Remember way back in March 2012, when a robot cheetah designed by the Pentagon’s finest minds failed to outrun Olympian sprinter Usain Bolt? Remember how the metal creature’s mere 18 miles an hour — when compared to Bolt’s all-time high of 27.79 mph — provided humanity with some shred of dignity and self-assurance? Okay, maybe you don’t remember all of that. But if you do, forget it. Because the cybernetic cat is back — and it just beat Bolt’s best time. The Cheetah, as it is officially known, was created by a company called Boston Dynamics and funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA, the same group of military minds that brought us the Internet. In a video DARPA just released, seen above, the Cheetah laughs off Bolt’s challenge. Loping strangely along on four metal legs, the creature reaches 29.3 mph before its need for speed trips it up. What’s more, Bolt could only sustain that pace for 20 meters (and he had a little tailwind action, if truth be told). In theory, the Cheetah could complete an entire marathon in less than an hour. DARPA hopes this strange device could help foot soldiers on the battlefields of the future, like some kind of invincible sniffer dog on speed. But given that its inventions tend to have peacetime implications — you may have noticed that Internet thing isn’t just for defense scientists any more — we expect plenty of unintended consequences. Will robots compete in the Olympics of the 2020s and take all our medals? Will they challenge us to street races and laugh as we cough and splutter in last place? I, for one, would like to welcome our new superfast overlords. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/09/05/robot-faster-usain-bolt/
New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter smiles at Yankee Stadium, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014 in New York. Image: Seth Wenig/Associated Press Perhaps it’s that misty-eyed “America’s pastime” trope. Maybe it’s that the game lacks a clock’s anxiety-inducing march toward 0:00. Or maybe it’s childhood memories of post-game orange slices for everyone. Whatever the reason, baseball seems to lend itself to treacly nostalgia more than any other U.S. sport. But do you know what you get if you take all of baseball’s latent, maudlin sentimentality, then infuse that with some good old fashioned NYC-centrism and — most of all — a ton of cold, hard cash? You get the longest goodbye in the history of goodbyes — or, in other words, Derek Jeter‘s months-long retirement ceremony. Ah, Derek Sanderson Jeter, the unassuming kid from Kalamazoo, Michigan, who broke into the bigs at age 20 in 1995 then spent the next two decades becoming a baseball icon before playing his final home game at Yankee Stadium this Thursday (a weekend series in Boston ends his career for good). Ah, Derek Jeter, otherwise known simply — and regally — as The Captain, a superstar on the diamond and the smoothest of operators off it. Ah, Derek Jeter, perhaps the most marketable baseball star of all time, the player whose pinstriped number 2 shirt is the best-selling baseball jersey in history. And now we’re finally getting somewhere. When Gatorade released a breathless Jeter tribute last Thursday, it wasn’t even the first hashtag-brand to put out a lengthy, glossy YouTube spot full of soft lighting and cliched NYC imagery in honor of Jeter. Nope, Nike beat Gatorade to that punch way back in July, before Jeter’s final All-Star Game. (Final season, final All-Star Game — we can only assume some enterprising ball-boy will frame the newspaper Jeter reads during his Final Yankee Stadium B.M., but haven’t fact-checked this to be sure.) To correspond with its Jeter tribute, Nike tried to shove the hashtag #RE2PECT down our throats. Because he wears the number two, get it? And that uh, kind of looks like an “S”? Do you get it? Mutilating the very word “respect” as a sign of #RE2PECT for one as famously #CLA22Y as Jeter could strike some as baldly cynical, of course — a bit #DI2RE2PECTFUL even. But then again, this is about re$pect more than it’s about #RE2PECT. (Nike even has a “Re2pect Collection;” T-shirts are $35.) Re2pect @jumpman23 pic.twitter.com/OYemkDXIzC — Mark Wahlberg (@mark_wahlberg) September 2, 2014 Nike and Gatorade aren’t alone here — oh no, not by a long-shot. You could see this all coming way back in February, when Jeter first announced the 2014 season would be his last. Derek Jeter smiles at a news conference after being named American League Rookie of the Year in 1996. Image: Ron Frehm/Associated Press Now here we are. Average ticket prices for Jeter’s final home game exceed $800. Toys — toys! — are reenacting his top 10 career highlights. Tickets for a “Farewell Derek Jeter […]
