This isn't the 3D you're used to. Oliver Kreylos of UC Davis hacked the Microsoft Kinect to transfer the video data onto his computer, making it possible to zoom in on the environment being captured. It's holographic.

Plastic Musik is a group that's kind of like the Blue Man Group. Each rod plays a different pitch, so they have to be very precise in their timing to play a song as fast as "Flight of the Bumblebee."

Meet Asher Bradshaw! Asher is six-years-old and loves to skateboard. Not only does he love to skateboard, he's really good at it. Insanely good. Here's a video of Asher showing off some of his moves at the Venice Beach Skatepark.

Yves "Jetman" Rossy, the first person to fly with jet-powered composite wings, became the first to make loop-d-loops while at it. He took off from a hot air balloon and came down on a parachute. Again, jet engine wings.

Are you a procrastinator? Good! (Our site is great for procrastination, by the way.) Here's a meta way to procrastinate today: watch this stop-motion short about the topic, which shows a man doing anything and everything—except his work.

[A costumed woman marches in Brooklyn's West Indian Day Parade today. Photo via AP.]

Wondering where all the asteroids are? Well, "up," obviously. But also, in this beautiful, hypnotic video that tracks asteroid discovery over the last 30 years. It's more engrossing than Armageddon, that's for sure. (Watching it in HD is best!) [via]

Here is a really cool video of a space shuttle launch (STS-124), taken from a tiny camera mounted on one of its solid rocket boosters. The booster separates at around 146,000 feet, eventually drifting to Earth via parachute.

On Sunday, The New York Times took a jaunt to the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick, and called it "arguably the coolest place on the planet." But is it really?

The beauty of video is that you can share something awesome with others, even from across the world. Case in point: this mesmerizing Japanese water display, filled with an endless cascade of shapes, symbols, words—even animals! Video inside.

Don't worry, it wasn't with a nuclear bomb! Last week, researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory accidentally blew up part of a building with "a gun which acts like a Civil War Cannon". Even crazier, in a way.

Look at this octopus! It sees a coconut and wears it as a hat, or pants, or is in love with it. Who knows.

"There are too many styles around, and they keep mutating too fast to assume that kind of dominance." The doddering old limey continued: "The idea that something is uncool because it's old or foreign has left the collective consciousness." [Prospect]

Ah high-speed photography. Destructive and gorgeous. WebUrbanist has a really cool exhibit of photos and accompanying essays which you should definitely check out. We have a modest sampling after the jump.

"I saw this walking home from the train station after I was at the Speakeasy Illustration show in Toronto. The crosswalk box thing made this shadow on the ground and someone drew a most perfect Batman face on it! I laughed so hard when I saw it. So unexpected and awesome! Spotted near the corner of Iroquois Shore on Trafalgar road in Oakville Ontario." [flickr via Neatorama]

So, what the heck's been happening in the Middle East since the dawn of civilization five thousand years ago? Well, I don't have the time-or the knowledge-to explain it all, so watch this handy video illustrating who ruled what, and when, in just 90 war-filled seconds!

"Today's solstice marks the northernmost point of the Sun's annual motion through planet Earth's sky and the astronomical beginning of the northern hemisphere's summer. But only two days ago, the Full Moon nearest the solstice rose close to the ecliptic plane opposite the Sun, near its southernmost point for the year. Astronomer Anthony Ayiomamitis recorded this dramatic picture of the solstice Full Moon rising above Cape Sounion, Greece."

Every time I think I'm finally sick to death of Leonardo DiCaprio he goes and does something awesome. This time he's signed on to play Nolan Bushnell, who invented the hypnotic mindfuck of Pong before founding Atari in a biopic about the legendary geek.

The "fist-bump" between Barack Obama and his wife Michelle in St. Paul the other night has already become a semi-iconic detail of an iconic moment—the first black presidential candidate sharing a funny and seemingly genuine moment of affection with his wife. Of course once the glow of "hooray us! we finally made it up to the blacks!" wears off among the pundit class, expect to hear about it again. The fist-bump, we mean—or, as the New York Times might refer to it, the "closed-fist high-fives." You will probably hear that it is a Black Gesture. Some particularly bent people will say even more confused things. Because these people are old and rich and out of touch. Much like the (admittedly AWESOME) time Obama "brushed his shoulders off," it was a simple moment that helped demonstrate that, contrary to popular belief, Obama is "in touch" with Real Americans. Allow us to explain!

Reggie Love is Senator Barack Obama's amusingly named "body man." He's a 26-year-old former college football and basketball player. Also he's really cool! The Times has a total crush on him, and they tell us all about how Mr. Love is totally good at sports and got Obama into hip-hop and fist-bumps reporters. (Or, as they put it, he "offers closed-fist high-fives to members of the news media.") He's with Barry all the time, and has pens and Sharpies and nicotine gum and stuff. He also makes sure no one ever tries to give the senator mayo or a second beer. And they play basketball! Soooo cool! No, seriously, he's really really cool.