Well, it’s been a couple years since The Big Life Fix made its debut, but tonight at 8 PM (UK time) they’ll have an all-new episode (and more to come). The crew of eight engineers, designers, and makers take on the challenges others would balk at to help people change their lives, fulfill their dreams,…

While most folks say the best way to make a burger is by hand, a majority of them likely aren’t doing it over and over again on a daily basis. Some people love flipping patties as much as Spongebob Squarepants, but unlike the yellow cartoon sponge, they most likely want more from life than smelling…

It seems like just about everyone these days runs on a steady stream of either coffee or cola. When the world turns at such a blistering pace, it only makes sense for you to be able to keep up, right? Well, YouTube user The Q may have taken the expression a biiiiit too seriously… Instead…

After a two year absence from Kickstarter, Joe Freedman is back with another way to make drawing (and math) easier. While his previous Cycloid Drawing Machine was more for professionals and art fans who wanted their drawings as intricate as the inside of a kaleidoscope, it wasn’t exactly cheap. Since he did all the laser…

It’s easy to burn 5,000 matchsticks to the ground, but you know what isn’t easy? Making a 600-piece home for your pet. Rather than going to a pet shop to buy one, YouTube creator The Q did just this to build a new home for his pet rat. Using tongue depressors for the “2x4s”, The…

We’ve all seen our fair share of chain domino videos. By stringing together a bunch of blocks in an orderly (or disorderly) fashion, you can cause a chain reaction just by pushing one single domino. You’ve seen one. I’ve seen one. Heck, it doesn’t even take much to stack up a bunch of flat blocks…

From Hollywood movies to a plethora of apps, the appeal of STEM skills in the mainstream has never been greater. And when it comes to mainstream, few toys could ever top the semi-controversial Barbie doll—first introduced in 1959. While some argue that the blonde, plastic doll conveyed an unrealistic body image to girls, the latest…

Continuing the tradition of making miniatures of some of the world’s most remarkable automobile designs, LEGO and French car manufacturer Bugatti have teamed up to create one of the most complex block builds you’ll ever find: a 1:8 scale LEGO Bugatti Chiron. The stunning model measures 14cm high, 25cm wide, and is made up of…

While the mission behind Kickstarter is great for “small guy” entrepreneurs with a good idea and enough chutzpah to launch it into the world via the internet, the ending result isn’t always so great for some project backers. Although the company doesn’t report an official number (nor would they), one only needs to do a…

The massively popular first-person shooter Overwatch is two-years-old! To show their appreciation to fans who have played the game over the past 730 days, Blizzard Entertainment has cooked up a little stop-motion video featuring three main characters – Tracer, Reaper, and a massive Overwatch cake. But making this two-minute stop-motion celebration took a lot more…

We all know how magnets work – two metals with different poles attracting each other – but they still give an aura of wonder whenever they magically stick to one another, as if driven by something more than science. To that end, YouTube creator Magnetic Games made it his mission to deliver some of the…

Nobody likes walking on the pavement during a hot summer day to discover they’ve just come across—and stepped upon—somebody’s soft discarded bubble gum. Aside from the embarrassment, scrapping the discarded sugar-chew is no easy task. But what if said bubble or chewing gum could be scraped from the streets and converted into an actual shoe?…

From the terrifying Terminator-like models from Boston Dynamics to the slightly less terrifying ice cream-serving Yaskawa-kun in Japan, there’s no denying that the age of robot assistance is upon us. That said, just like humans—no two robot models are the same. And what better way to test the dexterity of one robot from another than…

We cover our fair share of Kickstarter projects here at Solidsmack. Some projects, like the heavy-duty COMBAR and the problem-solving Triggers Cards, are lucky enough to receive full funding and get shipped to their backers in a timely manner. Others? Well, not so much. But, as is the nature of the popular crowdfunding platform, there’s…

Though LEGOs can be used to build just about everything from a ship in a bottle to a Tic Tac dispenser, the one thing they aren’t so good at is cleaning up after themselves. YouTuber The Brick Wall must have stepped on one too many of his LEGO builds because his newest project is a…

Since raising nearly $300K from backers on Kickstarter in 2016, documentary filmmaker Gary Hustwit has been hard at work putting the finishing touches on Rams — the first feature documentary film covering the life and philosophies of design icon Dieter Rams. Hustwit, who same may know as the force behind the Helvetica, Objectified, and Urbanized design…

Hey, remember last year when a retired limo driver said he would launch himself into space with a homemade rocket? After countless delays due to rocket repairs and his inability to get a proper permit to fly, “Mad” Mike Hughes was finally able to launch his creation sky high… …before crashing back down to earth…

