Gadgets, Gizmos, and Games for Geeks

Sure Old MacDonald had a farm, but did he have an Autonomous Weeder robot from Carbon Robotics? I think not. E-I-E-I-O indeed! The Autonomous Weeder, designed to kill weeds without harming the soil or water, scans the ground with its 12-camera array, identifies weeds via onboard AI, then kills them with high-powered carbon dioxide lasers.

Presumably envisioned in a eureka moment complete with a lightbulb going off over his head, incredibly talented pastry chef and chocolatier Amaury Guichon constructed a realistic desk lamp entirely out of edible ingredients. At first, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Fanless or passive CPU cooling heatsinks are nothing new. But they were reserved for low-power CPUs, which usually draw around 50W on average. That’s why Noctua is making waves with its release of the NH-P1, the company’s first-ever passive CPU cooler.

Here’s a version of Megatron that Optimus Prime would allow to flourish. Hasbro and Mighty Jaxx’s latest team-up with toy designer Quiccs is a 9.5″ x 11″ x 7″ vinyl bust that sees the Decepticon leader brandishing two silver spray paint cans.

Because every possible piece of Star Wars merchandise that can exist does, Disney is selling droid restraining bolt magnets in the Galaxy’s Edge areas of its amusement parks. Thankfully for those of us without a Disney trip planned in the foreseeable future, they’re also available on Amazon (affiliate link).

Inspired by the classic look of vintage Volkswagen Type 2 microbuses, Igloo has released three limited edition coolers, each resembling one of the 1950s and ’60s vehicles. Available on Amazon in red and orange large sizes and a blue mini size (affiliate links), they’re the perfect coolers for bringing a few cold drinks to the beach.

You wouldn’t download a mech, but you would and you can download a mecha’s mask. It’s all thanks to designers like Etsy seller SeberdrA, who offers STL files of masks and other facial cosplay accessories inspired by popular mecha, cyborgs, and other anime, video games, and science fiction characters.

I never thought that someone would be a hardcore fan of Jabba the Hutt, but once again I’ve been reminded that there are all kinds of people in this world. Toy designer and maker Mighty Jabba not only has various collectibles of the Star Wars mob boss, but he also painstakingly designed, printed, and sculpted an anatomical figure of the menacing slug.

Constructed entirely of LEGO Technic pieces by builder Akiyuki, this is ‘Five Titled Rings,’ an incredibly impressive LEGO Great Ball Contraption (GBC) consisting of five tilted rings that continuously pass balls up from one ring to the next higher one in the tower.

Turning unwanted drone surveillance into an impromptu surprise party, the US Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing a new anti-drone countermeasure that fires confetti-like streamers to entangle a spy-copter’s rotors, bringing it back down to earth like a drone-shaped rock.

There are a thousand replicas and scale models of Captain America’s iconic shield, from action figure accessories and cheap children’s toys to full-on display pieces. But none of them actually work like Cap’s weapon – you can throw them, but that’s like playing catch with a cat.

To celebrate some of humanity’s greatest achievements in space exploration (and sell some cool keycaps in the process), these are Moon Keys. Compatible with Cherry MX switches and clones, the keycaps are available in five varieties: a 1u Eagle Has Landed, Lunar Lander, and Curiosity Rover ($49), and 1.75u Eagle Has Landed ($52), and 2.25u Curiosity Rover ($58).

The Virtual Boy was Nintendo’s ill-fated attempt to create a 3D virtual reality gaming system back in the 1990s. The system required that gamers align their eyes with a tabletop viewer, much like those things they make you look into when you get a vision test at the DMV.

Most spiders are actually good for the environment, wiping out a wide variety of pests, including many that carry diseases. Still they’re pretty creepy looking, and the bigger they are, the scarier these eight-legged insects can be.

I remember back in 1984 when I got my hands on the first Apple Macintosh computer how excited I was to use MacPaint. I had seen it demonstrated at a convention, and the idea that I could create my own artwork on my computer was pretty awe-inspiring to me as a 16-year-old kid.

Velma, Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo are always on the hunt, unraveling new mysteries, munching on Scooby snacks, and getting stoned in the back of The Mystery Machine. Now your dog or cat can join in on the fun from inside of this Mystery Machine Pet Carrier (affiliate link) from Buckle-Down.