Digital Camera Binoculars From Thanko Are Perfect For "Ornithologists"

I think we've just stumbled across the answer to that age-old question, "what to buy the man who has everything." Thanko's digital camera binoculars!It's essentially an 8MP camera integrated into a set of binoculars, with two different digital zooms: 4x for the camera, and 8x for the binoculars. It may not be the first camera-binoculars, but for the price the 8MP image sensor is the best in its range. There's even a pop-up 1.5-inch TFT LCD screen, SD/MMC card slot and USB port. Video resolution is a measly 320 x 240 at 30fps, but considering this is a FRICKIN' CAMERA-ON-A-BINOCULAR I don't think we're too worried.

F-18 Coming Out of Hyperspace

Apparently, the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets of the Royal Australian Air Force have teleporting powers. That, or the Australians have discovered a way to magically create combat jets out of vapor.

Click to see the high definition image above.

Or maybe they are just vapor trails forming on the aircraft's wings, as the RAAF pilots maneuver at low altitude.

The Spyder III, the World's Most Powerful Portable Laser, Is a Real Life Lightsaber

Built with the blue-laser diode of a dismantled Casio Green Slim projector, the $200 Spyder III is the world's most powerful portable laser. It can permanently blind you and set your skin—or anything else, really—on fire almost instantly.

"With greater power comes the need for greater responsibility." That's actually what Wicked Lasers, the mad geniuses behind the Spyder III, wrote to us in an email describing this terrifying piece of technology. They wanted to make one thing very clear: this is not merely a laser pointer, and it's certainly not a toy. What it is, really, is a weapon.

The diodes in Casio's new mercury-free Green Slim projectors apparently allow for unprecedentedly powerful portable lasers, and Wicked Lasers has gleefully harvested them for the 1 Watt Spyder III. Comparing it to the $2000 Sonar, the company's reigning portable laser powerhouse, Wicked Lasers explains that the blue Spyder III laser is 2000 times brighter to the human eye, and, at $200, 1/10th the price.

Wicked Lasers is throwing in a free pair of safety glasses with the purchase of a Spyder III, which might make wielding one marginally safer, but just writing this post has left me terrified enough to stay as far away from these things as possible. For a few weeks, anyway, until our review unit gets here.

Just Chillin' In My Gigantic Packing Tape Spider Web

What's the coolest thing you can do with 117,000 feet of packing tape? If you said anything besides building a humongous, self-supporting spider web inside a historic Viennese stock exchange, then you are oh so very wrong. Let's explore!

I have never been more envious of Fast Company, who was on-site when this awesome project was constructed:

There are a lot of situations in which being a fly on the wall would be cool, but at the DMY Berlin Design Fair (also home of that funky smoke machine), being a fly caught in the spider's web is even cooler.

June 2, 1954: Airplane Takes Off, Lands Vertically

1954: A Convair XFY-1 Pogo aircraft makes a vertical takeoff and landing. It's a milestone in the checkered history of VTOL aircraft.

Using designs captured from the Germans, the Navy and the newly formed Air Force crafted two design studies in 1947 for creating a fixed-wing vertical-takeoff-and-landing, or VTOL, aircraft. The goal of the project was to build a fighter that could protect convoys but not require a large landing area.

Lockheed and Convair both won contracts in May 1951 to build prototypes of the aircraft, which resembled squat fighter planes standing on their tails. That earned the nickname (or epithet?) "Tail Sitter."

The prototype point-defense interceptor didn't need a runway, but that was about the only thing in its favor. It used huge counter-rotating propellors on its nose to lift off like a helicopter - a very heavy helicopter.

After liftoff, it simply turned its nose horizontal and flew like, well a clumsy prop plane with big propellers. Landing was a matter of reversing the process and shizzing back into its helicopter mode to set down on its ample tail assembly.

The Navy gave Convair the only engine rated for vertical takeoffs and landings, allowing its aircraft - the XFY-1 Pogo - to actually make several vertical ascents and multiple transitions to horizontal flight. Did we say clumsy? This bird was a bear to fly.

The Air Force's version, the Lockheed XFV-1, used a less-powerful engine and never made a vertical takeoff. it was eventually fitted with conventional landing gear and made 32 horizontal flights.

Despite a lot of media hoopla, the VTOL had a very short moment in the sun. The Pentagon cast its lot instead with fast horizontal jets and powerful helicopters. Subsequent military experience with tilt-rotor aircraft has been less than happy.

The Gates of Hell Just Opened In Guatemala

"This can't be real" was my first thought. Then I checked the source: The Guatemalan government. This sinkhole appeared last sunday in a street intersection of Ciudad de Guatemala. Just looking at the photo gives me vertigo.

Click on the images to see the high resolution version.

