivity, measured in its ability to create reactive oxygen species (a kind of molecule you might call a free radical) had nothing to do with how likely it was to cause damage.

Basically, it's unclear why the dust was harmful - perhaps it had something to do with the shape of the pieces, suggested Demple.

Now that the researchers have demonstrated danger with the simulated dust, they hope they have made enough of a case to acquire some real lunar dust from NASA that was recovered from the Apollo missions, Demple said.

After all, if we're going back to the moon, we should at least know what long-term exposure will do to astronauts' health.

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At Least 10 Volcanic Fissures Have Now Opened Up Near Hawaii's Mt. Kilauea, Destroying 21 Homes 

The eruption of the Mount Kilauea volcano on Hawaii's Big Island has continued to progress, with massive lava flows pouring out of what is now believed to be at least 10 fissures in the nearby residential neighbourhood of Leilani Estates, the Washington Post reported.

At least two of the volcanic fissures are believed to have opened as late as Saturday night, the Post wrote, though some of the ones that opened first are no longer contributing to the magma flows.

Kilauea is a shield volcano composed mostly of basalt, which makes for fluid lava that rises from rather than violently erupts from the surrounding rock; the result can be a lot of lava, but massive explosions at the peak are rare and usually result from the introduction of liquid water that flashes into steam. The mountain has been continually erupting for over 30 years, the Post added, though usually its efforts are limited to filling Puu Oo crater with a lava lake. (That lake is now nearly empty after a vent collapse sent the lava instead flowing towards the newly opened fissues.)

"As the eruption progresses, there will become a preferred pathway for the magma to go through," US Geological Survey (USGS) volcanologist Wendy Stovall told the Post. "Some of the outer vents along this fissure line will start to close up and congeal because the lava is going to essentially harden."

That unfortunately means that the newer fissures are spraying lava at even higher pressure, Stovall added, with the USGS estimating some were shooting molten rock as high as 230 feet (70 meters) in the air -- though it is possible they could eventually shoot as high as 1,000 feet (305 meters). The fissures have been accompanied by hundreds of small earthquakes, with the largest being a 6.9 magnitude quake that rocked the entire Big Island on Friday, the largest there since 1975.

According to an assessment posted to the USGS website late Saturday local time, "Seismicity and deformation are consistent with continued accumulation of magma within the rift zone."

Hawaii County Civil Defence said 21 homes have been engulfed in flames and destroyed. According to USA Today, approximately 1,700 people have been evacuated from the immediate area. Some are refusing to evacuate, with resident Greg Chunn telling the paper, "How can I walk away from this? It's a once in a lifetime experience."

"I won't leave until it's an inch from my house," fellow holdout Greg Webber added. "I've been through this a million times."

But almost as big a problem as the lava flows are clouds of sulphur dioxide gas, which the Post reported can be thick and toxic enough to kill people and prevent first responders from reaching homes. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard told CNN's Jake Tapper that the gas's direction can quickly change based on wind conditions and many people reportedly lack the gas masks that would be needed if it flooded their homes.

According to the L.A. Times, other hazards have included explosions believed to be linked to leftover propane tanks or trapped methane gas, as well as downed power lines. The lava flow has continued to flow farther, Stovall told the Times, indicating "the magma supply is still present and shows signs of continuing."

 

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In The Predator's Debut Teaser Trailer, The Hunt Sets A Crash Course For Suburbia

 

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South Georgia Island Has Finally Been Certified Free Of Swarms Of Rats That Feasted On Rare Birds

Exterminators have successfully cleansed the remote British overseas territory of South Georgia island in the South Atlantic of invasive rats that, since the year 1775, had been feasting on the eggs and chicks of two species of birds found nowhere else on the planet and many others.

