All Entries in the "Simply Cool" Category

Matsumura Yoran Offers Service To Bring Orchids Back From The Dead

Japanese hobby gardeners who have developed an attachment to their flowers need not be sad when their orchids die. Orchid grower Matsumura Yoran is opening a new business that they claim will Frankenstein customers’ dead orchids back into bloom. Just like the plot to a bad horror movie.
According to company president Hidehiko Matsumura, “We want our customers to enjoy the attraction of orchids as long as possible.” And that they will, once the orchids go through the company’s revival system, which puts the orchids through stringent growing conditions to nurse them back into health.
Unfortunately, bringing new life to the flowers takes a bit more than the wave of a magic wand. Instead, it requires a time-consuming process which involves replacing the peat moss in the pot with wood chips (to make it easier for the roots to suck up water), as well as placing it in [...]

Einstein’s Manuscript For The Theory Of Relativity On Display


First published in 1916, Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity remains a groundbreaking landmark in modern Physics. Now, the original manuscript detailing the famed scientist’s explanation of the subject has gone on display in its entirety for the very first time.
While the manuscript has been shown to the public before, it was always in the form of isolated pages, highlighting one or more of the aspects of the general theory. According to organizers, they wanted to exhibit something unique to commemorate the 50th year celebration of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Jerusalem and decided that showcasing the pivotal work of one of all time’s most influential scientists was the perfect way to do it.
The 46-page handwritten work details Einstein’s ideas about his theory, including the now iconic E=MC² equation. On it, he explains and illustrates the wide range of details that his findings [...]

PlanetSolar, The World’s Largest Solar-Powered Boat

Since the 1980s, skipper Raphael Domjan has been dreaming of sailing around the world using the minimum amount of energy.  Five years ago, he embarked on a journey to fulfill that dream.  Recently, they unveiled the vessel that will help him accomplish it – PlanetSolar, the world’s largest solar-powered boat.
Shown off at the HDW shipyard in Kiel, Germany, the catamaran measures 100 feet long, 50 feet wide and 25 feet high.  Using a multi-hull body constructed by the Knierim Yacht Club, they’ve been able to incorporate a massive photovoltaic array of solar panels that cover a monstrous area of 5,300 square feet, employing a total 38,000 units of SunPower’s 22% efficiency, next-generation cells.

PlanetSolar will depend solely on the solar generators for its power the whole time it stays on the water, predicting an average engine consumption of 20kW.  Weighing 61 tons, it can travel at a top speed of 14 [...]

Save The Office From Lunch Confusion With The Takeout Menu Organizer

Lunchtime is always busy time at the office.  That’s because stomachs are grumbling and no one has any idea where to get their food.  Except you, of course, because you’ve got the Takeout Menu Organizer, a three-ring binder designed for putting together a compilation of local take-out flyers.  My hero!
Everyone at work likes takeout food.  Despite that, no one seems to bother organizing the stack of restaurant flyers that regularly make their rounds.  That’s where you swoop in, of course, saving the day one food order at a time.

The Takeout Menu Organizer is a hardcover binder with nine tabbed dividers containing storage pockets for holding those menus and an elastic closure.   Sure, you can use any generic binder from the office supplies store to do the same thing, but this one was built exactly for the job, with a big label in front (so no one mistakes it for sensitive [...]

Forget Work At Home, The H2Office Lets You Work At Sea!

You’ve already got an office in your backyard.  Now, it’s time to take unconventional workplaces to the next level with the H2Office, a compact office unit designed to float in the water.
Why would you want do that?  Well, I’m not entirely sure.  Maybe, working in a 30-story building at the commercial center cramps your style.  Perhaps, fishing or sunbathing both sound like better activities to enjoy during your lunch break.  Heck, maybe your business caters to the kind of people who spend all day in the docks or on the beach.

Whatever reason you have for wanting one, the H2Office will ably fill in.  Measuring nine meters long, each floating office comes with enough space to fit in a couple of desks, a fold-out bed (in case you decide to burn the midnight oil working), a lounge area for entertaining guests and a kitchenette.  For taking a quick respite from the [...]

Make The Ocean Your Living Room With The Electric Sofa Boat

Your living room’s a bit too cramped?  Entertain guests in the biggest living room ever – the ocean – with the Sofa Boat, an electric-powered, floating watercraft with a couch on top.
Recently shown off at the Abu Dhabi Yacht Show, the unusual vessel is intended for ferrying people over short distances.  So why is it in the yacht show?  Because you can use it to carry guests from your luxury yacht to a party at George Clooney’s luxury yacht.  Not that you know George Clooney or anything, but in case you did, you might as well drop by riding a floating, upholstered lounge.
The Sofa Boat is a floating 3.5m platform with a comfy-looking couch on top.  Since it’s intended for the wealthy, it can’t be as bare as the one on the photo, of course.  The commercial version will include a folding sun canopy covering the entire seating area, laptop [...]

