The Milan-based advertising agency H-57 Creative Station made three posters that depict Star Wars characters typographically. The two other posters at the link illustrate Yoda and Darth Vader.

Link via Nerd Bastards

Keiko Takahashi made these adorable little measuring tape robots. They move like snails, slowly inching forward. Her project is called "Meter Crawler":

A meter crawler protrudes its steel measure four or eight cm. The body of the crawler follows the steel measure and thus moves forward. When it is taken away from floor, it stops moving, and the steel measure holds into the case. When it is on a floor, it starts protrudes its steel measure and move forward.

Video at the link.

Link via CrunchGear

As an experiment, artist Sarah Musi sent blank postcards to forty-five famous artists. She invited them to create art with the postcards and mail them back:

So I had this thought the other day: what if I made little pieces of art and sent them to a bunch of famous artists, along with a tiny blank canvas for them to create something and return it? Would I get anything back? Would they even read my request?

Pictured above is the response from cut paper artist Jayme McGowan.

Link via Super Punch

LEGO artist Ben Caulkins built a helmet that looks like the one worn by Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 of the Halo video game series. He writes:

It is made completely out of Lego except for the visor, which is a modified motorcycle helmet visor. It is also very durable, and although I haven't padded the inside yet, my head fits inside of it.

Link via Geekologie

According to Vladimir Moksunov, the leader of Russia's toilet manufacturing association, his nation had the best public restrooms in the world until the Communist Revolution of 1917. Now it's time for Russia to return to the top:

He recalled that on April 9, 1699, Peter the Great published a trailblazing decree which made it a punishable offence to throw sewage into the street.

"But now we do not even have official regulations for the quality of public lavatories except a document from 1972 that talks about cesspits," he said, adding that Moscow had a "crying need for modern lavatories".

The state of public lavatories is generally seen as a disgrace in Moscow, with citizens having to endure stinking and ageing facilities even though they usually have to pay for the privilege of using them.

Link | Photo from the Trans-Siberian Railway by Flickr user Jim Linwood used under Creative Commons license

The planned UNESCOSat mission -- a UN-owned satellite that will conduct low-gravity experiments -- will examine whether or not the Shewanella MR-1 bacterium can convert human feces into a fuel that can be used on long-range spaceflights:

The goal is, to put it bluntly, to see if Shewanella can convert astronaut feces into hydrogen for use in onboard fuel cells. "The bacteria generates hydrogen. If we give waste to bacteria, it converts to hydrogen that could be used in a fuel cell. We're looking at how reliable the bacteria are," explains Donald Platt, the Program Director for the Space Sciences and Space Systems Program at the Florida Institute of Technology. Shewanella's viability will be determined based on its growth rate in space--figuring out, in other words, how different its life cycle is in space than it is on Earth.

Link | Image: Fast Company

(Video Link)

The design shop Casual Profanity made a dress out of hollow tubes. It fills intermittently with glow-in-the-dark fluids. The dress itself is not really practical, but this video is particularly well-made and was a finalist at the Vimeo Awards in the category of "Captured".

via Technabob | Designers' Website

This Lalique decanter holds 1.5 liters of Macallan whisky. This rare combination recently sold at auction for about $460,000:

The Macallan, founded in 1824, is produced at a distillery near Easter Elchies House in north east Scotland's Speyside whisky region.

The Lalique decanter was created using the "cire perdue" or "lost wax" method.

Before the auction, the whisky was taken on a 12-city "tour du monde" to build up interest and raise funds for charity: water, an organisation that provides access to clean, safe drinking water for people in developing nations.

Link via Born Rich | Photo: BBC

Previously: The Most Expensive Whiskeys in the World

Comedian and talk show host Jimmy Kimmel has declared today to be National Unfriend Day. It's a time to go through your list of friends on Facebook and delete people who aren't really your friends:

Kimmel used his show on November 11 to declare today National UnFriend Day [NUD] -- a new holiday he hopes will inspire Facebook users to unfriend their social-networking contacts that aren't real friends.

"NUD is the international day when all Facebook users shall protect the sacred nature of friendship by cutting out any 'friend fat' on their pages occupied by people who are not truly their friends," the show's website states.

