Hasta La Gadget!

Cameras being sent to the edge of space are nothing new, but it requires a bit of tinkering skills to set up the balloon and camera mount. Quirky wants to help more people send their cameras to space, which is why they made the Kepler Space Kit. They didn’t say anything about retrieving your precious GoPro though.

The Kepler Space Kit is actually a modification of the Kepler, another upcoming Quirky product. Invented by Brian Erickson, the Kepler was designed for aerial photography – it’s basically a camera mount attached to a kite. The Space Kit takes that to another level, turning this:

Into this:

Here’s a test run of the Kepler Space Kit prototype:

Here’s what the camera was able to capture (you might want to turn down the audio for this, since the audio beacon’s beep will quickly drive you insane.)

You can help dictate the price of the Kepler Space Kit by answering a few questions on Quirky. Before you beam yourself up, keep in mind that Quirky is only selling the parachute, landing legs and the camera mount itself. You’ll have to supply the camera, the weather balloon and the helium, and an audio beacon. The kit is only compatible with GoPro cameras (with the GPS module) and the iPhone 5.

[via Quirky]

We’ve seen plenty of geeky room makeovers in the past months. There was the TARDIS room, the Skyrim basement and the spaceship bedroom. Vaughan, Ontario resident Jason Shron is a train geek – in fact, he makes model trains for a living – so naturally he made a replica of a train car in his basement. Naturally for him I mean.

Jason’s happy place is a replica of a VIA Rail train car from the 80s. According to Global Toronto the exterior of the train is made from drywall, but it’s mostly authentic on the inside. It took him 4-1/2 years to build, and Jason even made fake emergency kits and, on one end of the train, a photo mural depicting a neighboring car to complete the delusion illusion. Shron lucked out with many of the replica’s parts; he got them from an old car that was about to be scrapped.

You can read more about the train at the link and on Jason’s company newsletter. I have a replica of an office space – in fact I’m in it right now – but I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want to see it.

[via Global Toronto]

Tesla coils are one of scientists’ go to tool for making science appealing to kids. As if producing your own lightning wasn’t enough, tesla coils can also be used to produce music by pulsing its sparks at appropriate frequencies. You can do all that and more with the oneTesla DIY kit. Although you might not like the “more” part.

The oneTesla was conceptualized by Bayley Wang, Heidi Baumgartner and Daniel Kramnik. All three are members of MITERS, a student-run tinkering shop at MIT. Which brings us to the catch of oneTesla: you have to build it yourself. Even the inventors admit that it’s best left to people with advanced skills in soldering and electronics. But that’s partly the point of the kit. I’m sure you’ll learn a lot about electronics even if you just watch or assist in assembling the oneTesla. And once it’s built, you can do this:

Flight of the Bumblebee or Attack of the Mosquitoes? The oneTesla has been such a hit at Kickstarter that its cheaper pledges have already sold out; as of this writing you’ll have to pledge at least $299 (USD) to reserve a unit, and you’ll have to wait until May to receive yours. I say it’s worth it.

[via oneTesla]

I’m not sure what’s going on with the Marvel universe right now; the last time I read a comic book with Magneto in it he was taking orders from Cyclops. Whaaaat? I’ll always remember Magneto as the kind of dude who would – and did – rip out a man’s skeleton right out of his body. And that’s why I need this helmet so badly.

This very attractive Magneto helmet was made by Etsy seller/mutant lover/master of crochetism Justine Hofmann.

You can order the Magneto helmet from Justine’s Etsy shop for just $30 (USD).

[via Fashionably Geek]

Redditor morphinapg used a freeware program called Sqirlz Morph to mash together the faces of actors who have played Batman and make this composite image. The features of the man below is an even blend of Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney and Christian Bale. Or rather an even blend of their pictures.

As some of the Redditors have mentioned, the longer you stare at the image the easier it becomes to see the different actors. Morphinapg also made an animated gif version of the image. I wonder what the result would be if we blended the faces of every human being on Earth.

[via Reddit via Neatorama]