A sinkhole is a natural depression caused by the removal of underground soil by water. Usually, it happens when the substrate is formed by limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds or any other rock that is easily eroded by water streams. The process could be slow, but sometimes the land just cracks open without notice. In this case, it happened suddenly, swallowing an entire house. The cause: Massive underground water torrents created by tropical storm Agatha."This can't be real" was my first thought. Then I checked the source: The Guatemalan government. This sinkhole appeared last sunday in a street intersection of Ciudad de Guatemala. Just looking at the photo gives me vertigo.

Click on the images to see the high resolution version.

A sinkhole is a natural depression caused by the removal of underground soil by water. Usually, it happens when the substrate is formed by limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds or any other rock that is easily eroded by water streams. The process could be slow, but sometimes the land just cracks open without notice. In this case, it happened suddenly, swallowing an entire house. The cause: Massive underground water torrents created by tropical storm Agatha. Judging by the picture above, it seems like at least the last part is true.

This Is How You Lift a Sunken Warship Out of the Sea

With huge chains and honking cranes, that's how. Example: This Republic of Korea Navy's corvette—half of it, actually—floating over the sea's surface. And before you cry "PHOTOSHOP!", check out the scene from a distance.

It's the Cheonan, a South Korean Pohang-class corvette that broke in two on March 26. According to an international investigation, the cause was a torpedo fired from a North Korean Yeono class miniature submarine, killing 46 crew members. A few weeks later, on April 15, the South Korean Navy recovered the stern part from the bottom of the sea using a giant floating crane. On April 24, the bow was recovered.

Conquer Your Fear of Creepy Crawlies With Augmented Reality

A lot of augmented reality applications we've seen thus far have seemed a little, well, excessive. But if AR can put me at peace with spiders, snakes, cockroaches, and the rest? That's a feat deserving of a Nobel Prize.

In a study described in an upcoming edition of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, six female participants, all of whom were totally freaked out by cockroaches in real life, were outfitted with AR helmets and bombarded with simulated cockroaches. They were all still totally freaked out, just like they would be if confronted with the real things. That's as far as the study got.

But it's an important first step in applying augmented reality to exposure therapy, a technique by which individuals overcome phobias through exposure to the objects they fear. Similar techniques have been used for years to treat returning soldiers' Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with virtual reality video games, and this study only shows that in some less extreme cases simulated stimuli can induce fear just like the real thing. But if AR exposure therapy proves to be effective, it could help countless individuals work past their everyday hang-ups: heights, enclosed spaces, subways, rats, dogs, bugs, and the rest. Maybe I'll finally be able to leave my apartment.

Medal of Honor 2010

NASA Finds Outer Space 65 Feet Underwater

NASA may not be sending anyone to the moon or Mars in the near future, but they've discovered the next best thing: an undersea laboratory three miles off of Key Largo. It's how astronauts do Space Camp.

The NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations—its friends call it Neemo—has been around for nearly a decade. This past Monday marked the kickoff of its 14th mission, sending six aquanauts down to the underwater Aquarius lab:

During their two weeks in the laboratory, the aquanauts will go on simulated spacewalks, operate a crane and perform other tasks of the sort astronauts would face in setting up a habitat on another planet. "The primary objectives are based on engineering and testing and operations design for planetary exploration," said William Todd, the project manager for the Neemo 14 mission.

Other particulars that authenticate the experience: the buoyancy of diving suits can be adjusted to reflect the one-sixth gravity of the moon of the three-eighths gravity of Mars. Communications are lagged twenty minutes, as they would be on a real Mars mission.

So why is this important now? Because the future of manned space flight is in serious political jeopardy. Because today the Senate Committee on on Commerce, Science, and Technology will hold hearings on that future. And because despite all of that uncertainty, whatever happens, it's important to know that we're prepared for whatever space exploration throws at us.

LG 3DTVs and Xbox 360s Sold Together In South Korea For 3D Gaming

Thanks to LG's Flickr, we now know that 3D gaming on the Xbox 360 is possible—with LG 3DTVs, at least. The details are sketchy due to the translation, but it appears they'll be sold together in South Korea. The Flickr account, after translation, says that LG and Microsoft Korea have entered a "strategic partnership" to bundle the Xbox 360 and LG's LX9500 (which will come in 47 and 55-inch sizes when it goes on sale this May/June) 3DTV model together. In South Korea, more than 1,000 stores will apparently launch 3D gaming areas showing LG 3DTVs and Xbox 360 gaming, with the initiative being rolled out to Asia Pacific regions. No word on whether the western world will see any love from LG and Xbox 360, sadly.

