Larry Ludlow might not be completely bald, but if he ever wanted to sport Moe’s haircut, this robot is his ticket. Restoration Robotics of Mountain View, a California-based company, has created a robot that has the ability to perform hair transplant surgery quicker and less painfully than doctors.

Once it’s plucked enough hair from your head using a hollow needle that just plain sucks, the robot begins to “plant” the follicles in the patient’s head. And to add the cherry on top: the robot has the ability to design the perfect hairline for a patient in which doctors scratch their heads and say, “What the hell would this ‘baldie’ look like with hair?”

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I seriously doubt we’ll get attacked by aliens anytime soon but in case we are, we’ll be prepared to bluff their assault with these quirky ceramic ray guns from Muddy Mountain Pottery. The Raku Ray Gun series of creations feature classic sci-fi names such as “Van Vogt Defractor” and “Nemo Squidulator.” The median price of the guns you’ll find is about $275 a sculpture, a small price to pay for such unique art.

Interested in how these guns came about being crafted? From the website:

Raku Ray Guns are one-of-a-kind ceramic sculptures made by West Magoon. They are inspired by alien technology unearthed at a secret UFO crash site, known only to a tribe of Wyoming Hill People. These photos depict all of the individual Ray Guns currently available. Each is named after a classic science fiction author or character. The moon crater wall plaques that support the guns each measure 12″ wide by 9″ high.

In the end, they still don’t have shit on Ripley’s Pulse Rifle from Aliens.

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The big buzz this week at the Roboexotica event in San Francisco are robots that mix drinks. Specifically, a robot dubbed “Chapek” is capable of making a small variety of mixed drinks: gin and orange juice (laid back), a gin martini, a vodka martini and a screwdriver. Hilarity ensued during a press run when Chapek spills a screwdriver all over himself and his circuitry.

Other robots that can be seen at Roboexotica include: a mind reading martini maker, which measures the alpha waves in ones brain to determine how dry the martini should be, as well as a robot that has the ability to flip cigarettes into peoples mouths. Awesome. Robotic cancer rules!

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The beautiful month of May is now upon us and you know what that means! Lots of warm, hot days eating ice cream, swimming in the pool and mowing the goddamned lawn. Lucky for you, radio controlled gadgets are becoming increasingly popular.

Enter the radio controlled lawn mower. Instead of busting your ass mowing your grandmother’s three acre property, you can kick back on the deck and enjoy a cold brew from your Portal Beer Stein. You can build your own for about $450 in parts or you can pay your little brother $5 and promise not to give him a wedgie. Whatever works best for you.

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While the product is designed with RC model airplanes in mind, the Pilot View Realtime First Person Video system is an all-inclusive kit for the hobbyist that wants to take their project to the next level. You attach the kit to your plane, throw on the goggles and let loose. In turn, you can experience a view from the skies as if you were really flying around inside your aircraft.

Due out May 30th, the FPV doesn’t come cheap. Be prepared to dish out $550 for the ability to get a view from above. It shouldn’t be an issue if you’re already spending the cash on $1000+ RC airplanes. Broke? You could always give this RC spy kit a go.

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We already let you know that the Maker Faire was this past weekend, so we hope you got a chance to check it out. If not, here’s one of the better highlights from the event. Seems Pleo, the robotic dinosaur toy everyone goes apeshit about, got his ass handed to him by Battlebot, a robot that looks like a lawnmower and chops off limbs like one too.

After the jump, check out the video of Pleo getting placed in the middle of the arena. 30 seconds later, the fun begins.

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There is no way of knowing whether a dude or a chick wrote in this confessional to Mr. Know-It-All (a question-and-answer syndication in Singapore,) and frankly, it doesn’t matter. Whoever it is, they are actually sexually obsessed with Transformers.

They describe a problem they’ve been having where they’ll stare at their car for hours, hoping it will transform.They call themselves “More Than Meets The Eye”, and they’ve even gone as far as quitting their job because of their fear that they’ll miss their car’s transformation. My advice? Seek the care of a professional physician. And fast!

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Our west coast DIYers will definitely want to make the trek down to San Mateo, California for the Maker Faire, which goes down this weekend on the San Mateo County Fairgrounds. Tons of DIY tables, art installations and music will be on display for all to enjoy. Judging by the above picture, I’d say this year will be the best Maker Faire yet. Boing Boing has a few more photos up if you’re interested.

Check out the official site for more information and ticket prices.

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Soldering can be a really tricky thing to master. Between having to have a clean workspace, a nearby electrical outlet, and a huge risk for burns, it sometimes feels like an accident waiting to happen.

Luckily, there is a project that is easy, fun for the entire family and solder free. The Snap Circuit Rover allows you to easily snap together electronic parts to create a working remote-controlled vehicle. It’s truly a fantastic way to teach your kids about electrical engineering while building a toy that can bring your beer from the kitchen to your tennis ball couch. The manufacturer, Elenco, makes a whole range of robots and vehicles that don’t require solder.

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Apparently robots partaking in athletics is becoming a recognized venue. I’m not talking about Battle Bots, although I’ve heard that the show is planned to make a comeback. I’m talking about straight-up American football (ironically taking place in Japan.)

The video above shows two teams consisting of pure robotics, battling it out on a mini-Football field. Now, these bots aren’t quite up to snuff with say, the NFL. Not yet at least. It’s more along the lines of Foosball. Their small stature and fragile frames couldn’t withstand a bulky linebackers tackle, but they are really fricken fast. — Andrew Dobrow

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