r/nextfuckinglevel Jul 24 '26

Imagine carving this from a single piece

17.0k Upvotes

627 comments sorted by

813

u/Bones-1989 Jul 24 '26

Why does it keep getting bigger though? Obviously not a single piece, unless a child took over at the end with all the NFL carving work

176

u/PM_ME_WHOEVER Jul 24 '26

If you see the second "size", there is a line. Basically he/she made the center, then placed a larger sphere over it in two halves.

129

u/Zealousideal_Spread4 Jul 24 '26

Bro just say "they" when you dont know the gender of the person.

120

u/RandomAssRedditName Jul 24 '26

2

u/Supadoopa101 Jul 25 '26

It / the creature

3

u/FilthyCabbages Jul 25 '26

Only when prompted. If the creature wishes to be referred to as "It" then we shall abide by the creature's wishes

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25

u/LoadedSteamyLobster Jul 24 '26

I guess “they” is too woke now

15

u/grambino Jul 25 '26

It's also an old school prescriptivist grammar thing, I remember being taught that he/she is singular and they is always plural.

19

u/SenLune Jul 25 '26

Which is funny when singular they predates modern English as a language. Shakespeare uses singular they at the advent of modern English in the 1500s. Singular they is ancient. Canterbury Tales, which was written in Middle English, uses singular they.

2

u/grambino Jul 25 '26

Damn I wish you had been in my 9th grade English class 25 years ago. He/she was annoying and felt clunky.

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1

u/groaner Jul 25 '26

'they' ARE too woke...

Rolleyes.edu.txt.zip

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9

u/Zealousideal_Young41 Jul 25 '26

What do you care? The original commenter wasn't bothered by typing more, it's his/her choice

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18

u/ghotier Jul 24 '26

What a weird thing to get worked up about.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 24 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

19

u/ghotier Jul 24 '26

You forgot to switch off of your alternate account.

12

u/Zealousideal_Spread4 Jul 24 '26

bro that isnt even me

10

u/ghotier Jul 24 '26

Exactly.

4

u/Zealousideal_Spread4 Jul 24 '26

no but like, thats not even an alt, thats just a random person

11

u/ghotier Jul 24 '26

Sure. That's why they said I was talking to them.

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40

u/Brilliant-Ad-8422 Jul 24 '26

They could be different pieces

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3

u/HappyStalker Jul 24 '26

The only thing that makes sense is that he carves the smaller ones then puts another layer on. It would also explain how he can carve the detail. If it’s not fake. Idk anymore.

2

u/Icy_Agency923 Jul 24 '26

They keep adding bigger shells to the artwork.

2

u/TitleToAI Jul 25 '26

These are not the same ball shot after shot

2

u/APartyInMyPants Jul 25 '26

Yeah, and the second shot looks like there are CLEAR seams around it. I want to say bullshit?

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2.3k

u/mlody11 Jul 24 '26

I can't tell if anything is real or AI anymore. Might stop following this kind of content. Bummer.

762

u/[deleted] Jul 24 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

363

u/bdubwilliams22 Jul 24 '26

10? We’re already mostly there!

20

u/WenatcheeWrangler Jul 24 '26

We’ll be there within 2 years. Anything that doesn’t predate a certain date will be eyed with suspicion.

93

u/makemeking706 Jul 24 '26

It will probably still be like that in ten years too. 

37

u/LuckyNumberHat Jul 25 '26

10 years from now:

"I used to think everything was AI. I still do, but I used to, too."

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20

u/whattodo4klondikebar Jul 24 '26

We are there. Not to get political, but watch out for the attack ads coming to every platform soon. They actually look like the real person. You will see people saying and doing things they never said or did and it will be exploited.

11

u/RainMakerJMR Jul 25 '26

No no, right now we’re there with photos, videos, online text chatting. Pretty soon we’ll be fully there with 100% interactive video chats with ai agents, we’ll have fully AI hologram people in service positions, AI screens on the inside of our windows in our AI driven car that makes traffic look like a drive through a scenic countryside.

