Technabob » dangerous

Rage + Steampunk + Laser = Awesome Pistol

Lambert Varias — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:00:56 +0000

Handheld weapon maker Patrick Priebe aka AnselmoFanZero is back with another laserrific armament. It’s a revolver with a design inspired by the Settler Pistol from the FPS game Rage, but with less grime and more brass. Also, instead of bullets, it’s loaded with a battery and fires a laser beam.

I love how the guns’ barrel acts as its battery compartment. I don’t love the laser. It’s BRIGHT. Seriously you might want to wear goggles just for the video. You definitely should wear goggles when firing this pistol because it has a 1.5W blue laser, enough to instantly blind eyes and burn skin.

Priebe said he sold the unit shown in the video for €600 (~$790 USD), but he can also make a “slightly simpler version” for less. I wonder what he’ll make for $5. A drawing of the gun perhaps? If you have more money than I do, just drop him a line on YouTube or Facebook. Also give me some of your riches.

High-Voltage Plasma TV Burnout Is Spectactular, Dangerous

Technabob — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 17:30:23 +0000

After watching countless “will it blend?” videos, I was actually getting pretty burnt out on viewing the destruction of countless innocent gadgets. Maybe it was because of the monotony of watching stuff getting chopped up in a blender. For those of you who’d like to see some stuff destroyed in a different way, you’ve come to the right place now.

What we have here is a video of the demolition of the screen on a defunct LG plasma display, courtesy of a microwave transformer. By connecting the high voltage leads of one of these dangerous transformers to the screen of this plasma, YouTuber Aussie50 puts on a spectactular lightshow, while risking life and limb.

Amazingly, the display doesn’t just peter out after a couple of minutes of high-voltage, but keeps going for almost 15 minutes. Needless to say, playing around with plasma screens and microwave transformers is really dangerous stuff, and you could kill yourself in an instant if you accidentally come in contact with a spark – or flying glass from an exploding plasma screen. Suffice it to say, do not try this at home. Leave it to the professionals (or the professional lunatics like Aussie50.)

[via Doobybrain]

iKnucks Case Turns iPhones into Brass Knuckles

Technabob — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 03:48:48 +0000

If you live in a tough neighborhood – or perhaps one overrun with zombies – you might want to carry something to defend yourself with. While you could go with some brass knuckles, or maybe even some electrified ones, the iKnucks seem like a much more practical idea for today’s gadget-obsessed consumers.

A picture really does say a thousand words with the iKnucks, which doubles as both a case for your iPhone and a set of nasty brass knuckles. Actually, they look more stainless steel than brass from the picture, but that’s just a rendering. They even have spikes on the finger holes to really help dole out some damage.

There aren’t really any other details about the iKnucks, other than the fact that they’ve been posted up on Thingiverse by someone named CMWallace. Many designs posted on Thingiverse can be used to generate a 3D printed version, but it looks like we’ve only got some renderings at this point. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody tries to create a real version at some point. I certainly wouldn’t want to get into a scuffle with someone on their iKnucks outfitted iPhone, would you?

Joerg Sprave Outs the Pump-Action Pencil Launcher: Teachers Run for Cover

Technabob — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 20:00:52 +0000

Another week, another deadly weapon from The Slingshot Channel’s Joerg Sprave. His latest creation, a pump-action weapon that fires pencils at 100 miles per hour.

Dubbed the “Nerd Revenge 2000,” his compact weapon can launch up to 10 sharpened pencils in less than 5 seconds, with a simple shotgun-like pumping. You probably never realized just how dangerous a sharp pencil could be until you watch this video:

Even stock pencils can fly about 15 feet with the launcher, but he’s also doctored up some pencils with archery field tips on the ends to make them truly deadly at a greater distance. Another great weapon build, Joerg. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next. Also, I don’t ever want you mad at me. Ever.

Knuckle Blaster Doles out a Shocking Kind of Knuckle Sandwich

Hazel Chua — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:00:28 +0000

I attended an all-girls school, so there was none of those after-school brawls and fistfights that I heard were a common occurrence at coed or all-boys schools. Some guys “cheat” by wearing brass knuckles because it lets them pack a meaner punch. But what packs the meanest punch of all are these Knuckle Blaster Stun Guns.

