Technabob » nuclear

Mushroom Cloud Treehouse is The Bomb

Hazel Chua — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:00:56 +0000

I was one of those kids who incessantly and constantly begged my parents for a treehouse of my own. Unfortunately, I didn’t get it. My dad rattled off reason after reason, but mostly, he just said that he didn’t have time to build it for me when he knew that I would probably get bored after a month or two (as all kids do.)

But I doubt I’d ever get bored at it had my dad made me something like this mushroom cloud treehouse sculpted by Dietrich Wegner called the Playhouse. I also doubt that he’ll ever be able to make something that looks remotely like this in our backyard.

As you can probably already tell from the photo, this isn’t exactly a treehouse in the sense that it’s not a house that’s built on a tree, although it’s shaped like one. I don’t think Wegner also meant for any kids to actually play and hide away inside it.

The work was previously displayed at the Weston Art Gallery. Of Playhouse, the sculptor has this to say about where he drew inspiration for it (and it doesn’t have much to do with kids in a treehouse..I think):

When an image stands in limbo, between associations, it occupies a flexible place in our mind. Wegner creates images that are safe and unsettling, abject and beautiful…The ephemeral beauty of a mushroom cloud is frightening, how it floats for a minute, delicate and blooming, yet remains chaotic and utterly destructive. We experience a contradiction between what our eyes enjoy and what our mind knows.

[via Laughing Squid via Dvice]

Paro the Robot Seal Helps Elderly Recover from Nuclear Disaster

Range — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 11:35:12 +0000

I’ve heard of animals, especially dogs, being used in zootherapy, but this is the first time that I’ve seen a robot being used in the same manner (robotherapy?). The therapeutic robot Paro was used in a retirement home in Japan to help residents deal with the trauma of the tsunami and subsequent earthquake.

Paro is cute and cuddly, and will respond to your affection. The residents are treating the robots as pets. There are currently two of them in the retirement home. The robot seals have eyes that will open and close, and an anti-bacterial coat to keep it from spreading illnesses between people.

It’s an innovative way of using robots, but I wonder if plain-old animals wouldn’t be better. Yes, there is less maintenance, but dogs don’t need to be recharged.

[via Design You Trust]

Mushroom Cloud Lamp: Nuke or Vegetable?

Shane McGlaun — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:48:52 +0000

I like 3D printers because you can print damn near anything for any reason. Some designers set about creating a lamp that looks destructive and sort of like a healthy dinner wrapped in one. The lamp is called the Mushroom Cloud Shaped Nuke Lamp and it is designed by Veneridesign. The lamp was printed out of some sort of flexible white plastic.

The plastic body of the foot-tall lamp is ridged enough for the lamp to stand upright and the light assembly inside is a separate piece. If anything ever begged for an orange light bulb inside, this is it. The design certainly looks like the mushroom clouds I have seen in the videos of nuke testing back in the old days. It also looks more than a little bit like cauliflower to me too. It also reminds me of a completely frozen tree.

You can buy this cool looking lamp if you want, but only if you are loaded. The thing sells for $1,495 (USD) making it very expensive, but oh so cool.

[via Yanko Design via Laughing Squid]

Nuclear Doorbell is the Most Annoying Way for Visitors to Announce Their Arrival, Ever.

Technabob — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:50:49 +0000

Are you constantly missing the UPS guy because you didn’t hear them knock on the door? Or maybe you’re just sick of the old “ding-dong” of your doorbell. Well this doorbell is most certainly going to get your attention – or at least annoy the crap out of you.

With a push of its wireless button, the Nuclear Doorbell blinks its lights and loudly announces visitors with a cacophony of botherssome sounds, ranging from an droning klaxon to possibly the worst voice actor ever telling you that there’s someone at the door, to the sound of barn animals in a panic.

Here’s an audio/visual demonstration of one of these action, in case you want to turn down that Brittany Spears song you’ve got playing and subject your eardrums to something REALLY unpleasant.:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Attention! Attention! I’m really irritated now.

So if you’re ready to make your eardrums ache from jarring sounds every time a survey-taker comes to your front door, you can grab one of these unholy things over at UK outfit GadgetShop for £16.99 (appx. $24 USD).

Geiger Counter Pc Casemod Can’T Play Half-Life

Technabob — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:55:43 +0000

Before all you budding nuclear physicists attempt to correct me, I know this isn’t truly a Geiger Counter. It’s actually one of those Cold-War era Ion Chamber radiation detectors. But that’s not what most of us think, so I’ll stick with the more familiar Geiger name. Regardless, this computer casemod won’t actually detect radioactivity, but the nuke gauge will kick in when you power on the PC with a flip of the original sensitivity dial.

Because of the cramped quarters inside the box, the Russian-built Fallout Terminal [UPDATE: Turns out that it's actually the brainchild of a guy going by the name Widefault -- see comment #2 below] Civil Defense computer isn’t very powerful — running an anemic 300 MHz CPU, 256MB of RAM and a 4GB Compact Flash card for storage. Heck, it probably isn’t even powerful enough to play the original Fallout or Half-Life. But with the proper Atari 800 emulator installed, it might be able to play a game of SCRAM (Remember gaming genius Chris Crawford? Ah, memories.)

[Read Full Worklog]

Nukalert: Radiation Detector for the Paranoid

Technabob — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 21:35:57 +0000

If this season’s storyline on 24 has you worried about the threat of nuclear terrorism, you might want to pick up one of these little gadgets.

The $160 NukAlert keychain radiation monitor automatically warns you of the unseen atomic threat anywhere you go. The pocket-sized device can detect radiation from 100 mR/hr to 5,000 R/hr, for those of you who know what that means. The thing that scares me most is how the maker claims “each unit individually radiation accuracy tested.” Wouldn’t the only way to do that be to expose the thing to radiation?

Chances are by the time this thing goes off, you’ll already have met some sort of untimely fate.

[via ThisNext]