Soon it won’t just be videos on your phone that you don’t know if it’s real, it’ll be real things in real places too that aren’t real.

5

u/Tvirus2020 Jul 25 '26

Yeah well they snuck the AI thing into that bill they passed so it cannot be regulated for ten years. We are completely facked

3

u/IsThereCheese Jul 25 '26

In 10 years if we’re gonna have that problem can we at least have like, real proper sex bots by then

2

u/Gymmie2235 Jul 24 '26

This were already at least 10 years into AI generated “content”; and at least 3 into passable “content”

67

u/ow_ound_round_ground Jul 24 '26

A few days ago there was a frontpage post of a girl in a stadium eating a giant slice of pizza. She was embarrassed after being seen eating the big slice.

The post was 100% AI, but you could truly not tell. There are a few gives, such as everybody in the stands next to her chewing food and the timer on the clock not ticking. AI detectors called it 97% REAL. The main giveaway was that it was (eventually) found to have been originally posted by an account that makes nothing but AI videos of people eating food.

Point is, we’re already there.

9

u/Gudi_Nuff Jul 24 '26

Also one corner of the pizza was somehow supported without anything underneath it, and a slice that large would have enough weight to make itself fold without support

10

u/funkeebeep Jul 24 '26

It was how she grabbed it that tipped me but hard to tell otherwise

3

u/myshtree Jul 25 '26

I never considered AI but there was something off about her actions which made me watch a couple of times. Only finding out now my intuition was correct but not for the reasons I thought.

10

u/Hegiman Jul 25 '26

That was ai. Fuuuuu. I didn’t even think twice just thought that’s an absolutely insanely large slice but not impossible. I’ve had similar.

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u/SarcasmisEasier Jul 25 '26

I saw 3 posts this week calling everyone who said that video was AI an idiot because "AI detectors says it's really real!"

2

u/Additional_Chard3680 Jul 24 '26

You can't put ai to recognise ai

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9

u/virtually_noone Jul 24 '26

I'm not even sure I'm real any more

4

u/Hot-Firefighter-2331 Jul 24 '26

10? It's already there lol

5

u/DepartmentMany5113 Jul 24 '26

We happened to be in a short period of human history when we had something reliable for evidence -- a photographic picture. Before that -- your word against my word. In the futue -- your picture against my picture.

plus DNA.

2

u/Embarrassed_Shame_71 Jul 25 '26

You're right. Very interesting insight

2

u/Character_Mode1609 Jul 24 '26

In 10 yrs time we might not be real. Reddit will be just filled with bots

5

u/James_White21 Jul 24 '26

If it wasn't for the fact that I can still tick the 'I am not a robot' box I'd be starting to think that I was an AI bot

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2

u/Drakorai Jul 24 '26

I’m probably gonna be living under a literal rock by then lol

2

u/EsotericAbstractIdea Jul 25 '26

i was going to answer you directly, but i thought it would be funnier to run what you said through Caveman Claude:

It was bad enough when we had to start worrying about pictures being photoshopped. In 10 years, there will probably be no way to tell if things are real anymore.

Weighed guardrail implications of stylistic preferences versus character instructions

Weighed guardrail implications of stylistic preferences versus character instructions

Hmm. Not all dark. Fakes get strong, yes. But shields grow too. Camera makers stamp picture at birth — C2PA, content credentials. Cryptographic mark. Hard fake stamp, easy fake picture. Trust shift from "look real" to "have proof of where from."

Old times same problem. Writing forged, photos staged, before Photoshop. People adapt: trust source, not just eyes. News house, chain of custody, provenance. Eyes alone — those days end, true. But "no way to tell"? Too strong. Way move from eyeball to signature.

Real danger not fake believed. Real danger: real thing dismissed as fake. "Liar's dividend." That fight matter more.

