Hasta La Gadget!

New top end DSLR gives a hearty V sign to the global economic meltdown

Greg Parker is a professor of electronics at Southampton University. He’s also a wizard. Like his co-author Noel Carboni. Real wizards, capable of obtaining some images that rival the best of Hubble’s and giant Earth-based telescopes using less than $15,000 in equipment and more patience than any money in the world could buy. Their magic: A refrigerated CCD chip, a rotating dome, and some smart post processing in Photoshop.

These images will be part of Star Vistas, a book that will be published next year and will collect all their photos of space, taken since they met online four years ago. The two alien Peeping Toms started to collaborate online in 2004. Noel—a Photoshop wizard with an astronomy inclination—helped Greg post-process his images of M33, which is a member of our local group of galaxies along with Andromeda (M31, who they also got in their book) and our very own Milky Way.

Greg uses a 28 cm Celestron NExtar 11 GPS reflecting telescope with Hyperstar lens, an optical assembly that attaches to the telescope secondary mirror, turning it from a slow f10 to an ultrafast f2 astrograph. This system is not designed for the human eye, so he got a matching Starlight Xpress SXV-H9C one-shot color CCD camera.

To increase the performance of the camera, he had to get rid of the noise in the sensor, which is produced by heat during long exposure times. This is achieved by installing a solid-state refrigeration system, which lowers the temperature of the CCD to 55º F less than the ambient temperature.

In addition to this, there is a last ingredient in the recipe: Parker moves the dome in his observatory by hand ever half hour, to adjust to the rotation of the Earth, which results in a moving sky.

In other words: Magic. [Star Vistas via Daily Mail]

Is this tire really the “Holy Grail of Eco-Transportation,” as Treehugger believes? Maybe. Time will tell if the electric engine inside the Active Wheel from Michelin will catch on and further drive down the cost of electric vehicles. For now, let’s delve deep into this tire-motor combo, and you can decide for yourself if it has what it takes to kill the gas-guzzling combustion engine for good.

The wheels, while still in development over at Michelin, already have a vehicle ready to receive them. Called the Heuliez Will, this tiny tot from Opel doesn’t look like much, but it has it where it counts, and might produce an offspring that, in a galaxy far, far away, makes the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs. Or requires no gasoline to run. Probably the latter.

Even more impressive is the notion that in-wheel motors would free up space in the front or rear of the vehicle. This model also eliminates the need for other notorious space hogs like transmissions and exhaust systems. More room means more freedom for tomorrow’s automobile designers, and cooler cars for we consumers. (*fingers crossed* anyway).

The target price for the Opel right now is about $24,000-37,000, which puts it in line with the upcoming so-called savior of Detroit, the Chevy Volt. Testing on the Opel has already begun, with an official consumer roll out expected by 2011. Active Wheels are also expected to come standard on the Venturi Volage sometime in 2012. [Michelin via Treehugger]

We figure this RC Black Widow Spider is good for maybe one, possibly two, good scares before a skittish family member offs it with a well-placed slipper to the head. But until then, you’ll have seconds or minutes of fun making this hairy little abomination scurry around the family room on its eight little legs. Requires six AA batteries, one 9-volt battery, about $36, and a forgiving family that doesn’t instinctively squash something that resembles one of the deadliest spiders on the planet. [Play.com via Technabob]

I was overcome with nostalgic joy this fine afternoon when I first laid eyes on these M.U.S.C.L.E Men USB dongles (short for Millions of Unusual Small Creatures Lurking Everywhere). The memories! These fleshy pink rubber men, featuring unforgettable names like Muscle Man, Mr. Blocky and Mr. Tea (teacup for a head, duh!), were a staple of my youth. Too bad those fond memories were quickly sullied by the obscene humping end of these USB dongles. Why the Japanese took something as sacred as Kinniukman and turned him into something like this, I’ll never know. All I can say is “only in Japan,” and then order ten for my desktop. [Geek Stuff For You via Boing Boing Gadgets]