Gearfuse

Just for the hell of it, Nokia decided to run a design competition, challenging competing designers to create headphones inspired by their favorite music. Some of the resulting designs, as expected, are pretty awesomely wacky. The design above is inspired by Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” complete with unearthed zombies and a pedophile werewolf.

After the jump, you can check out a second design called “I’m Flying,” which is apparently inspired by R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Piss On Teenage Girls Fly,” but reminds me more of A Flock of Seagulls for some reason. (more…)

Seeing this video makes me hope that one day I’ll be flying in a giant robotic butterfly. Researchers in Japan are working on this small ornithopter, a flying device with wings that are modeled after those of a butterfly. The idea is to one day have commercial airplanes with flapping-wing flight just like birds.

Above is a high speed video demonstrating the small scale design of the ornithopter. It turns out that the most efficient forward flying wings are wings with micromolded veins flapping at 10 beats per second. I say we just clone ginormous insects and ride them like horses. If only we could get around that gravity thing.

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Is this a spy cam created by the military or is it Batman’s latest gadget? Of course it’s a piece of technology made by the military; Batman is a fictitious comic book character. The Army has awarded the University of Michigan College of Engineering a five year $10 million dollar grant to develop this robotic spy plane which bears an uncanny resemblance to a bat.

It’s called the COM-BAT and it’s concept was conceived by the US military for the purpose of gathering real-time data for soldiers. The folks behind the design are also huge fans of The Dark Knight. It’s a six-inch surveillance device that is powered by solar, wind and vibrations. So much for my idea of bat droppings as fuel.

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So you and those exchange students from Japan decided to go out in the woods next Sunday for some cosplay. While you’re busy cutting fabric, your newfound buddies are busy welding metal together and building mechbots. You need some pizzaz for your outfit and these mechanical wings from Cybertek should do the trick.

Costing $1000 and ensuring you won’t have sex for the next six months, these wings are constructed from carbon fiber and extruded aluminum. Each wingtip has a flowing light that can change colors and the wings even extend and retract. A grand is a lot of money to spend on a stupid pair of wings though, so you may want to consider a cheaper alternative.

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What does an ex-fighter pilot do for thrills and kicks when he’s done shooting down krauts? He builds a unique rocket-powered flying machine, takes some opium and calls himself Fusion Man. Such is the life of 48-year-old Yves Rossy, the man behind the wings of his real-life Iron Man suit. Rossy is able to achieve speeds of 186 mph and altitudes of about 8200 ft.

It’s interesting how Fusion Man gets going on his wings. First, he jumps out of an airplane, after that, he coasts for awhile before igniting the four rockets on his wings. The entire time he is able to maintain complete control and even perform maneuvers like a 360 and barrel roll. All I want to know is how I can get my hands on one of these amazing suits. Who needs a FPV RC kit when you can become the airplane itself!

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Sega Toys has launched the most disgustingly adorable toy we have ever seen. The Dream Chick, a fluffy palm-shaped baby chick, that flaps its wings when held. The chick looks very realistic, but luckily, lacks the capacity to peck at you when you pet it or to fly out any open windows.

Not only will Dream Chick comfort you after your long day at work, but will melt your heart with the peeps it lets out as you stroke its fuzzy head. Now, you might look at this and think, “Oh, great. Another stupid toy”. And you’d probably be right. But for someone who needs a barely legal chick to tramp around with, maybe this little guy would do the trick. Available for around $12.90. — Andrew Dobrow

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