Given the recent rumours about a "revolutionary" new manufacturing process from Apple involving water jet-cut aluminium for new MacBooks, it seemed appropriate to discuss a new product coming out of the 2008 Fabtech International & AWS Welding show. The FLOW is a 6-axis system that perform full 3D water cutting without a bulky gantry holding it back. Instead, the entire system runs off a flexible robotic arm for more precision work (although its accuracy has been described as "mid range"). Either way, it looks like the FLOW 6 will be used to fabricate some awesome stuff down the line. [AVING via Slashgear]

Every year NASA publishes a new edition of their Spinoff magazine, a periodical that outlines NASA-based technologies that have disseminated into everyday devices, improving our lives beyond giving us some nifty new desktop wallpapers. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Spinoff, and to celebrate, NASA has created a "best of" list (that we pasted after the jump). From the aerodynamic principles applied to tractor trailers to advanced imaging techniques that allow 360-degree Real Estate photo tours, NASA demonstrates that their technological breakthroughs are about more than just sticking an American flag on the moon.

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The $US1.7-billion HiPER facility--High Power laser Energy Research--will kick off with a party this monday. Yes, the project that will hopefully give us a way to produce limitless clean energy and save humanity from self-destruction (or pull out an LHC and destroy half the planet), starts up with a hydrogen pellet and alcoholic cocktails, which, if you ask me, is the perfect way to begin saving the planet. Here is how it works:

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The fact is, technology has done just as good a job disseminating and democratising adult entertainment as it has any sort of critical life-sustaining need, from food to vaccines, clothing to housing. Starting with photography, moving to wide-scale magazine print and movie theatres, propelling VHS and now dominating the internet, pornography has not only been a constant measure of our times, but often the catalyst behind them.

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All of the news surrounding the Large Hadron Collider and the Burj Dubai Skyscraper recently has got me thinking about large-scale technological projects. Both absolutely defy belief, but which one do you think is the most impressive achievement? I'm even going to throw in the International Space Station for good measure. How about the pyramids? Why not—might be a good idea to have some historical balance.

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It's a new era for political mudslinging. I, for one, can't wait for the instagib republican vs democrat fragfests coming next. McCain may be a war vet, but he's no match for Obama's Covenant Carbine amd 4,000DPI mouse! (On a side note, how hard must it be to run for president these days without email and stuff?) [Valleywag]

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Speaking to an audience at the recent HOPE hackercon event, Mythbusters' Adam Savage describes a harrowing conference call in which most, if not all of the big name credit card companies bullied the Discovery Channel into axing a show involving RFID vulnerabilities. Adam noted that he got chills just thinking about it and claims that Tory still gets "white" when describing the conversation. I suppose anyone would feel a little intimidated (and probably pee their pants a little) when faced by the combined legal power of some of the most powerful businesses in the world. [Wired via Boing Boing]

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Graphene looks like it's going to be one of the "wonder materials" of the future, and a science team at Cornell University has just demonstrated the world's smallest balloon made of it. They stuck sheets of graphene over microscopic wells (1 to 100 square micrometers) cut into silica glass, trapping gas inside. By varying the pressure in the wells, they could make the graphene bulge inwards or outwards like a balloon, and the membranes proved pretty resilient: They could withstand several atmospheres of pressure. Though, like real birthday party balloons, the gas leaked out after a few days, it apparently did so through the glass, not the graphene. These tiny air pockets may have future uses as micro-sized weighing scales or even precise pressure sensors: It's another case of an invention waiting to find a use. [New Scientist]

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Finally, we can all agree on something: the Air Force wants a holodeck. I want a holodeck. You want a holodeck. Luckily for us, the Air Force is a good party to have overlapping interests with, technology wise; they have the billions to do it, and according to a recent request for proposals, are now getting serious. Specifically, they want "petabyte command and control databases [that can] be visualised and controlled dynamically in 3-D," and they don't want it to suck.

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Looking for some new desktop pictures? What better to have as a desktop than the contraption that's going to create a black hole in a mere week, killing us all? The Big Picture has a great collection of high-res Large Hadron Collider images, and they're stunning. If we're going to die, we might as well be killed by the biggest, most beautiful piece of technology ever assembled by man.

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