Dyson's blade-less fan

At first glance, James Dyson's latest invention looks like a powerful HD antenna or perhaps a small portal into another world. But in fact, the device, which carries the vaunting title of Dyson Air Multiplier, is something much more common: A fan.

What, a fan with no blades? Yes, that's exactly what you're looking at, and what makes the Air Multiplier so hard for people to classify at first. This fan uses some innovative airflow engineering to pull air up through an energy-efficient brushless motorbase and multiply it 15 times, expelling it through an airfoil-shaped ramp at a rate of 118 gallons a second, according to the press release.

Dyson, the company, says its fluid dynamics engineers spent four years "running hundreds of simulations to precisely measure and optimize the machine's aperture and airfoil-shaped ramp" and air fluctuations were mapped with something called a Laser Doppler Annometry.
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Attack of the Star Wars Chop Sabers

Step aside, oh humble chopstick. Centuries of Asian food culture are about to yield to the Force of Star Wars. Japanese retailer Kotobukiya plans to unleash its Chop Sabers at the dining table come 2010, to the tune of US$10 (1,050 yen). This would have been prettier if it actually lit up, but that would have been just too kitchsy for the kitchen.

Jedi wannabes can opt for the Yoda-sized transcluent "blades" measuring 9 inches, in Darth Vader Red, Luke Skywalker Blue or Yoda Green with matching chopstick rests. The kids' version comes in 8-inch lengths. To misquote the mystic green one: "Once you start down the Chop Saber path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will."
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World's most expensive pancake meal

Here's another kitchen appliance you never thought you needed. The Chefstack Automatic Pancake Machine is the Cadillac of pancake machines, and will always make you a stack of perfectly shaped 4-inch flapjakes in a flat 30 seconds everytime you hanker for some. All you need is to buy the mix from the supermarket, and voila.

There's just a couple of wee catches. It's not clear if this will make singles since it's a bulk machine more suited for cafes, spitting out 200 pieces per hour. There's also the small matter of the price, at US$3,500 excluding shipping. Then again, ChefStack says its pancake mix is 97 percent fat-free. So that's one bright spot while you're feeling suddenly impoverished.

Via Uncrate

Capacitive touch… faucet?

I'm frequently annoyed by public restroom faucets which are motion-activated. They never turn on when you need them to, and stop when hands are still soapy just because you aren't moving in a way that tells it you are still there. The Delta 980T looks like a good solution to that with its touch-sensitive metal surface. Contact with your skin will toggle the water flow so you can turn on the tap easily by touching it with a clean part of your hand. This does mean there's a charge running through the surface, so some people may be spooked by that. But if you aren't, this faucet can be had for a princely US$434 online. Check with your local bathroom equipment shops for availability in your country.

Via Dvice

Prepara's plant growing machine

It's hard to ignore the incessant messages to buy local, plant a garden, check for organic labels, and lead a sustainable lifestyle, yet most of us dismiss these suggestions as practices that require too much money, time, and effort.

And it's true--they really do.

Last summer I went through a green phase, heading to the plant store to purchase soil, seeds, shovels, pots, and everything else that Martha Stewart suggests I buy. Well, US$120 and two weeks later, I had forgotten I'd even planted a garden and deemed my project a failure.
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