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A two-seater spaceship smaller than a private jet that will take people up for a 25-minute space flight, is being launched in Mojave today. According to the Lynx Mark 1's makers, Xcor Aerospace, the spacecraft is expected to be at the test-flight stage by 2010. The two-seater craft has room for one passenger besides the pilot and will be, I guess, one way for a wealthy passenger to discover just how lonely it is 38 miles above the earth. More info, plus an animated video, below.
"Our company's goal has always been to build rocket-powered vehicles that can be flown and operated like regular aircraft," says Xcor Aerospace president Jeffrey Greason, who claims that Lynx is relatively environmentally friendly: "They are fully reusable, burn cleanly, and release fewer particulates than solid fuel or hybrid rocket motors," he claims.
Unlike the space shuttle, which shuts off its engine and glides into land, the Lynx will have the ability to fire up its engines and re-attempt landing in the event of a borked descent. Fifty test flights have been scheduled, starting in 2010, and, once fully operational, the spacecraft is expected to make several flights per day.
The company will not be selling tickets directly but, rather, will be licensing flight sales to space-adventure tourism companies. There are already plans afoot for the Lynx Mark 2, which will allow space-heads to be in orbit for longer. Funding for the project comes from the Air Vehicles Directorate of the US Air Force Research Laboratory, as well as additional sources—as yet, un-named. [New Scientist]
Cable operators Comcast and Time Warner plan to gather up $1.5 billion to $2 billion in order to get their own WiMax network going, but it's said that they would turn to Sprint to run the show. Now, I don't know what part of this plan makes sense to anyone else, but A) WiMax as a wide-area network technology 
For the upcoming BBC documentary series Tiger - Spy in the Jungle, filmmakers enlisted the help of elephants to capture the tigers with hidden HD cameras. The large "trunk cam" (pictured here) was the most ludicrous of the devices carried by the elephants, while the smaller, lighter "tusk cam" proved to be easier for the elephants to carry for long periods of time. In addition, various log and rock cams were placed along the ground and activated by motion sensors when animals came close. Here's what it looks like when a sloth bear checks out its reflection in the lens.
But the neatest thing from a production standpoint? Apparently elephants move so smoothly that the improvised footage resembles that shot with a Steadicam rig. Look for the show on BBC One this Sunday, March 30th. [
Bad news, folks. After a fire earlier this month at an LG Chem plant (South Korea's second largest battery maker), Dell, HP and Asustek are all admitting noticeable supply shortages for portable power. While they scramble to secure other battery manufacturing, know that Dell has already raised their battery prices (the exact percentage, we're not sure). What's this mean for you? If you were considering picking up an extra laptop battery, we'd do it now. Because there's a good chance that prices could get worse before they get better. [
Today Motorola said it would chew off its 
If you thought Humanity was damned after watching the latest 
Bead curtains are like, so 1950's huh? Artist Devorah Sperber doesn't think so. Her amazing Star Trek bead curtains are much more likely to be adorning gallery walls than the front door of your local grocery store. Kind of like pixel-art in 3D, she slides tens of thousands of beads onto threads to create these detailed portraits. Check out the holodeck door, Enterprise-D's bridge, and my favorite: the "beaming down" series, which looks spookily like the "real" special effect.
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On a slow news day, one company can always be relied on to bring out something so unutterably useless that I fall to my knees and give thanks to James T. Kirk and all the angels: Brando. Their phone strap-slash-stylus-slash-light saber-for people-of-extremely-restricted-growth costs five bucks and would redefine the word pointless if it didn't actually have a retractable point. Still, I can think of 
Reuters is reporting that the Miami-Dade police department will "soon" start deployment of the infamous Honeywell Micro Air Vehicles, the spy drones that will keep all you criminals and Gizmodo editors in check with forward and downward looking cameras, flying over a 100 waypoint flight plan at 57MPH, and from 10,500-foot altitude. Seeing them hovering over the skies is kind of menacing. Actually, with the right music, it's downright scary.
