The only problem is that Robolamps have not gone commercial, but if they did, I have no doubt that they would sell. Well, maybe not the robot that looks like it’s admiring its own giant wang, but other than that… [Robolamp on Facebook via Pocket-Lint]

I rarely get truly impressed by gadgets. They may be beautiful. They may do nice tricks. But very rarely they make me smile out of pure wonderment. That’s exactly what happened when I watched the Fiat Lux Lamp in action.

At first sight, the Fiat Lux Lamp is just a lamp: One plain orb with a smaller sphere attached to its side. It’s just a lamp until you turn it on, by grabbing the smaller sphere and making it float under the sphere, where it will stay until you decide to turn it off. No wires. Just thin air between the lamp orb and the sphere, and the forces of magnetism. [Constance Guisset via Unplggd]

“The complexity of curves and required thinness could not be duplicated in any other material while still maintaining its ability to support itself completely…”

Usually when I picture carbon fibre, I imagine that monotonous, slate-coloured slab that’s delicately thin but mostly flat — or I picture the Ossur cheetah legs that are curved but only for industrial utility.

I would have never imagined carbon fibre as a ribbon of light.

[Contemporist via cribcandy]

Flickr user kmkelley617’s bacon lamp is real and it’s (mostly) edible. The shade is made out of 99 per cent hand-woven bacon which was then baked as a mould in the oven, probably so kmkelley617 wouldn’t find himself violently ill should he get mouthy in the middle of a spontaneous-yet-inevitable man-on-lamp lovemaking session.

The only room we see for improvement is to replace that light bulb with something of a higher wattage so the lamp becomes a dual bacon idol/bacon cooker, rather than solely the former.

[flickr via Oddity Central via The Presurfer via technabob]

Less than six bucks for an 8-LED lamp that won’t even be a blip on your electricity bill? Why not grab one, especially if it somehow pisses off your telco? [Uxsight OhGizmo! via Wired]

Frederik Krebs came up with this combination of solar panels and LED lights which, while definitely a work in progress, could bring cheap light to some of the world’s poorest regions. I call the lamps a work in progress because despite being durable enough to last several years, they run at a mere 1 per cent efficiency. But with the expected final cost of $US7 a piece, they’re full of life-changing potential.

Some prototypes of the lamps are currently being tested in Zambia. As seen in the picture, the solar panels are left laying flat during the day and then rolled up (and secured with a snap button) into a cone-shaped lamp. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing the results of the prototype tests and a final product, because no one should go without artificially lit nights. [IEEE Spectrum via Pop Sci]

The reissued design originally debuted in 1972, and consists of a simple wire frame topped with a plastic dome (available in four colours!). And if it weren’t for the $US1200 price tag, we might consider making one ours. (Ha! You thought this thing would be cheap? Since when is mass-producible metal and plastic cheap?) [The Lollipop Shoppe via Unplggd]

Rubik Lamp Gallery

Somebody licence this, please. Time to start churning them out of the factory. [Behance via Unplggd]

I love the worn metal, but at $US2400 I would need a much better reason than liking the look to justify filling my house with inadequate lighting. Plus, it looks like it’s staring at me… [Product Page via LikeCool]

The appropriately titled “Sketch Lamp” is the brainchild of Ninna Kapadia and Hung-Ming Chen and, for the moment, it is still in the concept stage. Hopefully, that will change soon because light boxes are annoying, cumbersome beasts. [Ninna Kapadaia via DVICE]