Hasta La Gadget!

Wanna give your fish a good time and give them a break from their boring lives? Replace their ordinary tank with this Pac-Man maze tank. This aquarium will keep their minds occupied. It may even give them Pac-Man fever and drive them crazy.

This fish tank was built by Instructables member antoniraj. It was created with 5 mm sheets of glass for the outside and 2 mm sheets for the maze, then it was all sealed together with Araldite epoxy glue. Dots and power pellets are optional.

If you decide to build one, you’ll just need a yellow fish for Pac-Man and the appropriately colored fish-ghosts. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how long your fish will last in this tank, but it is a fun project.

[via Neatorama]

The scenes of Pandora in Avatar are still some of the most impressive naturalistic CGI worlds to ever grace the screen. Between the floating islands, the greenery, the waterfalls, and the exotic flora and fauna, it was really a visual spectacle. So when I saw that somebody had attempted to create the lush world of Pandora in their aquarium, I didn’t know if it could be done.

What you’re looking at here is an incredible recreation of the world of Pandora – inside a fish tank. It was created by a DIYer in China, and it replicates the lush green feel of the planet, albeit underwater.

Yeah, the plants look a little like floating broccoli, but the most impressive part of the tiny world is the waterfall effect – which I had no idea you could do underwater. Basically, it’s done with very fine sand being pumped into a trough and recirculated back to the top after it falls. Neat. Here’s a diagram which gives you an idea of how it works:

You can see more info on how to build underwater waterfalls here, but the site is in Chinese, so you’ll want to enable translation. Personally, I’d like it translated into Na’vi.

[via Reddit via The Grue]

Have you ever wanted a home aquarium, but were afraid your fish would end up dead due to neglect (or the cat?) Well, now you can have a little robotic swimmer who never needs anything more than a change of batteries.

Made by the guys behind the creepy, crawly Hexbug robots, Aquabots are little robotic fish which wriggle realistically through the water. Just drop them in the water, and they’ll swim around on their own. They automatically turn on when they come in contact with water – though they’ll only swim for five minutes at a time to conserve battery.

While the video below shows several Aquabots swimming in harmony, it’s not advised because big fish eat little fish their electromagnetic propulsion systems can interfere with one another. Though what’s the worst that could happen?

They come in either a shark or clown fish designs, in a wide variety of translucent colors, so you can see into their robotic guts as they swim around. You can find Aquabots over at Red5 for £7.95 (~$12 USD) each.

Halt, citizen! Put the goldfish down. You cannot take care of it, and it will not fill the hole in your heart that your ex punched through when she left. But if you already bought an aquarium, consider filling it with Robo Fish. Lifelike swimming is its prime directive.

Made by Takara Tomy, Robo Fish can move up and down randomly and at times even act like it’s foraging for food. It uses two LR44 watch batteries to power its waggling tail. Here’s a video uploaded by YouTuber Brandon Avery:

They’re not as lifelike as this one, but they’re good enough as toys. Or not. Some of the customer reviews on Amazon Japan – where Robo Fish can be ordered for￥2,980 (~$38 USD) each – say that the toy drains its batteries in just 2 hours. So maybe it really is looking for sustenance.

[via Boing Boing]

Animals have had a rough time of it, when it comes to scientific exploration. Look no further than Laika, the first animal to orbit Earth, soon becoming the first animal to die in orbit, not too long after achieving that earlier distinction. The dwarf hamsters that occupy Hampture seem to be considerably happier in their own scientific explorations than the Soviet mutt, at the moment. Bob Averill brought the project to our attention last week on our visit to Portland, Oregon. According to the official blog, the project is an attempt to “learn firsthand what is involved in designing and constructing a complete underwater habitat capable of sustaining complex organisms.” It also may well be a gateway to sending the hamsternauts into space via Skystation Mk1. Averill is also looking to turn Hampture into a salable product, though Kickstarter, for one, has apparently balked at the idea. In the meantime, you can check out a streaming feed of the habitat after the break and read up on the making of the project in the source links below.

Continue reading Hampture underwater colony established for science, leads the way for future hamster space exploration

Hampture underwater colony established for science, leads the way for future hamster space exploration originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 19:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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