Nail Watch

I’m sure some of you got tired to see new timepiece concepts that cost a fortune and don’t really do anything else besides telling you the exact time. You got smartphones for that, hell, even the cheapest cellphone has a watch function. Still, people think that a cool watch could be making a powerful statement regarding their life style. OK, this time I’m not going to present any design that is just a twisted version of the classical thing. Check it out!

That is the Nail Watch from Timex. The renowned company just had a design contest to help them come up with forward-thinking watch ideas, and what you see pictured above is among the winners.

According to DVice, the small watch is designed to slip over your thumbnail, letting you tell the time just by glancing down at your hand. You can light it up or change the mode by pressing down on the end of your thumbnail. Times may have appreciated this design, but I’m curious to know the exact technologies that could be powering this watch, or how it stays attached. It’s minimalistic already, and it won’t be noticed by others, unless they know where to look for it. Anyway, the idea is pretty neat and could also spawn minimalistic cellphones and other mobile devices that would fit on you thumbnail.

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Knife/Gun Combo

Maybe you’ve seen miniature guns hidden inside pens or umbrellas and other elongated objects. However, when you’re not sure if a mere gun would protect you from the baddies out there, you might want to try to combine a gun with a knife for added protection. No, I’m not referring to an attached bayonet. I’m talking about a knife that shoots bullets. Check out this short demo clip:

While not everyone can go around carrying guns, you can expect to see some guys wielding stealthy knives in bars and other suburban locations. In case you end up in such dubious places and you even get in a bar fight, your adversaries are in for a nasty surprise. As you can see in the provided clip, bullets are loaded into the handle and then fired out in the direction the blade is pointing. You instantly get this knife out, but no one is expecting to see a gun, right? Great, you got a knife, but you’re not the only one. And then, BANG! BANG! Now, you might not want to mortally wound the other guys, just make sure they won’t be causing anymore problems. What happens if some other guy has one of these? It all comes down to quick draws, that’s what.

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Atmos 561 Clock

Ever heard of the Atmos clock? Apparently, it’s been around since 1928, ever since Jaeger-LeCoultre issued the first model. So 80 years have come to pass and never have I heard of such clock. Anyway, to mark the 80th anniversary, Jaeger-LeCoultre announced that it has teamed up with famed Aussie designer Marc Newson to make the Atmos 561 model.

The new Atmos clock is encased in a fine Baccarat crystal bubble to commemorate the clock’s 80th anniversary since engineer Jean-Leon Reutter patented the technology. You’re probably wondering how the Atmos clock differs from the average clock. It turns out that the Atmos is powered by temperature fluctuations, a seemingly miraculous technique using a mixture of gas and liquid ethyl chloride that expands and contracts when the temperature goes up or down, running the clock for two days on each degree Celsius of change.

Pretty nifty tech, but why haven’t they made wrist watches like these up until now? Presumably, the intricate mechanisms inside the Atmos clock can’t really be shrunk down below certain dimensions, in order to work properly. However, the daily temperature fluctuations and the atmospheric pressure changes are said to make the Atmos clock run pretty flawlessly, with fewer errors than the average mechanical clock.

The new Atmos 561 hasn’t been priced as of yet, but keep in mind that the Atmos clocks available up intil the 561 model cost around $5000, so you might want to add a couple of thousands to that.

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Ray-of-light Bed

So you have a cool water bed which makes you oversleep rather than let you wake up early in the morning. Oh, you didn’t know these beds make you oversleep? Well, that’s not necessarily true, but in case you have that kind of problem, you might want to check out this piece of furniture right here.

Hey, is that a mini-Sun under your bed? Now, how exactly are you to sleep tight on that thing, when it shoots out rays of bright light from underneath as if it were the Sun at dawn and dusk at the same time? Maybe it’s not that good for your sleeping problems after all. Or… it could be nice for those kids who are afraid of the dark.

According to Slashgear, this bed is made out of lacquered wood and is quite obviously inspired by the heliocentric adepts. While I can’t say it solves those oversleep problems, it sure enhances the overall look and feel of your bedroom. However, if you are one of those guys who like to store tons of magazines and stuff inside their beds, this one is not for you.

The bed was designed by Ewan Robertson for Lagostudio. It’s pretty much your average bed, so you can sleep and work all that magic just as with any other comfy bed. It so happens that underneath it you might find the door to another dimension, but don’t look too hard for it.

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Moon Base Two

Many people are wondering when humans are going to set foot on the Moon again. It’s been 36 years since the Americans last landed on the Moon and there still are conspiracy theorists that claim the Apollo lunar landings were some elaborate hoax. NASA is ready to launch a series of new lunar programs which include a Moon base.

The latest Moon base project was conceived by design firm Architecture and Vision. Dubbed Moon Base Two, the building is actually an inflatable lunar habitat that’ll support up to four astronauts safe and sound as they continue to explore the lunar landscape for six months. According to DVice, Moon Base Two would serve as a temporary home for crews as they construct something more permanent, or as a short-term settlement for scientific experiments.

The most important advantage of the Moon Base Two habitat is that it goes up all at once. It’s designed to ride piggyback on the Ares V rockets NASA is working on to replace its aging shuttle fleet. You might ask why this is the second Moon Base. Well, the second base is based upon work done by Architecture and Vision in 1999 on the Moon Base One, a similar inflatable enclosure.

Later this year, in November, NASA plans to launch the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, while the Ares V lunar landing mission is scheduled for 2019.

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