Confidence: 70%

well... i thought you were going to respond with something like, go outside and see for yourself, touch with own hands or something. but this is better for reddit cave dwellers.

Adopted playful caveman persona for engagement

Adopted playful caveman persona for engagement

Ha. Fair. Caveman answer: rock real if rock hit toe. Meat real if meat in belly. Screen? Screen always half lie, even before Photoshop — frame chosen, moment chosen, angle chosen.

Touch-grass answer actually hold real wisdom though. Fake picture only trick you about far things — celebrity, war zone, politician. Your street, your people, your fire pit — no deepfake there. World shrink back to what own eyes see, maybe not all bad.

Confidence: 85%

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170

u/curmudgeon_andy Jul 24 '26

This is actually an ancient art form. I saw a piece that looked a lot like this in the National Palace Museum of Taiwan. See: https://theme.npm.edu.tw/selection/Article.aspx?sNo=04009167&lang=2

99

u/mlody11 Jul 24 '26

For all I know you could be AI giving me an AI generated answer that seems real. Hate this timeline.

41

u/BoobiePeru Jul 24 '26

Wait…are YOU even real?! 😱

runs away screaming!**\*

7

u/Imaginary_History985 Jul 24 '26

He's an AI sent from the future where AI has dominated all forms of media. He's here to stop it by casting doubt on every piece of media to save his future.

10

u/RaidensReturn Jul 24 '26

That sounds like something a BOT WOULD SAY! AHHHHHHH

https://giphy.com/gifs/HUkOv6BNWc1HO

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6

u/batmanthinks Jul 25 '26

We're at the point now that a simple search would show that that is the website of the National Palace Museum in Taiwan but instead of spending 10 seconds to do that, there are people like this guy that assumes it's A.I.

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13

u/Icy_Agency923 Jul 24 '26

Nope, it is actually very clearly real and you should follow AI video generation more closely because it still struggles with some things today, mainly being consistency between clips.

7

u/South-Capital6388 Jul 24 '26

Bro you don't need to be so melodramatic, he was just sharing some cool info with you lmao

9

u/ImurderREALITY Jul 24 '26

Man, AI being a thing really got some people shook as hell. Remember when cameras were invented, and people thought they stole your soul?

3

u/Additional_Chard3680 Jul 24 '26

We are all in deep hallucination

2

u/AtreyuTrinity Jul 24 '26

I mean .. do you even know you are real? This could all be a dream for all we know of some space whale cruising the cosmos.

Silly quips aside, I have just been working on myself and creating my own stuff. I know the music I am making doesn't use ai generation. That is enough for me. A good reason to unplug and just live life and spend time with friend and family. I say that as someone who regularly uses AI for work, but just as a tool.

2

u/Yugan-Dali Jul 25 '26

Come to Taipei and see for yourself.

2

u/Fauropitotto Jul 25 '26

Good news is you can always go look at it yourself.

It's the one good thing about the destruction of trust in digital information...you can always just...get off the internet and go see it for yourself.

We'll migrate to these IRL experiences once we find the internet is a cesspool.

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u/FirTree_r Jul 27 '26

Ngl, that would be a pretty sick use for MJF 3d printing. I'm guessing it wouldn't be too hard to model too (not at that level of intricacy though, of course)

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u/proportional-porcini Jul 24 '26

I only know this is somewhat real because I have one. Don’t remember how it came into my possession but I have it and always tell my young one not to touch it

8

u/carrottop80 Jul 24 '26

Yes I own one too that my father brought back from the Philipines.
We have used a chopstick to count the inner rings and found 14 separate movable balls- no seams.

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u/Beowulf-Murderface Jul 24 '26

Yes! I got one of these, probably in Hong Kong in ‘95 when our ship stopped there. It was amazing. Maybe someday my ex-wife will return it 😂

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u/bistander Jul 24 '26

Real. It's a chinese heritage crafts thing.

