Category: Cool

Up, Up, and Away in My Beautiful Balloon Chair…

Watch-Kents-July-5th-Launch-and-Track-His-Flight-LiveYou know, this just look relaxing and fun. Never mind the possibility that you could get hit by a plane, sucked up in a storm cloud, pelted and ultimately killed by hail, or just go unconscious and freeze to death before you plummet to the ground and a heap of latex and lawn chair. As hobbies go I’m all for this one. Lets hope he continues to make flights.

Kent Couch, devoted husband, father of five and gas station owner, seems like just another man but underneath the surface, you’ll find a characteristic not quite normal. While most men have a passion for sports or hunting, Kent has a passion for cluster ballooning, much to the chagrin of his supportive wife, Susan.

Couch Balloons

Rubber Band Gun Mayhem

Not only is this super fun looking, but there are some very nice build photos that show how the SRBG2007SideWinder is constructed. Electric powered, fires hundreds of shots, simple design, what more could you ask for in a rubber band gun?
But if that wasn’t cool enough, you should look through the pages of the Japan Rubber Band Gun Shooting Association. Yes, there is a group of people that get together and compare notes on how to build rubber band guns.

[via Japan Probe]

SRBG2007SideWinder photo gallery

Japan Rubber Band Gun Shooting Association
(in Google English)

3D Astro Images

Imagine if you had a head as larger than a planet, OK good. Now imagine that you are looking up at the ‘sky’ (with your head being larger than the planet you normally live on some would say that the sky is everywhere but I digress…)  and things that would normally appear flat begin to have depth. You can see that the moon is closer to you than the sun and that planets really do look like they are way out there. Astronomer JP Metsavainio has been taking wonderful photos of the night sky and then enhancing them to give you the illusion of what they would look like it you were of a galactic size. His estimates of depth are a best guess but I’m going to say that for the sake of argument that he is correct. Seeing these nebula and galaxies with stereo depth is just cool. 

Astroanarchy

No Lens Lasers

No lens laser stack

Impressive, technology like this might lead to all sorts of wonderful things. I’m thinking video projectors that use lasers and that have no moving parts of nasty super hot lamps (just super hot lasers, have to work on that…)

Researchers have now demonstrated a plasmonic collimator that utilizes grooves etched directly into the semiconductor laser facet. If the technique is adopted — Harvard University has applied for a patent on the process — then semiconductor lasers can be downsized to a bare die without a lens.

Lasers need lenses no more

Blackbird Fly TLR Camera

New reto 35mm camera from Japan, Blackbird Fly twin-lens reflex.

blackbird-fly-camera-1Using traditional film has become the ‘hip cool thing’ for photographers these days. The heck with the instant gratification and low cost of use that digital gives you, shoot with a medium that you have to wait for the results until after you get it back from the expensive lab. Don’t worry if you think the only place you can find a film camera is at a thrift store or a collectible camera store, you can still buy them new. I happened across this fine example of a modern 35mm camera the other day. I give you the Blackbird Fly TLR (wiki: Twin-Lens Reflex). The camera sports a waist level viewfinder, two shutter speeds (bulb and 1/125) and two apature sizes (f-7 and f-11), three format (normal 24mm x 36mm, square 24mm x 24mm, and a full frame with sprocket holes) masks, a hot shoe for a flash, and a manual variable focus (.8 m to infinity). These specs won’t hold up next to a Rollei or a Seagull but then you aren’t paying for that. You get a cool yet functional retro looking (in three colors no less) camera that lets you get all creative with your snapshots. Plus as it uses standard 35mm film you can grab film for is just about anywhere (a little tip: get the out of date stuff, it’s cheap and if the colors are a bit off you can credit that to your artistic abilities).

[via Trends in Japan]

Blackbird Fly

Support my blog and pick up a Blackbird Fly in blue, black, or orange from my Amazon store.

Coming Soon, Eagle Eye Vision for the Blind

Bionic eyes coming soon

Telescopic eye implantWell not quite the blind and not quite ‘Eagle Eye‘ vision. I refer to the way cool Bionic Dollar Man action figure (NOT a doll I tell ya!) that had a wee telescope in Steve’s head. However, the idea is pretty close. There is a new medical device that can return some sight to people who suffer from macular degeneration. To give a little bit of an idea what it’s like to have MD make two fists and put them in front of your eyes so they block most of your field of view. Now keep them in the center of your vision wherever your eyes point at. Not fun is it. The 4mm long telescope fits in the eye where the natural lens would be and projects a magnified image of what the person is looking at on to their retina.

“These cells are normally involved in peripheral vision and normally generate low-resolution visual information compared to the macula cells–you can’t read a sign in your periphery, for example. But magnifying the image also has the advantage of making it easier for the cells to interpret.”
… “The device is implanted in only one eye–patients use this eye for detailed vision and the untreated eye for peripheral vision. That takes some getting used to, says Peli. “Instead of using two parts of the same eye, they must switch between two eyes; if they see someone coming but can’t tell who it is, they need to switch to other eye.””

Even a low level of vision is better than none at all. Should be available as soon as the FDA approves it.

[via slashdot]
Implantable Telescope for the Eye