Cutting your hair is a remarkable skill to have. After all, eliminating yet one more thing you have to do each month is always a blessing—not to mention saving a few dollars is always nice. That said, getting the results you want isn’t always easy. The CreaClip doesn’t turn you into a bonafide hairdresser, but…

The Spotify versus Apple Music streaming audio battle has been heating up for a while now. And while Spotify has a significantly larger user base, Apple—as it always tends to do—is slowly creeping up behind with Apple Music thanks to an ecosystem that puts its hardware and software systems front and center with the Apple…

Like peanut butter and jelly or biscuits and gravy, the combination of YouTube and LEGO is a match made in heaven. For one, it gives block builders an epic platform to socialize and comment on hundreds (if not thousands) of builds. Second, it provides the rest of us a chance to sit back and relax…

We’ve all heard of project crowdfunding platforms Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and RocketHub (among many others) to get our projects financed and manufactured. But what if your ‘project’ is a business or, to be more specific, a more robust company to produce multiple projects rather than one? This is the premise behind the new startup-investing platform known…

From a working Tic Tac dispenser to the iconic 7,541-piece Millennium Falcon, almost everything under the sun has been created using the deceptively painful iconic plastic bricks. Really, as long as you don’t accidentally step on one with a bare foot, you can never really go wrong with LEGOs. LEGO Ideas is the latest project…

While nothing short of a nuclear threat would get most claustrophobics into an underground enclosure, they might think twice when they see this particular slate quarry. Bounce Below, one of adrenaline park Zip World’s many attractions across England, brings out a fear of heights and enclosed spaces at the same time. What was once an…

In the history of graphic design, only a few players hold the keys to the golden gates—players responsible for shaping the identities and aesthetic of many of the brands surrounding us today. It would be impossible to have that conversation without bringing up graphic designers Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar of Chermayeff & Geismar (now…

With icebergs melting at an alarming pace, it may only be a matter of time before doomsday prepping becomes less of a crazy idea and more of a necessary one. That said, not everyone can just pack their belongings and move into outer space like Elon Musk. They could, however, move to a floating city…

There’s very little to dislike about Christmas: food, presents, days off work — all for the low price of having to spend the holidays with relatives (some you may not have even knew existed). While it can be fun meeting new family members, some would prefer to have less social interaction during the only time…

Better grab your kids and grab your wife and grab your Buzz Lightyear — Disney’s Hollywood Studios will soon open their newest money-sucking attraction: Toy Story Land! *Record scratch* Wait. Two questions. 1) Why did it take three movies (and 22 years!) to make this happen? And 2) Why are the toys and characters, regular size in…

It’s easy to overlook the cultural significance of the original 2001 Apple iPod these days due to a smorgasbord of mobile devices and streaming music services. Apart from being a design marvel, it allowed millions of music lovers to lug their favorite tunes around without having to carry a clunky Sony Walkman or bulky boombox—not…

From the day we enter primary school, we are taught that apples are round and watermelons are shaped like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s head. But one company is already uprooting that notion. Fruit Shaper was established in 2013 with the purpose of breaking some of those most basic truths. The company sells specialized molds affixed…

From building an insane Rube Goldberg Machine to manipulating time with slow motion and tons of salt, Ok Go has made a subtle art of creating jaw-droppingly awesome music videos. It’s no surprise that each has garnered the indie rock outfit tens of millions of views on YouTube. For their latest stunt, the rockers brought…

File this one under strange but true. The DipClip is—for all you fast food chicken nugget fans out there—a sauce dip holder that clips into just about any type of vehicle AC vent to make your sauce dippin’ culinary delight a hands-free experience. Yes—just like the GPS or mobile phone mounts, BBQ, Ranch, and Honey…

Less than a month ago, developer Astro HQ revealed a clever update to their upcoming Luna Display app that sneakily turned the iPad’s front-facing camera into a contextual button while keeping the UI clear of clutter. “While Apple is taking away buttons, we found a way to add one,” said the company. “Meet the Camera…

Candles are typically manufactured with scents that put people at ease—such as those that invoke Christmas morning or the salty ocean air, among others. And in the year 2017, what could possibly put some people more at ease than the scent of a freshly-opened Apple product? Inspired by Apple’s own signature packaging ‘scent’, candle manufacturer…

It’s been years in development, but the chance to see giant robots fight to the metal-crunching finish is now upon us. Back in the summer of 2015, MegaBots, Inc created a 15-foot tall, 12,000lb piloted mech capable of hurling a 3lb hunk of metal at over 130 mph. The only problem: there was nobody to…