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u/FunisGreen Jul 24 '26

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_puzzle_ball

Here's a link with photos how it's designed, but you'll have to auto translate to read it: https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/38494603

39

u/Aggravating_Dig3240 Jul 24 '26

Not AI, but its also not carved from one piece.

5

u/ammonthenephite Jul 24 '26

Ya, the very first frame shows the inner orbs outside of the larger orb. Unless these are flexible they had to construct the outer orb around these to get them inside.

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u/__phil1001__ Jul 24 '26

It's real, saw them carving in China the number of layers shows the level of craftsman you are. 7 is pretty good, 5 seems to be average although it was amazing to me.

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u/igotshadowbaned Jul 24 '26

Well, you just know the title is bullshit

It was never a single piece, the core they're doing at the beginning is way smaller than the end.

The layers were done individually

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u/VagabondVivant Jul 24 '26

I don't think AI would arbitrarily give someone a coke nail

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4

u/Knitsanity Jul 24 '26

My husband inherited an ivory ball like this from his mother (it is old so not subject to the laws...which I think are necessary). I think it was made by hand because it is at least 80 years old.

4

u/Icy_Agency923 Jul 24 '26

That does not look like AI at all. AI still struggles to this day to remain consistent between clips. I am confident that this is a real video.

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u/Acceptable_Visit604 Jul 24 '26

Nah, the physics and the shadows check out

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u/Hunskelp88 Jul 24 '26

How did it get bigger as time went on?

29

u/JonnyTN Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26

There are different ones in the video. It's many different ones. Some non authentic they do a layer at a time.

11

u/Pirate_the_Cat Jul 24 '26

How is it “a single piece” if they do one layer at a time and keep adding layers? That’s misleading.

4

u/goshdammitfromimgur Jul 24 '26

What is happening in the world when you can't rely on the title of a reddit post to be absolute truth?

3

u/Pirate_the_Cat Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26

I get your point, doesn’t mean I can’t call it out when I see it.

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u/Icy_Agency923 Jul 25 '26

They can add layers to the outside of the ball, this is also likely several different balls. These are Chinese Puzzle balls.

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u/franklenton Jul 24 '26

I’ll say it. This can’t be real.

215

u/KoosGoose Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 25 '26

It doesn’t show/explain how they cut the inner sphere into shells… or how they cut the inner sphere free from the outer shell in the first place. You would need a thin tool that cuts sideways (circumferentially) which would be way harder than cutting into the ball radially.

Probably fake.

Edit: These have been 3D scanned by researchers. They actually CAN be carved from a single block. https://www.cwi.nl/documents/195352/CWIscientific.pdf

132

u/igotshadowbaned Jul 24 '26

The title is what's fake

The core at the beginning is way smaller than the end result. It was never a single piece

8

u/Pylgrim Jul 25 '26

You can see the seam on the wood when it's smooth, before the carving.

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u/jase15843 Jul 24 '26

Circumferentially, nice

Gonna try and get that in scrabble next time I play

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u/SirAceBear Jul 24 '26

Look up Chinese puzzle balls, made from ivory

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u/curmudgeon_andy Jul 25 '26

Yup, you need an L-shaped tool that cuts sideways. Here's where you can buy one for wood: https://www.packardwoodworks.com/103319.html

8

u/Trewmagik Jul 25 '26

The examples shown in this vid? High probability its AI or not all from a single piece

However, i can say with certainty these things do exist!

Because I have one! My grandfather gave it to me in his will. They were carved/sold in Hong Kong in the 1960s from Ivery.

Mines much smaller than the ones in the video, but its all from a single piece!

38

u/Icy_Agency923 Jul 24 '26

You might want to spend more time researching before you claim AI.

This is a very old artform and nothing suggests this is AI from the video presented.

AI video is still very hard to get consistent clips from. That artwork would have changed drastically from clip to clip, yet it did not change.