The successful, $18 million rodent purge is in large part thanks to the work of the South Georgia Heritage Trust, which declared the island officially rat-free this week, New Scientist wrote. There are 33 species of birds on the island, all of which like any creature could benefit from not having swarms of rats attempting to rip apart their young. But removing the rats is particularly critical to the long-term survival of the South Georgia pipit and the South Georgia pintail, which along with the millions of other birds on the completely tree-bare island must nest on or under the ground.

The project involved extensive use of helicopters to cover the island with rodent bait, with the active phase of the project dating all the way back to 2011, New Scientist wrote:

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Since 2011 teams have braved hostile conditions, through rain, snow and extreme winds, to undertake three phases of dropping bait on vegetated areas where rodents are found, which are separated from each other by glaciers.

Three helicopters, including one that was once registered to Jackie Onassis, were used to drop bait from hoppers across 108,723 hectares (269,000 acres) of the island -- a range eight times bigger than any other eradication area tackled anywhere in the world, the trust said.

 

To certify that the mass deployment of rodent bait had indeed been successful in eradicating the infestation, teams had to check over 4,600 detection devices to certify they showed no signs of rat activity, New Scientist added. They also brought in three trained dogs to sniff for any remaining rat enclaves.

According to the BBC, the project was in part possible because the numerous glaciers criss-crossing South Georgia island isolated rat populations in pockets that could be exterminated individually.

"We've been on tenterhooks; would there be a remnant enclave somewhere?" project steering committee chair Mike Richardson told the BBC. "But I'm pleased to say over the last six months, not a single sign of a rodent has been found. And so to the best of our knowledge, this island is now rodent-free."

Project director Dickie Hall added, "Dogs have an incredible sense of smell. They can detect rodent scent from several meters, or even tens of meters if conditions are right. So by walking through a piece of habitat, we can be very confident with these dogs of finding rodents if there are any present."

While the island is now officially believed rat free, they could return at any time if even a single pregnant female is able to make it on to shore along with the thousands of tourists that arrive every year. The BBC wrote that tourists are now only allowed to land on rubber inflatable boats with luggage and clothes that have been inspected, and all government and military ships that come to shore will be required to have rodent traps and cargo screening by dog is now being tested.

Reinfestation from locals is not expected to be an issue, the Guardian writes, since its former population of 2,000 abandoned the place after the collapse of the whaling industry and the primary remaining occupants are "two scientific research stations run by the British Antarctic Survey." According to Popular Mechanics, roughly two dozen full-time residents remain.

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HORSE SOLDIER BOURBON WHISKEY

Colloquially called the Quiet Professionals, Soldier-Diplomats, Snake Eaters, and Bearded Bastards, the most frequent parlance for a member of the United States Army’s most elite group is Green Beret. Horse Soldier bourbon is made by American Freedom Distillery, which is owned and operated by 12 brave US Army Green Berets. Green Berets are iron-willed and filled with patriotic spirit, and the same can be said of Horse Soldier bourbon.

This whiskey was first crafted as a tribute to the men who fought in Northern Afghanistan following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Ninety-five proof to honor their Special Forces Team Number, Horse Soldier bourbon carries a robust and strong flavor, made by the Bearded Bastards themselves. American Freedom Distillery has recently released a special edition version of their Horse Soldier, to honor those who died in the Twin Towers attacks, and the soldiers that fought for them overseas. The bottle comes swathed in a case made from the metal rubble of Ground Zero, reforged to represent an enduring spirit. Proceeds from the sales of this limited-run bourbon will go toward the maintenance of the America’s Response Monument, also called the Horse Soldier Statue, along with several other veteran’s aid programs.

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Margot Kidder, Who Defined Lois Lane For A Generation, Has Passed Away

Margot Kidder, the woman whose performance perfectly captured the essence of The Daily Planet's most fearless reporter, passed away at her home in Montana.

The Daily News reported on her death earlier today. As a younger woman, Kidder began acting in lower-budget TV shows and films in her native Canada. One of her early high-profile parts was the role in The Great Waldo Pepper opposite Robert Redford.

