motors
Toys
10:30AM Nick Broughall | Using a single Lego motor and a whole heap of gears and Lego to ramp up the speed, this ping pong launcher will push out ping pong balls fast enough for any would be Forrest Gump to practice their returns. Oh, Lego: Is there anything you can’t do?
[Thanks Daryl!]
Lego Ping Pong Launcher Serves Its Purpose Well
10:30AM Nick Broughall | Using a single Lego motor and a whole heap of gears and Lego to ramp up the speed, this ping pong launcher will push out ping pong balls fast enough for any would be Forrest Gump to practice their returns. Oh, Lego: Is there anything you can’t do?
[Thanks Daryl!] 
Science
Proteus Motor Swims Through Bloodstream, Looks Pretty Much Like a Sperm
12:30AM Gizmodo US Edition | The tiny Proteus motor, at only 2.5 times the width of a human hair, is small enough to enter the bloodstream and perform duties previously requiring some surgical slice-and-dice. More »
Peripherals
Smartfish Pro:Motion Keyboard Has Motors To Stop Carpal Tunnel
6:20AM Jason Chen | The Pro:Motion Keyboard goes one step beyond regular ergonomic keyboards by incorporating motors that shift both angle and separation between keys throughout the day in order to prevent you from getting carpal tunnel syndrome. More »
Science
Matchbook-Sized Motor Sets 1 Million RPM Record
8:30AM Sean Fallon | Researchers from ETH Zurich’s Department of Power Electronics have developed a matchbook-sized motor that can spin faster than any other machine in the world—over 1,000,000 rpm. In order to keep it from falling apart at such high speeds, the researchers employed a titanium shell, ultra-thin copper wire for the windings and a mysterious top-secret iron that is “previously unused for machines.” So does this mean we will all be seeing million rpm engines and hard drives soon? Probably not—but products like faster drills may be feasible in the near future thanks to a Swiss company named Celeroton that has been formed to bring products based on the technology to market. [LiveScience] More »
Vehicles
Motor Home With Motorised Balcony as American as Apple Pie
5:26AM Brian Lam | Country Coach’s Veranda motor home has a motorised balcony that deploys in 20 seconds with optional BBQ and 37-inch TV. The marketing material insists you’ll be reducing your “footprint on the environment” and suggests that it would be great to fish or play catch from without ever leaving the comfort of your abomination. [Country Coach via Gizmag] galleryPost('countrycoachveranda', 3, ''); More »
Vehicles
Electrobike Pi Gives You 3.14 Reasons to Get Rid of Your Car
12:14AM Charlie White | Hop on the Electrobike Pi, and through the courtesy of your two feet and its 1hp motor, no one will ever be able to blame you for global warming again. Three reasons? It’s efficient, it’s fun, it’s socially responsible and it looks cool. Okay, maybe the cool look is the “.14″ reason. It still has a carbon footprint (a minuscule 210 pounds a year if you ride it 100 miles a week), but reduce that number to zero (for $1800 extra) by attaching its giant arch-shaped solar charger, and after an eight-hour day in the sun (or 2.5 hours plugged in) that battery is good for another 25 miles, even if you don’t pedal at all. More »
