The plasma knives are vaguely similar to tools currently used in radiosurgery, but rather than heating tissue directly and damaging it, they penetrate and cauterize it safely. While tools like this are great because they have the potential to save many lives in situations where proper hospital care is not an option, let's be honest: most of us just plain want some mini lightsabers. [Wired]

The President got all en garderino with his lightsaber toy while presenting Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympic Games. Too bad he couldn't use his Jedi mind powers with the anti-healthcare reform bigots. You know: "This is not the healthcare reform you want to fuck up. Now TFSU." Yes, the country could have been a much better place if he actually were the real Mace Windu. [Huffington Post and Gawker--Thanks Debby]

Looking at the scale—compared to the tiny humans on the ground—and the strange external machinery attached to it, I thought this was part of some kind of huge experimental rocket. I was wrong, but kind of close.

It's the second interceptor silo for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system. It's being installed now by Boeing and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, in Santa Barbara County, California. You know, the missile defense system that is not going to save us from any nuclear mayhem, but maybe from some retards launching the occasional warhead. [Boeing]

Now you can pay homage to the legendary lightsaber-toothed tiger through this fashionable $18 t-shirt from Threadless. It's available for both men and women, but only in white. (I mention the point of color only because I picture our Star Wars readership wearing nothing but head-to-toe black hoods at all times.) [Threadless via Fashionably Geek]

Other props sold at the auction include the head of C-3PO for $120,000 and Marlon Brando's costume from Superman for $72,000. But at least you can wear Brando's costume and smell his sweaty residue. What can you do with a lightsaber other than look at it and think of all the stuff you could have bought with $240,000 if you had only done your research? [Breitbart]

Last month, Christopher Bench inducted a stick into the National Toy of Fame. Yes. A wooden stick. The kind of sticks that grow on trees, which is probably the oldest tool/gadget/toy ever invented by humans. And certainly, the most basic toy one can have. And totally free, perfect for the recession.

Colbert doesn't agree:

Wrong! Free is never the perfect price! Retailers depend on holiday toy sales but thanks to Mr. Bench here, parents are gonna realize that sticks literally grow on trees. He makes me so mad I want to poke him in the eye, with not a stick, but a Star Wars Force FX authentic replica lightsaber. (Waves lightsaber around.) Just $79.99!

Yeah. We agree with him. Screw the kids' imagination. We want toys that do pew-pew! [Star Wars Blog]

The original Luke Skywalker is the property of Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz, and is going to be auctioned along the rest of the movie goodies by Profiles in History on December 11:

• C-3PO face for $83,000 and hands for $30,000.
• Mohawk and Brain Gremlins puppets for about $7,000 each.
• The original Jor-El tunic wore by Marlon Brando in Superman for $51,000.
• His t-shirt in Apocalypse Now for $20,000.
• An original set of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, bound in red cloth, signed by Tolkien, and containing a fold-out map of the Middle Earth for $124,000.
• For the same amount you can also snatch an 82-inch flying saucer made of wood, steel and fiberglass from Forbidden Planet.
• First editions of James Bond novels inscribed by Ian Fleming, including one that said "To the real James Bond from the thief of his identity", which was dedicated to American Ornithologist James Bond.

In total, there will be over 500 objects related to movies, from the silent era to sci-fi classics. Now, can any reader with deep pockets bid for Gizmo and then give it to us. Thank you very much. [Daily Telegraph]

[Current]

The project, from Instructables user Ricardoaraujo, uses a normal toy lightsaber hilt, some AA batteries, a rubber hose and a couple of LEDs to build a weapon you'd be proud to kick Jedi ass with. Now all you need to do is knock back a couple too many Guinnesses and find some Obi Wan Kenobi-worshipping dork to smack around. Death by pretend lightsaber it shall be!
[ Instructables via Technabob]

Yes
• If the lightsaber crystal was green, like green kryptonite, or if they actually used kryptonite as the crystal, then Superman would melt like a hot knife through even hotter dog droppings.
• Superman's been injured by lasers before (see most aliens he's fought), so an extremely focused laser like a lightsaber could possibly hurt him if applied directly to the skin for a long enough time.
• If he were under the effects of kryptonite, when even bullets can hurt him, then a lightsaber could definitely chop off parts of his body.

No
• What type of radiation does the lightsaber emit? It's light, and Superman gets power from the sun, so the lightsaber could be a refreshing lamp.
• It would just burn off his clothes, like in Superman 2, but it wouldn't hurt him.
• He uses lasers (his own heat vision) to shave himself, so the best the lightsaber could do would to singe his chest hair, or give him a nice shave down there.
• Jedis can't actually cut through "everything" with the sword. Example: the big huge door in Episode I. They had to jam in their lightsabers and "melt" a doorway inside the door. The sword was fast to go into the door because they applied all the force to the tip, but was slow cutting because the Jedis are only so strong. Picture you cutting through a watermelon. In the same principle, a lightsaber technically might be able to cut through Superman, but there's nobody strong enough to force it through. Unless you somehow get the Hulk to use a lightsaber. But the Hulk doesn't exist.

