I would make them in the shape of a giant penis...and that is why I can't have nice things. posted by GavinR at 12:58 PM on August 30 [9 favorites]
Ooh, I hope these things replace balloons and doves as the standard "let's celebrate something by throwing something into the sky and not giving a shit about what happens to it after that" thing. posted by Sys Rq at 1:03 PM on August 30
I used to do this with hydrogen and Volvos and that is why I was unable to attend dinner parties or entertain my lady friends from May 1995 until October 1996. posted by jimmythefish at 1:10 PM on August 30 [4 favorites]
Now he just needs to release 99 red balloon shaped ones. posted by Askiba at 1:13 PM on August 30
So thats what the Flock of Seagulls guy is doing these days, cool! posted by R. Mutt at 1:15 PM on August 30 [1 favorite]
GavinR.I would make them in the shape of a giant penis..
Yes, I think that's the proscribed advancement curve for most floaty flying things: Smiley faces, corp. logos and massive genitalia. In that order. posted by Skygazer at 1:19 PM on August 30
Then you just have to replace the helium with sarin, and you're away! posted by Sys Rq at 1:25 PM on August 30 [2 favorites]
"I used to do this with hydrogen and Volvos and that is why I was unable to attend dinner parties or entertain my lady friends from May 1995 until October 1996."
I gather this was a period during which experimentation with lighter materials for fuel efficiency produced Volvos whose interior volume to weight ratio was actually enough to get them airborne if the passenger compartment was filled with hydrogen?
I should note that, had you traveled in somewhat different social circles, this would not have been a problem. I'm reasonably confident, for example, that this has never been possible with a Ford F-150. posted by Naberius at 1:34 PM on August 30
I hope this dude makes a ton of money off this by licensing out the tech to corporations, because they're going to start doing this anyways. Five thousand Nike Swooshes floating over your head at a Cowboys game? Oh my, yes. posted by Joey Michaels at 1:48 PM on August 30
Would it be possible to:
a: use a different soapy solution for the bubbles so that when the giant floating peen touches the smiley face, surface tension in the bubbles would mess up, causing them to disintegrate.
b: (substitute "disintegrate" in [a] with "erupt in a massive fireball") posted by Extopalopaketle at 1:57 PM on August 30
I want to like this but they look exactly like Tubby Toast and I'm just afraid the next version will have the sun turning into a giant drooling baby head. posted by jamaro at 2:14 PM on August 30 [1 favorite]
b: (substitute "disintegrate" in [a] with "erupt in a massive fireball")"
Well, they did something similar on Mythbusters, only they used methane as the lighter-than-air gas. I loved watching the tower of foam rise and rise and rise until it was set on fire; the smiley faces OTOH seem like such a wonderfully harmless idea that I don't really miss the big flame-y finish. posted by PontifexPrimus at 2:26 PM on August 30
Didn't Arthur C. Clarke write a short story that had a similar idea? posted by hippybear at 2:27 PM on August 30
naberius: I gather this was a period during which experimentation with lighter materials for fuel efficiency produced Volvos whose interior volume to weight ratio was actually enough to get them airborne if the passenger compartment was filled with hydrogen?
In fairness, you could fill the fuel tank so well as the passenger compartment. posted by Brother Dysk at 2:35 PM on August 30
I just said some other post was not the best of the web.
This post is actually the best of the web. Brilliant. posted by caddis at 3:30 PM on August 30
Brother Dysk: In fairness, you could fill the fuel tank so well as the passenger compartment.
While we're at it, might as well fill the tires too. posted by xorry at 4:16 PM on August 30
You know this is going to come up as an alternative to cap and trade: as an alternative to purchasing carbon credits, you can now replace 15% of your emissions with smiley faces. posted by Lutoslawski at 6:34 PM on August 30 [2 favorites]
the smiley faces look a little grisly when they stretch out. made me think this would be an awesome way to make ghosts for halloween... a stream of 'em coming out of a darkened upstairs window... posted by lapolla at 6:59 PM on August 30
When they did very last one (at about 1:57) they both say "perfect!" and then the smiley face floats away and breaks up into a long wormy thing. This machine expresses the general meaningless of life and now I am sad. posted by twoleftfeet at 9:01 PM on August 30 [2 favorites]
Does anyone know where to buy vegetable dye in the shade of "tubgirl brown"? Why? No reason... posted by Rhomboid at 11:59 PM on August 30
Yes, the future of this is definitely advertising. Not only will there be flying Nike swooshes and Pepsi logos, there'll be competing for attention, which means they'll be followed by tiny autonomous flying drones whose task it is to identify and destroy the bubble-logos of competitors. If these are made illegal somehow, they'll be disguised as birds or dragonflies.
Sure, we smile today, but tomorrow it'll be an air war.
Nobody ever predicted a dark future with flying soap bubbles. Stupid futurists. posted by rokusan at 3:41 AM on August 31
Pepsi logo maybe, but I can't see a Nike swoosh coming out of this machine and remaining intact. The circular shape seems to lend stability, and I'd guess a swoosh would probably stretch or float to look more like a formless sausage/blob.
I'd be amused to see a 3-eyed smiley face, as seen in Transmetropolitan, or the 2001 movie Evolution. posted by explosion at 4:14 AM on August 31
No Batman symbol? posted by xedrik at 12:30 PM on August 31
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