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Make your own batarangs with the Wazer desktop water jet cutter
You're probably familiar with laser cutters, if only because of indelible images like Sean Connery strapped to a table as a red beam slowly makes its way toward his crotch. But in practical use, the fire hazard and intense power draw can keep reliable laser cutting out of the hands of most non-supervillains. The same can also be said for water jet cutting, which uses a focused stream of water to slice things up. It's extremely effective and relatively safer -- for starters, there's no chance of setting the thing you're cutting aflame. Unfortunately, it's also pretty big and expensive. That is, until today, with the launch of the Wazer desktop water jet cutter. It's small but still powerful enough to cut through a Rolex, and it hits Kickstarter today for a (relatively) affordable $3,599. Now, both makers and wannabe supervillains alike can enjoy the benefits of waterjet cutting from the convenience of their garages.
Researchers to bore through 3km of Antarctic ice, seek organisms isolated for 100K years
UK researchers are ready to see if life can exist in one of the harshest environments on the planet: Lake Ellsworth in the Antarctic, 3 km (2 miles) below a glacier. They'll try to drill through the ice by December 12th using a high pressure sterile water jet heated to 90 degrees Celsius (194 Fahrenheit) and sterilize the patch of lake with intense ultraviolet light before attempting to retrieve a sample. If any organisms can be found, they'll have evolved in isolation for at least 100,000 years, according to team, and probably even much longer. That could help scientists understand more about how life evolves on this planet, and possibly elsewhere -- like iced-over oceans on Europa, Jupiter's moon, or other harsh planetary environments. It'll be the deepest borehole ever made with hot water, and the team will have a mere 24 hours to sterilize the lake entry and collect samples before it refreezes. When asked which part of the tricky experiment worried him the most, lead scientist Chris Hill replied, "everything." For a video tour of the drill site, head below the break.
Water cuts through 360 and metal bearings
When you have a high pressured waterjet sitting at home you just have to cut up some electronics, it's a given. But not our beloved white box of love! Over at Water Jets they had a friend from Microsoft stop by with an old Xbox to, what else, cut it into pieces. They also cut out a perfect 360 circle from our white box (pictured above) and made some really awesome desk toys out of aluminum and steel bearings (picture after the break). I bet you can't guess what we're putting on our Christmas wish list this year ... high pressured waterjet FTW![Via Digg]
