Throw away fire extinguisher

The Japanese are at it again. This product labeled SAT-119 is a throw away fire extinguisher. Apparently it is as simple as throwing a can into a fire and Tadd-Dah! the fire goes away.

The product is made by a Tokyo company called Bonex. It seems that they have portable extinguishers as well as wall extinguishers that can be mounted. The website mentions that as of March 2009 the Tokyo fire department has officially begun using the product in action.

One thing I can't seem to figure out is what is in the pot that the man is throwing into the fire before they throw the can. I am wondering if the fire extinguisher is reliant on that substance. Either way, it's very cool and efficient.

Also, If this thing releases a smoke/dust like that of a Traditional Fire Extinguisher (There is some mature language in the clip but it does deliver a display of a tradition fire extinguisher), it can also be doubled as a great grenade prank. This could potentially help make putting out fires more cost efficient, as well as take the "Antique Prank" to a whole new level. Here's to hoping it makes its way to the U.S.A..

Paper towels are a thing of the past

This is it! What we have all been praying for late at night has finally been built. Our world as we know it will never be the same again. I introduce to you, the Furukawa Kikou "SWITL", or to me, the spilt condiment picker-upper.

Who would have thought, huh? Just think, now you may be able to spend a large amount of money to buy a machine that picks up your spilt thousand island salad dressing off of your table. This is entrepreneurship at its finest. This machine has a strangle hold on the paper towel market. Who is going to want to spend two dollars on some Bounty when you can whip out this thing?

This is living proof that there is a lot of free time in the world. Furukawa Kikou is a Japanese company and my next wish is that they sell the idea to an American company so we can enjoy late night informercials about it. This is a pretty cool gadget. I wish I had more information on what it is made out of but my research failed. If anyone can read Japanese check Furukawa Kikou and let me know how it works. If you have stock in Kleenex or Brawny its time to pull out.

Robots are taking over.

Those first 10 seconds or so are pretty boring huh? Yeah, until you realize that thing is not human and that is is a robot. The android was made by Geminoid, a research lab located at Aalbord University in Denmark. Their website says that it is the first of its kind outside of Japan.

Geminoid's first android was built in 2005. Imagine what they are whipping up in that lab right now. Six years is a long time. Apparently six years from now, we're going to have Wooly Mammoths roaming the earth again.

Between this robot and the ping pong juggling ones I posted two weeks ago, I think it is time we bring back one of my childhood TV shows, Robot Wars.  Now that's a good idea.

Someone is bound to win the nobel peace prize sometime soon for some ridiculous robot invention. This android is incredibly impressive. The lab is still working to expand its research and improve on the its next project. They released another android in spring of 2010. At this rate, in the near future no one will have jobs and we will all bow to them.

The Juggling Robot Race

There must be an underground race going on to see who can come up with the best ball juggling robot. The competition is stiff as today I present to you two videos of robots that have impressive juggling talents. I can't say for sure which on is better. At first glance I want to say the airborne robot, but the fact that the stationary one can juggle two balls at once, settles it at a tie in my mind. See for yourself. Which is the more impressive juggler?



In the red corner we have the Quadrotor ball juggler. Here you can see something that looks like it belongs in the movie Wall-E.  Every day we are getting one step closer to a robot apocalypse. This machine can be credited to Mark Muller and Sergei Lupashin. This is not the only machine they work on as you can see at their website.



In the blue corner a robot worked on by Paul Kulchenko and Emo Todorov out of the Movement Control Lab at University of Washington. This machine successfully juggles one ball at a lower distance than the video shown above, but.... skip to 50 seconds in to see its real power. The power to juggle two balls at once.

Both of these machine run on sensors that people way smarter than me have helped build. Win or lose they are both pretty impressive, especially if you were in a robot ping pong ball juggling contest. So I ask again, which is more impressive?

The unicycle on steroids.

First the unicycle, then the Segway, now the Solowheel.



The race to create the "greenest" means of transportation is in full swing. Now on top of hoping that the person on the Segway in front of you falls off, you can have double the opportunity with the invention of the Solowheel. The producer, Inventist, calls it the "smallest, greenest, most convenient People Mover ever invented".

The Solowheel reminds me of a robotic skateboard. It weighs in at a whopping 20lbs. It works like a Segway where you control the speed with the angel of your body. It is also battery operated.

The impressive part to me is the fact that it is so small. A disadvantage to the Segway is where do you put it when you need to go in somewhere? As long as you can lift 20lbs, the Solowheel can be carried into the workplace. You just might look a little dumb doing it. The product is another invention that will make so many of us lazier. If you can walk, you should feel a little ashamed using the Solowheel on a daily basis.

Segways have gotten increasingly popular since their release. Even my University's police department uses them. Hopefully for Inventist, the Solowheel catches on. Let's raise our glasses to all battery powered wheels out there.

Super Computer "Watson" makes IBM proud

I blogged a few weeks ago about IBM's brainchild "Watson." IBM developed Watson basically to establish the fact that they have the capability to turn our planet into a real life I, Robot.  In light of my theory, I suggest everyone does anything and everything that IBM wants. Who knows what they are hiding in their labs.

All jokes aside, Watson showed up strong. The computer smoked Jeopardy! champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. The computer displayed its ability to comprehend even the most abstract questions. It really is impressive what IBM constructed.

I do think it was a little unfair in one aspect. There were many questions that these three geniuses obviously knew the answer too. When this was the case it seemed like Watson was always the first to buzz in. You can see the expressions on especially Ken's face when his finger just was not fast enough. If the questions were presented in Scantron format, I think the scores would be much closer. Anyway, IBM deserves some major credit. The experience was pretty cool to witness. Start the clock on the Chinese to respond with something to one up Watson. 1 pt America.

Shave your head in 20 seconds?

In 30 years we will seriously have more free time than we know how to handle.

I came across the most ridiculous video today. I strongly debate whether this is legitimate or not but if it is, I have come to the conclusion that humans have unlimited potential.

The video is pretty self explanatory, it shows a helmet with four razors blades on the inside. If you turn the helmet on, the blades will move and shave your head in about 20 seconds. Did I mention it is also wired with tubes that inject shaving cream during the process?

Judge for yourself, but seriously, where does the hair go?