A posable sports robot-theme webcam, with a choice of ball: basketball, baseball and football (US and Euro style). Who'd've thought there's a market for this? Chinese company Rodintech for one, though a trip through their website shows that they'll try and stick a USB webcam in just about anything. This MPC-095 has a 350 kilopixel CMOS sensor, plus the regulation built-in mic for your video-calling needs. Sorry, posable sporty robot theme webcam fans, there's no info on price or availability. [
My Touch Keys is a simple idea; a thin sheet of plastic with holes where each key appears is mounted onto the iPhone's screen. When the keyboard is used, you can "feel" each key as you press, thanks to the slight depression the My Touch Keys sheet offers. Though this 
Asus' president of sales, Kevin Lin has announced the upcoming, 8.9-inch Eee PC will have a touchscreen incorporated. Lin also speculated that the device may have GPS functionality, too, however this was not confirmed. The announcement has us a little confused, as 
Toshiba's new robot pal is basically a voice-operated infrared universal remote control, heavy on the cuteness. Programmed to be fairly smart, he'll wait until you use a controller for your electronics, then ask you what you were doing: the next time you want to perform the same action, you just have to tell ApriPoko to do it for you. He'll then wave his IR transmitter arm and *bing*, on goes your TV. He's even equipped with a camera to identify users, presumably to learn their habits. For now he's just an R&D demonstrator device, and is limited to simple commands. We hope we're right in expecting the technology to make its way into consumer gadgets soon. [
I've heard of 2 port USB car chargers but a 4 port charger? That's two more gadgets baby! Indeed, it makes complete sense to pick one of these up given the fact that many of our favorite gadgets can be charged via USB these days. And you really can't go wrong for only $12. [
Microsoft justice is cold but apt. If you tried to goose your Xbox Live Gamerscore to match Chen's (he's an achievement demon, but I still rock his face at Halo) with game save hacks, the long arm of Microsoft is squeezing your nuts right about now. To start, they're nuking your Gamerscore, and you can't go back and re-earn zapped achievements, no matter how many times you kill 50,000 zombies. But here's the real burn: Your account is forever branded as a cheater, so everyone instantly knows that you're a horrible human being. You can't scrub that shame off, no matter how much shit you talk. [
Callpod—maker of one of our favorite 
They say that inventors should find a need and fill it. I don't know who needs a solar boosted pedal boat, but a design concept for one exists nonetheless. The boat features a center cockpit where up to four passengers can sit, alternating pedaling duties in two-person shifts. When you get tired (which should be after only a few minutes), switching to solar power can help lighten the load. I'm not sure if this concept will ever see the light of day, but in a world filled with non-solar powered pedal boats, it would be a welcome improvement. Video after the break.
The debate between expensive cable and generic cable has raged on for ages now, with the manufacturers of high end products receiving 
Researchers at New York's Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute believe that truckers can put down the caffeine and NoDoze in favor of blue LED light to keep them awake on long rides. Apparently, certain wavelengths of blue LED light can trick the brain into thinking it is daytime—thereby increasing alertness. Possible applications of the technology include bathing the entire truck cabin in light, installing the LEDs in truck stops for quick "light showers" and blue light goggles. Yeah, I'm sure that will go over well with rugged trucker types. [
I'm doing an informal reader meet up April 5th, at (I think) Alpine Meadows in Tahoe. The point will be to ski or snowboard, while testing out some gadgets in the real world. What's cool is that plenty of people are coming and that there'll be some fun gear to play with while we're there:
I haven't played Dungeons and Dragons since I was a little kid, but I remember the time I spent geeking out with my friends fondly. So, when D&D co-creator 
Just because you are stuck at work doesn't mean you can't get boozed up! Thanks to these canoflauge vinyl can wraps, you can discreetly hide your alcohol problem behind an "inconspicuous" soft drink facade. So the next time someone asks what you are drinking, you can say "why, I am enjoying a harmless thirst-quenching can of skunkpiss thank you." Other covers include: Risk, Peski and Mt. Spew. The full set will set you back $5.89. [
At least one Gizmodo reader has informed us that he attempted to cancel his 
A well known 18 year old graffiti artist that goes by the name "Skullphone" has expanded his repertoire of vandalism to include 10 digital billboards around L.A. Earlier this week, onlookers were treated to Skullphones's calling card in between the normal ads running on the display. Nice work dude, let's hope that the police and the folks at ClearChannel appreciate art. [
Sadly, I think these lightsabers planted by SpikeTV might not be the real *bzzt* *plop* flesh-disintegrating deal, so even if you did break in case of Sith (or muggers) at best you could just beat them over the head and hope they don't Force choke you and steal your wallet. Since people will swipe just about anything and Star Wars fans are bonkers, they'll probably be jacked long before the Sith show up. [
Much like a tandem bike, this concept tandem umbrella by designer Jasmine Rasnahan has a romantic vibe to it. However, it also has some of the same flaws. For example, I am 6'3" and my girlfriend is 5'3"—therefore it would be next to impossible for couples of vastly different heights to walk around comfortably under this thing. Second, it makes everyone around you want to puke. Personally, I say bring two umbrellas—or better yet, one gigantic umbrella. It is even more romantic that way and not nearly as lame. [