GuinnessWorldRecord
Latest
‘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.
The guy who built his own Iron Man suit now has a Guinness record
Remember that guy who built a homemade Iron Man suit? Well, with the help of his arm-strapped, gas-powered turbine engines, he just earned himself a Guinness World Record title. As The Mirror reports, Richard Browning and Daedalus (the name of his suit) reached flying speeds of 32.02 mph and Guinness awarded the feat with a title for the fastest speed in a body-controlled jet engine power suit. If you're wondering how many competitors there could possibly be in such a category, the answer is one. Browning is the first title holder.
Drone Racing League sets Guinness record for fastest flight
The team behind the Drone Racing League (DRL), which is in the midst of its second aired racing season, have just set a Guinness World Record for the fastest battery-powered remote-controlled quadcopter. The drone earning the title is the DRL RacerX, which was designed and built by Ryan Gury, DRL's director of product, and the company's team of engineers.
ICYMI: Facebook VR selfies, laser-powered water and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-35216{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-35216, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-35216{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-35216").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Facebook is adding VR to the social network and one of the new tricks will let users take a selfie of their avatar selves inside of different tourist spots. Japanese researchers discovered that a water droplet coating allowed water to be controlled by a laser, capable of pulling 150 times its mass when harnessed like a mini oxen. Finally, a backpack on Kickstarter would charge your devices on the move and roughly nine other things. Guinness World Record fans will want to see this crazy long K'NEX contraption. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
ICYMI: Robot news round-up, 3D hand scanner and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-439685{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-439685, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-439685{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-439685").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: iRobot sold its line of military robots to a US-based firm to focus on Roomba and a new chameleon robot changes color to blend in; a student built a 3D scanner with cameras and Raspberry Pi that is much cheaper than any other scanner; and a new pedestrian detection software from the University of California, San Diego, is nearly as fast as the human brain.
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.
Tiny microscope lets you see the smallest-ever inkjet prints
No, that's not an up-close look at a monitor. That's the world's tiniest color inkjet image made large, and you may not need it blown up to see it in the future -- if you're willing to lay down some cash. In a hybrid of scientific discovery and publicity stunt, Scrona and ETH Zurich have used nano-sized quantum dots to print a clown fish picture measuring just 0.000014 square inches across, setting a Guinness World Record for the smallest color inkjet image to date. You need a good microscope just to see it, in fact... and conveniently, Scrona is working on just that.
ICYMI: Record-setting bot walk, holographic drones and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-309632{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-309632, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-309632{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-309632").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Researchers from Queens University built tiny quadcopters that can join to form a hologram display, hovering in mid-air. A Guinness World Record for furthest distance by a quadruped robot was set in China by a quirky cute robot we'd love to see more of. And we're into this Kickstarter project for a device that would turn any watch into a smartwatch with vibration for notifications, a heart rate monitor and control for music and photos.
ViaSat snags Guinness World Record for highest-capacity satellite
After earning top marks from the FCC for its broadband performance, ViaSat has added yet another feather to its cap in the form of a Guinness World Record. According to the august organization, the ViaSat-1 satellite, which powers the 12 Mbps Exede Internet service, is the highest-capacity communications satellite in the world. The reason for the accolade? The orbiting spacecraft apparently provides around 100 times the throughput capacity of a Ku-band satellite and ten times that of a Ka-band, which adds up to more capacity than all North American communication satellites combined at the time of its 2011 launch. While its broadband service still has latency issues, the folks over at ViaSat must feel pretty confident of its recent accomplishments; the company is currently looking beyond its rural customer base and venturing forth into other enterprises, such as in-flight WiFi. Better watch your back, Gogo.
Mischo Erban breaks skateboard speed record, captures the run with camera-equipped Recon
We know Quebec well for its maple syrup, poutine and fresh mountain air, but the French Canadian province also has a more sprightly side, renewing our neighbor to the north's status in the athletic arena from time to time as well. This month, it's BC native Mischo Erban, who broke a Guinness World Record for the "fastest skateboard speed from a standing position" with a 129.94 km/h (80.74 mph) downhill run. Better yet, Erban caught the record-breaking journey with his custom-built Recon heads-up display / camera combo mounted inside a rather beastly jet-black helmet. The Android-powered HUD theoretically enabled Erban to know he broke the record before he even came to a stop, while also motivating him to keep pushing as he approached that 130 kilometers-per-hour top speed. There's no way to replicate the feeling of flying down a hill aboard a skateboard at 80 miles-per-hour without hopping on some wheels of your own, but you can get a taste of the action in the new record holder's POV video after the break.