These are nothing like brass knuckles. In fact, they’re actually covered with a soft, rubber skin – totally unlike tough and hard brass. It can do way more than what the brass version can because it’s actually a stun gun in disguise, which is why it would totally be unethical to use these in fist fights.

What you can use this for, however, is self-defense – assuming it’s permitted where you live. Stun guns aren’t legal in many places.

Just flip off the safety and power it up in one hand to send a whopping 950,000 volts of shocking pain throughout the crook or perpetrator. A few seconds will send them running in shock, but a longer contact time will eventually bring them to their knees.

And you thought you had a strong punch.

The Knuckle Blaster Stun Gun is available from Amazon for about $48(USD).

[via InStash]

Never Drop a Firecracker Down a Manhole

Hazel Chua — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:00:05 +0000

People all over the world do either crazy stuff or get into stupid messes because of carelessness. One recent incident of stupidity was when this man dropped a firecracker down a manhole in front of his two kids.

Why he chose to do so, I have no idea. Maybe he wanted to give his kids some sort of show, or maybe he was just choosing not to use his noggin. Or maybe he was just plain crazy.

You can see for yourself what happened when the firecracker he dropped ignited the trapped gas down the manhole:

Thank goodness his kids weren’t physically harmed when the manhole blew up and its metal cover went flying. I’m sure they probably won’t want to go near any manholes anytime soon, though. Especially not with their firecracker-wielding father.

[via TDW via Geekologie]

DIY X-Ray Machine Couldn’t Possibly Be Dangerous at All

Technabob — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:00:53 +0000

Electronics and electricity geek Grenadier aspires to someday be a radiologist. But instead of waiting to use a proper X-Ray machine at a hospital or doctor’s office, he decided to build his own at home.

The dangerous looking contraption has at its heart a single Coolidge Tube, which is a vacuum tube capable of producing X-Rays when 75 kilovolts of power is applied to it. Thankfrully Grenadier is experienced with high voltage gear, so that was no problem for him to provide ample current to power up his X-Ray tube.

The left-hand box provides an Arduino-based controller, and cool looking gauges to check amperage and voltage, as well as a Nixie display which shows exposure time. The right-hand box contains the tube and all high voltage components, so it can be placed at a distance from the controller. Since Grenadier doesn’t have any X-Ray film lying around, he’s managed to rig up something called a “scintillation screen”, a plastic sheet which fluoresces when exposed to radiation.

This let him see through any object he fires the X-Rays at. As you can see from the photos here, the results are pretty awesome. However, this is one time that I can most definitely say “Do not try this at home. EVER.”

Hopefully, Grenadier has taken precautions to protect himself from the radiation with a lead shield of some sort, and he never tries to X-Ray the cat. You can read more details about the DIY X-Ray machine build here.

Scientists Tickle Gorillas on Quest for Origins of Laughter

Shane McGlaun — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 14:00:15 +0000

Scientists are searching for the reasons why humans laugh, and are studying all sort of animals to figure out if other species laugh as well. It’s easy to imagine that gorillas and other monkeys would laugh when tickled, since they are some of the animals closest to humans. One zookeeper says that his gorilla, Emmie, laughs when you tickle her and he says that gorillas tickle each other as well.

Rather than using their hands though, the gorillas tend to use their teeth apparently. I wouldn’t want to be tickled by a gorilla’s teeth. Apparently, when Emmie is in the mood to play she will make a sound that is a lot like human laughter when tickled. According to researchers, many animals will make specific sounds when tickled including rats and some birds.

The researchers are looking at videos online using YouTube and other sites to find what animals do when tickled. Would you tickle a gorilla or other great ape? Those animals can kill a human easily and some even been known to eat people. I’ll pass, thank you.

