legos

With free adapter kit, Legos can mate with Tinker Toys, Zoob

Legos are cool. Tinker Toys are cool. Zoob is cool. But you know what's really cool? Building a hybrid gizmo out of all of the above (and other construction toys as well).

That's possible now--without tape, glue, chewing gum, or earwax--using the Free Universal Construction Kit, a set of adapters that let you snap together parts from 10 popular building toys. Brought to you by the F.A.T. (Free Art and Technology) Lab and Sy-Lab, the kit can be downloaded for free as a collection of models in STL format that can be printed with 3D printers such as the Makerbot.… Read more

Lego shuttle boldly heads to the stratosphere

One Romanian man's tribute to the end of the space shuttle era may leave you slightly misty-eyed.

His YouTube video, complete with a soul-searching ballad, shows off a Lego space shuttle reaching the stratosphere last December with the help of a 56-ounce helium-filled meteorological balloon, GoPro Hero, and a Spot GPS device. Keep an eye out for the epic frost buildup on the shuttle nose during the 114,829-foot ascent. … Read more

Astronaut builds Lego space station in real space station

Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa flew 220 miles into space to play with toys. His recent stay on the International Space Station included several hours of building a Lego version of his orbiting abode.

Furukawa didn't have to sneak his bricks onboard. The Lego project is part of an official educational effort that aims to teach schoolchildren about life in space.… Read more

Witness the birth of a Lego Millennium Falcon

Released over the last decade, the Lego Star Wars ultimate collector series contains many elaborate sets, including "the ship that made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs." This "hunk of junk," officially known as set #10179, sold for $500 when it launched in 2007.

Over the course of three years, Francisco Prieto created a 3D stop-motion video of the Lego-ized Falcon being born. … Read more

Lego-like church perfect for Brick Testament

"Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves." (Exodus 5)

Imagine trying to build structures out of Lego-style bricks without being given plastic ingredients, and you'd appreciate what life was like in Old Testament Egypt. In modern-day Netherlands, however, Lego enthusiasts built themselves a block church that most kids would freak over.

The Abondantus Gigantus church was constructed last year in Enschede for the Grenswerk Festival out of concrete Legioblocks, which are used to build walls and industrial buildings.

As seen in the vid below, the pavilion sported a 65-foot tower and bricks that were painted in common Lego colors. … Read more

Crave 77: Is that a camera in your pants? (podcast)

This week, Lego goes crazy for Minecraft (even if we don't); the Death Star gets a real-world estimate; DARPA invests in making "Avatar" a reality; and Eric and Bonnie make their Barbie dreams come true. In Geek News, Eric is obsessed with Mass Effect 3, and shows off a mashup of "The Prestige" and the latest "Dark Knight" trailers.

Subscribe in iTunes SD Video | Subscribe in RSS SD Video … Read more

Lego Minecraft available for preorder

Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson and Mojang employees today unveiled the first set dedicated to the building game at Lego World in Copenhagen.

The 480-piece Lego Minecraft Micro World set (due in summer) features four different areas that you can link together with cylindrical connectors.

While the miniature take on the popular game is a bit pricey at $34.99, we admire the attention to detail in recreating the Minecraft experience. It's also neat that this came together from a community-driven movement, but we hope there will be bigger and better sets soon. Resource gatherers can take joy in exploring the "hidden resources, extra pieces for wood, dirt, and stone," according to the official product description. We strongly recommend you avoid the lava area, though.

Do not miss the hilarious launch video created by Notch and friends: … Read more

Lego robotic arm is grabby--in a good way

My greatest Lego triumph was the creation of a miniature monorail that required pushing the car down a little Lego track. YouTube user sumthinelse5790 (real name Max Shepherd) has blown my childhood creation out of the water with a Lego robotic arm.

Admittedly, this isn't the first Lego arm on the planet, but it does show off a high level of sophistication.… Read more

'Lord of the Rings' Lego characters visualized

Cast your eyes on the freshly unveiled set of Lego "Lord of the Rings" miniature figures.

All of the major characters from the first movie (and a handful of villains) are included in the collection, which debuts this summer. Lego unveiled 14 characters in total yesterday, and the brick maker has done an outstanding job re-creating the characters' iconic appearances. … Read more

Canadian teens send Legonaut 15 miles into atmosphere

Why build a Gingrichian lunar colony, which would cost billions, when you can send a man nearly into space for only $400?

That's what Canadians Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad did with an albeit plastic man from Lego and a modified weather balloon.

The 17-year-olds from Toronto bought an $85 weather balloon online and rigged it to a Styrofoam box equipped with three point-and-shoot cameras and a wide-angle video camera.

They threw in $160 worth of helium from a party supply store, a dash of superglue, and voila, a Legonaut was born.

The toy ascended 80,000 feet over Ontario, recording the awesome footage in the video below, before floating back to Earth some 97 minutes later on a homemade nylon parachute. … Read more