In 1978, Kidder appeared as Lois Lane in Superman the Movie and won audiences over in a turn that fused the rapid-fire banter of 1940s workplace comedies like His Girl Friday with a contemporary feminism. She then went on to play Kathy Lutz in The Amityville Horror, another major role that made her a talent to watch out for.

Kidder struggled with bipolar disorder throughout her life, with a public nervous breakdown making headlines in 1996. Her later life was characterised by continuing to act in smaller roles as well as participating in political activism. The cause of her death has not been released at this time.

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Authorities Warn Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano Could Explosively Erupt, With 17 Fissures Now Reported

The eruption at Kilauea volcano on Hawaii's Big Island has technically been going on for over 30 years, but became a problem in recent weeks when a collapse on its eastern flank started draining its lava lake into surrounding parts of the island. It's continued to get worse since then, and as of Sunday, CBS reported a total of 17 active volcanic fissures have opened up, including one near the Puna Geothermal Venture energy conversion plant:

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Officials had said an 18th fissure opened up, but because no lava was seen spewing from it, they are documenting 17 total active fissures so far on Hawaii's Big Island.

Hawaii County Civil Defence officials urged residents of Halekamahina Loop Road to evacuate as well as two nearby community centres that were serving as shelters for people and pets. It was there that officials found the new fissure along the road. They numbered fissure 18, but later renamed it No. 17.

Popping, exploding and sloshing sounds could be heard from the fissure as far as 1,371.60m away. Observatory scientist Steve Brantley says this most recent fissure measures 304.80m but is not acting vigorously. There is some intermittent spatter but no substantial lava flow.

 

Said plant was fortunately evacuated of 189,271l of flammable pentane gas, CBS added.

Many of the older fissures have stopped spewing molten rock, though the Associated Press reported that one of the newer fissures was spewing magma as far as 100 feet (30 meters) in the air, and the situation risks getting even worse as the volcano runs out of "relatively cool, sluggish magma left over from a similar event in 1955" and instead begins leaking fresher magma. According to CNN, the United States Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is additionally warning that it is possible that Halemaumau crater at Kilauea's summit could undergo an explosive steam eruption potentially capable of covering an area of 19km in plumes of ash. 

Such a situation could become a possibility if the amount of lava in the volcano diminishes below the water table, which would send water pouring in and potentially cause a devastating reaction when it flashes to steam. As the Washington Post noted, precisely that mechanism is believed to be responsible for an incident in 1790 that wiped out a group of native warriors almost instantaneously. According to USA Today, the potential steam eruption could happen with very little notice, and the Hawaii National Guard is preparing for evacuation operations that could involve "ground convoys and even helicopters if necessary" to retrieve hundreds of locals who did not evacuate.

One concern is that residents could be trapped by lava flows, debris, or toxic fumes in a situation that develops considerably faster than anticipated.

"We've got all the warning signs we need," Steve Brantley, the deputy scientist-in-charge at the HVO, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. "There may not be any additional warning before the magma actually starts moving up to the surface."

Some 1,700 people have already evacuated as lava flowed through nearby Leilani Estates, destroying dozens of homes and leaving residents shocked. However, no deaths or serious injuries have yet been reported.

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Jon Favreau's Live-Action Star Wars Show Will Be Set In A Very Intriguing Period After Return Of The Jedi

When Lucasfilm announced Jon Favreau would be helming a new live-action Star Wars series for Disney's upcoming streaming service, that was... well, pretty much it. We had zero details on what the series would actually entail. But Favreau himself has finally let slip the first, very intriguing, tidbits.

Speaking to Nerdist's Dan Casey at yesterday's Solo: A Star Wars Story premiere - Favreau plays the alien Rio Durant in the movie - Favreau surprisingly also teased what fans could expect from his own Star Wars project: A TV show set roughly seven years after the battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi.

