If you ever needed proof that science is completely amazing, the mind-blowing phenomenon of quantum levitation might just do it. A group of researchers from Tel-Aviv University demonstrates the incredible effect in the video below. We aren’t physicists, but the science behind the phenomenon goes something like this: a crystal sapphire wafer is coated with an extremely thin ceramic layer. When it is cooled to an extremely cold temperature, the ceramic-coated wafer becomes a superconductor.

Putting the superconductor into a magnetic field causes something called the Meissner effect. From there, there is a lot of complicated physics that happens with magnetic fields, superconductivity and magnetic flux tubes. The powers of superconductivity and magnetism fight against each other. When the superconductor moves, the flux tubes move as well – but the superconductor tries to prevent this and so becomes “pinned” or “trapped” in mid-air.

The effect is nothing short of stunning. The wafer appears to levitate effortlessly – and it doesn’t hurt that it gives off impressive amounts of vapor, making the demonstration look almost like magic. It even seems to float upside-down. We have a feeling that if every high-school science teacher used a demonstration like this in class, we wouldn’t be saying “we aren’t physicists” today.

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A man takes a seat on a park bench and opens a pair of suitcases, carefully adjusting a few things inside, placing a few small objects in just the right spot. Then an alarm clock sounds, a pencil comes down onto a trigger and the most entrancing sequence of events takes place, one after the other. Melvin the Mini Machine is the creation of Dutch design studio HEYHEYHEY, and it’s possibly the coolest portable Rube Goldberg machine ever invented.

As music starts playing, the choreographed movements begin, flinging objects from one of the suitcases to the other, making their own little sounds. The fact that all of this magic can fit inside these small compartments, compact enough to travel around the world, is even more incredible when you consider the fact that HEYHEYHEY previously created the world’s largest Rube Goldberg machine.

Melvin the Magical Mixed Media Machine was a room-sized exhibit made for 2010 Dutch Design Week, and as cool as it was, it had one big limitation: it couldn’t be moved. Lots of people who couldn’t travel to the exhibit wanted to see it. Thus, the idea for the mini was born.

In addition to the many Rube Goldberg machines that came before them, both Melvins were inspired by the cult 1987 art film ‘The Way Things Go’ by Peter Fischli and David Weiss. Check out a clip, above.

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Lamborghini Toro Tractor

(images via: AutoMotto and XciteFun Forum)

Before Lamborghini made supercars, it made superior tractors – true story! Now the Lamborghini Toro takes Ferruccio Lamborghini‘s exoticars back to their roots, in more ways than one.

(images via: AutoMotto and XciteFun Forum)

Designed by 22-year-old Jason Battersby, a Transportation Design Masters student at the Umea Institute of Design in Umea, Sweden, the Lamborghini Toro tractor concept melds elements of the new Lamborghini Reventon with the rugged practicalities inherent in working tractor design. Some say Ferruccio Lamborghini began building exotic cars just to get under Enzo Ferrari’s skin. Well Enzo, maybe it’s time for some payback.

1947 Concept Tractor by Radebaugh

(image via: Granttt33)

The big red machine above was conceived by futurist illustrator Arthur Radebaugh for the Bohn Aluminium and Brass Company. Though dubbed a 1947 model, Radebaugh actually penned the work in 1940. Save for the lack of a glassed-in cab to keep dust out, Radebaugh’s vision extends far beyond just 1947.

Valtra ANTS Tractor

(images via: PsiPunk and ZMags)

The Valtra ANTS Tractor concept was designed by Lighthaus of Sweden as a modular “tractor system” able to adapt to the varied needs of future farmers.

(images via: PsiPunk, Tuvie and MyValtra)

According to Valtra, “ANTS is strong, friendly, dynamic, agile and lightweight just like real ants.” Considering what a nest of actual ants can do, imagine the results farmers will get when an army of ANTS gets to work on the back 40!

ETRION 400 Tractor

(images via: AGweb and Farmers Weekly)

Merlyn Gray of Merlyndesign envisioned the Class ETRION 400 Concept Tractor to do everything modern tractors do, but better. The design exploits the best features of wheeled and tracked tractors to enhance stability and reduce ground compaction. Most radical feature of all? The ETRION 400 is designed to be driverless.