[via BBC News]

Umbrella Sword Keeps You Dry, Kills Zombies Dead

Technabob — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:00:54 +0000

If you’re looking for another weapon to add to your arsenal to protect yourself from the inevitable zombie apocalypse, you might want to consider carrying an umbrella with you. No you’re not going to use it to keep dry while the zombies get wet in the rain, you’re going to use it and stab them in the eyes and then disembowel them. That is, at least that’s if you buy this umbrella.

This otherwise ordinary umbrella conceals a nasty surprise. Hiding in the middle of this thing is a 15″ long stainless steel sword, ready to dispatch zombies or any other would-be attackers. While it still works as a regular umbrella, you just grab the knuckle grip, give it a yank, and you’re ready for some serious zombie-killing action. Or swashbuckling, if you’re into that sort of thing.

In all seriousness, there’s probably not a lot of real-world uses for this thing, but it is an impressive weapon nonetheless. It’s can’t even be shipped to California, Massachusetts or New York, if that gives you any sense how dangerous it really is. On the other hand, if you do have a zombie invasion in those states, you’re SOL. If you’re prepared to treat this weapon with the respect it deserves, you can get the umbrella sword over at BUDK for $29.99 (USD).

Flamethrower Pistol Shoots Flames, Not Bullets

Technabob — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:14:26 +0000

Despite what I’ve learned from video games, I actually think I like my chances of running away from a flamethrower-wielding villain versus one armed with a loaded gun. But that didn’t stop one hacker from building a flamethrower that looks like a pistol.

Made by Instructables contributor PDRWLSN, this flamethrower pistol looks like it could still do some pretty major damage, especially if you’re within a couple of feet of its flame-shooting barrel. He made it using various bits of copper tubing, plywood, some laser-cut acrylic parts, butane, and the pulse-ignitor from his gas grill to start the fire burning.

And while readers over on Make: have been quick to point out the dangers of spraying burning hydrocarbon into the atmosphere, you shouldn’t be playing with such a device if you’re not a little bit of a risk-taker.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I love how he uses it to melt snow off his barbecue grill. I could use one of these this winter for sure. I’m betting that we’ll have another blizzard or two this winter here in Chicago. And if not, I could still use one to hold back the impending zombie invasion.

[Instructables via Make:]

Joerg Sprave Tests Weapons that a Metal Detector Won’t Find

Shane McGlaun — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:43:24 +0000

Generally, when we talk about the wild man with slingshots, Joerg Sprave, he is trying out a new slingshot. Joerg has something a bit different he is talking about this time around and it’s actually pretty interesting. He figures that there are a number of weapons that could make it through airport security so he decided to test out some non-metallic weapons on ballistic gel.

He uses various knives including some made from ceramic and some made from flint rock and deer horn. Naturally, there is a sling shot in there. Joerg is using a little slingshot that is made from carbon fiber. The ammo for that slingshot rather than the metal ball bearings he normally uses was some larger pebbles.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

As you might expect, the knives all sliced and stabbed well. The slingshot was what amazed me. I have often wondered what hitting the gel with a rock would do. I thought it might just bounce off. The rocks actually penetrated into the gel by a significant margin. Those rocks and that little slingshot could certainly do some damage. Let’s hope that the TSA actually screens for non-metallic weapons with body scanners and X-Ray machines to keep this sort of stuff out of the skies.

Chinese Man Builds Flying Circle of Death

Shane McGlaun — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 21:00:34 +0000

What you see in the photos here is one of those rare items that is at the same time both awesome and supremely stupid. The man you see here is from China and is named Shu Mansheng. It appears that Shu built something akin to an AR.Drone that he could actually fly on. As you can see by all the propellers, certain death is just one step away.

The 18-foot diameter circle is made from metal of some sort and in the center is a metal box securely wrapped in what appears to be plastic for the utmost safety during flight. The lift is provided by eight different motorcycle engines on their side bolted to the metal frame. Shu has about $3,135 invested in the machine, and this is his fifth model.

So far, Shu, who is a farmer by trade, has had one test flight in the courtyard that appears to have been conducted while tethered to the ground. The craft flew for about ten seconds. Obviously if something went wrong, and Shu fell from the basket he would be chopped into tiny bits by the staggered, whirring propellers – even if he were just a few feet off the ground.

