Our stringer for all things R/C, Francesco Fondi, sent us word of this amazing Lego/ NXT-based Bluetooth and phone-controlled Volvo 8×8 truck: This is a really impressive creation from ATRX, the same AFOL (Adult Fan of Lego) behind the NXT Boat. This Volvo FL12, version 8×8 features all wheel drive, 4-wheel steering, full double wishbone […]
This latest version of Mikal Hart’s original reverse geocache puzzle–a box that only opens in one location on the Earth’s surface–is by Markus. At just 3.75″ on its longest side, Markus’s box is by far the most compact and elegant version of the puzzle I have ever seen. [via Hack a Day]
These glueless interlocking table bases based on burr puzzles are from Bulgarian architect Petar Zaharinov. I discovered them while perusing last year’s entries to the Nob Yoshigahara Puzzle Design Competition.
Turns out that the most useless machine (how-to coming up in MAKE Vol. 23) also makes a great cat toy! This Japanese version is sold as a bank that grabs a coin when you place it in the “bowl switch,” which is triggered by the cat in this video. [via Cute Overload]
This is a twitter experiment enabling twitter users real time interaction with a physical art installation. The installation is a pyramid made from 5000 marbles, triggered by 5000 tweets. On its way to the pyramid each marble falls into a marble run filled with ramps, tunnels, pinwheels. You will see your marbles way through the […]
This is a concept design, aka Rain Drum, from one Dong Min Park, whose personal web presence, if it exists, seems to be eluding me, possibly because it originates somewhere in Asia and is completely orthogonal to my English-language googling.
Another hint that whoever created these images is not a native English speaker: The onomatopoeia he or she has chosen for the sound of rain striking the membranes is “doom,” which is not exactly great marketing, but is pretty amusing, both in and of itself, and because it evokes The Doom Song from Invader Zim.
This is a pretty amazing folding transformation of a 2-unit cube into a pair of stellated rhombic dodecahedra. You can buy the (fairly pricey) toy version pictured above from the Museum of Modern Art. It is also possible to make your own, from paper, by following the instructions in the video below. It is, reportedly, a very rewarding if time-consuming process. You can download the pattern here.