The European Suborbital Shuttle

Following the trail of SpaceShipTwo, Dassault has been working on a new suborbital civilian spacecraft. Not to be confused with the Future High Altitude High speed Transport 20XX, the new aircraft could be a 11-ton vehicle derived from their VEHRA satellite launcher. VEHRA and VSH—the name of the new civilian vehicle—are both air launched, and "based on the X-38 experimental lifting body from NASA, for which Dassault Aviation had defined the shape." While VEHRA will have heavy versions capable of putting a 7-ton payload in low orbit, VSH is only designed to bring tourists into the edge of space, flying at Mach 3.5. If you don't have the money for this kind of trip, don't worry. It looks like you have plenty of time to save those purple rupees, as the aircraft is still in the first stages of development.

This Boat Is Perfect for Vacation, Living, or Weather Apocalypse

According to the designer, the solar-powered Arkki is the kind of boat you would like to have in case the ice caps melt. He's wrong. It's the kind of boat I would like to have right now. Apparently designed by Cylons, the trimaran's surface is covered with multilayered solar panels, which power the ship and can bring her up to 8 knots. The hull is made of concrete and reinforced with plastic fibers. What I like most about Arkki is that it is designed to be a house. And a very large one at that: It has 1647 feet of interior space and a 1076-foot exterior wood deck. It's not as big as the WHY, but it looks much better. So good, in fact, that Sean Connery would like to use it if he were playing Noah in a movie.

Submarine-Powerboat Hybrid Soon To Be On Sale For $3.5 Million

Not even James Bond would scoff at the beautiful Hyper-Sub. After all, how could he not want to step foot onto a $3.5 million submersible powerboat? We've been teased for quite a while with whispers of this craft designed by Marion HSPD, but now the powerboat-submarine hybrid will finally be heading to the production line.

Real Flying Nazi Soldiers With Jet Packs

here's probably only one thing more terrifying than Nazi soldiers: Nazi soldiers with jet packs—and Nazi UFOs piloted by nefarious hamsters. The difference is that, while the UFOs never existed, the Nazi jet pack did: Behold, the Himmelstürmer. The Himmelstürmer—or Skystormer—used a pulse jet engine, like the one that powered the Fieseler Fi 103 flying bomb. The Fi 103 was the official name of the the infamous V-1 Buzz Bomb , which terrorized England for a while, until the RAF pilots learnt to shoot it down over the Channel... and the Nazis introduced the V-2 ballistic missile, invented by Saturn V rocket scientist Wernher von Braun. The Himmelstürmer was designed for one purpose: To make Nazi soldiers in their engineering corps to jump over natural enemy defenses, like minefields, barbed wire, rivers, or any other large obstacle. It had two components. The main pulse engine—on the back—pushed up and forward. A second pulse engine on the front pushed only up. The engineer throttled the back engine to make him jump over greater or shorter distances. It consumed very little fuel, never ran hot, and didn't require special clothing because it wasn't designed to run for long period of times. All while achieving 180 feet jumps at an altitude of 50 feet. Impressive. Fortunately, like all their secret super-weapons, it arrived late in the war. While no photos of the Himmelstürmer remain—the image above is a recreation—Bell Aerosystems got the devices at the end of the war, but changed its design thinking they could turn every soldier into Superman, instead of just super-jumpers. Their version, however, wasn't reliable enough for real action, and was canned after a few years.

Shell Helix Ultra Transparent Car - The Making Of

Who Wants A Watch Containing Volcanic Ash From Last Week's Icelandic Eruption?

With you guessed it volcanic ash. Pretty fast, considering it only erupted last week.Romain Jerome's design looks burnt to the crisp, but if that's the style your wrist has been craving then be quick there's just one available. The price isn't listed as it's one of those cases where if you have to ask you really can't afford it—but considering there's still thousands of stranded people all across the world trying to fly home via Europe, you could probably trade them a loan of your speedboat for their far-classier Rolex.

Devon Tread 1 Watch Keeps Your Wrist Busy At All Times

Devon claims that their $15,000 Tread 1 watch, a motorized, belt-driven contraption, is "a big, bold sexy declaration of independence from the status quo." The status quo, in this case, being affordable, legible, sensible timepieces. But all those belts.If your sense of what defines a good watch is how many moving parts it has, and, better still, how many of those moving parts you can see at any given time, then the Devon Timepieces Tread 1 would be right at home on your wrist.All of the numbers are on independent belts, carefully interwoven, as the company says, to give "the illusion that the parts are floating." Floating there on your honking $15,000 watch, that is. The belts are driven by four tiny motors, all of which are coordinated by an on board microprocessor. Just for good measure, the window is made of a bulletproof polycarbonate.

