Assemble Your Very Own Human with This Life-Sized Model Kit

Artist Wayne Chisnall created a pre-assembly model kit of himself. The 12 body parts, er, pieces are all attached to a plastic frame and when put together, is just as big as his real-life self. Like having a life-sized action figure!

This is totally how I imagine how human droids will be made in the near future. Only not lime green.

 

 

Take a Bath in a Waterfall

The Aquamass Parure bathtub is clever! Designer Elvis Pompilio used crystalline pearls backlight by LEDs to make it look like the tub is constantly overflowing with water. Like taking a bath in a waterfall. Or in Avatar-world too, I guess.

 

 

Extravagant iPhone Case Artwork Comes with a Price to Match

Word out of CES is that Intel execs revealed their true feelings about Windows 7 on tablets. Apparently, they lobbied for Microsoft to make a more tablet-friendly OS. Microsoft said no.

 According to Cnet, here's what Tom Kilroy, Senior Vice President of Marketing, had to say:

"Hey, we tried to get [Microsoft] to do a tablet OS (operating system) for a long time. Us, and others like Dell," said Tom Kilroy, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Sales and Marketing Group, speaking to CNET at an Intel function last night.

Looks like we're not the only ones who think full-blown Win 7 on a tablet is a bad idea.

 

 

Grate That Bar of Soap Like It's a Block of Cheap Cheddar

The designer may cite ecological reasons for eschewing the liquid soap for a bar of soap, but me? I just love the sheer brilliance of this concept. Grated soap! I demand all public toilets fit them immediately. 

 

 

Oh hey, your delightfully tacky Louis Vuitton Belt Buckle is ringing

Rarely do ostentatiously tacky and expensive rich people things look gaudy and do something useful at the same time. That's still the case here, as this curious Louis Vuitton belt buckle continues the trend. It's also a cellphone, you see!

 

 

Retro-Looking Analarm Wristwatch Awakens Wearer with Vibration

Hate the buzzer alarm clock, as I do? Radio station alarm mode not up to the task? Maybe vibration will get you out of bed. Since vibrating beds are expensive and a bit tacky, check out this Analarm wristwatch instead.

It's certainly not cheap at $450, but for those of us looking for a trendy, reto way to get up in the morning (and without waking others, perhaps), this could do the trick.

 

 

This Is What Happens When Polaroid Lets Lady Gaga Design Something

Lady Gaga stood up on stage and proclaimed "This is the camera of the future." This futurecam also happens to be a set of shades with a outward-facing 1.4-inch OLED display under each eye. Funky.

The whole world can see itself from your perspective, as images stream from the camera mounted in the bridge of the glasses. Or you can throw in an SD card and play something else. Like photos of your dog. Or your kids. Or a video of a vacation—anything that's in your mind's eye can be literally on your eyes for the world to see.

The spec-obsessed Gaga (remember those rad cigarette shades from Telephone?)says she came up with the concept for the glasses on her Fameball tour. She had a pair of glasses made with iPod screens as lenses; then, using her juice as Polaroid's creative director, she brought the idea to the instacam company and Polarez GL20s were born.

You can share the fabulous photos and videos you take with these glasses with a disguised removable USB in the earpiece, or send pictures straight to a printer via Bluetooth. They'll be available around springtime this year, though pricing information is not available yet.

An iPhone Case That Opens Beer Bottles Too

The iBottle iPhone case combines two of the modern man's most used tools—his phone and a bottle opener—in one. This way, you'll always know where your phone is when you drink.

It's 20 bucks for the 3G/3GS version. The iPhone 4 version is available for pre-order (for the same price) and coming this month.

 

 

Wooden Cuckoo Clock Disguises the Reason You're So Cool

I love this wooden fan from Dutch designer Luc Van Hoeckel, who used the original Black Forest design of cuckoo clocks to create a self-propelling fan. Once the weight-toggles are dropped, the fan starts churning. Beautiful.

 

 

It's a Chair, It's Made From Wood and It's Flexible

Wooden furniture is easy on the eyes, but not always the most comfortable thing to sit on for extended periods. This "Spring Wood" design aims to change that, by cutting wooden chairs in such a way that they become flexible.

 

 

The Nike+ SportWatch GPS Has TomTom and an Attitude

It's a new year, which means new resolutions to get in shape. Let technology help you! Don't fight it! The Nike+ SportWatch, powered by TomTOM GPS, will bug you when you forget to run and encourage you when you do.

It's like your own personal trainer...on your wrist! The SportWatch GPS will bug you with run reminders when you haven't logged a run in five days, you'll get "attaboys" for achieving run records, and you can plug the watch directly into your computer to interface with nikeplus.com.

 

 

Never Worry About Expired Food Again

Developed by British professor Andrew Mills, this bag stores food and reacts to changes in the food chemicals or the oxygen levels inside the bag. When the those changes reach a certain point, the bag changes color. And if you have yet to open the food in question, it will also change color if its seal has been broken.

The UK government says its citizens waste over 400,000 tons of food a year, nearly 40,000 tons of which was never opened. They estimate this bag could help reduce waste by 8.3 tons in the UK.

 

 

Verizon's First LTE Wi-Fi Hotspots

Until now, all of Verizon's 4G has been packed inside dongles. Samsung and Novatel's LTE hotspots will let you spread the 4G around with Wi-Fi. Slightly thicker than the old MiFi.

No price or date—or battery life spec—for Samsung's 4G Hotspot or Novatel's MiFi 4510L yet, unfortunately. Just that they'll support up to 5 devices.

 

 

Man Survives Without Using Soap For 18 Months—Could You?

What would happen if you went a year and a half without washing with soap and shampoo? Would your girlfriend ditch you? Friends loathe having to invite you 'round? Or, like Richard Nikoley and Sean Bonner, would life just...go on?

