Eclectic junk from the four corners of the ‘Net. And pictures too!
Looks like the problem plagued space probe Hayabusa did make it’s scheduled landing on asteroid Itokawa after all. During a communications glitch, it kind of bumped into the target a few times. Kind of like a drunk saleryman navigating through a crowded train. The probe didn’t fire the pellet that was supposed to kick up dust and secure the one gram to be returned to Earth. If the probe checks out, they might give it another more controlled try in the next few days.
Aluminium insect kits! How cool is that I ask you! These are a big step up from the wooden ones you find in hobby shops, the metal is soft (aluminium) so it can be shaped to look more natural and it has some sort of spring clip deal that might let you pose them slightly. The page says that they are made in Taiwan and as I have a friend that has family there I just might be able to get a hold on one of these sets. The metal mantis would be perfect on my desk at work.
Metal Insect Kits [ translated ]- Photo Gallery [translated]
Another Doraemon story for everyone.
"The Doraemon Shop in ShimoKitaZawa is one of those places, designers would die for to visit if they only knew it existed!
If you ever tried to find something in ShimoKita, you know how hard it is to find your way through this labyrinth of tiny back streets, which probably creates the strongest attributes of this area: adventure, discovery and surprise. In one of windy roads, slightly far from ShimoKita West Exit one can find this funky little shop all stuffed with Japanese dolls, characters, old style Japanese sweets, stickers, batches…. hundrets of boxes that are just waiting to be opened and rummaged out. This is where the Doraemon Uncle lives and he opens his little magic shop every night: from 6PM until 3AM!"
So, when in Japan make sure you take a trian to the north and visit ShimoKita. When your there make sure you see the Doraemon train too, it’s in the neighborhood.
[via core 77]
My wife Tum told me about this very cool train in Japan. Situated in the north of Japan on the island of Hokkaido, the Doraemon Undersea World museum is actualy in the Yoshioka-kaitei undersea train station. The station and museum are actualy located under the ocean in a tunnel. How cool is that?
Doraemon – Ding Dong Info on the JR Doraemon Undersea World
***UPDATE***
It looks as if the Doreamon Undersea World trours have ended:
I’m afraid you are too late. The train made its last run last month. The undersea station tours have also been discontinued as engineering work will be starting connected with upgrading of the tunnel for shinkansen trains.
I guess there is a place in the world for these. Pretty standard, 4 USB 2.0 ports and cute Disney characters on them. Did I mention that they are cute? (shudder…)
Oh bother, looks like a mistake during a down link hand off from one ground station to another resulted in the robotic lander Minerva to be dropped at the wrong time. Hayabusa (it’s shadow is visible on the above photo, cool eh?) had been making burns to keep station over the asteroid Itokawa when the lander was commanded to release. The spacecraft was moving away at a speed of 15cm/sec, 2cm/sec faster than the asteroids escape velocity. So, Hayabusa launched Minerva into space. That sucks, I was looking forward to seeing that hop around on the surface. However, all is not lost. The laser range finder system on Hayabusa is working great, the thrusters are working pretty well to keep correct orientation, and plans for the slug to be shot into Itokawa is still on the short list of planned events.