Up, Up and Away.

Where are you headed this summer? Oh, that’s cute. Well, for a handful of the 800 awaiting customers who have paid up to $450,000, they’ll be heading to the edge of space. Not to one-up you or anything…

In what represents a breakthrough for Sir. Richard Branson – having spent nearly two unsuccessful decades on his commercial rocket venture – Virgin Galactic is finally preparing for take-off. And the first flight, Galactic 01, will launch as soon as June 29^th. Hang on, didn’t that happen already? Bloody hell, so it did. That progressed awfully quickly.

While this is big news for Virgin, it’s not an industry first. Jeff Bezos has been there, done that and got the cowboy hat. His interestingly shaped ‘Blue Origin’ has flown six missions with a tourist crew on board, including Bezos himself, his weird brother, and William Shatner. So, the question is, is it possible for Virgin to catch up in the space tourism race?

Branson’s team seem to think so and believe this has the ability to transform the economics of space. Just think, in the near future going to space might be as casual as your girl’s trip to Beefa.

Attaboy.

If you’re a coolsh*t regular, you’ll know we’re no strangers to robotics. Today we present to you… a flamethrowing robot dog (yikes). Named ‘The Thermonator’, this is the first robot of its kind – a mechanical hound with an ARC flamethrower attached to its back. And it even does cute little foot taps as it excretes hellfire – what a good boy.

The robot has flexible joints which allow it to move just like a real doggo, with a cadence that enables speeds of 10 mph. So, if you’re a human (for context, the average person runs at 6-10mph) this thing can likely out-run you.

While this isn’t being promoted as a weapon, you most definitely won’t want to be in this bad boy’s vicinity as it unleashes its 30-foot flames. And maybe think twice before you let your Bichon Frisé play with it.

We don’t know exactly why someone would require a flamethrower-wielding robot dog, but if you do, you can now join the waitlist to be alerted when it becomes available later this year. Somehow, this feels like a bad idea to me…

Fight! Flight! Flight!

If I told you to imagine two celebrities going head-to-head in the ring, I guarantee you these two names would not be the first to come to mind. Unless you’ve already heard about this. Which you probably have, because the full force of the internet has been thrown behind this potential bout over the last week or so. Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Yep. Two of the world’s most high-profile tech billionaires have agreed to face each other in a cage fight. Because obviously that’s the best possible use of their time.

What started with a seemingly light-hearted twitter back-and-forth between the two soon-to-be combatants has now gone viral, with social media users debating who will win. It’s like that argument you had as a child over who would win out of Superman and The Hulk, except this time it’s grown men on the internet arguing about middle-aged nerds. While it was at first thought to be speculation, Dana White (CEO of The UFC) confirmed that he has spoken to both men on the phone for over an hour over the supposed fight. And he’s even started printing t-shirts – because the bloke is an absolute marketing machine.

It’s well known that Zuckerberg has a history of jiu-jitsu, kickboxing and Muay Thai, but Musk has the clear physical advantage in terms of sheer size. We’ll humour the idea of this actually happening for now, so… who are you backing?

Cheezy.

On the latest episode of Kanye doing things for no apparent good reason, we have: The Yeezy surprise tasting event in Tokyo. What do trainers have to do with food, you ask? We had the same question.

Cryptic as ever, we saw the Yeezy account post an announcement in Japanese which was decoded to be a call for a tasting party just hours before the event was set to take place. The idea was to formally establish the “YZY Food Division”, Ye’s first ever public food initiative…

Food was placed throughout the space welcoming a crowd of eager fans and notable guests (including North and Kanye himself) to try the food. Ye and the YZY Food Division now aim to hold tasting events like this in various countries around the world.

OK, we’re still as confused as you are. Many fans saw this event as just another hint for a new Yeezy season drop, but we are yet to find out. What can be said, however, is that Kanye certainly has a knack for attracting attention. Even if he has to do so by just being an incredibly strange man.

Sk8r Girl.

She was a skater girl, she said see ya later girl. Atita Verghese has become India’s first female pro skater and is making waves in the industry and beyond. This 29-year-old started her journey in Bengaluru, India, but is now known around the world for her mission to get more girls skating.

In pursuit of her goal, she founded Girls Skate India – a grassroots collective that encourages young women to skate and creates a space for them to feel supported and empowered. Having learned to mix concrete herself, she has worked on the majority of skate park builds throughout India, where skating is still in its infancy.

And not only is Atita the first female pro skater in India, but she also became the only sponsored skateboarder (regardless of gender) in the entire country after penning a deal with Red Bull. Big moves.

Now if that’s not cool sh*t, I don’t know what is.

Not All Heroes Wear Capes, Some Wear Shoes.

A British shoe company launched a project this week that they claim will save the planet. It’s always good to set lofty ambitions…

Gone are the days of buying shoes that blister the backs of your feet in the name of breaking them in. Asher Clark, founder of ‘Vivobarefoot’, has developed a machine that allows you to simply step onto it for it to display your weight distribution (too heavy on the heels, too light on the toes etc.), the arch of your foot and other technical bits. This nifty machine then transforms the scan into a 3D model which is sent to your phone to form the basis of a bespoke pair of fresh trainers.

The goal is to create shoes that make you feel as bare-foot as possible, bringing us back to the basics. Because everyone knows early hominids had such lovely little tootsies. The shoes would then be made to order, using 3D printing and local materials, meaning they’re not only good for the foot but also better for the planet.

With 90% of mainstream trainers ending up in landfill, perhaps this new tech could appeal to the young eco-conscious next gen. The price for these shoes is around £260 – a small price to pay to avoid bunions and save the planet while you’re at it.