Hoverwing Floats Your Boat…Literally

Hovercrafts are awesome.  Because they’re supported by a cushion of slow moving, high-pressure air, they can travel equally well on land, ice and water.  The Hoverwing, a DIY hovercraft by New Zealand mechanic Rudy Heeman, goes the extra mile, hovering well above the water at heights of up to five feet.
What’s so spectacular about this one?  As you can tell from the photo, it doesn’t just hover like a regular hovercraft – it soars.  Even better, it can perform the feat on both land and water.  Both the wings (it has a 23-foot wingspan) and tail (20 feet long) are detachable too, in case you want to use it as a regular watercraft.

Technically classified as a boat, Heeman says the Hoverwing is actually a WIG (a wing in ground effect vehicle) that’s been built in the form of a 13-foot long hovercraft.   Well, it works exactly like a traditional hovercraft [...]

Boneyard: Where Dead American Warplanes Go To Die

From afar, the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) looks like an airplane modeler’s wet dream.  Lots of miniature flying machines just sitting there, waiting to be cast in a suspended animation scene.  Amusingly enough, they aren’t toys.  Instead, they’re real, decommissioned birds awaiting their future fate.
The place, more popularly known as the Boneyard, is where old military airplanes go to die.  Reputed to be the world’s largest aircraft cemetery, the airbase covers a sprawling 2,600 acres of desert.  It’s located at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, chosen for its high-altitude and arid climate that slows deterioration for the aircrafts.  Apart from being a massive plane yard, AMARG also fixes up some planes, refurbishes others or prepares them for land transport.
For the first time, many of us are getting a satellite view of the facility, courtesy of Google Earth.  And it truly is grand, just like [...]

Forget Cops And Robbers, Get Your Kids Playing Sellers And Suckers With The Kaufladen

Want your kids to grow up filthy rich?  Get them started early with the Kaufladen, a mobile kiosk stand marketed to German kids.  That way, they can steal stuff from your fridge and sell it back to you for a profit.   Clever.
Anywhere you go in the world, it’s always the business owners raking all the money.  Forget having your children play cops and robbers – nobody makes real coin from that deal.  If they’re going to roleplay, they might as well do seller and sucker because that’s where all the money is.  Five hundred percent markup, baby.
The Kaufladen is a mobile stand, consisting of a kiosk with wheels, storage compartments and a removable cotton cover with awning.  It’s made up of three main sections – a wheeled base (with two rows of shelves and pull-out display areas), a tabletop (with the sunshade attached) and a middle section consisting of one [...]

Vacuum Cleaner Museum Showcases 120 Vintage And Classic Dust-Sucking Home Appliances

All things that suck go here. No, not our website – we’re cool (well, we try). They go to Nottingham, England’s Vacuum Cleaner Museum, possibly the single most dust-free place in the world.
Yep, a real, true-to-life depository for everyone’s favorite dust-eating home appliance. Don’t expect a floor that looks like the home cleaning shelves of your local appliance store, though. None of that lame, robotic modern vacuums here. Instead, it’s filled with lines upon lines of vintage and classic pieces, dating as far back as 1919.

The Museum showcases a 120-strong stock of different brands and models of vacuum cleaners from years past. Only 62 models will be available for viewing at a time, a strategy that’s supposed to keep the collection looking “fresh.” A grant from The Prince’s Trust actually made the museum, along with the shop adjoining it, possible.

All pieces were [...]

Bloom Energy Shows Off Their Bloom Box Fuel Cell Power Generators

After being featured on 60 Minutes, the entire world is abuzz with Bloom Energy once again.  Nearly forgotten due to a lack of recent press, the alternative energy company’s current spate of publicity is sure to light a fire in water-cooler discussions over the next few months.
Why is it such a big deal?  Bloom Energy produces fuel cell boxes that, when combined with an energy source (such as natural gas), can produce usable electricity.  See those two boxes founder K.R. Sridhar is holding?  They’re supposed to be enough to power one U.S. home.   Really.
Pffft…anyone can claim to have discovered the secret to turning steel into gold, right?  The Bloom Boxes, as the company’s fuel cell rigs are called, has one thing going for it: notable businesses have already been using them since 18 months ago.

