GuinnessBookOfWorldRecords
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Guinness strips Billy 'King of Kong' Mitchell's world records
Well, that was fast. When Twin Galaxies announced it'd stripped Billy "King of Kong" Mitchell's high scores from its forums yesterday, the gaming record-keeping outfit said it'd notified Guinness World Records of such. Today, Kotaku reports that Guinness will strip all of Mitchell's forged video game high scores including entries for Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong Jr. from its ledger as well.
‘Dragster’ record holder stripped of his title after 35 years
Back in 1982, Activision verified the fastest time on its Dragster video game on the Atari 2600. The record belonged to Todd Rogers, with a time of 5.51 seconds. According to Twin Galaxies, the current holders of the applicable video game records, this score was also acknowledged by Guinness World Records. In 2017, however, Twin Galaxies member Dick Moreland officially disputed Rogers' time, citing analysis by Eric Koziel that showed such a time was mathematically impossible. Twin Galaxies has now decided to remove all of Rogers' score and ban him from future participation in any of its competitive leaderboards.
Watch Intel's record-setting drone light show
Intel talked a big game when it said that it set a Guinness World Record for the most drones controlled by a single person, but it now has the evidence to back up that braggadocio. Guinness has posted a video of the feat, which saw 100 drones perform a light show (coordinated by Intel software, of course) while humans played Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 on the ground. Is it a publicity stunt? Absolutely. But it's still fun to watch, and it's proof that drone swarms are easier to control than ever.
ICYMI: Pocket 3D scanner, light show record and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-440441{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-440441, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-440441{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-440441").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Russia set a world record for the largest projected light show that took 140 Panasonic projectors to display. A Kickstarter project for Ulo the security camera is truly one of the most adorable pieces of tech we've seen for quite some time. And the EORA 3D scanner attaches to a smartphone and can upload scans to 3D compatible printing services right from the app.
Extreme closeup! IBM makes 'world's smallest movie' using atoms (video)
After taking a few shadowy pictures for the scientific world's paparazzi, the atom is now ready for its closeup. Today, a team of IBM scientists are bypassing the big screen to unveil what they call the "world's smallest movie." This atomic motion picture was created with the help of a two-ton IBM-made microscope that operates at a bone-chilling negative 268 degrees Celsius. This hardware was used to control a probe that pulled and arranged atoms for stop-motion shots used in the 242-frame film. A playful spin on microcomputing, the short was made by the same team of IBM eggheads who recently developed the world's smallest magnetic bit. Now that the atom's gone Hollywood, what's next, a molecular entourage?
Bird poop and Big Screens: Attempting a multiplayer world record
There's no category in the Guinness World Records for the most players in a single-screen multiplayer game. However, that's likely to change soon thanks to a group of New York University graduate students who created SPLAT, a multiplayer game designed for the 120-foot video wall installed in the lobby of the IAC building on the west side of Manhattan. The screen is a Prysm laser phosphor display and sports a whopping resolution of 11,520 x 1,080 pixels. The game was debuted at a packed showcase event last Friday night, along with the work of other students from an NYU Interactive Telecommunications Program class appropriately called Big Screens.
Liquid Robotics' Wave Glider breaks Guinness record, does it in the name of science
Last fall, four autonomous Wave Gliders set out from San Francisco Bay to begin a two-fold mission: gather data about the oceans' depths and break records. The vessels, crafted by ocean data services provider Liquid Robotics, were launched in pairs, with one set headed for Australia and the other, Japan. Now one year later, the first of this fuel-less flotilla -- dubbed Papa Mau -- has completed its intended journey, reaching the land of Oz this past November 20th and beating out the remaining three Gliders at sea (one of which malfunctioned and had to be pulled from the water). As the PacX project's team is quick to point out, the culmination of this record-breaking 9,000 mile trek was less about gaining a Guinness entry and more about generating publicity for the mass of hitherto unrecorded oceanic information. But though the initial run of the project is currently winding down, the outfit's SVP of Product Management Graham Hine expects further trips to Antarctica, the poles and the Northwest passage will follow at some point in the future. Without a doubt, the whole experiment's a master class in using the power of PR for the greater good, while giving marine biologists a treasure trove of useful data. Check out the source below for an expanded look at the project's roots and be sure to skip past the break for a video of the vessel's retrieval.
