NASA officials are mum on the topic, neither confirming or denying the rumor on the phone earlier today, but added, “Rate cards are available on request.”

“Suitsat, the amateur radio transmitter stuffed inside a surplus Russian spacesuit and chucked out the International Space station is alive and well, if somewhat weak and staticky. Users can still follow its progress at the Suitsat webpage.”

[Source: Slashdot]

[tags]Suitsat[/tags]

The Scotsman is reporting that:

The hypothetical device, which has been outlined in principle but is based on a controversial theory about the fabric of the universe, could potentially allow a spacecraft to travel to Mars in three hours and journey to a star 11 light years away in just 80 days, according to a report in today’s New Scientist magazine.

(Hypothetical?? Little do they know that back in ‘88, I modded out my old ‘78 Camaro and achieved similar results)

The US air force has expressed an interest in the idea and scientists working for the American Department of Energy – which has a device known as the Z Machine that could generate the kind of magnetic fields required to drive the engine – say they may carry out a test if the theory withstands further scrutiny.

Note: Z Machine ‘may’ refer to a device salvaged from a crashed UFO outside Roswell NM in the 1940’s, but you didn’t hear it here…

[Source: Scotsman Via: Slashdot]

Now, the product page for this item on the Sega Toys web site is all in Japanese and the Babelfish super-duper translator seems to be having a couple of issues, so I hope we don’t lose too much in the translation.

Apparently, the Homestar Planetarium is capable of displaying up to ten thousand stars, features replacable cartridges for different star field views, has a random meteor function (cool!), the star views ‘flow with timing‘ and there’s an automatic power off setting for those of you who may wish to use this as they’re drifting off into dreamland.

It’s compact size, 20 cm each side (< 8 inches), combined with angle and focus adjustments means the Homestar will provide clear and crisp star views no matter the size or configuration of your room.

Yours for just 20,790 Yen or about $185 USD. No idea from the Sega Toys web site whether they ship this outside of the Land of the Rising Sun, but here’s the Babelfish version of the product page.

[via The Red Ferret]

There was this guy I used to know, his name was Stan, who was always complaining about the probes and stuff, and then one day, he just didn’t show up at work. What do you wanna bet they dropped him off in the Lyra system?

Well, luckily, someone smart has come up with a device that’ll help the little grey freaks figure out which part of the galaxy they need to return you to. The Alien Abduction Dog Tags are just that, a set of dog tags that feature a design that’s based on the gold plaque that was attached to the Pioneer 10 Spacecraft to inform any extraterrestrials of it’s Earthly origin. As the EarthBoundDog.com web site states…

Engraved with several methods of locating Earth in the Galaxy, an alien pilot does not need to understand any human language to use this information. The mathematical location of Earth in relation to several important pulsars is represented by the radial diagram. Earth’s relation to the solar system is shown at the top. Also included is a schematic of Earth itself and it’s major land masses. Two human icons (man and woman) are graphically connected to Earth at points in all three diagrams and are shown with their hands waving as a gesture of goodwill…

These are an absolute necessity and thankfully, they can be had for just $12.99 USD which includes free shipping within the US. Here’s the product web page at EarthBoundDog.com.

Make sure those aliens don’t suck you out of your bed without these around your neck, otherwise you could end up spending the rest of your life learning how to speak Pleiadean, which apparently, is quite the task.

[via The Raw Feed]

Glowing Accents Outdoor Plasma Lamps are battery-operated lights that provide an effective bright source of light. You can place them anywhere, either in a tree with the included hanging attachment or into the ground with the lawn stakes. Looks like they’d make good light sabres too.

Yours for just £18.99 or about $33 USD, they come in blue, green, magenta & purple. Shipped worldwide by Lazybone in the UK, here’s the product page.

[via Gizmodo]

It’s certainly corny, but I’m a sci-fi nerd and I want one. It is of course, an R2D2 Novelty Phone, a ‘dead ringer‘ for Luke Skywalker’s famous co-pilot. The little fellow stands at 12 inches high and the handset pops out of R2D2’s leg featuring volume control and last number redial capabilities.

You want to know the cool part? Its head spins, the lights flash and it makes R2D2 sound effects when the phone rings! Sweet!

According to TechDigest.tv, Boys Stuff in the UK will have some in stock soon for £49.95.

Something tells me the wife’s not going to let me put one of these in the living room though.

[via TechDigest]

StarDomes are durable molded fiberglass domes that are light weight, require no assembly and are easy to install. The true constellations are mapped out against a hand painted airbrushed sky with billowy clouds all around the horizon to create a magical sky full of twinkling stars on your ceiling. A cove light lines the perimeter of dome and can be dimmed via remote control to provide cool sunrise and sunset effects.

Numinus offers two models, a 4ft round and 6×9ft oval. The 4ft round comes with a standard view of the northern sky with 18 constellations. Custom star fields are also available. No clues on the StarDomes web site in regards to pricing but there are a lot of great photos and some streaming video. Apparently these StarDomes were featured on a recent episode of ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition seen in North America.

[via OhGizmo]

Derrick Hixson contributed the photos and build log to MacMod.com for this project. He used a Playskool Millennium Falcon plastic toy model that he picked up for $20 USD. He had a Mac mini that he was using as a media center and figured the Falcon would look better on top of his TV.

The project required a number of special modifications but he still managed to fit everything inside within 3 hours. There is a jack between the mandibles for an iPod Shuffle, there’s an iSight camera housed in the cockpit, and the rear hatch opens to allow access to the optical drive and power button.

There could be no better way to have a Star Wars DVD marathon then with the Falcon I tell you!

[via Gizmodo]

Called the Mini AERCam (Miniature Autonomous Extravehicular Robotic Camera), the unit uses pressurized xexon gas for propulsion and carries battery-powered cameras that will be used to perform inspections on the exteriors of the ISS and the shuttles.

Can you just imagine the explosion of voyeuristic web sites that would appear if they ever started selling these to the general public. Wow!

gizmag.com has got an excellent write-up here and you can find the actual NASA project web site here.