[via BoingBoing]

Palm Mounted Laser Would Make Iron Man Cosplays Much More Awesome

Lambert Varias — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:26:38 +0000

The flashlight repulsor beam blaster was cool. Patrick Priebe’s Laser Glove Mk III is hot. Priebe, a laser enthusiast and Iron Man fan, has been developing a palm-mounted laser using consumer-grade parts and a bit of metalwork. This is the latest version of his project.

Just like Stark, Priebe built his dangerous toy by hand. It uses a laser diode from a Casio projector, mounted to a brass housing that Priebe made just for the glove. Two Li-ion batteries provide enough power for about an hour of lasering. So how dangerous is it? Here’s Pop Sci’s take on the Laser Glove: “In the U.S., the maximum strength for consumer laser pointers is typically five milliwatts; Priebe’s handheld laser is 1,000 milliwatts, enough to instantly blind anyone not wearing special safety glasses.” Yikes.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Priebe is actually taking orders for the glove, although I don’t know how many units he plans to make and how much he’s asking for one. Just drop him a message on his YouTube channel for details. And get a pair of those special safety glasses will you?

[via Make: & Popular Science]

Airsoft Rifle Laser Mod: Laserhard

Lambert Varias — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 12:53:48 +0000

Decent Airsoft guns can look quite realistic and menacing. But YouTuber styropyro figured his Airsoft gun wasn’t geeky enough, so he gutted it out and converted it to a laser rifle. So instead of a gun that shoots bullets at a hundred miles per hour, now styropyro has a gun with a projectile that goes at the speed of light. Hard to argue with that.

Styropyro used a 700mW laser diode from a 12x Blu-ray burner; if you don’t have a spare burner around, he suggests hitting up Modwerx for the diode. You can even find stronger lasers at that website. Watch the video to find out more about the conversion and to see exactly how dangerous this real-life laser gun is.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I wonder if you can somehow fit this bad boy into a gun mod. If you have a replica of the neat Dead Space plasma cutter, Kipkay already showed how you can convert that to a laser gun.

[via Hack A Day]

Sith Series Laser: Double the Laser, Double the Danger, Double the Lawsuits

Lambert Varias — Fri, 06 May 2011 12:15:07 +0000

Wicked Lasers nearly got burned by Lucasfilm because one of their lasers looked a lot like a lightsaber. It seems that they got the upper hand in that legal battle, and now they’re tempting fate again with the Sith Series laser, the “world’s first double handed laser”, a device as jaw-dropping as it is impractical.

The Sith Series (sheesh, might as well change their name to Lucas Lasers) is made of two Class 4 1-watt Spyder 3 lasers – the same lightsaber-ish laser that got them a cease-and-desist letter from Lucasfilm. You can use each end separately or go Darth Maul on your Powerpoint and hold two presentations at once. Seriously though this thing is very dangerous. Both a direct hit or a reflected beam can result in permanent blindness, cause dark surfaces to catch on fire and may ignite skin, hair or clothing. Yikes. That’s why buyers will be required to ~~apprentice under a Sith Lord~~ review Wicked Lasers’ safety training video and pass a Laser Safety Test.

The Sith Series double handed laser can be ordered at Wicked Lasers’ website for $600 (USD). Let’s be honest – even if we all had $600 to spare most of us don’t need a laser, let alone a two-headed one. Still, I’m sure some nerd out there can wrangle a couple of legitimate excuses to possess such an amazing tool, so I’ll just wait for the cool videos of their projects and exploits. Wicked Lasers, you wicked.

[via Uberreview]

Rear-View Mirror With GPS, Bluetooth, Multimedia Playback and Touchscreen Games (aka the We’re Going to Die Mirror)

Lambert Varias — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:00:49 +0000

A few years ago we featured a couple of rear-view mirrors that doubled as monitors and supported Bluetooth integration for hands-free calling. It seems as if not enough morons have died on the road, because the distraction-packed rear-view mirror is back, packed with more distraction than ever before.