RoboTrac Robotic Mini-Tractor

(image via: GizmoWatch)

Tractor-maker Valtra has their fingers in more than a few pies, one of which being the RoboTrac Robotic Mini-Tractor concept by industrial designer Hannes Seeberg. Wireless internet connectivity and onboard GPS helps keep RoboTrac in the potato patch and out of the petunias.

(images via: GizmoWatch)

Powered by an 85 hp diesel engine and carrying a 200 liter fuel tank, RoboTrac can be customized on-site to suit the needs of the day. Switch between two- and four-wheel drive, switch out the wheels for larger ones, push the button and let RoboTrac loose among the cornstalks.

Case IH Tractor of the Future

(image via: Titan Outlet Store)

This impressive sketch of an un-named “Tractor of the Future” looks as if it were destined to be plowing fields of Red Weed on the dusty plains of Mars. Credit DeviantArtist Slime-Unit with conjuring up a future in which farmers are fully formidable!

International Harvester HT-340 Prototype Repro

(images via: Farm Collector)

The HT-340 was a concept tractor that not only made the jump from blueprints to working prototype, it did it half a century ago! International Harvester endowed the sleek (as tractors go) blue & white machine with a hydrostatic gas turbine engine and displayed it at a number of farm-related events during the summer of 1961.

(image via: Rallycross Blog)

The tractor shown here is a faithful reproduction of the prototype HT-340 which now resides in the Smithsonian Institution. Brian Harris, a retired machine repairman at General Motors, installed a modern gas turbine engine that puts out 150 hp and runs at a blistering 60,000 rpm.

NH² Hydrogen Powered Tractor Concept

(images via: Anglia Farmer and Torque Talk)

New Holland’s NH² concept tractor is powered by hydrogen but this is one concept that won’t go over like a lead zeppelin… if you know what I mean, and I think you do. The tractor’s “engine” is a bank of fuel cells that produce hydrogen gas. Stored under pressure in a small tank, the NH² runs silently and emits steam as its exhaust.

Cosmic Trac

(images via: Yanko Design)

The Cosmic Trac is one tractor concept that could very easily see production sometime soon. Vipin George’s simple and straightforward design not only looks good, it’s intended to work well in real world use.

(image via: Treehugger)

A single-sheet hood, fibre-reinforced plastic head light housings and a partially exposed engine for ease of accessibility make the Cosmic Trac an appealing prospect for farmers who’d rather work in their fields than work on their tractors.

Deuterium Multi-Dimensional Tractor

(images via: PsiPunk)

It’s tough to think of a more futuristic name than Deuterium, unless it’s Dilithium. Indeed, the Deuterium Multi-Dimensional Tractor would look perfectly natural roaming some M-class planet in the Delta Quadrant.

(images via: PsiPunk)

Designed by Prithu Paul in collaboration with Ankit Kumar, Deuterium is as high-tech on the inside as it looks on the outside. An onboard CPU, GPRS and sensor controlled motion path allocation add up to a futuristic farming vehicle that empowers tomorrow’s autonomous farmer.

(image via: Yesterday’s Tractor)

Tech prognosticators and assorted futurists love nothing better than announcing the “(blank) of Tomorrow”, though tomorrow never seems to come – I’m looking at you, flying cars. Tractors are a horsepower of a different color, however, and most of the concept designs thrown into the arena stand a better than average chance of reaching reality. You don’t have to be a farmer to get excited about that!

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The speakers, amplifier or dock you use with your iPhone or iPod can say as much about your personality as your device’s case does. For that reason, more and more people are bucking the trend of the same old iPhone speakers and going for something with a bit more flash. These 10 iPhone and iPod speakers not only help you hear the music – they help you proclaim your individual style.

Children of the 70s and 80s will probably appreciate this fun iPhone speaker the most. Shaped like an old-school cassette tape, the IMIXID mixed tape speaker definitely isn’t powerful enough to play the soundtrack to your next epic house party, but it is perfect for listening to some Depeche Mode while sitting at your desk. Thanks to a flip-up USB plug, the speaker is rechargeable and doesn’t need batteries.

The Koostik is an electricity-free iPhone amplifier; it uses a hollow wooden box to embolden the sound from your iPhone’s own small speaker. Each one is lovingly hand-crafted from solid wood by a woodworker named Jim who sees the Koostik as the perfect partnership between technology and nature.

