Hasta La Gadget!

A poor calf was literally left out in the cold this winter and suffered frostbite to both of its hind legs. The frostbite was so severe that the calf lost both the back legs to surgical amputation. A person stepped up and adopted the calf rather than see the animal put down and turned into steak.

Rather than having a calf that lay around all the time, the new owner of the animal spent about $40,000 to have a pair of prosthetic legs made for it. To attach the legs to the calf, bovine surgeons had to remove a couple inches of bone to make a tissue pad.

The hooves of the legs are made from titanium and urethane. The connecting hardware is made from titanium and carbon fiber, and it has taken surgeons at Texas A&M University about a year to develop the prosthetics.

[via Independent]

"Just described ‘microjewel’ snail in extinction danger," announces NewScientist. Every time I see a headline like that and I look a the picture, it really makes me sad. Just admire that beautiful, delicate little beast. Which secrets will this soon-to-be-gone species take away with it?

Read more…

Instructables Community Manager and avid maker Mike Warren figured out a way to work on his gaming skills while walking his dog. He gutted a broken Xbox 360 controller and turned it into a large but somewhat practical dog leash.

I say the mod is somewhat practical because Mike replaced one of the gamepad’s rumble motors with a poop bag dispenser.

Check out Mike’s Instructables page to see how he did it. An Instructables commenter suggested hacking the controller’s buttons so that they trigger sound effects, or perhaps make your dog’s collar light up.

[via Neatorama]

People who haven’t used a Dyson often believe their reputation to be hype. How, after all, could one device designed for sucking up dirt so far exceed any other machine designed for the same task? There’s no operating system, no laundry list of features, no app market to consider, and so on. But while vacuums are simple in function, Dyson’s sophistication behind the scenes makes its machines somewhat magical, and the new DC59 (or DC62 in Canada, which explains the badging in the photos) Animal Digital Slim vacuum may just be the most magical of all.

Basics

• 26-minute battery
• 6-minute boost mode
• Comes with 4 vacuum heads
• 4.6 lbs
• 0.12 gallon bin capacity
• MSRP: $499.99
• Product info page

Pros

• Thrice the sucking power of any other handheld vacuum
• 6 more minutes running time than its predecessor
• 50% more power than DC44 in boost mode

Cons

• Boost mode taxes battery quick
• Trigger-based operation will annoy some

Design

Regardless of their utility as cleaning devices, Dyson’s line of vacuums are icons of good design. For James Dyson, the company’s founder and CEO, the word “design” encapsulates not only looks, but also engineering and technical aspects of the product. It’s a holistic approach to product creation, and one that resonates with the Apple vision for how devices should be built.

Dyson is often likened to Apple, and the comparison shows true when looking at the DC59′s ID. The vacuum carries on the tradition of Dyson’s handheld line, but adds a sharper angle to the handle, shifts the filter location and modifies the ‘crown’ of cyclones that feed through to the new Dyson digital motor V6. The result is a cleaner look, but also one that emphasizes the increased power in this new generation of vacuum engine.

The purple tube design is a continuation of the trend begun with the DC44, which features a blue shaft, and could be seen as an odd choice for the more staid vacuum shoppers in the crowd, but the overall design is one of the most harmonious in Dyson’s line, and the DC59 is easily the best-looking cordless vacuum available overall in my book.

Performance

Having previously owned a Dyson DC35 as my main vacuum, I’m not unaccustomed to Dyson cordless models. That was a stalwart machine, and served my two-bedroom condo well, but it had a 15-minute max operation time and was actually heavier than the DC59, plus it lacked the pet-friendly main floor vacuum head and upholstery attachment.

The DC59 has a lot more power, and you can tell instantly that it’s a more effective upright floor vacuum replacement than any of its predecessors. The problem with the Dyson cordless line has always been that it has likely just enough power to get you through a standard cleaning of your space-constrained place before giving out, but not enough to either be really thorough or complete additional tasks like dusting (using the included dusting head).

26 minutes is a big step up, and provides nearly double the life of that generation. It’s plenty to cover my new place, which has two floors, including carpet, hardwood and tile, and there’s still a bit of juice left over for dusting duties. The weight loss over previous models really helps, too, in terms of making sure your arm doesn’t feel fatigued even if you’re reaching up to do the drapes or get that cobweb out of the corner.

Finally, it seems like the trigger and handle have been redesigned to make operation easier, too. The trigger seems more sensitive, meaning it’s harder to accidentally turn off the vacuum mid-use, and the angled handle design is easier on the wrist and hand.

In use, Dyson’s DC59 lasted about as long as advertised, give or take a few minutes, but it felt luxuriously long compared to previous models. It handled everything I could throw at it, including cleaning out my hard-to-clean burr grinder with the included crevice tool. Charging time is about three and a half hours, which isn’t ideal if you’re just about finished cleaning and want to get it done, but at least it’s not something you have to leave overnight.

Bottom Line

If you vacuum, you will enjoy the DC59. Notice I didn’t say if you enjoy vacuuming, you’ll enjoy the DC59: It’s actually so good at what it does that it makes an otherwise arduous task enjoyable, and that’s the real key to Dyson’s advantage over its competitors. The DC59 improves on its cordless line in every way that counts, offering more power, longer run time, and better ergonomics. It’s expensive, but if you’ve got the cash, at no time will you feel like you overpaid when it comes to this vacuum.

Cats are great, but their scratching posts and furniture take up a lot of room. One solution is to put all of this furniture on the upper walls and ceilings. You’re not using those spaces and your cat will appreciate it.

Cats like to feel like they are up in the trees, as they would be in their natural environment, so these only make sense. These climbing components and sleeping spots come from the German company Goldtatze, and you can see more pictures at hauspanther.

German engineering for kitties. Now they can take over the ceiling and give you a break down below.

Those cats sure do look happy. Though they will still act all aloof, and probably walk across your human furniture to spite you.

[via Metafilter via Neatorama]