Looking at its features, it seems as though the designers tried to make a compromise, but then they realized that having anything on a rear-view mirror aside from a mirror is already dangerous in itself, so why hold back? So yes, there is a dedicated mirror, and there’s a GPS navigation system, but there’s more! Bluetooth for hands-free calling! Audio and video playback! Touchscreen games! Users will surely be entertained in the final minutes of their lives.

I wouldn’t give this as a gift even to my worst enemy. We already have enough mobile gadgets that distract us while we’re driving; there’s no need to mount one more right in our vehicles.

[via TechFresh]

Taser Grenade Tested on Reporter from The Daily

Shane McGlaun — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:11:41 +0000

Everytime I hear that someone has been Tased, or a reporter has allowed himself or herself to be Tased I hope they crap themselves. I would think if you have been holding in a deuce all day and you get hit with a Taser you’re going to have more than a turtlehead poking out. Justin Rocket Silverman – a reporter from The Daily – went to test out Taser’s new gear, and still managed to keep his pants clean.

Justin got to shoot some of the longer-range Taser weapons at dummies and then agreed to get Tased by the new Taser Grenade himself. The projectile-based Taser Grenade has 50,000 volts of light your ass up inside and can be fired from a long distance to attach itself to its victim. Apparently, the Taser guys decided that he might not be able to handle the actual Taser Grenade, and opted to just hook the electrodes from a box that has the same stuff inside it directly to his body.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Silverman said, “First off, the grenade’s 50,000-volt charge, as you might imagine, is extremely unpleasant. Every voluntary muscle in the body yanks tight, as a sizzling crackle of electrons fills the air, making it impossible to move. Its white-hot barbs even leave burn marks on the skin as a surge of electricity scorches your flesh.” I hope he got a nice bonus for getting shocked.

[The Daily via CrunchGear]

Flamethrower Gloves Ready to Burn Down The House

Technabob — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 22:34:08 +0000

All I’m going to say here is “do not try this at home”…

The guys at J&M Special Effects put together a set of DIY flamethrowers that are mounted on his gloves, firing intense, scalding flames from the palms of his hands. But who needs words when you can see it in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

This kick-ass pyro system is just a prototype, and the J&M guys say the final version of the system would be more streamlined so the hoses and cables could be hidden inside of a performer’s costume – which I can only hope would be flameproofed.

[YouTube via Gadjitz]

Ham-Boning Robot Will Gut You Alive if You’re Not Careful

Technabob — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 03:27:44 +0000

Okay, I’m really scared now. There is now a robot that is fully capable of deboning a ham – all on its own.

Developed by the Mayekawa Electric, this automated ham-boning robot was designed to cut up down on human butchers. The HAMDAS-R robot can expedite the process of gutting you cutting your ham up into pieces. It’s such an efficient killing boning machine, that it can double the kill count productivity of a plant, allowing for the boning of 500 humans hams in an hour with just 10 workers, versus the normal 20.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Given the well known fact that pigs are the perfect human analog (I saw it on an episode of Mythbusters) All they need to do is combine HAMDAS-R with that NEC robot that thinks humans smell like bacon, and the end of the world will be nigh.

[via DigInfo TV]

Wrist Flamethrower is an Accident Waiting to Happen, but We Still Love It

Technabob — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 02:44:45 +0000

ShockSlayer is one of those guys you can rely on to crank out cool portable game consoles, and the (occasional light-up Zelda belt buckle) but it turns out that in his spare time, he likes to play with fire.

In this vid clip, SS shows off his work-in-progress wrist-work flamethrower in action. The rig consists of an aerosol can of butane, some tubing, a nozzle and a finger-controlled trigger made from string. It’s definitely not something I’d strap to my arm if given a choice.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Now SS hasn’t figured out a permanent source of ignition, so he has to start it with a torch, but once it’s going, it’s definitely something that could strike fear into the hearts of anyone who tries to mess with him.

While I can’t in good conscience advocate you guys building this sort of dangerous rig for yourselves, I have to hand it to ShockSlayer for his ingenuity. Now don’t set the house – or the cat – on fire.