Visualized: World's largest QR code is a Canadian maize maze
And why wouldn't it be? That's how the Kraay family of Lacombe, Alberta, Canada gets down, as evidenced by the family's past 13 years of elaborate corn maze designs -- from a logo of the Edmonton Oilers to a 25th anniversary commemoration of Rick Hansen's "Man in Motion" tour. Said QR code sends adventurous scanners to a website for the Kraay's family farm website. The code also got the Kraays into the Guinness Book of World Records for "World's Largest QR Code," which was really what drove this whole project. At approximately 29,000 meters (1.1 square miles), that's quite a bit of carefully crafted corn designing. It's certainly more elaborate than the previously claimed record holder, and a lot more official. "It was something that we didn't think would happen. There were a lot of little things we had to do and Guinness is pretty picky with how you collect your evidence. We were a little bit on edge on whether it would come through so we were very relieved and very excited," Rachel Kraay told CTV News about the project. To verify that the code works, the Kraays had to commission a helicopter to fly them over their own farm, allowing them to scan it while hovering hundreds of feet above. And then, at the end of last week, the Guinness folks sent over a package certifying the bizarre world record. "They didn't even call. I just went to the door and there was a large package and inside was the certificate and a letter. I guess that's how they do it." [Image credit: Facebook]
Visualized: what your screen looks like after 22 straight hours of Fruit Ninja
Twenty-two and a half hours, actually. Qualcomm's gaming marathon is nearing its end right now. Thirty-two gamers set out to break the Guinness world record for the "longest video game marathon on a tablet" at 2:30PM PT yesterday -- when we popped in this afternoon, 26 were still standing (well, sitting), a couple having fallen to that human weakness that is sleep. Those Galaxy Tabs that were still in use, however, had certainly seen better days. More photos of the event, which caps off at 4:30PM PT today, in the gallery below. All of these overtired gamers are competing for a grand prize of $20,000 -- more than enough to buy a nice new screen shammy.
First solar-powered boat to circle the world pulls into home port, contemplates next move
It's been two years since we last heard of the 98-foot-long solar-powered boat, which at the time was gearing up for its big journey around the world. Well, some 19 months and 37,286 miles after setting sail from Monaco, the MS Turanor PlanetSolar has finally made it home. The PlanetSolar broke four Guinness world records along the way, including the all-important "first circumnavigation by solar-powered boat," and it made stops on six continents to promote solar energy. Oh, and the team fended off Somalian pirates in the process, too. Now that it has a moment to catch its breath and soak up some rays at leisure, the MS Turanor could become any number of things -- from the world's largest solar battery to a "green luxury yacht." The latter option would certainly befit its chichi home port.
Swimming robots break wave-powered distance record, don't even stop for high-fives
Remember those autonomous sea-faring robots we saw back in November? Well, it looks like their self-propelling paddles have slowly waded them into the record books. The bots have traveled a distance of 3,200 nautical miles (2,876 land miles), cutting the previous record of 2,500 adrift -- not bad considering there's no fuel involved. The quartet of data-hunting droids initially set off from San Francisco, before completing the first leg of their journey in Hawaii four months later. The quadrumvirate are now set to split, with two heading off to Japan, crossing the Mariana Trench (believed to be the deepest place on earth) while the other pair head south to Australia, with both duos aiming to reach their final destinations later this year.
Wave Glider robots set out to explore the seven seas, break the Guinness record
It's a bird, it's a plane, nope, it's Liquid Robotic's four Wave Gliders on a mission to snag the Guinness World Record for longest distance traveled on Earth by an automaton. Setting out today from the San Francisco Bay, the autonomous sea-faring crafts will travel far and wide to gather data about the world's oceans. Powered by the water's movement, the vessels are fuel-free, using "flapping" wings to move forward without human command. Tricked out with various solar-powered sensors, the robots can capture location, weather, temperature, wave height, barometric pressure and more throughout their travels. The 198.4 pound machines cost between $250,000 and $500,000 each depending on how many sensors are built-in -- a small price for scientists or commandeering pirates hoping to learn more about the 95 percent of ocean that has yet to be explored. Let's just hope they don't run into one of these guys.
BlueBiped robot needs no power to walk for miles, as long as it's downhill (video)
The robots; they're walking -- and this one's doing it under its own steam. This passive robotic frame requires no energy input, and is instead powered by its own weight and a gentle slope. The BlueBiped can be adjusted to match the proportions of any user, and researchers plan to use it to assist people who find it difficult to walk and transport unwieldy sports equipment. It already holds the Guinness world record for the longest distance walked by a bi-pedal robot, plodding 15 kilometers (9.32 miles) in a single 13-hour stroll. Those fearing the impending Robopocalypse can at least breathe a sigh of relief that -- like some other homocidal robots -- stairs still remain out of bounds.
