At some point, we’ve all wondered about the incredibly strange names for paint colors. Research scientist and neural network goofball Janelle Shane took the wondering a step further. Shane decided to train a neural network to generate new paint colors, complete with appropriate names. The results are possibly the greatest work of artificial intelligence I’ve seen to date.

Writes Shane on her Tumblr, “For this experiment, I gave the neural network a list of about 7,700 Sherwin-Williams paint colors along with their RGB values. (RGB = red, green, and blue color values.) Could the neural network learn to invent new paint colors and give them attractive names?”

By the first checkpoint, the neural network has learned to produce valid RGB values – these are colors, all right, and you could technically paint your walls with them. It’s a little farther behind the curve on the names, although it does seem to be attempting a combination of the colors brown, blue, and gray.

By the second checkpoint, the neural network can properly spell green and gray. It doesn’t seem to actually know what color they are, however. Continue »

Automobile designers Fabrizio Caselani and David Obendorfer saw the 70th anniversary of as the perfect opportunity give it new life. Rather than try and build the van to the exact specifications of the classic vehicle, they looked instead to try and capture the soul of the Citroen H. Continue »

Ralph McQuarrie

Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) used matte paintings to create the Rebel hangar in Return of The Jedi. Models also played apart. But it’s the artwork that stands out. Nowadays, photorealistic CGI is the default technology for special effects, but in the 70s and 80s, background sets in movies were hand-painted.

These matte paintings were created by Chris Evans, Mike Pangrazio, Frank Ordaz, Harrison Ellenshaw, and Ralph McQuarrie. Continue »

Kyodo News via Getty Images

The new Train Suite Shiki- Shima luxury sleeper train departs the Ueno Station, Tokyo. The train will run bound for Hokkaido, the Tohoku and Koshinetsu regions. JR East plans to offer services similar to luxurious hotels to improve the image of area along the railroad and attract tourists. Tickets for trips departing from this May to March 2018 have already sold out. Continue »

‘Eye-catching 1980’s opulence’ is perhaps the best way to describe this particular Countach, one that stands out from even the most outlandish of Countaches thanks to its incredible specification. Finished new in white over a white leather interior, the car was further outfitted with much of its interior trim gold-plated, including the steering column, gated gear shifter and gate, instrument cluster, trunk and engine handles, door sills, and even the exterior badging, as well as exhaust pipe tips. Lamborghini has confirmed that this is one of just two Countaches to ever leave the factory equipped as such. Continue »

Nowadays, solar energy is finally coming into vogue as technology gets up to speed and it becomes more affordable. However, the USSR were way ahead of the curve when it came to utilizing our nearest star’s massive power. Continue »

Pripyat is a radioactive ghost town just outside Chernobyl, the site of the infamous nuclear disaster in 1986. Deep within the Exclusion Zone, the city has been permanently evacuated. Because of the contamination, officially you can’t live there, although 200 or so defiant oldster locals still do. They just kept on going back to their houses until the officials gave up. Continue »

Nubrella is a hands-free, non-invertible umbrella and weather protector, conveniently worn backpack-style. After putting on the 3-pound Nubrella like a backpack, the canopy flips over your head and locks in place. Built using waterproof nylon, aluminum rods, and glass-filled plastic, the canopy is designed to withstand 40mph winds without flipping inside out. Continue »

Smart home solutions are no longer a novelty in these deeply digital times—South Korea-based design studio AMONG has created a creative concept of a smart home controller that looks and feels like a cat. Continue »

4th Amendment Wear is a series of underclothes that have the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution printed on them with metallic ink that so that it will show up when worn through a TSA X-Ray machine. Continue »

It’s Kurtis Sport Car serial number KB003, the actual car that appeared on the cover of the very first edition of the Motor Trend magazine way back in 1949, in a photo taken by Motor Trend founder Robert E. Petersen. More than 62 years ago, this car helped launch the storied automotive media brand. Continue »

Manufactured between 1967 and 1971. Approximately ten of 50 survivors are in the United States. Made by Turin-based coachbuilder Ferves (acronym of Ferrari Veicoli Speciali), where mechanical components borrowed from various models – Fiat 500F, 600D, 850, Autobianchi Primula – were assembled. This charming 4-seater flaunted four-wheel drive and “Cargo” work versions; some have described it as a small-size SUV or mini jeep… and yet today it is one of some collectors’ biggest dreams. Continue »

This Russian guy has a hobby of making different things from the remainders of old Soviet electronic and electric parts. He deliberately collects different old Soviet switches, buttons, small bulbs and indicators. Here is one of his latest works – a computer case made from all this old Soviet scrap parts. Continue »

Getty Images

A light railway track has been built to go through a hole in a residential 19-storey building in China. The city of Chongqing in the south-east of the country has a population of 49 million packed into 31,000 square miles, causing urban planners to look creatively at solving space issues. A special railway station was built into the block of houses, set into the sixth to eighth floors. Continue »

The car was left parked on the side of Berkeley Street, London with the words “DON’T TRUST RANGE ROVER” and “RANGE ROVER CHEATS & LIES” spray painted in bright red lettering across the shiny black paintwork. Continue »