Favreau also mentioned that the series would utilise the similar sort of CG work the director had previously used in Disney's Jungle Book reboot and, unsurprisingly, will focus on a new cast of characters. But the seven-year date is particularly interesting because it places the show in a very specific and relatively untouched piece of Disney's Star Wars timeline.

Seven years after Return of the Jedi would place Favreau's show in approximately 11 ABY (that's "After Battle of Yavin" for the unfamiliar, the standard dating metric in the Star Wars canon).

From what we know of Disney's timeline in this between-trilogies period so far, this would be around six years after the New Republic is officially founded with the signing of the Galactic Concordance in 5 ABY, and the development of what would eventually become the First Order - hiding in the Unknown Regions - is still in its most secretive and earliest days.

Imperial holdouts battle New Republic ground forces on Jakku in 5 ABY, during the last major conflict of the Galactic Civil War. 

This is a period when the New Republic was essentially at its height, as far as we know - Mon Mothma, the Republic's first Chancellor, had relinquished many of the emergency powers still granted to the office of Chancellor when Palpatine was bestowed upon them by the Old Republic, and had pledged to widely diminish the New Republic Fleet down to a fraction of its size at the height of the end of the Galactic Civil War.

Major conflict, after years of setting the galaxy alight, was seemingly over, and our beloved heroes from the original Star Wars trilogy had gone their separate ways - Han and Leia raising their young son while Leia served in the Senate, and Luke exploring the galaxy for Jedi artefacts and knowledge he'd eventually use to establish his own Jedi academy.

All this we only really know from tidbits in books and comics that have been released since Disney took over Lucasfilm - and it's still barely explored. Although between this show and the upcoming animated series Star Wars Resistance (which, given that it features Leia's Resistance founded in 28 ABY, will be set several decades after the live-action show anyway), Favreau's series will give us a chance to actually see what the Star Wars galaxy looks like in a period of peace, a fascinating opportunity given that interstellar conflict has driven so much of the saga's main stories.

That isn't to say the show won't be without its conflicts and action, of course - war is literally in the name of the franchise! - but it will be interesting to see what Favreau does with this time of relative peace in the galaxy far, far away.

The live-action Star Wars show will release on Disney's streaming service, so we won't be seeing it until 2019 at the least, if not after. We'll bring you more on this latest chapter in the Star Wars saga as we learn it.

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Oh Great, Boston Dynamics Has Unleashed Its Atlas Robot To The Great Outdoors

Boston Dynamics, the company voted most likely to spawn the Robopocalypse, has released a pair of new videos showcasing the latest abilities of its synthetic creations.

A freakishly realistic humanoid robot running effortlessly through grassy fields and managing challenging terrain. A dog-like machine autonomously navigating the complex maze of an office and lab facility. What could possibly go wrong?

From previous videos, we know that the humanoid robot Atlas is capable of some incredible physical feats, such as stacking boxes, performing backflips, and occasionally providing some needed comic relief. Up until this point, however, we've never seen this bipedal machine do its work outside.

In this latest video, Atlas can be seen running through a grassy field, managing some difficult terrain, and even jumping over a log. Very nice. But also a bit scary.

The second video showcases the autonomous navigational skills of the dog-like SpotMini - the same bot that's capable of escaping through doors. SpotMini, as this new video shows, is also adept at self-navigation.

Before the test shown in the video, the four-legged bot was manually guided through the Boston Dynamics office and lab facility, during which time it recorded the lay of the land using cameras mounted on its front, side and back.

Armed with this internal map, SpotMini was able to autonomously walk through the facility, and even climb and ascend a set of stairs - which, as many dog owners can attest, is often challenging for our living and breathing canine companions. In the video, SpotMini handles the stairs like a boss.

Nothing too mindblowing here, which is a crazy thing to say. We're starting to get spoiled by these videos, and even taking the current era of robotics for granted.

MIKA: What's next...? THIS!