An Engineer Built a Real, Working Version of Thor’s Hammer

Electrical engineer Allen Pan has built a real, working version of Thor’s hammer, which—just like in the comics—can only be lifted by the worthy. Using a super strong magnetic field, Pan’s hammer will attach itself to any metallic surface as soon as someone grabs its handle. The only way to deactivate the device is through a thumb print scanner, which has been coded to recognize …

Test Ride: Hoverboard Technologies’ Hoverboard

Riding around on the latest self-balancing, one-wheeled wonder

The market for rechargeable rides seems to be booming as of late, especially in the self-balancing skateboard sector where new options pop up every month or so. We’ve previously covered the Onewheel, which—like its name suggests—is a board that balances itself around a wide, central tire and provides forward or backward propulsion through a gyroscopic motor. A new entrant in the category, Hoverboard Technologies, offers …

Link About It: This Week’s Picks

NASA's lunar photo album, virtual reality to help with dieting and more in this week's look at the web

1. How Virtual Reality Can Help With Dieting At Tokyo University’s Cyber Interface Lab, researchers are exploring the ways virtual reality can influence the way we see, taste and experience different foods. Using a head-mounted camera and virtual reality display, scientist Takuji Narumi has found a way to give a single cookie five distinct flavors, just by manipulating the way it looks and smells. He’s …