Portal Orrery (Solar System), Chun-Li's Revenge, Jessie Michaels, Ayn Rand Book Art

The planets in this giant, futuristic orrery all have realistic relative scales and realistic textures. They all have proper axial tilts relative to each other and to the ecliptic. The in-game scale functions for the planet sizes and orbit sizes are shown in the video. They all revolve and rotate at the same proportional rates as in real life.

For practical reasons, I had to approximate orbits as circular and coplanar. Making true elliptical orbits would have been unworkably complex. Sadly, I also had to leave out Pluto. (Doing its orbit justice would have been impractical.) A caution to headphone users: There are some moments of loud audio.

Here's a very funny set of GIFs featuring a trouble-making Chun-Li:

Chun-Li's Revenege! [sic] - Imgur

Future star alert: Here's the currently 14-year-old Jesse Michaels singing a cover of "I Will Always Love You":

Here she is at 13 singing the national anthem at a Red Sox game:

Here's a link to a page on this blog where you can download art renderings of Ayn Rand's novels:

Ayn Rand Novels -- Art Renderings

Sample image: 

Harmonically Mousy Raytracing

And just like that, quantum mechanics becomes a lot less mysterious:

Awesome a cappella:

Cute minions:

So cool! Can't wait until this is in practical use in games:

Rise!

The Saturn V, the rocket that propelled astronauts to the moon, is 363 feet tall (110.6 meters). The nozzle of each of the five first-stage engines is over 12 feet in diameter. Together they produced 7,648,000 pounds (3,824 tons) of thrust.

Images of Saturn V launches:

Skyscrapers 1: Real and Virtual

"Turning Torso"; Malmo, Sweden

Very interesting building. The only problem with the twist is it tends to make the building look crooked and unstable. This might be rectified if the profile of the building tapered significantly as it rose, or if it had a more uniform cross-section.

Burj Khalifa; Dubai, UAE

The tallest free-standing structure in the world, its pinnacle is almost a kilometer high. Its visually appealing design is an intellectual product of the West; the architects responsible for the design are based in Chicago.

Some more nice pictures here:
Traveling Chemist: Burj Khalifa

From the real world to a virtual world: Agency Tower in the Crackdown series is probably the tallest fully climbable building in all of video gamedom:

Levitation and Other Stuff

Some really great levitation, or "quantum locking:"

Massive battle in ARMA II military simulation game:

Opulent Tropical Island Paradise cabana yacht:

From the video description:
"Yacht Island Designs, a UK company who specialise in designing outrageous and extremely opulent super yachts, have just put the finishing digital brush strokes to their latest design. The yacht's name 'Tropical Island Paradise' is a fairly obvious clue as to this vessel's theme -- if the cabana beach huts, faux-volcano and palm trees weren't enough.

The Tropical Island Paradise yacht has room for four VIP guest suites and a luxurious owner's suite situated across two decks and built into the the volcano. Indoor entertainment is catered for by way of a cinema, library, games room and gym, with relaxation options in the form of a multitude of lounges each offering their own unique ambiance, and a fully equipped spa.

Each of the four guest suites has direct access up into one of the beach cabanas, and each guest suite also comes with its own private balcony on the exterior of the vessel. The main deck is effectively split into two sides by a 'river' which flows from the top of the volcano down into the pool which is located at the very front of the yacht.

One of the more impressive features of the Tropical Island Paradise yacht, and there are many, is the retractable beach deck which allows access to the sea for various water sports and sea level relaxation. Also located at the rear of the yacht, just behind and below the volcano is an open deck which also doubles as a helicopter landing pad.

No word on price. But expect lots and lots of zeros at the end.
Source: Yacht Island Design
For more : http//:www.sport76.com
Sport76.com | Boats - is coming very Soon"

World record base jump from Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper, unfortunately brought to you in 240p:

Lightning

Lightning in extreme slow-mo:

Positive lightning close-up:

Positive lightning can carry about 300,000 Amps and generally discharges at several billion Volts.

First Post - Wow, Just Wow

F-15 during a shuttle launch