News guaranteed to get your geek senses a tinglin’.
Tatooine discovered #
Ok, it’s not really Tatooine, but scientists recently discovered a planet that orbits two stars, which would give it the dual sunsets that Luke Skywalker cherished so much (before his Aunt and Uncle were killed, at least).
This is the first circumbinary planet – that is, a planet that orbits around both members of a stellar pairing, rather than just having a second star nearby – to be discovered outside the pages of a science fiction novel.
The planet, known as Kepler-16b, lies about 200 light years away from Earth, and orbits its two stars in a near-perfect circle over the course of 229 days. The stars are about 20% and 69% as massive as our sun, and would set in the way seen in Star Wars, but, at between -73 and -101 degrees Celsius, it would be quite miserable to visit, and most unlike the desert sands Mr Skywalker once called home.
Super Pixel Bros #
Pixel art is back in fashion, yeah? Just look at Eboy. So, if artists like Eboy are taking real life scenes, and pixelising them, what happens when you take an already pixelated game, say 1985’s Super Mario Bros, and make it even more pixelated?
Super Pixel Bros, that’s what. SPB is a fan-made, open-source project that recreates the levels from Nintendo’s classic (with a few modifications, of course) using a mere 64 pixels, and deliciously bleepy action sounds.
If this is the kinda project you feel you could get into, the parts are available for a mere $5; it’s just up to you to solder them together.
2.5 metre LEGO destroyer #
Ok, so maybe I’ve gone a little heavy on the Star Wars references in this edition of Chip Chat, but, seriously, check this thing out. I think the best thing I ever made with LEGO was a 10cm jet plane, which I used to think was pretty rad.
I’m always astounded by the things that AFOLs (Adult Friends of LEGO) make, but this one is simply staggering. It’s 2.44 metres long, weighs 82 kilos, and uses 43,280 parts. The design was actually created by LEGO master builder Erik Varszegi, but this particular version was built by Sylvain Ballivet using only pictures of that model (no actual plans), and – unlike Erik’s – it uses neither screws nor glue.
Sadly, I couldn’t find any info on just how long it took the guy to build it, but I imagine it was somewhere between “I need another haircut already?”, and “I think I just tripped over my beard”.