Although only a conceptual product and not actually available for purchase, this origami-inspired speaker is a fantastic marriage of form and function. The Flexible Speaker starts out as a small pyramid, but as you unfold and expand it into a series of connected triangles the sound gets louder and louder. There are no buttons or remote controls to deal with – only a totally charming functionality that ties in perfectly with the speaker’s appearance.

Undoubtedly one of the most stylish iPhone amplifiers ever made, the MegaPhone could very easily be mistaken for a decorative object. Indeed, it does add something lovely to the decor of a room, but it is also functional. Slip an iPhone into the smaller end of the ceramic object and turn on some music, and the hollow chamber amplifies the sound beautifully. The wooden base keeps the ceramic body from vibrating with the music and causing unwanted sounds to mingle with your tunes.

Tree huggers, look away for a moment. the iTree certainly isn’t for everyone – and even if it was, very few people could afford one. The $14,000 iPod dock/speaker is made from an entire hollowed out tree trunk. Since they are made from real trees, no two are ever the same. Buyers can choose the type of wood wanted – or even go on a ride through the woods and pick out the exact tree to be used. The iTree definitely won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but people who can afford a $14,000 iPhone speaker are probably few and far between.

Sometimes, when we hear music sounding thin and tinny through cheap or underpowered speakers, we say that it sounds as if it’s coming from a tin can. In this case, however, that might just be a compliment. The Audio Can from designer Dean Brown is a simple, pared-down speaker that sits inside a plain metal can. Far from sounding anemic, the music that comes from the can is surprisingly full-bodied and robust.

Zooka is a Bluetooth speaker that is the perfect size to slide onto the side of your iPad, but it is also compatible with iPhones, iPods, laptops and any other smartphone or tablet. It is incredibly slick, streamlined and simple to use, with only a few buttons to fiddle with. If you can’t wait to get your hands on one, you are not alone: the Zooka Kickstarter project received nearly three times its initial funding requirement, so we could very well see these on store shelves soon.

Who doesn’t love Atari? Unfortunately, while Atari games are great for nostalgia, we still prefer playing games on an XBOX 360 or PS3…and there are untold numbers of old, unloved Atari consoles just sitting around gathering dust. One talented audiophile turned an old Atari 2600 into a very modern gadget by gutting it and replacing its insides with speaker bits. The external subwoofer adds a boost to the speakers hidden inside the case. Although this particular version has already been sold, it would definitely be possible for like-minded individuals to make a similar Atari iPhone dock.

Looking rather like a sculpture paying tribute to the great jazz legends, this recycled trumpet is, in fact, an un-powered iPhone amplifier. Artist Christopher Locke makes the Analog Tele-Phonographer from discarded trumpets and machine parts, and the sound they produce is wonderfully rich. The inherent acoustic and amplification properties of the trumpets must play the biggest part in their beautiful sound quality.

People who hate the look of clunky speakers all over the house will appreciate Irish designer Niall Diggins‘ creation, Ceramic Sound. The speaker features a removable watertight planter on top so that the speakers can be made to look just like ordinary household planters. As an added bonus, playing the right music on these speakers might actually encourage your houseplants to grow!

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Three-dimensional printing has made so many advancements in recent years, researchers have been able to print highly detailed models of castles that are as small as a grain of sand. But what about the other end of the spectrum? A concept by designer Sebastian Bertram takes 3D printing a step further with a massive robot that “prints” contours of a building shell using fast-drying concrete, one layer at a time.

The 3D Contour Crafter doesn’t look too different from contemporary construction equipment, resembling a sort of crane. But when it’s programmed with pattern data, the robot pours concrete in specific configurations, repeating the process over and over again until a three-dimensional form is achieved.

Combining industrial production with rapid prototyping techniques, the Contour Crafter concept could potentially revolutionize urban construction methods. The fast pace and uniform nature of this kind of building would speed up the construction process to an unprecedented rate, enabling builders to keep up with the demand for fast-growing urban areas.

While it’s not yet a reality, printing entire buildings is definitely not beyond the realm of possibility. If we can already use 3D printing to produce vehicles, furniture, shoes, artificial bones, tiny models of cities and even a replica of King Tut’s mummy, there’s no reason we can’t raise the bar even higher. And with our population expected to grow to over 9 billion by the year 2050, we’d better get a move on.

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