Wait a minute, what’s Samwise Gamgee doing talking to a bunch of NFL rookies? Actually, that’s Rudy Ruettiger — or Sean Astin, the actor who played both the underdog Notre Dame football player immortalized in the 1993 film Rudy, as well as Frodo Baggins’ erstwhile sidekick. Astin is part of a Pepsi Max digital marketing campaign, in which he employs his football expertise (or lack thereof) to engage in some gridiron banter with the NFL’s latest crop of talent. The back-and-forth is good for a few chuckles, so check it out in the video above. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/09/12/rudy-nfl-rookies/
“American Ninja Warrior” is an American TV show where contestants take on ridiculously challenging obstacle courses and compete for a trip to an even more difficult course in Las Vegas. Only the top ten contestants get to try their hand at conquering “Mt. Midoriyama” and for the first time in the show’s history, one of them will be female. Despite only being 5′ tall and 100 lbs, Kacy Catanzaro was able to accomplish something big. In front of an incredibly supportive Dallas crowd, the former Division 1 gymnast showed everyone what she’s made of and reminded us all that anyone can do anything they put their mind to. Check out her inspiring run! Don’t leave her hanging now. Thanks for the inspiration, Kacy! And good look on “Mt. Midoriyama!” Not that you’ll need it. Share this post using the button below. Read more: http://viralnova.com/american-ninja-warrior-first-female-finalist/
Celebrating a victory is a very normal thing to do. You won the game, and you should be proud of yourself! Once the game is over and you’ve secured your victory, feel free to party and celebrate all you want. But make sure that the game is over. If you get caught celebrating a victory too early, well…something like this will most likely happen. Next time you are thinking of showing a little hubris, remember these boys. They thought they had the game all wrapped up, but alas, they did not. What a sick shot! Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/buzzer-beater/
Kids are amazing, tough and inspirational right? In another emotive spot for the London 2012 Olympic Games, Procter & Gamble show us what children are capable of. At the end of the newly-launched film called “Kids,” you’ll want to get up, clap and cheer for these young Olympians. The video is gaining speed on YouTube with 416,000+ views in just two days. The “Best Job” film, a part of P&G’s social “Thank You, Mom” campaign, has received more than 5 million views since mid-April and has been shared around the world. Thursday marks the opening of the Olympic Village where 17,000 athletes are expected to reside during the games. The Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics will start on July 27. Have you been moved by the P&G commercials? Tell us in the comments below. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/07/12/procter-gamble-kids/
Brandon Spikes made six tackles as his New England Patriots pummeled the Houston Texans in NFL playoff action on Sunday, but his greatest contribution to the win was undoubtedly this extremely fresh celebration dance after the Pats recovered a fumble during the game’s third quarter. An official review of the play actually nullified the fumble — but really, who cares? The pop. The lock. The crisp head turn. Spikes’ sweet moves stand up to any review. GIFs and video clips of the dance were an immediate viral hit with fans of football and funny on Sunday and Monday. Spikes is actually a man-about-Internet-town, too — this isn’t his first time making a splash on the web. In a Christmas Eve tweet last month, the former Florida Gator mentioned leaving “a big fat rail of coke and a shot of Jack for Santa this year,” because cookies and milk don’t fuel optimal present-delivery performance. In September, he used Twitter to blast the NFL’s replacement referees, then told critical fans to “bit me,” enjoy their blow-up doll dates and “kiss my whole ass.” Check out Spikes’ full celebration: Thumbnail image via YouTube Read more: http://mashable.com/2013/01/14/brandon-spikes-celebration-dance/
