Motorola Aura

Motorola unveiled a gorgeous new phone this week - the ridiculously expensive, but very lovely Aura. The phone body is made up of stainless steel with a etched, textured pattern and the screen is 1.62-carat sapphire crystal. It is apparently made up of lots of other fancy parts, too, which you can read all about in Cnet's review. I mainly just love the sexy skin and the unique display. The Aura features a 2-megapixel camera, an mp3 player, stereo Bluetooth, quad-band GSM support, Moto's CrystalTalk feature, messaging, e-mail, a speakerphone, and an open-source browser all for $1,999. Um, yeah.

Nike Lab Pre Cool Vest

The Pre Cool Vest by Nike Lab uses frozen water to cool the body prior to events. Designed for the recently completed Olympics to combat the stifling heat and humidity of China, the vest takes the place of air conditioning and goes wherever the athlete goes. When in contact with the skin and vest, cooler blood is circulated through the body and the athlete finds relief from the heat. The cooling takes place through conduction and is less efficient than evaporation, but this may be to protect the athlete from over cooling and other risks.

Universe by Jonathan Harris for Daylife

Universe, a project by Jonathan Harris is an art project for visualization and organization tool for Daylife, a news feeder. Universe is hard to explain completely so you should read the Statement. Daylife is a pretty cool news feeder and is worth checking out. They have an open API, so get cooking.

Hulger PAPPA*PHONE

This has been all around the blogosphere but it's too gorgeous not to post here - the PAPPA*PHONE, made by Furni for Hulger. I love that it's a high-tech VoIP phone, but that it's made out of a wood - a more craftsman material than the typical metal that characterizes modern design. Mmm, yes, I love!

Via Mocoloco and numerous others!

Carnivore Flashlight by Gerber

The Carnivore uses certain wavelengths of light to illuminate the red of blood for hunters to see at night while tracking down their prey. Gerber, primarily known for their knives and multi-tools, is branching off into illumination as well. While a 'blood tracking flashlight' seems like an odd function, it has its purpose and makes life easier... for somebody.

ARTSPROJEKT

ARTSPROJEKT is an online community for arts, pop culture and action sports. Conceived by Andy Howell, one of the most established skater-artists (Underworld Element, Sophisto), the site uses Zazzle to on-demand print a TON of different products. ARTSPROJEKT is just starting out so create a gallery there and promote your work.

The Large Hadron Collider

It appears as if the Swiss are building their own little Death Star over there. I wonder when it will be . . . fully operational. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a multi-national endeavor designed to pick apart the birth of the universe, among many other experiments. Scientists and laypersons continue the debate of whether or not we will implode the Earth in the process.

These photos, along with many others, are from the CERN Photo Archive and were featured on The Big Picture.

Alessandro Capozzo

Fractal Cubes_2 by Alessandro Capozzo is built with Processing. Alessandro uses the coding language to create some beautiful installation pieces that marry the handmade with hi-tech without either being out of place.

Dazzle Camouflage

Who would have thought the military was so avant garde? Naval units around the world employed Dazzle Camouflage during WW1 against optical rangefinding/targeting devices by using angles and colors to distort their location and heading. The patterns served to confuse instead of conceal, similar to many moth species such as the Saturnia pavonia.

Eye of Science

Eye of Science combines the exacting images of microscopic images with the artistry of photography and color. Started by a biologist and a photographer, EOS captures amazing moments of cellular processes as well as microscopic structures and organisms. The images make you think twice about how well designed the world around us is, down to the smallest detail.

via Digg

Comet Skateboards and e2e Materials

Good for Ithaca! Comet Skateboards combined with e2e Materials to use petroleum-free biodegradable composites developed at Cornell University in their skateboard construction. The e2e laminates update the traditional 7-ply and glue with soy and hemp layers to produce a more environmentally friendly board.

Nice to see some innovative products coming from my alma mater and local skatepark.

NYPL Digital Gallery

The NYPL Digital Gallery features a wide breadth of historical documents and images. Some of those included are historical maps of of 1700-1800 Manhattan, featured left and right.

The gallery is absolutely worth browsing through. While not as fun as flipping through the archives of a library, smelling the old bindings or feeling the crispness of the sheets of paper, the gallery is the next best thing. You might find something that inspires you in there.

Apple's MacBook Air

So, Apple announced the MacBook Air yesterday. It's gorgeous - 3/4" at its thickest point and only 3 lbs in weight, with a 13" screen. Functionally, I have some issues with it - there's no cd/dvd drive - just a USB port. The MacBook Air is wireless, so Apple assumes that you will download your movies from the Apple store, or backup your data wirelessly, using Time Capsule. For the times when you really need a cd drive, the MacBook Air can use another computer's cd drive wirelessly. It also only has an 80 GB hard drive, which is smaller than some iPods. Here's the clincher for me - on the low end, the MacBook Air costs $1,799.00, while the high end version costs $3,098.00.

I guess the point behind the MacBook Air is that it is a super lightweight, portable laptop, but the fact that it doesn't have a cd/dvd drive bothers me, and the cost is down right prohibitive, considering you can get a 20" iMac for $1,199. The 80 GB hard drive is another negative in my opinion; my digital files would eat up that space pretty quickly. I think it's meant as a secondary computer, but at that cost, I'm not sure that it's worth it.

What do you think? Is it worth it? Would you buy it?

Skyray / X-48B

2007 was an important year for the aeronautics division of NASA. The Skyray 48 program flew its first successful scale prototype test flights and is on its way to a full scale prototype in a few years. The Skyray/X-48B is a collaboration between Boeing Co., NASA and the Air Force Research Lab. As with many initially military technologies, the lessons learned by a project's commercial collaborator will find their way down to the general public (GPS, cell phones, 4x4's, etc.). The blended wing/lifting body type will increase capacity, lower fuel costs and reduce noise for military and commercial aircraft developed from the Skyray prototype.

photos courtesy of NASA

Robert Stadler +336+ SMS Mirror

Mirror, mirror on the wall...Danielle over at Style Files posted about the +336+ SMS Mirror by Robert Stadler, a mirror that can receive text messages, and I couldn't resist posting about it here. As one gets closer to the mirror, luminous text appears. If you are like me, you can forget about buying one - only twenty have been made and they cost $10,000 each! If not, you can purchase one here.

Incase iPhone Protective Cover

iPhone Protective Cover by Incase is a slick little sleeve with a great topo-inspired texture on the back. If I had an iPhone, I would definitely have to get one of these to protect that little thing.

NASA - Great Images in NASA (GRIN)

GRIN aka Great Images in NASA, is the repository of the most important historical images of the US space program from its founding through today. The images above are of the Saturn V S-1C Stages in Michoud Assembly Facility (left) and The First Stages of Saturn IB in Final Assembly (right). The library of images is absolutely worth checking out and span the breadth of the NASA programs.

C2 Climate Control by Herman Miller

The Climate Control by Herman Miller is a heater, cooler and air filter for your personal office space. The C2 is a nice little accent for your desk that serves the very important function of keeping you comfortable so you can fill out those TPS reports.

Trek 2000

I think these are some sexy USB flash drives, if there is such a thing. I like the simple, crystalline forms. These were designed by Genometri for Trek 2000.