Made by artist and photographer Mishka Henner, the width of each page in Astronomical represents a distance of 1 million kilometers (about 621,000 miles). Naturally it begins with the sun in the first two pages of volume 1. The rest of the books are nothing but blackness, interspersed with the planets where appropriate. The picture above shows the Earth – we’re on page 155 of volume 1. Meanwhile Pluto is on the 6,000th page of the set. Perhaps there are aliens lurking in the other pages.

This read-through really drives the point of the collection home:

Believe it or not, you can actually buy your own copy of Astronomical for your own bookshelf. Contact Mishka and he’ll gladly make you a whole set for £100 (~$157 USD). Honestly I think we just need the one set and any more would be a waste of paper, but that’s just my two cents.

[via io9 & CultureLab via Laughing Squid]

I love the attention to detail in the drawing, like the broken Narsil sword from Lord of the Rings, the District 9 rifle and that… that pixelated hammer. Is that from Donkey Kong or Ice Climbers? I wish I was geeky enough to be able to identify all of these items, but alas, I’m not. Here’s a numbered version of the drawing:

I wonder if Tenten can fit all those weapons in a single scroll. She probably can. You can buy the weLoaded T-Shirt at Supermarket for $25 (USD). I think I’ve found my new wallpaper.

[via likecool]

The other cool thing about these bookends is that they are light up. Needless to say that they require rechargeable batteries. What was the last time your bookends needed batteries?

Anyway, if these tickle your fancy, expect to pay about $50 at the Star Wars Shop. They won’t win any awards for good looks, but they are a neat gimmick to have around your books. (Look, I made a rhyme.)

[via Ubergizmo]

Watch and be amazed. Freakin’ magic:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I really hope this technology gets refined and popularized. The benefits that the human race would gain from a digital, searchable database of all the world’s books and other written text is immeasurable. As amazing as that sounds, that may just be a part of Ishikawa’s awesome gifts to the world: at the heart of the scanner is what he calls the Super Vision Chip, and he and his team are looking at other applications for it, such as tracking individual bacteria and building a motion-capture system for video games.

[via Wired and IEEE Spectrum]

Nintendo’s latest non-game for their handheld game system has just been released in Europe (and a similar version is available in Japan as well), and while some may scoff at the list of titles, the interface looks wonderful, and reportedly lives up to that impression. The title takes advantage of the DS’s booklike design; readers hold the handheld sideways, and each screen is a page. To “flip” the page, you just run your finger (or stylus) along the bottom of the touchscreen.

Readers can sort and browse the titles in a variety of ways; you can scan through a bookshelf if you like, or search by length of book. If you really can’t decide, or want to approach this whole reading thing in a complicated fashion, you can even complete a questionnaire that will select a book for you. The titles may be available in a dozen other ways, but Nintendo’s turned them into something convenient… and allowed you to hide your book nerd tastes with your gaming gear.

100 Classic Book Collection isn’t yet available in the U.S., nor has it been announced, but Nintendo’s recent lifestyle titles, like Personal Trainer: Cooking and Personal Trainer: Math were both released first in Europe, and it’s likely this will follow.

[via Nine Over Ten]