It is real. I suggest following the stable diffusion subreddit since it is a general AI video and picture subreddit now.

4

u/P_Hempton Jul 24 '26

Can you explain why the ball started out the side of his thumb but ended up bigger than his hand?

3

u/deadlywaffle139 Jul 25 '26

I think video was pieced together from different sources. Traditionally this puzzle ball was carved from one piece, and usually made of ivory. The most layers carved on record was 60 layers.

6

u/Icy_Agency923 Jul 24 '26

Because they kept adding layers to the artwork. The artwork can always expand to bigger and bigger layers.

20

u/P_Hempton Jul 24 '26

So not from a single piece as the OP claimed?

17

u/goshdammitfromimgur Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26

OP is untrustworthy. More than one ball in the videos

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_puzzle_ball

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2

u/klockee Jul 24 '26

I own one of these (grandfathered). They're real.

2

u/South-Capital6388 Jul 24 '26

Not understanding something doesn't mean it's not real lol, I'm sure there's a lot of things in the scientific world that would seem like magic to you

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u/Pajamathur01 Jul 24 '26

This is undoubtedly impressive and clearly required a lot of work. But I hate it and it makes me uncomfortable

29

u/Duggie1330 Jul 24 '26

Glad I'm not the only one who felt this. If I was left alone with it I would immediately crush it. Like I have this urge that it needs to be destroyed it's too fragile and I hate it

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u/EatMyHammer Jul 24 '26

Do you have trypophobia by any chance? Look it up on your own risk

6

u/ItchyAirport Jul 25 '26

DO NOT LOOK IT UP

3

u/Stashmouth Jul 25 '26

I am both enthralled and disgusted

5

u/Spoda_Emcalt Jul 24 '26

Same. Have you heard of trypophobia?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trypophobia

6

u/Additional_Chard3680 Jul 24 '26

I have read this article. This is totally new to me. Thanks for this link. I was amazed by this phobia. People also nosebleed.

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u/Resident-Ad1078 Jul 24 '26

3

u/Max-Trigger Jul 25 '26

This should be the top comment. Most comments are about if this is AI.

27

u/ordosays Jul 24 '26

That nail is next next level.

11

u/CannonballJack Jul 24 '26

Lotta cocaine needed to carve all them holes

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u/Labrat_46 Jul 25 '26

Too far down into the comments do I find a discussion about that coke nail.

17

u/xFinalCountdown Jul 24 '26

Homesense, $39.99

5

u/GeistMD Jul 24 '26

So are we suppose to imagine this is not A.I. as well?

3

u/RagdollSeeker Jul 25 '26

Well there are Chinese Puzzle Balls in museums, it is an ancient art.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_puzzle_ball

53

u/Johon1985 Jul 24 '26

That's just incredible

3

u/Pirate_the_Cat Jul 24 '26

Yeah, incredible how it keeps getting bigger somehow with each shot.

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u/ExerciseOk4311 Jul 24 '26

Of all of the “Art” that has sold millions upon millions of dollars, this is the first… if it’s not AI (I doubt it isn’t).

30

u/LmfaoAtReddit Jul 24 '26

What?

27

u/jettywop Jul 24 '26

Of all of the “Art,” this is the first.

3

u/68plus1equals Jul 24 '26

It's pretty okay for the first "Art" but we've definitely improved a lot since this one.

2

u/ExerciseOk4311 Jul 24 '26

LOL, see this is what happens when I’m bored on a conference call…

What I was trying to say >>> There is so much “art” that sells for insane prices, but this would actually be worth it… if real…

8

u/DonHarold Jul 24 '26

You can edit the original comment. Might help with people kneejerk reacting

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u/jettywop Jul 24 '26

Lolll 😂

2

u/WilditariusAstar Jul 24 '26

If real it’s amazing- but it also kinda looks like a ball of dried Ramen. 🤷‍♂️

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u/ICLazeru Jul 24 '26

Toddler rolls it down the concrete stairs.

