Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

If you’ve been strangely itching to get a closer look at the Sun without totally ruining your eyesight, you can color yourself quite fortunate. The aptly-named Sunrise project is an international collaboration involving a number of institutions that have successfully sent a jumbo-jet sized balloon some 120,000 feet high with a solar telescope riding shotgun. The plan is to send the massive device on lengthy journeys beginning in 2009 “that will capture unprecedented details of the Sun’s surface,” and furthermore, it could enable scientists to launch instruments up for testing without having to strap them onto a rocket and consequently destroy their budget. Set to take flight in the summer of ‘09 from Kiruna, Sweden, the balloon is scheduled to “capture continuous images for a period of several days to as long as two weeks,” and no, you can’t buy a seat on this one.

[Via Physorg]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It’s not every day a company has to recall their recall, but Cybex International is once again recalling six different treadmill models after first recalling them in 2003 — because the wire nuts used in the first recall repair are causing the units to overheat and catch fire. Five treadmills have gone up in smoke thus far, and if you own a Cybex 400T or 410T, Trotter 510, 525, or 535, or just the charmingly unbranded CXT+ treadmill, you may want to unplug your rig and pick up the phone ASAP. No word on what this next recall will cause, but we’re hoping for sentience with a dash of world domination.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Are you that guy in our comments always asking the now wearisome question, “Will it blend?” Yeah? Good, this is for you. The Brando USB blender, $25 and an earful of 70’s game show jingles as punishment for your deeds. Oh, and because you’re that guy you should heed Brando’s warning: do not eat the balls. Good advice for any occasion, really.

[Via Pocket-lint]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Scientists at North Carolina’s PULSTAR nuclear reactor facility fired a positron bean five times stronger than any other ever created earlier this month, breaking a record previously held by a team in Germany. The antimatter device — which apparently looks like a Star Trek warp reactor — was developed as part of a two year project by NC State, the University of Michigan, and Oak Ridge National Labs. Now that the device is working, the team is looking for practical applications for the tech, including building an “antimatter telescope,” which would allow even closer observations of atomic interactions. Or they could use it to blow up the universe. You know, whatever.

[Via TG Daily]

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Filed under: Ask Engadget, Features, Misc. Gadgets

Last week’s question about HDTV opinions was a bit loaded, so we’re going to take it down a notch for this week’s Ask Engadget. Of course, there’s always room for controversy next week, so be sure to send in your questions to ask at engadget dawt com. This week’s feel-good query comes from Chad:

“As any reader of Engadget knows, the coolest stuff tends to always be stuck in Korea (or somewhere equally far away from Chicago). Luck has it though that I am going on assignment to Seoul in a few weeks and I was wondering… If given the chance to go to the Gadget Holy Land (Korea), what would you pick up? Also, if there are any Koreans reading this, where in / near Seoul should I go to procure these gadgets?”

Chad seems to have an enviable dilemma. With the endless quantity of South Korean gadgetry that’s paraded across this site in recent years, anything particularly choice stick out? We’re kind of partial to those 7-inch DMB / GPS / PMP units that transform into police bots at night and fight crime in the city streets, but that’s just us.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Transportation

Those looking to head outdoors with minimal exertion now have another pair of motorized options to accommodate their lazy ways, with the recently introduced iShoes and Skatemaster skateboard each promising to propel you along at the push of a button. Only the Skatemaster is actually available to order at the moment, however, with it promising a top speed of 11 mph and a range of 6-7 miles. It’ll set you back £139.99 for the small model and £144.99 for a slightly larger version. The iShoes, on the other hand, boast a slightly risky top speed of 15 mph, and should carry your 5 to 7 miles before needing a recharge. While you can’t get your hands on ‘em just yet, the developer is apparently “getting them ready for sale,” although there’s no word on what they’ll cost or exactly when they’ll be available.

Read - Skatemaster Electric Skateboard [Via Red Ferret]
Read - iShoes [Via Green Daily]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It’s quarterly report time, and we doubt the boys in Redmond mind taking a little shine off Apple’s big day with their first quarter results — especially since Microsoft posted profits of $4.3B on revenues of $13.7B, an increase of 23 percent over last year. The company attributed the great quarter not only to a 90-percent spike in Xbox 360 demand due to what the what analysts are amusingly calling the “Halo effect,” but also to strong performance by both Vista and Office — Microsoft says demand for Vista is “encouraging,” especially in markets like Brazil, India, and China. There wasn’t much mention of the company’s recent investment in Facebook or how Bill and the boys plan on reversing the online division’s loss of $264M, but when you’re playing around with four billion in profits, we suppose you can ignore pocket change like that.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, GPS

It’s a bit behind schedule, but Russia’s GPS-challenging GLONASS satellite navigation looks to have just taken a fairly big step forward, with three satellites now on their way into orbit after hitching a ride on a Proton-K booster rocket that blasted off from Baikonur, Kazakhstan earlier today. According to Reuters, this is also the first launch of a Proton-K rocket since launches were suspended in September, after a booster failed and spilled highly toxic fuel into the Kazakh countryside. No word if Russia still expects the entire GLONASS system to be ready by 2009 as it has said earlier, but it has five more satellites to launch by the end of the year if it wants to keep up the pace it set out for itself.

[Photo courtesy of RussiaToday]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Home Entertainment, Peripherals

Have control issues do ya? Good, then go ahead and revel in your caffeine-fueled angst with this DIY TV Remote Jammer. The hack inserts an IR blocking circuit into a standard, working remote. The hacked remote blocks the original remote used by the unsuspecting spouse or kid while still giving you your entitled reign over the home entertainment center. Mind you, this hack isn’t for sissies or anyone who thinks a breadboard is for slicing up the Wonder. Still, in the end, we’re sure it’ll be worth it.

[Via Make:]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Laptops

While the OLPC Foundation is no stranger to unconventional power sources, a team working in a village near Mumbai now looks to be taking things to a whole new level, with them currently experimenting with a cow-powered generator to keep the laptops charged up. According to OLPC’s Arjun Sarwal, the makeshift rig uses a system of belts and pulleys to drive a dynamo taken from an old Fiat, with the cows (which are plentiful in the area) providing all the necessary brute force. Sarwal apparently turned to the cows after solar, wind, and water power proved to be unfeasible, and a gas-powered motor proved to be too expensive. No word if he also considered that other form of cow power.

[Photo courtesy of Arjun Sarwal]

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