This is what I get for not following Gizmodo faithfully: flaming industrial art.
They introduced it saying “Do you enjoy fire? Do you also enjoy very intricate Rube Goldberg machines? Of course you do.” Though a reader there exclaims:
It didn’t do anything. For it to be a true Rube Goldberg doesn’t it have to accomplish some task, like cracking an egg or pouring a glass of milk or something? Neat to watch, but make it do something!
Something, presumably, other than just fascinate the pyros. …Which is what brings us to the dump truck smashupvideo:
Not that the dump truck actually accomplishes anything either, just that it looks cool.
(Note: the real connection here is that Cliffy introduced that video with “Everyone loves the idea of smashing fast-moving things into hard objects,” but got quickly shot down by somebody saying only guys like crashes, flames, and explosions.)
I’ve seen that first film before, it’s from the Philadelphia museum of science. I think there is a whole series of those actually.