Nikoley's gone without either for 18 months now, and Bonner, inspired by Nikoley, just a year. Both claim life is much easier now, with Nikoley seeing some pleasant bonuses:

"What I've found over these 18 months is that I never even thought of the money I was saving. Hell, a decent sized bottle of shampoo and body wash would last me months anyway. Oh, and then there's the travel size versions. No, what has made this experience oh so satisfying is that I don't have to worry about any of that anymore — ever. Don't have to buy it. Don't have to carry it. Don't ever run out of it. Don't have to get it tossed in the dumpster by TSA goons."

Bonner, writing on Boing Boing, can't see himself ever going back to buying bottles of chemicals:

"The future? I will definitely be sticking with this. I'm still annoyed it took me 35 years to learn what I clearly already knew as a baby kicking and screaming when my parents tried to wash my hair. At least that's what I want to assume I knew back then. I know now, but I'd still rather not think about how much I spent on soap and shampoo and related products over the years when they were likely causing all the problems I was trying to protect against."

Supposedly one in 230 million people around the world are allergic to water, and cannot bathe without their skin being brought out in rashes, so suffer far worse than Nikoley and Bonner would if forced into a shower with a bar of soap. But would you go 18 months without using cleansing products on your skin or hair?

Samsung's 9 Series Laptop Takes the MacBook Air Head-On

It looks like the 13-inch MacBook Air finally has some serious competition: the 13-inchSamsung 9 Series is a shade lighter, a touch thinner, and looks like the Air's evil twin.

The differences in size and weight may amount to not much more than a rounding error—2.89 pounds to the Air's 2.9, and profiles of .64 inches versus .68—but its black metal finish and sleek curves make it look like it belongs on the deck of the Death Star.

The 9 Series packs a 1.4GHz second-gen Core i5 processor, including Intel's much-improved integrated graphics, and claims a downright decent 6.5 hours of battery life. You're also looking at 4GB RAM, a 128GB SSD, and a, surprisingly for the frame, a 1.5watt subwoofer. Gilding this very thin lily are USB 3.0 and built-in WiMax 4G.

Which, of course, is going to cost you. The 9 Series comes this February with a $1600 starting price.

 

 

A Fungus Is Destroying The World's Bananas

Tropical Race Four, a soil-born fungus, has been destroying bananas across the world. It kills the plant and makes bananas smell like garbage. That deadly fungus is expected to hit Central America, which is where we get all our bananas from.

There are a thousand types of bananas in the world but only one represents 99% of the banana export market. That'd be the Cavendish banana. Cavendish bananas dominate the export market because they provide farmers "with a high yield of palatable fruit that can endure overseas trip without ripening too quickly or bruising too easily".

One problem, though. By relying solely on the Cavendish banana (and clones of the Cavendish), one disease can wipe out a whole ton o' bananas in one sweeping motion. Tropical Race Four is that disease, and it's already wiped out Cavendish bananas in Asia and Australia with newspapers around the world calling it the "HIV of banana plantations".

The funny thing is the Cavendish banana actually replaced another banana (Gros Michel) in the 1950's because that one got stricken with the Panama disease. History is repeating itself but this time scientists are working feverishly in an attempt to save our banana population. Let's hope they succeed.

 

 

iFlash Lights Up Dark Scenes for Flash-Less iDevice Photographers

If you're constantly disappointed with your iPhone 3G, 3GS, or iPod Touch's camera performance in low light scenarios, the iFlash could be just what you need. It's $29.95 and plugs into your iDevice's docking port.

The iFlash can conveniently fit underneath most cases and can also be repurposed as an LED flashlight. According to the iFlash's makers, by attaching the module to your iPhone with a plastic 3.5mm jack it can dangle like a phone charm, but that sounds highly unappealing.

SDXC Cards Go to 128GB

We're still a long ways from the 2TB SDXC. At $700, the card's clearly aimed at the professional market. It's best to think of this more as a neat technological breakthrough than something to add to your shopping list.

The 128GB Lexar should be available, along with its 64GB cousin ($400), this spring.

 

 

Mighty Mouse Has One Less Gene, Lives 20% Longer

Sorry, Apple. Researchers have already created a mightier mouse: By deleting a single gene from a mouse's genetic makeup, they've enabled it to suffer fewer age related ailments and live 20% longer. On humans, that'd be about 16 bonus years.

So what exactly did those crazy scientists do? They bred mice with the "gene that produces the protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1)" disabled. The effects of this are a bit extreme:

The change mimicked the effect of keeping the mice on a calorie-restricted diet. Severely restricting the diets of yeast, bacteria, mice and primates have granted these animals unnaturally long lives. For humans, however, maintaining a diet of near starvation would be difficult at best

That last part's the bad news so far, but researchers are conducting further studies particularly targeting the S6K1 protein as it seems to have a direct link to longevity in mice. There are hopes that the benefits will one day be reproduced with drugs so that we don't have to starve ourselves for longer lives and prettier looks.

 

 

This Mouse Knows How to Tweet

I'm not even talking about Twitter. Thanks to the wonderful world of genetic engineering (which is the greatest thing ever), this mouse no longer squeaks. It tweets. Yes, like a bird.

The tweeting ability of the mouse actually came about by accident. Sort of. As AFP tells it, scientists at the University of Osaka were working on a study to see how genetic mutation facilitates evolution. So after breeding genetically modified mice that were prone to copy DNA wrong, they happened upon one mouse that could unexpectedly tweet. They've since bred over a hundred of these "singing mice."

Scientists are especially intrigued by this, because tweeting among birds functions as a low-level language for them. So they believe these noises from the tweeting mouse aren't entirely as random as the normal squeak. And they're also curious how it will affect normal, non-tweeting mice exposed to these sounds.