Welp, he’s at it again. Colin Furze, our favorite garage inventor going on about 3 years now, has raised the bar yet again for zany garage invention hijinks. And while he’s previously created death-trap vehicles including ‘The World’s Fastest Pram’ and a fully-working hoverbike, this time he took a different route to create something a…

Have you ever wondered why your best ideas come to at the times that they do? Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to tap into that ‘magic formula’ a bit more often? Well—you can…kind of. The key to understanding why we have great ideas when we do is to first understand where ideas come…

If you have a habit of eating at your desk—and let’s be honest, we all do—then keeping those peripherals clean is a daily challenge. Well, thanks to The Wype, you may not have to suffer through that pain and agony anymore. Billed as a “personal desktop snack rag,” the Wype is a patent-pending $12 desktop…

You’d have to be pretty deep under a rock to have not heard about the latest iPhones by now. And while early performance tests are calling the iPhone 8 (nevermind about the more advanced, soon to be released iPhone X) the most powerful smartphone ever made (it’s not even close), the continuation of the same…

Augmented reality is already making a splash with consumers, but its real impact could be in commercial applications. When Microsoft first unveiled their HoloLens mixed reality headset on stage in 2015, they presented a living room where everything from watching TV to playing Minecraft could be totally virtual and in an augmented reality environment. But…

Welcome to our new ‘Ask An Engineer’ series, where Dan Slaski addresses questions that have you losing sleep or staring off into space during important meetings. Have a question for Dan? Send it in. Question: Why aren’t there more women in Engineering and what can be done to change that? Dear the Future Is Female, This…

We shouldn’t need to tell you the reasons to not stare directly at a Solar Eclipse. If you did, you likely wouldn’t be reading this right now. As you might expect, camera sensors and delicate lenses aren’t safe, either. In a series of gorgeous—yet slightly sad—shots, Tennessee-based camera lens rental shop LensRentals shares a number…

If you’ve ever needed an excuse to buy a 3D printer, let this be the one. YouTuber Matt Denton recently 3D printed an entire LEGO ‘vintage’ Technic kit (#1972—released in 1985) scaled up to a full-sized go-kart. Yes—we’re talking modeling and printing all 98 pieces including the tires. With nearly 170 hours of printing time…

From cottages in the middle of the forest to hyper-organized New York City studios, no two workshops are alike. But few—if any workshops—are as gonzo as this setup from Spanish furniture designer Fernando Abellanas. The core of the workspace has all of the common knick-knacks— the chair, the desk, the computer, the potted plants. But…

First introduced in 1976, Stretch Armstrong has been pulled, plied, and (sadly) torn by thousands of kids over his lifetime. The short, well-muscled blonde man always returns to his original size though—and has proven to be indestructible no matter how many kids pull on each of his arms. But can this latex and corn syrup-filled…

When he published The Measure of Man and Woman: Human Factors in Design in 1960 to provide “up-to-date measurements and information for children, teenagers, adult men and women, and the elderly through its detailed text, convenient tabular material, and 200 anthropometric drawings,” industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss likely had no idea how much of an influence…

It’s no secret that LEGO designers have always been drawn to supercars as inspiration for new LEGO sets. Whether it’s an F1 racer or a Porsche 911 designed to be assembled after the true-to-life factory assembly process, you can be sure that somebody at LEGO HQ has considered replicating it with the plastic bricks. But…

The last time we checked in with former NASA engineer Mark Rober, he was demonstrating the World’s Largest Nerf Blaster; a scaled-up version of the $29.95 Nerf N-Strike Maverick that shoots massive foam darts made from pool noodles and toilet plungers at an impressive 40 mph thanks to an onboard 3,000 PSI air tank. For…

Ah, the good old Bic pen. Where would we be without you? As a cheap and disposable tool capable of at least a fair enough amount of line weights, the Bic pen is one of the most indispensable tools that can be found in a designer or engineer’s toolkit. Sure—there are plenty of other great…

Great things seem to happen when you put a video camera in the hands of somebody with fabrication knowledge. We’ve seen this numerous times before with Frank Howarth’s creative woodworking videos—not to mention a slew of other creative types. More recently, engineer Brett Foxwell, who also happens to work as an armature builder on such…

While ‘razor thin’ is a great marketing term for promoting the Macbook Air, you certainly wouldn’t cut fresh fruit and vegetables with it like you would your paring knife. …Unless you’re Japanese artist Shimabuku. Known for his obscure sense of humor that pokes fun at the banalities of human culture and everyday life, the Berlin-based…