Verdict: Superman wins! [Thanks to Achal for his Superman knowledge.]

1. Lightsaber (Star Wars)

2. .44 Magnum (Dirty Harry)

3. Bullwhip (Indiana Jones)

4. Samurai sword (Kill Bill)

5. Chainsaw (Texas Chainsaw Massacre)

6. Golden Gun (James Bond - The Man With The Golden Gun)

7. Bow and arrow (Robin Hood)

8. Machine gun (Scarface)

9. The Death Star (Star Wars)

10. Bowler hat (James Bond - Goldfinger)

[Telegraph via Neatorama via Geeklikeme]

• Actual lightsaber picture/movie on the screen instead of an accelerometer
• Louder lightsaber noises
• More accurate, or just more sensitive, lightsaber noise generation. Right now it's kind of loosey goosey
• More variations in the lightsaber noises, like crashes when you suddenly pull it back (like you hit something)

Get yours now with AppTapp

Update: Seems this guy ISN'T the guy who made MacSaber and WiiSaber. It's just some other guy who took the icon and placed some lousy lightsaber sounds into it. The guy who DID make MacSaber and WiiSaber is working on a version now (with an iPhone he just purchased today).

[iSnoop]

The movie prop will be given the star treatment, handed over by an actor dressed in a Chewbacca suit to Space Center officials—presumably the instigators of this shameless publicity stunt—to be carried to Houston. There the lightsaber will be met by other actors dressed as Stormtroopers, and along with an R2-D2 robot, will accompany the sacred weapon to a museum where it'll be kept until it's launched aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on October 23.

Here's a message for the space program: Star Wars was a work of fiction, a movie, and didn't really happen. And if it did, Luke Skywalker would wonder where this space shuttle was going with this fictional object. "Low Earth orbit? A movie prop is going aboard a space station? Really?" So now the problem-plagued space shuttle has nothing better to do than carry toy fictional props back and forth into space? And just who's paying for this? Pathetic. [Houston Business Journal]

Parents need to provide three AA batteries for the laptop to work and there is a headphone jack for quiet play. The provided lightsaber might not cut through any material in the galaxy, but it does make noise when it's moved around. Interestingly, your child can also choose to learn as a Jedi, though Vader still acts as the teacher. Yeah, we all know how that'll turn out. [Oregon Scientific]

"Luke, this is your father. Pick up the muthafuckin' phone," says Darth. Well, not really, but we wish he would. If you're one of the few still using landlines, it's all yours for $35.93. – Charlie White

Product Page [Boys Stuff]

Anyway, Think Geek just got a shipment of these tiny LED-lit weapons from a place that's far, far away (okay, Japan), random-packed because they're originally encapsulated in containers sold in Japanese vending machines. Take the jump to see the list of Star Wars weapons that are available.

• Darth Vader's Saber (original movies) • Obi Wan Saber (original movies) • Luke's Saber (original movies—from his pappy) • Luke's Saber (Return of the Jedi) • Han's Blaster (original movies) • Darth Maul's Saber (episode 1) • Anakin's Saber (prequel) • Obi Wan (episode 1) • Yoda's Saber (prequels) • Boba Fett's Blaster (the good movies)

You can't pick and choose which one you'd actually like to receive, so try your luck, and see which of the 10 weapons listed above you get for your $4.99. – Charlie White

Product Page [Think Geek]

Product Page [Via uber-review]

So we assembled a list of 10 technologies that we should have ironed out by now, but instead either never showed up, or were only completed in some half-assed, UMPC way. This gallery should need no explanation (except in one instance where only the liger fans in the group will feel our pain).

And when your eyes dry, hit the comments with your own favorite, elusive gadgets.



– Mark Wilson

Lightsaber Remote [Wonderland blog via Slashgear]

Walk in a bad neighborhood with one of these lit-up umbrellas along with some white iPod earbuds, and you might as well just hang a neon "mug me" sign around your neck. But worry not. If somebody does steal this umbrella from you, you're only out 41 bucks, anyway. – Charlie White

Lightsaber Umbrella For Uberdorks [CrunchGear]

Update: Looks like it was just a photoshop by ubergizmo that got picked up without proper credit by lgadgets.

Updated Version of the MP3 Lightsaber for Star Wars Fans [L Gadgets]

USB Lightsaber shaped phone - Answer the phone you must [newlaunches]