The iCube at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tennessee is a haven for those who desire to drive the future forward. From robotics to virtual reality, the individuals involved are among the most innovative minds in the nation. Long-time friend of the site, Mack Lunn, was kind enough to open the doors to us so that we could explore the future, and shoot some little shadow people with a bow and arrow.
First off – this was the first time your boy Big Natural here had been on a college campus in years. I graduated from the Harvard of the South (Middle Tennessee State) way back in 2008 and don’t know that I’ve been around many campuses since. So, I didn’t really want to stand out as a creepy old man at 30 years old. I had to at least try to blend in:
We've arrived in Cookeville pic.twitter.com/sJdxtQn8ud
— Stoney Keeley (@StoneyKeeley) May 5, 2017
But, right off the bat – it’s sensory overload. Seriously, I don’t see how this team gets anything done at all. No matter where you turn in this office, you’re facing something fascinating. It’s also a part of the library at Tennessee Tech, so getting there is what I imagine Adam Sandler felt like when he got to the ‘Beyond’ section of Bed, Bath, & Beyond in Click. It’s like something out of Hogwarts. Okay, maybe I’m overselling the magical aspect of this place. It’s real science – not like Lord of the Rings magic – that’s actually going on in this place.
It just feels you with a sense of wonderment – it’s that feeling of being a child and experiencing the Earth for the first time combined with with that feeling of being so incredibly small in the universe.
https://www.facebook.com/sobrosnetwork/videos/1526171300727083/
Just pro journalists being pro journalists here. Can’t figure out how to orient the video so you don’t have to turn your device to watch it normally….embedding a giant video into an article. We’re kind of like the iCube of comedy blogs. Real innovation going on here.
So, that video is just a small sample of some of the things going on in there. Robots, drones, 3D printers, etc. – it’s truly amazing. At one point, we saw an entire dinosaur skeleton that had been spit out of a 3D printer. My instincts were to ask if they were re-creating Jurassic Park in there or had any intention of doing so. That didn’t end well, and I wouldn’t be doing my duty as a responsible journalist if I didn’t at least try and warn them about potential mass human death. I ignored my instincts, though, because I saw that robot in the video above and forgot all about real dinosaurs ripping people apart.
There really is a lot to learn here – I can’t recommend checking it out enough. Places like this are the ones that are actually guiding us into the future. But, instead of learning something useful to pass along to our thousands of readers, we just did this:
Cadbury gettin' it pic.twitter.com/xiHzLtujhC
— Stoney Keeley (@StoneyKeeley) May 6, 2017
For five. fucking. hours.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
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