Hasta La Gadget!

If you are a big fan of Doctor Who, odds are you have more than a few Who themed items around your house. If it stays cold for very long in your neck of the woods, you may have one of those things you lay in front of the door to block cold air from getting in. We always called them “the draft thing” at my grandmas house.

Apparently the British call them a “draught blocker.” Draught is how they spell draft apparently; I’m honestly surprised the word doesn’t have more instances of the letter U in its spelling. At any rate, if you need to block an annoying draft this winter, you can get this stuffed Sonic Screwdriver officially known as the Sonic Screwdriver Draught Blocker.

It’s stuffed and designed to lie geekily in front of the door. The device is up for pre-order for $44.99(USD) at Bigbadtoystore.com. The draught blocker won’t ship until March. If you live in a climate like Texas – where I reside, it will be 80 degrees by March with winter chill a distant memory. I assume it could also block hot air from getting under the door.

[via Nerd Approved]

Despite weighing as much as a proton and looking like I’ve been dead for six hours, I’ve only been to the hospital once. So I don’t know if doctors and nurses still have trouble with sticking syringes and other intravenous devices into patients. But if that’s still the case, Evena Medical can help. The company invented a pair of glasses that lets the wearer see through a person skin and into the veins beneath.

Evena Medical’s Eyes On Glasses have two “hyper-sensitive cameras” and two multispectral lights that lets the wearer clearly see a person’s veins, significantly improving their ability to find the best vein. It can also record what it sees as photos or videos and save it on its onboard storage or transmit it remotely via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or 3G. I don’t know if it can send the files in real time though. It also has 2-way speakers for telecommunication. Aside from the glasses, the user also has to wear a battery pack and a computer, but it’s still a portable device. Skip to about 45 seconds in the video below to see the glasses in action.

I really want to see a full body shot through those glasses. I wonder if it can see through plastic and metal too. Check out Evena Medical’s website for more info.

[via Coolest-Gadgets]

The number of soldiers on both sides of WWII that were killed or went missing is just staggering. Now, the mystery surrounding one RAF pilot and what happened to him and his plane has been solved after 70 years. RAF flight Sergeant Dennis Copping climbed into his Kittyhawk P-40 aircraft in June 1942 to fly the plane to another airbase for repairs. He was never seen or heard from again.

The RAF long believed that Copping became disoriented during his flight and strayed off course. Recently an explorer working for an oil company came upon a very odd site in the Western Desert in Egypt. The explorer came upon a mostly intact and incredibly well preserved P-40 sitting on the ground in the desert.

The aircraft had some damage from the crash, for one the propeller was torn off and lying away from the aircraft. The plane also notably had what appeared to be bullet holes in the fuselage. It’s unclear if those bullet holes were the damage the pilot was taking the aircraft in to have repaired or if perhaps they are why the aircraft crashed in the desert. The aircraft was complete with its .50 cal machine guns and ammo and hasn’t been touched since the pilot left the aircraft sitting on the desert floor.

Indications are that the pilot survived the crash. The pilot’s parachute was found alongside the wreckage along with a makeshift shelter. However, the pilot’s remains are nowhere to be found. The theory is that the pilot tried to walk out of the desert and perished somewhere in the sands. The crash location is 200 miles from the nearest city.

[via Daily Mail]

A few months ago we heard about a supercapacitor designed by a high school student that could lead to quick charging and longer lasting mobile phones. The Blueshift Helium speaker gives us a taste of that future. It also uses supercapacitors instead of rechargeable batteries to drastically reduce charging times.

Blueshift claims that its Helium speakers can be fully charged in just five minutes and last up to six hours while playing at its maximum volume. That’s a huge improvement over practically any speaker in the market. The supercapacitors will also supposedly last up to 500,000 charges, compared to the hundreds or thousands of cycles for most rechargeable batteries. The Bluetooth speakers also have a bamboo case and one or two 4″ full-range drivers (there are mono and stereo versions).

Pledge at least $350 (USD) on Crowd Supply to get a Blueshift Helium speaker as a reward.

[via Damn Geeky via Design You Trust]

When it comes to pets, most people stick with dogs and cats. Some folks out there want something a bit different like snakes or turtles. A family from Brazil had a pet turtle, but lost it many years ago. The people thought the turtle wandered out of the house when builders left the door open.

Not the actual turtle found, but a reasonable facsimile

30 years later the family was back at the home cleaning it out after the death of a family member. When they got into a locked storage building inside the home, they discovered the missing turtle living inside a box.

“I put the box on the pavement for the rubbish men to collect, and a neighbor said, ‘you’re not throwing out the turtle as well are you?’ ” the younger Almeida told Brazil’s Globo website. “I looked and saw her. At that moment, I turned white, I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”

The turtle was found living in a cardboard box. Veterinarians say that red-footed tortoise such as this can live two to three years without eating. However, 30 years is a bit of a stretch. The vet thinks the turtle probably lived by drinking condensation and eating termites or other bugs.

[via MNN]