Hasta La Gadget!

For most of us, it’s winter. Which means it’s soul-suckingly cold. But for this week’s Shooting Challenge, we’re celebrating all of those frozen motifs—ice, snow and frosty breath. For this week’s Shooting Challenge, show us freezing cold. More »

It’s super-hot in Australia right now: there are massive bush fires happening spontaneously and it’s 95°F in Sydney at midnight. In fact, the Australian bureau of meteorology has recorded the highest ever known temperature in Australia—and as a result, it’s had to add new colors to its weather maps. More »

Anyone that’s ever tried to plan an outdoor activity in advance knows that weather forecasting is not an exact science, but the perpetual sky-watchers at NASA may have inadvertently found a way to improve these guesstimations. They have been testing a laser system for measuring lunar dust and soil kicked up by rocket exhausts, and while using precipitation as a substitute to calibrate the laser, they found they could measure the average size of raindrops passing through it. This value is estimated in current forecasting models, so plugging in some accurate numbers should make those predictions more reliable.

The original mission hasn’t been forgotten, though. Particles whipped up by landing rockets on the moon’s surface could damage what was left behind by the Apollo missions, ruining its scientific and historic value. One of the laser sensors may find its way onto a craft vying for Google’s X Prize, with the results used to determine where vessels can touch down whilst keeping a safe distance from Apollo landing sites. Although an accidental discovery, the system’s other potential career in weather forecasting will also continue to be explored. Now, if only there was a way to make it rain and speed up the testing.

Filed under: Science, Alt

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Source: NASA

Here in the Philippines, we have no real need for a weather app. It’s this simple: the weather here is great. If you’re a plant. I’m not a plant, so I just accept that the weather sucks. That in the middle of a sweltering hot day it’s perfectly normal if it suddenly rains for 6 seconds. But I’d totally buy a weather-telling indoor cloud anyhow.

That’s the Nebula 12, a concept for a lamp that doubles as a weather station. It’s being developed by the Micasa Lab, the same crazy folks who came up with the iRock chair. Like today’s weather apps, the Nebula 12 is designed to provide a visual representation of the forecast, but in a more tangible way.

The device connects to an online source for weather reports. If it’s sunny, the lamp will shine a bright yellow light, but as you can see the fun starts when it’s cloudy. The device will use a controlled combination of liquid nitrogen and hot water to create an indoor cloud. The light can then change the color and brightness of the cloud. Fortunately it won’t create rain or lightning even if that’s the forecast. Below is a short video demonstrating the prototype:

If the device ever gets released, I hope Micasa Lab gives it an “always cloudy” mode. Because that’s the only reason why it will sell.

[via The Nebula Project via The Verge via Cool Hunting]

Who would have thought that with just the simple addition of a second grip an umbrella could become more than just a frustrating mess of metal and nylon during a windy rainstorm? But from the looks of it the sublimely genius Grip2 umbrella could make maelstroms easier to manage. More »