Mitsubishi Electric to build world's fastest elevator, usher in the death of small talk
Cheer up, ladies, because Mitsubishi Electric is about to make your elevator ride substantially less awkward. Yesterday, the company unveiled plans to construct what it hopes will become the world's fastest lifts, as part of a new project in China. The forthcoming set of elevators will be housed within the still-incomplete Shanghai Tower, where they'll travel between the basement and 119th floor at a speed of 59 feet per second -- a rate that would narrowly eclipse the current Guinness world record, which sits at about 55 feet per second. These elevators, of course, would be significantly slower if they were filled with vomit, which is why Mitsubishi will add active roller guides, vibration-dampening roof covers and pneumatic controls to make the ride a bit easier on the human body. Unfortunately, it'll be a while before these flesh wagons enter the record books, as the Shanghai Tower likely won't be completed until 2014. Willy Wonka, however, has already begun the appeals process. Elevate past the break for more information in the full press release. [Image courtesy of AMC]
Wicked Lasers' S3 Krypton laser is bright enough to blind astronauts (video)
If you ever plan to lead a PowerPoint presentation projected on giant white board orbiting the Earth (we'll leave the logistics of that one up to you) there's only one laser that will get the job done -- Wicked Lasers' S3 Krypton. The Guinness Record-pending laser produces about 86 million lux and can be seen from up to 85 miles away, well beyond the edge of our atmosphere. Of course, at roughly 8,000-times the brightness of the Sun, serious safety precautions are needed when operating the S3. Goggles are a must (and bundled with the handheld laser), while sensors and a microprocessor regulate current to keep the tube of aluminum from overheating in your hands. The top end model is available now for $1,000 but, if blinding astronauts isn't on your agenda, lower-powered versions can be had starting at $300. Check out the video after the break.
Microsoft Kinect shatters hyper-specific Guinness world record
Microsoft's Kinect is clearly gunning to grab the Guinness record for most Guinness records. Back in March, the hands-free peripheral nabbed a certificate naming it the "Fastest Selling Consumer Electronics Device," and now the Xbox Live and Kinect Sports teams are the joint owners of the record for "The Largest Online 100 Metre Sprint" -- after Microsoft managed to convince 10,539 of its closest pals to help it run in place via Xbox Live earlier this month. According to Redmond, the long-winded accomplishment is under consideration for inclusion in a Guinness volume -- though admittedly only the Gamer's Edition spinoff, itself a shoo-in for "most superfluous record book."
Rube Goldberg Machine to set new world record, bring forth apocalypse
If you've never seen the rise and fall of humanity as told by a series of pulleys, levers, and CO2 rockets, now's your chance -- a team of Purdue engineers have built a contraption that not only tells the history of the world through the end of days, but is also a contender for the world's largest Rube Goldberg machine. The Purdue team's "Time Machine" catalogs a history of dinosaurs, war, and rock 'n roll before finally culminating in a cataclysmic inferno and efflorescent renewal in 232 steps -- narrowly beating out the previous record of 230 set by Ferris State University in 2010. Impressive, but not officially the "world's largest" just yet-- the team is submitting a video of a flawless run to Guinness World Records to certify the historic thingamajig, hopefully eking out a victory with its two step lead.
Sunswift IV, world's fastest solar-powered racer, leaves GM Sunraycer in its dust
The Sunswift IV (aka IVy) might look like a mobile dinner table, but it's actually the world's fastest solar-powered vehicle. The table-top on wheels got the official nod from the Guinness Book of World Records last week, for hitting a top speed of 88km/h (about 55 mph) -- nearly 10 km/h faster than the previous record-holder, the GM Sunraycer, which bears a striking resemblance to a disembodied Android monster. IVy, designed by Sunswift, a student-run non-profit at the University of New South Wales, reached its top speed using 1050 watts, about 400 watts less than the Sunraycer, and performed its record-smashing run without the 25kg battery it's usually packing. Faster runs have been clocked, including by IVy, but Guinness has not been on hand for confirmation.
Virtual asteroid in a virtual universe sells for a frighteningly real $635,000 (video)
We're pretty sure there are better ways to spend your cash than virtual real estate in the Entropia Universe MMORPG. Then again, we didn't spend $100,000 on a virtual asteroid -- John "NeverDie" Jacobs did, in 2005. And here we are, some five years later, only to learn that he flipped the thing for a staggering $635K -- enough to pay the salaries of roughly a dozen American high school teachers for a year. Apparently, both purchases have earned places in the Guinness Book of World Records for something like "most expensive virtual item," but our favorite part of this post was finding a video for Mr. Die's tune "My Girl's A Gamer Chick." Check it out after the break.
Engadget's Darren Murph nabs Guinness World Record for most blog posts ever written!
We always knew Darren Murph had oodles of talent and was extremely prolific -- but now the man has got the paper to seriously prove it. Our own Mr. Murph was just awarded the Guinness World Record for most posts ever by a blogger. Not only is this a first for Darren, it's a first for Guinness as well, creating a new category for the group. Darren joined Engadget in July of 2006 (his first post is here), and almost four years to the day (when these numbers were submitted to Guinness) he'd arrived at 17,212 individual posts (since surpassed, of course). That's single posts on Engadget, Engadget HD, and Engadget Mobile, not duplicated work. We obviously couldn't be more proud of Darren and the work he's done (and continues to do) here, and we think this is an amazing feat for one writer. Of course, this is the guy who did 59 posts in a single day at CES 2008. Seriously. To put it in perspective, his current word count is at 3,389,148. That's War and Peace about six times over. We asked Darren if he had anything to say, and he gave a nod to Ryan Block (our former editor-in-chief) for giving him the chance to start here (and "not killing me when I passed him early on"). Darren also told us that he intends to defend the title for the rest of his natural life. So would-be competitors, you'd better get started... right... now.
