Here's the new Volvo in-house wind tunnel simulator, a 28 million dollar facility that is the first in its class to have a road simulator. In theory, it will allow the Swedish manufacturer to precisely test the effect of road changes and airflows all around the car to make cars more fuel efficient. Strangely enough, Tim Walker, the aerodynamics expert at Volvo Cars, doesn't mention other possible uses, like drying the hair and bodies of a multitude of lusty valkyries and/or vikings just out of the shower:

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Here's a video displaying all commercial air traffic in the world during a 24-hour period. Seriously, I'm moving to New York City tomorrow and seeing the flight density in this computer simulation scares me a bit. Thankfully, it's a big planet with plenty of space to fly. But then, pilot friends tell me that sometimes they get close enough to wave at each other, so maybe it's not as big as to accommodate the 7.4 billion passengers that will travel by air in 2020. [Zhaw via Dark Roasted Blend]

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The iBird Flight Simulator was easily the most creative demo at Microsoft's Research Summit yesterday. Also developed in conjunction with NYU (like the UnMouse Pad), it uses a USB controller with dual retractable, pulley-style cords, the iBird tracks your movement in 3D space.. The iBird then relays that information back to the computer and offers visual feedback in the form of a projected 3D world where you become a bird that flaps, leans and speeds up.

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It's the sort of thing you'd expect ordered by Wile E. Coyote from an ACME catalog. But instead, it's a product for the Hurricane Research Centre to prepare for the devastating natural disasters. Six giant gasoline-powered fans drive winds at well over 160kph in a wall of moving air that's large enough to engulf an entire single-story building. Read on for a shot of the quarantined destruction:

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Philippe Kahn and his ambitious Pacific Cup sailing trip from San Francisco to Hawai'i got me all inspired this week to go sailing, but there's one problem: I suck at sailing. In fact, the last time I went sailing was in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, where I almost got smashed on the reef that protects the beach there. So you'll excuse my excitement today over the SimSail, a full sized "land yachting" simulator for two. It's not quite the same thing as sailing on the water, and it's certainly not even remotely close to what Kahn's up to these days, but for me, at least, it's a start.

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Designer Dasha Anokhina has created a concept that takes Glo pillow's design to a new level: REMY is a whole dawn-simulating alarm blanket. The system monitors your sleeping movements with a bedside camera. Then, near your chosen alarm time, the blanket begins to light up with an image representing your sleep pattern, waking you as if the sun was rising. And if you're really into self-analysis, it even saves your sleep data to a USB stick so you can review it later. Could make for interesting viewing, if you're as much of a nighttime revolver as I am. [Yanko Design]

Remember yesterday's drooltastic Motion Pro II racing simulator? Here's how it works and how much it costs. We talked with Chris Considine—CXC Simulations head honcho—who tells us that yes, people actually buy these things even if they cost more than a car: the Motion Pro II starts at US$25,995, but he said that a client spent US$45,000 on one, after add-ons. See the complete shopping list—and high definition pictures from a real system—after the jump.

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We have seen other cool racing simulators before, but the hand-made, individually-configured, and probably mindblowingly-expensive Motion Pro II by CXC Simulations is by far the most impressive of them all, with three 46-inch 1080p LCD displays, 505-watt 5.1 surround sound system—1,010 watts peak power—synchronized with four vibration transducers, and full motion simulation using electro-mechanical actuators to move your seat. And the tech-porn spec list doesn't stop there.

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Kitchen Budapest's Mllamp project is out to give everyday items the ability to simulate emotions. As you can see from the video, a pair of lamps have been rigged to mimic human emotions. What those human emotions are, we're not sure. We just know that these lamps totally remind us of Pixar's mascot, Luxo Jr. [Kitchen Budapest]

Sure you could use the 12,000 watt AE Techron Model 7796 DC-Coupled AC Amplifier to play music, but power like that cannot be relegated to music alone. It needs to be harnessed for something bigger—like unholy experimentation with the forces of nature. In fact, the very first customer to purchase one of these amps is planning on wiring 12 of them up in three phases to simulate lightning strikes on a Boeing 787 airplane. Other Techron models have already been used to test relays in the power industry.

Other specs include: max 6600 watts RMS continuous output, a frequency response of 0 - 30kHz (+0.1 - 0.5dB), 1/4 ohm stable, and a total weight of 153 pounds. Even if you aren't interested in lightning strikes (or bringing the dead back to life), there is plenty to love about the 7796—except for the price. Available for $10,750. [Product Page via Audiojunkies via Uberreview]