Japan.CoolerThanThou.net - Cool Stuff From Japan

Nikon's Fabre Photo Ex

ok guess what this is?

  

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no it's not a microscope with a stand...duh?

 

it's something Nikon came up with, as an attachment for their DSLR cameras. technically it's a portable stereoscopic microscope for both observation and photoshoot. have you ever tried to take pictures of amoebas ever? well, now's your chance without feeling stupid at all.

yeah, you heard it right, you can take snapshots of your favorite e. coli and other bacterias. hooray!!! kidding aside, this is one tough gadget, aside from it's fancy details, it even comes with this support that makes it usable for industrial environments.

fancy details in summary:

needs one AA battery, lasts 10 hours

white LED light may be adjusted

3 levels of magnification

11 mm field of view diameter

shooting magnification depends on camera but approximately about
45-times without the intermediate tube
56-times with one tube
and 66-times with two tubes when a Nikon DX format camera (A4-size print) is used.

Interpupillary distance can be adjusted in the range from 51 to 72mm

Price: camera (¥108,150) and fabre photo ex (¥37,800) 

will be released - feb 20 2009

so how do you find these microscope attachments?

Mitsubishin i MiEV Sport Air

This year's Auto Show in Geneva, to be held on March 2009 is gonna be exciting. New cars try to outdo each other year after year, but now cars are not only about the speed and the perks, it should be earth-friendly too.

The teaser from Mitsubishi didn't say much, but these pictures say a mouthful.

This car is called the Sport Air, which is the latest from Mitsubishi's i MiEV line. i MiEV stands for "Mitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle"

 

Details of the car are speculated as follows:

-beefed up electric motor
-clear cutaway top
-zero-emission
-in-floor lithium-ion battery

We'll post more details as soon as it becomes available. watch out for it!

source

Fire Prevention Day: Cultural Assets

i never thought there'd be any special day for fire prevention of cultural things and the like but Japan never fails to surprise us ain't it?

This picture shows firemen carrying a Buddha dummy from the main hall of Toji -temple of Minami-ku, Kyoto Japan. It was on the same day today back in 1949 that mural paintings got burned at Horyu-ji Temple in the town of Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture.

Since then, it was declared a law to protect cultural assets a year after and in 1955 fire prevention day of such assets were enacted every 26th of January.

Hmm...i wonder what that law entails about cultural assets? It just goes to show how Japanese value their historical artifacts. so better keep your hands off them.

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