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.
Bulldozer world record re-broken by Andre Yang with a 8.58GHz victory lap
There you have it, folks. Floating over this text is the CPU-Z record that proves it: four days after Andre Yang broke the chip speed overclocking record with AMD's Bulldozer, he's done it again. The chip maker was eerily prescient when it said it expected others to beat the record and that unnatural confidence in the silicon has paid off. Last time, Yang managed to push only 30MHz over the previous record, this time he's found a further 123.3MHz -- making the total chip speed 8.58GHz. The secret to his success was in increasing his chip voltage (2.076v compared to 1.992 last time) and over-liberal use of liquid nitrogen. Maybe he could convince Sunnyvale to loan him a massive vat of liquid helium to get ever closer to the goal of 9GHz -- just make sure you don't pick up the check for the shipping and handling, okay?
AMD Bulldozer breaks own world record, overclocked to 8.46GHz
Advanced Micro Devices is probably feeling a bit silly right about now. To show off how powerful the Bulldozer chip really is, it drafted in the world's most elite overclockers, set them up in a room with whatever was required (including a vat of liquid helium) and broke the chip-speed world record. With a verified speed of 8.429GHz, the company collected its Guinness world record and sat back, thinking that no one could ever best it. Less than two months later and Andre Yang (who we can assume does not have his own military complex to run his experiments in) managed to get his Bulldozer running at 8.46GHz, 30MHz faster than the chip's own parent could manage. We wouldn't dare suggest that anyone stand outside AMD's Sunnyvale HQ whilst playing the sad trombone -- but if anyone deserves that chance, it'd certainly be Mr. Yang. Update: AMD got in touch to say that it's expecting others to beat the record and is excited to see how many records the chips are gonna set. So what are you waiting for?
AMD gets Guinness World Record for fastest CPU with overclocked octa-core FX processor
Speed. It's of paramount importance in evaluating any computer system, and the engine that gives your PC its get up and go is its CPU. The folks at AMD wanted to show off just how awesome (and fast) their new Bulldozer-based FX chips can be, and set a Guinness World Record for the "Highest Frequency of a Computer Processor" while they were at it. To get the record, a team of "elite overclocking specialists" cranked up the juice on an 8-core desktop CPU until hitting a speed of 8.429GHz -- handily surpassing the previous mark of 8.308GHz. So, AMD's got the fastest silicon in the west and it's chipping away at Intel's processor predominance. What say you, Chipzilla?
LG Optimus 2X scoops up Guinness World Record for being first dual-core smartphone
LG's Optimus 2X just scooped up official recognition from the Guinness World Records crew for being the very first dual-core smartphone, which sounds like a good thing, but really it kind of isn't. In its rabid pursuit of the "First!" badge, LG neglected to polish up the 2X's software, leaving a lot of early users feeling high, dry, and in need of a good custom ROM. On the other hand, that very same phone's US variant, the T-Mobile G2x that came a couple of months later, arrived with a nice and shiny stock Android build that really showed off the underlying hardware's true capabilities. So yeah, kudos on another Record, LG, but next time let's have less haste and more awesome, mmkay?
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."
Microsoft wants you to help set a Guinness world record for the biggest ever virtual sprint
Microsoft's Kinect has already claimed one Guinness world record, and the company's now asking for your help in setting another -- don't worry, though, you don't have to buy anything else. It's asking folks to take a bit of time during the free Xbox Live Gold preview weekend later this month to set a record for the "most people running a virtual 100m dash at one time." To take part, all you have to do is download a free Xbox Nations gamer pic that will automatically register you for the record attempt, and then load up the sprint mini-game in Kinect Sports and start running at the time specified below. Everyone that takes part will get the snazzy Guinness World Records avatar tee pictured above for their trouble -- actual Guinness certificates still have to be earned the hard way. The Guinness World Record attempt will take place at: • 6pm UK Saturday 23/04 • 7pm CET Saturday 23/04 • 10am PDT Saturday 23/04 • 1pm EDT Saturday 23/04
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.
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.
