Apr 3 2009 Par 3: The World's Most Extreme Golf Hole

South Africa's Legends Golf & Safari Resort has a very special hole 19 -- a par 3 with a teebox that sits 1,400 feet above the green. The 630-yard hole requires a helicopter to reach the tee and a ball takes nearly 30 seconds to drop to the green below (provided you don't whiff it).

Playing all 19 holes runs about 2,000 South African rand, or about $220 in American bills, but for that you get the helicopter ride, plus a bunch of souvenir swag and a DVD of your shot.

Sweeeeet. Nailing a hole-in-one on the the 19th nets you a cool $1 million. So, practice your swing and meet me in South Africa (read: you bring radio-controlled balls).

Hit the jump for an amazing video of the hole.

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Mar 17 2009 Scientists Build Mosquito-Killing Laser Beam

In an attempt to take a bite out of malaria (suck it, McGruff!), scientists are developing a mosquito laser capable of protecting an entire village from the evil, biting bastards. Think bug-zapper times a thousand, to the power of PEW.

The laser, which has been dubbed a "weapon of mosquito destruction" fires at mosquitoes once it detects the audio frequency created by the beating of its wings.

The laser beam then destroys the mosquito, burning it on the spot.

Developed by some of the astrophysicists involved in what was known as the "Star Wars" anti-missile programs during the Cold War, the project is meant to prevent the spread of malaria.

Lead scientist on the project, Dr. Jordin Kare, told CNN that the laser would be able to sweep an area and "toast millions of mosquitoes in a few minutes."

Sounds good to me, I hate mosquitoes. I used to post up in front of the bug-zapper in a lawn chair with a case of beer and just watch those suckers get toasted. And speaking of which -- HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY EVERYONE, I'M DRINKING GREEN BEER! Or pickle juice, I can't tell! WHOO!

'Star Wars' scientists create laser gun to kill mosquitoes [cnn]

Thanks to xhaju, Bryan, spudtheimpaler, Jason, Blinzler and Fong, who can catch mosquitoes with chopsticks because they trained with Mr. Miyagi.

Dec 12 2008 That's It, I'm Moving: Robotic Statistics

Africa -- who's coming with me?

Hit the jump for two more graphics I didn't bother looking at because I'm too busy throwing clothes in a suitcase.

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Oct 14 2008 Elephants Text Message Rangers To Warn Villages Of Their Impending Doom

Several elephants (including a male named Kimani) in Kenya's Ol Pejeta conservancy have special collars that send text messages to park rangers should they start to venture too close to a village.

The huge bull elephant had a long history of raiding villagers' crops during the harvest, sometimes wiping out six months of income at a time. But this time a mobile phone card inserted in his collar sent rangers a text message. Lesowapir, an armed guard and a driver arrived in a jeep bristling with spotlights to frighten Kimani back into the Ol Pejeta conservancy.

Not a bad idea. The texting comes as a result of having to kill several other elephants as a result of their crop-destroying behaviors. Kimani is the last of a group of six regular raiders, and has already been deterred 15 times by his texting. Now if I could just rig up something similar for my girlfriends when they venture too close to the house unexpected....

UPDATE: F*** it, I'm going with shock collars.

Kenya's elephants send text messages to rangers [yahoonews]

Thanks to Romeo and Jason, who have both put on shock collars and taken turns running across an invisible fence.

Nov 28 2007 World's Fastest Zipline Reaches 100 MPH

The world's fastest zipline resides in Sun City, South Africa. They also claim it's the tallest and longest, but I think that's debatable. You ride the thing with a damn fin between your legs to keep you straight while reaching a top speed of 100 mph. Wow this thing is awesome, and it fulfills a lifelong dream of mine: To feel like you're about to die right before crashing into the South African desert and really dying. Awesome!

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Oct 23 2007 Junk Copter Is Scary, Destined For Junkyard

A Nigerian physics undergraduate named Mubarak Muhammad Abdullahi has built a helicopter out of junk. The 24-year-old bankrolled the project with the money he earned fixing PCs and cell phones. The copter consists of car and motorcycle parts, along with some off a crashed 747. It took 8 months to put together, and has "flown briefly on six occasions" but "never attained an altitude of more than seven feet." Now as much faith as I have in Mubarak, I'd be hard pressed to sit in this thing even if I knew we weren't going higher than seven feet. As a rule I don't ride in vehicles made of junk. Especially ones that are supposed to fly. They're just too safe. I like to live dangerously.

Nigerian Man Builds Helicopters Out of Junk [therawfeed, thanks to J for the tip]

Aug 8 2007 Sweet Computer Cover Mod

One of my biggest problems with LAN parties is trying to focus on killing ogres while all the hot gaming chicks are trying to get up on me. Well, you wrap your unit in the new Computer Dust Cover Mod and you can kiss getting laid (ever) goodbye. Who needs computers with viewing windows and blinking lights and cables when your computer can give the appearance of going on a big game safari in Africa? Looking like complete ass is simply an added bonus!

Sweet Computer Cover Mod [Official Site]