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design

Buy a sweet space suit for $10,000

The commercialization of space travel is well on its way. That means you can't just pop over to NASA and borrow a space suit for your private space flight, which leaves room for some upstarts to get in on the space-clothing action.

Final Frontier Design is working on a lightweight, relatively inexpensive space suit and is looking for $20,000 on Kickstarter to boost the project. The company has already built two generations of suits but is looking to improve the design with a retractable helmet, better gloves, a carbon fiber waist ring, and higher operating pressure.… Read more

Action figures immortalized in artsy lamps

Take a look at this eccentric array of action figure lamps by U.K. firm Evil Robot Designs. They feature painted pint-size superstars from geeky films, video games, and comic books.

Each of the six lamps in the collection has an ear-catching name like Alien Nation and Forbidden Planet. It would take paragraphs to list all the characters integrated into the 2-foot fixtures, but some notables (not mentioned in the photo captions) include Mysterio; Green Goblin; evil xenomorphs from the "Alien" movie series; He-Man; Bunnygirl "Suzumiya Haruhi"; and many more. … Read more

Chipped and tuned, Volvo C30 shows Swedish performance

Volvo long staked its reputation on safety, so you would not expect a hot hatchback to come from the Swedish automaker. But fit the little C30 with Volvo's R-Design trim and give it the new Polestar engine software, and the car becomes a delight to shoot down a twisty road.

The car did not make any more noise than a standard C30, the only things announcing the extra power being a blue badge on its butt and ample response to the gas pedal. The side-grip shifter for the six-speed manual slipped through the gate with European precision, but the … Read more

Canvas 14 creates sophisticated tech illustrations

Canvas 14 from ACD Systems is an enterprise-class technical illustration program. With it, you can create, refine, and publish sophisticated illustrations, animations, and documents.

It combines the drawing and illustrating features of a premium graphics app, the 3D modeling and drafting capabilities of CAD, and the collaborative capabilities of a productivity suite in one surprisingly intuitive package. A quick-start guide, copious documentation, and a helpful sidebar called the Canvas Assistant made getting to know this capable but complex software easier than we expected.

To try Canvas 14 for free, you must select that option during installation and complete the process … Read more

Building a better bladder for an H20-thirsty world

How do you design a water bottle for the end of the world?

That's the question that was put to the team at Japanese design-engineering firm Takram, which has worked with, among others, Toshiba, NTT Docomo, and Toyota. Their novel response? Forget about the bottle and create artificial organs that could be implanted in humans to make their bodies more efficiently use what water is available should resources become scarce.… Read more

Hefty book serves up printed version of Google search results

"If the Internet goes off, you may need this reference book."

So says artist and designer Ben West on his Web site. West, along with colleague Felix Heyes, has created an impressive, 1,240-page tome made up of the first result produced by a Google Images search on each of the 21,000 or so words found in an everyday dictionary.… Read more

Bing plugs Encyclopedia Britannica into its search results

In the quest for knowledge, Microsoft's Bing announced a partnership with Encyclopedia Britannica today. Now, alongside all other results -- like Wikipedia and Web pages -- users will see a box of information with an image linking to results from Britannica's online encyclopedia.

"A core focus for us here at Bing has been about delivering relevant information in a more organized way to help you find what you need more quickly and get stuff done," Bing's principal development lead Franco Salvetti wrote in a blog post. "We're very excited to collaborate with Encyclopedia … Read more

No brains needed to use this 'smartphone' -- they're included

"Help! I'm being attacked by an escaped mutant brain on the streets of Sao Paulo! Call the..." <sluuuuuuuuurp>

Wait, gentle reader, wait. Before you go all Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" on us and start tweeting a bunch of panic-stricken warnings, allow us to inform you that this is not, in fact, an escaped mutant brain. It's actually part of "Call Parade," a promo event being put on in Brazil's largest city by telephone company Vivo and street-events company toptrends.… Read more

Last Moment Robot: 'End of life detected'

As a woman lies on a mattress on the floor, a small white machine attached to her outstretched right arm offers the following words:

I am the Last Moment Robot. I am here to help you and guide you through your last moment on Earth. I am sorry that your family and friends can't be with you right now, but don't be afraid. I am here to comfort you. You are not alone, you are with me. Your family and friends love you very much, they will remember you after you are gone.

Jarred by the notion of someone dying in the company of a machine instead of loved ones (or at least other humans)? That's partly the point. … Read more