Remote Control DSLR BeetleCam Goes On Ground-Level Photo Safari

Some wildlife photographers spend months immersed in muck to capture the perfect shot. The Burrard-Lucas brothers decided to let an RC car do the dirty work. Their BeetleCam came face-to-face with lions, elephants, and buffalo and captured these stunning shots:The BeetleCam is the ingenuous creation of Will and Matt Burrard-Lucas, two acclaimed UK wildlife photographers who wanted to get up close and personal with some of Africa's most dangerous animals (with a wide-angle lens, natch).They strapped a Canon EOS 400D on top of a four-wheel drive buggy and rigged up one controller to operate the entire contraption. The photographs, recovered only after the BeetleCam was "promptly mauled, and carried off into the bush" by a pride of lions, show the animals from a unique, "I'm-a-small-rodent-about-to-get-snacked-on" perspective.

The Page: An E-Ink Newspaper That Won't Smudge Your Fingers

Sleek Audio's Aluminum and Carbon Fiber SA7 Headphones Will Last For Years

Buy these headphones, and they'll last your whole life. Or so Sleek Audio claims—but at $400, you'd hope they'd last longer than your last pair of Sennheisers at leastPictured above is the latest SA7 pair, which are made from military-grade solid aluminum and carbon fiber, with the two drivers both protected by shock-absorbent silicone which should most definitely survive your daily use—these babies can withstand 14,000 Gs, according to Sleek Audio.Audio quality is actually heightened by the aluminum design, with an extra octave of sound promised thanks to the extra space created by using the material. On sale soon, they'll be priced between $350 - $400, with the wireless option costing $100 extra

Bulletproof luxury submarine

Aspiring Bond villains take note: there's only one of these Nautilus VAS luxury submersibles on the market today, so if you don't act fast you risk losing out on a $2.7 million submersible joyride like few others.The VAS's "military grade" construction (which I'm assuming means "bulletproof," because life's more fun that way, but in full disclosure it could well not be) may leave it blimp-like in exterior appearance, but on the inside it's all class: a restroom, a minibar, video/music players, even full size stairs! It's perfect for you yacht owners who are starting to get the feeling that being above water is for plebes.The Nautilus VAS Mark III has room for five passengers and can travel up to six knots, and you can expect a total of up to four days underwater time without fear of drowning. It also features a Diver Lockout, meaning you can enter and exit at whim for a fully formed life under the sea.

Pilotless Navy Helicopter Busts Cocaine Deal During Trial Run

The US Navy's unmanned "Fire Scout" helicopter was out minding its own business on a trial run, when its home base warship detected a suspicious speedboat on radar. That's when Robocopter kicked into high pursuit—filming the whole way.

The subsequent three-hour chase finally ended when the speedboat rendezvoused with a fishing boat, at which time a U.S. Coastguard Law Enforcement Detachment unit from the USS McInerney swarmed. What they found: 60 kilos of cocaine, with another 200 kilos of narcotics presumed jettisoned. Oh, and all sorts of bad guy drug traffickers.

The Ultimate La-Z-Boy

You can have your plush periwinkle recliner with optional Big Gulp holder. I'm sticking with the Galatea Spa chair by designer Verenice Macedo. The reasons I like this chair are quite simple: it looks comfortable, it massages you and, most importantly, it's fitted with some badass 180-degree screen that looks multi-tasking friendly (and far more ergonomic than any tablet or laptop). Now if only the chair were any more attainable than the life of rest and relaxation. Like parking your prop plane on a sandbar for lunch, the Galatea Spa chair is little more than a fantasy.

Sensor Armor Transforms Pitchers Into Finely Honed Machines

With any sport, the more exhausted you become, the more prone you are to injury. In baseball, this is especially a problem for pitchers. But a new shirt can track a pitcher's form in real time Designed by three engineering students from Northeastern University, their smart shirt is essentially Under Armor fitted with sensors and a grid of conductive thread. When connected to a PC (currently a hardwire connection, soon to be wireless), the shirt can data-log every pitch thrown in a game, allowing managers and coaches to analyze the effects of fatigue on form in real time while possibly better predicting when relief will need to step in. And with so many billions of dollars invested in the pro sports industry, it's not hard to imagine a time, quite soon, when every athlete will be monitored and optimized for performance during a game.

EVERYONE'S DOING IT

Portable PS3 Slim...But Only In Japan

The PS3 Slim wasn't much lighter than the previous model, but that hasn't stopped crafty Japanese manufacturer Hori from cobbling together a portable PS3 Slim with a 720p LCD screen. It also plays Blu-rays, so if you look at it like a portable Blu-ray player as well, then it's far cheaper than buying a new laptop with Blu-ray support. On sale only in Japan at the end of May, it'll be $275.

Zombie mode on ipad

Featuring 2 incredible Zombie maps and a host of iPad-specific improvements, Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies for iPad brings one of the most successful iPhone games to the iPad and is a remarkable example of what can be done on the platform.