Link via Geekosystem | Photo by Flickr user West McGowan used under Creative Commons license

Previously: Oxford Word of the Year 2009: Unfriend

Wafaa Bilal, a professor of photography at New York University, plans to have a camera surgically implanted in the back of his head. When his project his completed, it will stream images to museum visitors:

For one year, Mr. Bilal's camera will take still pictures at one-minute intervals, then feed the photos to monitors at the museum. The thumbnail-sized camera will be affixed to his head through a piercing-like attachment, his NYU colleagues say. Mr. Bilal declined to comment for this story.

The artwork, titled "The 3rd I," is intended as "a comment on the inaccessibility of time, and the inability to capture memory and experience," according to press materials from the museum, known as Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art. Mr. Bilal's work would be among the inaugural exhibits of Mathaf, scheduled to open next month.

Link via Gizmodo | Photo: Associated Press

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Afrotech Forums user Dr. West made a functional touchpad out of a piece of paper with graphite rubbed on it:

There isn't much to explain here. It just uses pencil graphite on paper as a kind of two dimensional potentiometer. Four voltage dividers between 5v, 2M ohm resistors, the paper, and my grounded finger feeds signals from each corner into an Arduino. The Arduino does some insufficient math and spits out mouse coordinates that are not linear.

http://afrotechmods.com/forums/index.php/topic,8501.0.html via Geekosystem

French designer Pierre Stephane Dumas has created a set of inflatable tents that he hopes will change the way that people go camping:

But they are far from the traditional camping trip - decked out with wardrobes, shelves and electric lights, the bubbles look more like a movable hotel room than a regular tent.

Launched this year, the structures can be now be hired out at sites across France for around £400 pounds a night.[...]

He explained: 'Having a night under the stars or seeing the sun rise and set is not something that many people experience anymore.

'A normal tent or camper van means people miss out on these things.

'So I designed this eccentric shelter with the aim of offering an unusual experience under the stars while keeping all the comfort of a bedroom suite.

Link via Geekologie | Photo: Solent News and Photo Agency

For several months after the US entry into World War II, Americans feared air raids or even invasions of the continental United States by Germany and Japan. An article in the March 2, 1942 issue of Life magazine suggested several possible invasion routes that Axis forces might take. These include a Germany landing at Norfolk, Virginia supported by fifth columnists hidden in the US. At the link, you can view maps of a few other fanciful scenarios.

Link | Image: Time Warner

You could sharpen your own pencils, but who would want to go to all the effort? Send them to David Rees of Artisanal Pencil Sharpening, and he'll whittle them to perfection and return them to you with the shavings and a certificate of authenticity:

This is how Rees' artisanal pencil sharpening works: You might send him your favorite pencil, but Rees more often selects and sharpens a classic No. 2 pencil for his clients, he promises, "carefully and lovingly." He slides the finished pencil's very sharp tip into a specially-sized segment of plastic tubing, then puts the whole pencil in a larger, firmer tube that looks like it belongs in a science experiment. Throw it at a wall, he says, and it won't break. The cost? $15.

Rees lives in New York's Hudson Valley, a region full of tiny vineyards and cheese makers and old-school butchers and bookbinders. It's a place where people take the time to create things by hand.

Rees is also known for his political cartoon franchise called Get Your War On.

Link via Fast Company | Company Website | Rees' Website | Photo: Meredith Heuer/LA Times

Richard Branson, the eccentric billionaire owner of Virgin Atlantic Air, lost a bet to Tony Fernandes, the owner of Air Asia. Consequently, he must serve as a flight attendant on an Air Asia international flight:

Branson made the wager with Lotus racing team principal Tony Fernandes , who owns Air Asia, over which of their Formula One teams would go better this season.

The loser had to serve as a "stewardess" on the winner's airline.

Although neither of the men's teams scored a point in their debut season, Lotus slightly outperformed the Virgin.

Fernandes said today "it's time for Richard to start preparing himself for some hard work and the likely pain of a pair of high heels."

The date of the Kuala Lumpur-London flight has yet to be set, but seats will be auctioned off and money given to Branson's chosen charity.

Link | Photo: Reuters