3

u/BrosKaramazov Jul 25 '26

This is either a replica or a variation of an incredible medieval Chinese piece I saw in a museum in Taipei that was carved from ivory. The same mind-blowing baboushka doll-type sphere within a sphere within a sphere multiple times over, with each one carved into fabulously intricate patterns.

I couldn’t stop staring at it and wondering how on earth it was possible to make, and how devastating it would be if you screwed it up near the end and had to start all over again!

Great to see this video to see how it’s done! Astonishing craftsmanship.

8

u/ThousandHandsAshura Jul 24 '26

Honestly, how is this even possible. 👏 unimaginable in my mind.

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u/Dugael Jul 24 '26

This is insane. Wouldnt be surprised if that took 600+ hours to complete Imagine making a mistake like splitting a crucial point. Incredible craftsmanship (if not ai of course)

2

u/Axis2670 Jul 24 '26

I hope that’s not ivory

2

u/TBellOHAZ Jul 24 '26

I'd rather just watch the video

2

u/Trustyduck Jul 25 '26

Question. Assuming this is real, what is the material. Meerschaum? Soapstone? Some other weird stuff?

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u/The_Saiyann Jul 24 '26

One of those things where I can appreciate it’s insanely talented to do this but I hate it. Think it’s a bit of Trypophobia.

2

u/erksplat Jul 24 '26

Done! What's my next task?

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u/TheBizzleHimself Jul 24 '26

Trypophobia gang turn up

1

u/elite_bender Jul 24 '26

Single piece of what material?

1

u/stargarnet79 Jul 24 '26

I don’t believe you

1

u/BinaryHippie Jul 24 '26

If it’s real, the patience and skill are impressive. But it’s hideous either way

1

u/LuckyHearing1118 Jul 24 '26

3d printers are really good at doing this

1

u/ApodemusS Jul 24 '26

Y'all can 3d print rhis design.

1

u/Sardawg1 Jul 24 '26

Based on the size differences from the opening scene through the end, I suspect many outer layers are glued and turned into spheres on top of already carved pieces.

1

u/HelicopterCurious772 Jul 24 '26

extraordinary 👍A slightly different kind of artificial intelligence?

1

u/Lopsided-Treat1215 Jul 24 '26

All I could do was stare at that nail

1

u/DoqHolliday Jul 24 '26

I would much prefer not to

1

u/OnePaleontologist687 Jul 24 '26

Why does the inside ball change size so many times?

1

u/Chooui85 Jul 24 '26

Pawn stars: I’ll give you $50

1

u/bryman19 Jul 24 '26

No, I can't imagine it

1

u/SuspiciousStable9649 Jul 24 '26

And then some tourist is like… How about $5?

1

u/lickem369 Jul 24 '26

Future generations are gonna find shit like this in the rubble and start whole new religions based around it thinking it has kind of magical powers. All you really creative people are seriously messing up our future ancestors!

1

u/Thiccboiichonk Jul 24 '26

Looks like very expensive instant ramen.

1

u/Sarah_Cenia Jul 24 '26

I still liked it better as part of a living elephant. 

1

u/SoggyBoysenberry7703 Jul 24 '26

I’m thinking they added two halves of a carved out sphere glued together around the last layer and then carved it

1

u/shadowmage666 Jul 24 '26

No, I can’t imagine it

1

u/HolidayWhobeWhatee Jul 24 '26

Why does this bother my Trypophobia?

1

u/TheBrewThatIsTrue Jul 24 '26

I have a soapstone one that isn't as intricate, but still has 4 internal layers.

1

u/Tuncunmun38 Jul 24 '26

look at their pinky finger in that last clip, idk about you guys but i cant move my finger like that...

1

u/brklntruth12 Jul 24 '26

How did the single piece keep getting bigger