Hasta La Gadget!

The DARPA Robotics Challenge, or DRC, kicked off today at the Homestead-Miami Speedway about 30 miles south of Miami. A total of sixteen teams from around the world are here to challenge each other today and tomorrow in timed trials, and to compete for funding from DARPA, the Pentagon’s mad science arm. A seventeenth team, from China, hit travel snags and hasn’t made it here yet.

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Up to this point, your only chance of viewing vids on Vine was via its mobile app or if someone decided to share those clips on Twitter or Facebook. Soon, however, you can do so via the web as well thanks to its newly announced Web profiles. Just …

Radicalism, at last.

(Credit: Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

I’m going to give you a choice.

You can have all the nerds or all the wine.

Come on, you’ve only got 30 seconds to decide.

No, I haven’t already hit the Christmas cabernet franc. Instead, I’ve merely been bathing in the frank proposal to split California into six separate states.

As TechCrunch reported Thursday night, this marvel is the brain offspring of venture capitalist Tim Draper. And truly, it’s an excellent idea.

Tim Draper, nattily attired. (File photo from May 2009.)

(Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET)

Living in Northern California, it’s hard for us to accept that we’re lumped together with the likes of, for example, Angelenos. Their insipid self-absorption, their puffy lips, and their overly-financed baseball make them troubling kin.

In this proposal, Los Angeles would now be part of West California. Generously, West California would include the fine wineries of Paso Robles, something which I’m not sure Los Angeles deserves.

Waving the Silicon Valley flag Still, the most intriguing part of this scheme is that Silic… [Read more]

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Aside from needing food, shelter, and water whilst camping, having a roaring fire to keep you warm is nice to have around. It keeps the bugs away, and can cook food quite nicely. Of course, starting said fire is no easy task. You can give rubbing sticks together a try, or just bring a box of matches with you. If you’re going to be out in the wilds for more than a few days though, you’re going to need a better way of getting the flames started.

The Tinder Hot Box Solar Fire Starter will give you a guaranteed method of getting some tinder alight…if the sun is out. This is solar powered in the same way that using a magnifying glass to burn ants is solar powered (I will never understand why kids think that is fun). You use the reflective properties of the aircraft-grade aluminum to focus the sun onto your tinder, and you’ll have a fire in no time.

There is an air and water-tight compartment on the bottom that will allow you to store tinder of your own, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use what you find. This will cost you around $40, which can be money well-spent if you are a camping enthusiast. Just remember you’ll need to sit completely still with it for some time for anything to happen. Not only that, but you’ll need to take care of the reflective aspect of this gizmo, otherwise it’s not going to be terribly useful.

Available for purchase on Amazon, found via RedFerret
[ Tinder Hot Box Solar Fire Starter will only save you when it’s sunny copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

From death by micrometeorite to living without gluten, Gizmodo has explored more than 50 everyday scientific mysteries throughout this year. Here are our ten best.

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