Real Möbius Gear Will Melt Your Mind | Gadget Lab. Stare at this bewildering Möbius gear for long enough and your brain will explode. This Möbius gear is absolutely mind-bending, and almost impossible to describe. It’s a toothed gear that only has one side, made by Berkeley robotics student Aaron Hoover using various 3-D printing methods. He was puzzling over an animation of such a gear in action and convinced himself that it could be made in real life. He turned out to be right. The white section is the Möbius strip and is flexible. The outer, black strip has a double twist that I still can’t make out after letting my eyes follow it around for a good 10 minutes now. I’m finding it hard to tear myself away from this picture, but I managed it for long enough to read Hoover’s detailed description of the planning and printing process (.pdf) from start to finish.
The Möbius Gear Photo: Berkeley Robotics. See Also: Laser spark plugs: bright idea or flash in the pan? — Autoblog. The internal combustion engine for automotive use is highly engineered and run by advanced electro-mechanical systems that have been refined over a century of development. That fact hasn't stood in the way of breathless reports about laser spark plugs being the next big thing. Fast Company goes as far as to disparage the gasoline engine as antiquated and filthy while calling exotic and expensive laser ignitors "the gas engine's last gasp before the electric revolution comes.
" Laser spark plugs do sound pretty neat. In Japan, researchers at the National Institute of Natural Sciences have cooked up an exceptionally compact laser that's robust enough for automotive use. With lots of strong ceramics and two different yttrium-based laser elements, one doped with neodymium and the other chromium, the lasers are capable of being pulsed more quickly and more accurately than current spark plug technology allows. [Source: Fast Company] Put Some Joulies In Your Java. I’ll come right out and admit that I have an obsession with Kickstarter lately, and with the sorts of brilliant ideas that have been rolling out of there recently, it’s pretty obvious why.
One of the more recent projects up for funding is Coffee Joulies. What appear to be large, shiny coffee beans are in fact food-grade stainless steel shells filled with a food-safe phase change material (PCM). The PCM is a solid at room temperature, but when you drop the Joulies into a hot beverage, the PCM liquifies and begins absorbing heat, cooling your joe to a comfortable drinking temperature. On the other end, when your drink begins to get cool, the PCM begins to re-solidify and releases the heat it has stored, thus keeping your drink warm. Ultimately, the Joulies extend the window of time during which your hot drink is… well… drinkable. Replace Your Home Landline with The PhoneLynx from Cobra Electronics.
Pearlnet. Adjustable Height Desk - GeekDesk -
The Leatherman-Like Messograf Multi-pen.