This table lamp designed by Alexander Lervik might look like just an ordinary lamp modeled after the human brain, but it’s so much more to Mr. Lervik. It’s called MYBrain and interestingly enough, it is Alexander Lervik’s brain. OK, it’s not his actual brain but it’s as close as it ever will be while propped on a stand, having light illuminating from it.

The lamp is based on the artist’s real brain after an MRI scanning and processing through a 3-D printer. He’s lucky that 3-D printer didn’t turn his brain into a Little Lamp, otherwise all his colleagues would be poking fun.

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Ahhh, the energy drink market. Let’s see, the Brain TonIQ website claims:

Brain Toniq is no marketing gimmick. With 5 to 36 times the amount of active ingredients of any functional beverage on the market, Brain Toniq is the real deal. It provides simple access to the world’s most powerful brain-enhancing botanicals.

The drink has no caffeine, it’s a nootropic (aka brain food) and it’s apparently “good for you.” I have an incredibly hard time believing that but a panel of judges at the Paperboard Packaging Council found that Brain TonIQ is the real deal. The company’s packaging won a Best in Show award for the unique 4-pack design that emulated cans sticking out at each end. I’d really love to try a can of this stuff and see if helps me pay attention any better. Chances are I’ll just chug three cans and have to pee an hour later.

Like Red Bull, Brain TonIQ doesn’t come cheap. 12 cans will run you $36, including shipping.

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In The Matrix, robots are self-aware of their existence. This is a bad thing as it eventually leads to the enslavement of mankind. The idea of a human brain inside a robot is intriguing for anyone whose ever wanted to put their brain in a robot body to become an Adrian Barbobot. Scientists are getting closer to that vision, having equipped a small robot with rat neurons to control itself.

An interesting trait of the artificial brain is that it can get bored. If it doesn’t receive any information from the electrodes it’s connected to, the neurons will break the connections, likewise, when the neurons are stimulated, more connections are formed. The robot that was built runs on wheels with an ultrasound sensor enabling it to spot when it is approaching a wall and redirect itself accordingly. That’s great and all but could’t you just do that with an Arduino?

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Who would’ve thought that boxers would like to exercise their brain in ways other than getting punched in the face. Berlin is home to the world’s biggest chess boxing club. That’s right, you read correctly: chess boxing club. A chess boxing match consists of six rounds of chess and five rounds of boxing but a knockout or checkmate could end the game prematurely.

Two men square off in the ring, separated by a chess board. After four minutes of mind bending chess, the two opponents put on their gloves and go at it. Three minutes of heavy-handed brawling goes down before the bell is rung, the chessboard is set back up in the middle of the ring and the boxers find themselves faced off with yet another potential check mate scenario.

“For me the thing is to channel your violence, to control it. Hence the marriage between boxing and chess,” said Rubingh, president of the international federation of chess boxing.

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Scientists have rigged up two monkeys with tiny sensors in their brains. Through a new process, they’ve learned to control a mechanical arm with only their thoughts. Singularity of mammal and machine is nothing new, though this specific study could pave the way for more human-based experiments.

“This study really pulls together all the pieces from earlier work and provides a clear demonstration of what’s possible,” said Dr. William Heetderks.

This test of brain-machine interface technology demonstrates that monkeys which can grab food with a robotic arm once again shows us that putting sensors in human brains could prove beneficial in many areas of the future.

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Mixing together the design of Rubik’s Cube and the brain-teasing mathematics of Sudoku, the Sudokube is a puzzle that your brain might be too scared to even attempt. The product page claims this toy is for Ages 5 and up. What sort of 5-year-old is capable of solving this and where does he live? So I can kick his scrawny smug ass to prove my worth.

The square measures 2.25″ on all of its sides and is available for only $4. When the puzzle isn’t even complete in the promotional image, it’s time to worry. — Andrew Dobrow

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