Russian fans celebrate during a women’s ice hockey game at the Shayba Arena in Sochi on Feb. 9 at the 2014 Winter Olympics.Image: Petr David Josek/Associated Press The first weekend of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, is in the books, with the first two days of competition delivering impressive performances and viral moments aplenty. If you haven’t managed to catch any of the thrilling action out of Sochi yet, it’s definitely not too late to get excited about the Winter Olympics. And if you live far from Russia and are trying to catch these events in real time, you may need an adrenaline rush on par with a run through the slopestyle course just to stay awake. That’s why we put together this Music Monday playlist of pump-up songs that are sure to get your feet moving and your heart racing. So whether you’re an Olympian preparing to launch yourself off a ramp at 60 mph or a superfan trying to stay awake through that 2 a.m. curling match, this playlist will get you in the mindset to go wild for the Sochi Games. Have something to add to our playlist? Share with us in the comments, below, or on Spotify, and we’ll add it. How to Share Your Song With Us 1. To follow Mashable on Spotify, click here. If a popup window asks you to launch an external application, accept. This just means the browser will open up Spotify. 2. Follow Mashable, or send us music by clicking “Send Music.” 3. To send music while browsing tracks within Spotify, follow the MashableHQ account. Then right-click (ctrl + click) on the song you want to send, and click the “Share” option. 4. By default, Spotify pulls up the “Post to Feed” option. Instead, select the “Send to Friend” tab, type in “MashableHQ” and hit the blue “Send” button. If “MashableHQ” doesn’t show up when you’re trying to send a track, make sure you’re following the account. If you’re still having problems sending a song after that, let us know in the comments, below, and we’ll help you fix the problem. BONUS: Fans Celebrating at the Winter Olympics Fans Celebrating at the Winter Olympics Under and Out! Fans limbo under a U.S. flag to celebrate Jamie Anderson’s gold medal in the women’s snowboard slopestyle final at the 2014 Winter Olympics on Feb. 9 in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. Image: Sergei Grits/Associated Press Get Pumped A fan awaits the start of the women’s freestyle skiing moguls final at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park on Feb. 8. Image: FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images Watchful Eye Judges look on during the ladies’ normal hill individual ski jumping training at the Ruski Gorki Jumping Center on Feb. 9. Image: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images Go, Fight, Win! Norwegian fans enjoy the atmosphere during the alpine skiing men’s downhill at the Rosa Khutor Alpine Center on Feb. 9 in Sochi. Image: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Russian Pride A Russian supporter smiles on his way from the Laura Cross Country […]
Detroit Tigers pitcher Doug Fister was hit square in the head with a line drive off the bat of San Francisco Giant Gregor Blanco in the second inning of Thursday night’s World Series matchup. He did not appear to be seriously injured, however, and continued pitching. The GIF here, which comes to us via the sports blog The Big Lead, shows the scary play. We don’t yet know how fast the ball was traveling, but similar drives have been clocked in the region of 130 miles per hour. Have you ever seen a ball player continue with a major game after an accident like this? Let us know in the comments. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/25/world-series-pitcher-hit-line-drive/
If there are any doubts that McKayla Maroney —the Olympic gymnast whose scowl spawned an Internet meme — is a good sport, she laid them to rest Thursday night with a visit to The Colbert Report. Maroney was presented as one of five new interns for Colbert — the other four being the rest of the gold-winning gymnastics team, Jordyn Wieber, Gabrielle Douglas, Alexandra Raisman and Kyla Ross. The five, who just returned from “some study abroad thing in London,” used their considerable athletic talents to deliver a pen to Colbert. Best of all, when the camera panned to Maroney, she acquiesced to fan’s desires by delivering her signature scowl. How do you rate this appearance? Gold? Silver? Sound off in the comments. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/08/17/mckayla-maroney-stephen-colbert/
