io9: deadspin

Real Life Muggle Quidditch Is Sweeping The Nation

Meredith Woerner — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 07:00:00 PST

Gather your quaffles, capes and brooms — Quidditch could be a mere wand-stroke away from joining the NCAA, if the numbers of teams keep growing. College students have taken their intramural Quidditch hobby to a whole new level this year: Droves of wizards and witches gathered at the second Intercollegiate Quidditch World Cup to get dirty and bloody playing a game of Muggle Quidditch. Video of the entire game below.

The Intercollegiate Quidditch Association or (IQA) held the competition at Middlebury College (where Muggle Quidditch originated in 2005). Right now over 150 colleges have Quidditch teams including Boston University, Vassar, Bucknell University, Tulane, Oberlin and Emerson College to name a few.

The game itself is a mix of dodge ball and tag mixed in with the regular Quidditch rules. And if you're wondering how the whole Golden Snitch plays in this non-flight version of Muggle Quidditch, they use a toy helicopter.

[BU Today via Geekologie]

Master Chief And Optimus Prime Are Saints Fanboys

Meredith Woerner — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:00:00 PDT

When you have Optimus Prime AND Master Chief cheering from the Superdome, is there really any doubt which team is superior? I have to give it to the New Orleans Saints' fans, they've got great taste and a whole lotta free time. They look fantastic. No word yet if Opty will travel to Detroit to take on his foe Calvin Johnson, otherwise known as Megatron, when the Saints play the Lions in December. We're just one T2 silver unitard away from the best fan base ever, full pics below.

Looks like Optimus has undergone some upgrades over the years. Lookin' good.

[Myspace, SI Fans Of The Week and Geekologie]

NASA's Smart Swimsuit Gives You Superspeed

Charlie Jane Anders — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:00:07 PST

The world's fastest swimsuit uses technology from NASA to improve athletes' times by a crucial fraction of a second. Speedo's new LZR Racer, pronounced "Laser Racer," is designed to work like a spacesuit, with the seams "ultrasonically welded" instead of sewn, to reduce drag in the water by up to 10 percent. When athletes premiered the swimsuits on the Today Show yesterday, the studio lights "cut through the translucent suits like X-rays." Click through for a swimsuit gallery.

Images by Mike Stobe/Getty [NY Times]

Animal-Cyborg Soccer Slaves Of 2178

charliejane — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:00:23 PST

This new ad for Puma's v1.08 soccer boot freaks me out. In the year 2178, soccer players will have their legs ripped off and replaced with weird cyber-horse legs, so they can trot around and do kangaroo jumps for the amusement of their beer-swilling orthohuman masters. Until then, the ad says, the closest you can get to being a deformed cyber-beast athlete is to buy Puma's newest model. It's just the latest in a long line of freaky dystopian adverts.