Google, their first official customer, have been using four refrigerator-sized boxes to power an entire datacenter [...]

Zingy Is A Super Safe Two-Person Boat That’s Cute As A Button

Unlike cars or gadgets, boats aren’t exactly something most regular folks think about buying.  Inventor Clayton Turney wants to change all that with the Zingy, a sea-capable, two-person boat that prides itself on accessibility.
Designed for novice boaters, it looks nothing more than a toy at first glance (like a real boat with the rest of its body hacked off).  Don’t let the harmless appearance fool you.  While small, it boasts excellent sea-keeping abilities, described as a “super safe, super solid craft designed to go wherever you go.”
The Zingy is a cute, little pocket boat, sized just enough to fit a pair of water bandits.  Because of the compact body that looks only slightly bigger than a two-passenger jet ski, it’s easy to tow, making both transport and maintenance uncomplicated.
Its big selling point, however, is the expandable hull design, which allows it to be used as either a motorboat (it comes [...]

In Gangland Taiwan, The Handgun Of Choice Is A Shotgun Revolver

Shotguns pack a punch, but those things are also huge – not the type of weapon you can stick under your pants when you want to roll down packing quietly.  In gangland Taiwan, they’re supposed to get over that hurdle by using these: shotgun revolvers.
Yes, it’s a small handheld weapon that you can, theoretically, hide under baggy jeans.  Really baggy jeans.  Unlike other pistols, though, it can take standard 12-gauge shotgun slugs and shells, allowing you to put a serious hurting on enemy gangs, whether you’re looking to deliver a single round or effect a wide kill zone.
Shotgun revolvers are, apparently, becoming a big deal in Taiwan, where they are turning into the preferred weapon of choice for many local gang elements.  The one in the picture was said to have been recovered from a 19-year old runner for a Taiwanese gang.  It looks ghetto as hell, doesn’t it?

The revolver [...]

Workaholic Pillow Adds A Disguised Head Cushion On Your Desk For Those Sneaky Office Naps

Like to sleep at work when no one’s looking?  Doze off comfortably with the Workaholic Pillow, a soft head cushion that folds up into an innocent-looking book to keep your office hour naps a secret.
Yep, it’s a downy pillow disguised as a giant book.  We can’t read the Japanese inscriptions on the side, which is awesome, since no one at my office can understand what it says either.  If anyone asks, just say it’s your private diary that no one’s allowed to read and all that Japanese stuff is a curse cast upon anyone who touches it without your consent – they’ll develop the worst hemorrhoids known to man if they dare.
The Workaholic Pillow is a slim, but comfy-looking flat cushion that’s cleverly hidden inside a bookshell.  Book frame is clad in green, with gold lettering.  It says Workaholic on both sides of the body, with the aforementioned Japanese lettering [...]

Say Goodbye To Sandbags, Soldier: McCurdy’s Armor Is A Portable Steel Fort That Sets Up Like Legos

I’ve never been to war, but stacking sandbags to set up a defensive line just sounds like a terrible way to spend the day.  A defense contractor finally did something about it with the McCurdy’s Armor, a steel-plated wall that provides equivalent protection while setting up within minutes.
Named after a Marine who died in the line of duty in 2006, the new military rig boasts assembly that requires no tools or equipment, with the company going as far as to call it a “LEGO-type system.”  Even better, it divides into flat, stackable pieces when not in use, allowing you to pile it in the back of a truck for carrying with you to the next mission.
McCurdy’s Armor houses soldiers behind a 6.5 feet tall structure using individual panels that you can arrange into U-, V- or J- shaped covers of variable size (depending on what the situation calls for).  Not [...]

Heinz Dip & Squeeze Reinvents The Ketchup Packet

I hate ketchup packets with a vengeance.  Why bother producing a container with so little ketchup in it?  That’s just ridiculous.  Heinz has finally decided to do something about it, turning out a packet that both contains more of our favorite french fries companion and offers more flexible use.
Called the Dip & Squeeze, the redesigned packet lets you use your ketchup in two different ways. You can choose to squeeze it out by tearing off the “cap” or dip on it by peeling back the lid.  Either way, you’ve got a choice – something traditional packets (which have been in use since 1968) don’t exactly afford you.

Even better, though, the new ketchup packaging carries three times the contents of existing tear-off packets.  That means I only need ten of these to get through my large fries, instead of 30.  It’s not a perfect solution (seriously, I need to carry a [...]