Servicing Mission 4 astronaut Drew Feustel uses the "Pistol Grip Tool," a computer-controlled power tool, to install the Wide Field Camera 3 into a high-fidelity Hubble model. Just another day at the office.

Feustel gets all the fun gadgets, apparently. In this image he's practicing with one of the cameras for the mission. It's certainly no Nikon D90, but—what am I saying. This thing is one of the most advanced pieces of gear in the solar system. It's Labor Day today. I need this thing for a barbecue. [NASA images via The Big Picture]

Just when you thought ice cube-creation technology had peaked, a team of engineering students from San Jose State University has come up an ice maker that has zero carbon footprint. It’s more than an eco-party trick — consider it an electricity-free alternative to refrigeration and air conditioning, which is critical if you happen to be somewhere off of the electrical grid, like in the developing world or in a disaster zone.

It works like this: the solar icemaker uses a refrigerant liquid that evaporates when exposed to the sun. The vapor travels through pipes that come into contact an absorbent material, which cools when the sun goes down. Once the slow-cooling absorbent hits 104°F, the refrigerant turns back into a liquid and its temperature drops like a rock to below freezing because of pressure differences. Put some water next to the evaporator’s exterior and, presto, ice.

A typical icemaker uses electricity to run a compressor to do this work, but the solar icemaker just uses solar energy, with no moving parts. And the systems are sealed, so barring a leak, they'll never need replenishing. The icemaker makes about 14 pounds of ice per day — more than enough for the margaritas at your end-of-summer barbecue. The students' prototype isn't available yet, but maybe next summer….

Via San Jose State University

It only costs $3,300. Why the hell not. If you modified this thing to actually run, which I don’t believe it does at that price, you could have a kind of traveling BBQ show and go from town to town, grilling your way into the hearts and minds of your fellow barbecue enthusiasts.

[flyingbarstools]

It only costs $3,300. Why the hell not. If you modified this thing to actually run, which I don’t believe it does at that price, you could have a kind of traveling BBQ show and go from town to town, grilling your way into the hearts and minds of your fellow barbecue enthusiasts.

[flyingbarstools]

Hobos everywhere, rejoice! Here's the familiar-looking Swivel Barbecue, a tripod grill that sets up in a jiffy. With a quick half-twist, its three poles form a tripod from which you hang the cooking grate. Adjust its height over the flames to your liking, and your beans will be warmed up with an efficiency you’ve never experienced.

The designer says this cooking grate has “v-shaped lateral ribs,” designed to reduce the amount of fat dripping into the flames below, but this misses the point of grilling. It’s that burning fat that gives seared animal flesh most of its flavor, a concept that's well known to makers of the fanciest high-tech barbecues. But hey, if all you’re cooking is a can of beans, this Swivel Barbecue might do the trick.

If designer Hannes Freising would lose those fat-reducing ribs, make the rods telescoping and keep the weight down, this might be suitable for backpacking. But we hobos might have a problem with that $265 price.

Nice mashdown.

Think outside the barbecue space.

From the website:

Barbecue Ball Cap

A backyard twist on a 400-year-old classic

Toque blanche, the French call this imposing hat, a mark of culinary mastery for 400 years.

While we admire the traditional design, we felt it wasn’t as functional as it could be for backyard barbecue usage.

So we created this Barbecue Ball Cap in 100% cotton twill — just as grand as the classic French version, but with a bill that shields your brow from the sweltering sun.

Band adjusts to fit the head of most any grillmeister.

Note: Many toques have exactly 100 pleats, supposedly the number of ways a chef can prepare an egg — we lost count of the pleats on ours at sixty-something.

Includes wicking sweatband.

$5.

It's got a skate ramp at the back and rails along the sides to grind on, as well as its own wakeboard water tower and racks for BMX bicycles and surfboards. No respectable HQ would be complete without some creature comforts, though, and it's got 'em in spades: a barbecue, sleep-in camper shell, sound options ranging from waterproof CD players and remote controlled iPods and, we imagine, an unlimited supply of Mountain Dew.

And they managed to slap it all together in under three weeks. No one is saying how much Nike spent on the project, but the viral reaction to something like this — cellphone pictures, blog posts, word of mouth — can be worth more than a regular ad on television. The Ill Mobile will be touring around the country.

Hub Strategy, via Adrants, via Cherryflava

Price: $15.99 [Snappy Turtle via Nerd Approved]

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