Lego

Back in June we demonstrated the incredible versatility of LEGO and the mind-boggling talent of those who spend hours and hours snapping together tiny bits of plastic to create something awesome. One contender for the next round is the LEGO Wheelchair built by Simon Burfield.  Read More

Rolls-Royce this week unveiled the world's first jet engine to be made entirely out of LEGO bricks. Farnborough Airshow was the selected venue for the unveiling of the model, which is made entirely from 152,455 standard LEGO bricks and parts, making it, Rolls-Royce claims, "one of the most complex LEGO structures ever built." The LEGO engine is a half-size replica (complete with moving parts) of the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 turbofan jet engine which keeps Boeing's 787 Dreamliner in the sky. Naturally, we at Gizmag jumped at the opportunity to stick our noses (and camera lenses) in.  Read More

Even the most complex things in our universe start with small building blocks, and in the universe of LEGO you can take that truism literally. Between traditional LEGOs, LEGO Technic parts and some third-party LEGO-inspired projects, we've seen some truly amazing creations built up from the foundation of those little plastic blocks. Here's a visual look at ten of our favorites.  Read More

Google Australia has announced the release of Build with Chrome (or Build for short), perhaps the simplest online LEGO builder we've seen, and one that works right in your browser - as long as its Chrome. Completed models are located on a Google Map, which effectively becomes a permanent exhibition space of submitted LEGO models.  Read More

Having grown up on the original Star Wars trilogy, it is hard to describe the excitement I felt as I sat in a darkened theater as a man in my 30’s and that familiar theme blasted out signaling the start of the The Phantom Menace. Of course, it was all downhill from there, but John Williams’ iconic score can still raise the old heartbeat a notch or two. While not capable of pumping out a version quite as stirring as that performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, a team has constructed a barrel organ out of Lego that plays the Star Wars theme.  Read More

If you ever had more than one type of toy for building things as a child (LEGO, Tinkertoys, Duplo, etc.), odds are you tried to mix the sets together at some point with creative, though disastrous, results. Apparently the folks at F.A.T. Lab and Sy-Lab had the same experience and have created the Free Universal Construction Kit to solve this childhood dilemma. By downloading free designs and using a 3D printer, you could have your very own pieces to connect ten different brands of building toys to each other and construct even more elaborate contraptions and structures.  Read More

Despite what TV shows like CSI would have us believe, a lot of lab work tends to be highly monotonous. It’s the type of work that could be assigned to robots, were it not for the fact that many facilities can’t afford the things, or can’t rationalize bringing one in for a single project. When scientists at Cambridge University were recently faced with a very mindless, repetitive task that was part of their research into creating artificial bone, one of them got creative, and built a couple of robots out of LEGO.  Read More

The PriNXT may not be the first functioning printer made of Lego, but given that it was made by 14-year old Lego Mindstorms wunderkind Leon Overweel, we won't hold that against it.  Read More

Granted, granted, there may not be much cutting edge technology on display here, but it's a cynical technology enthusiast indeed that doesn't raise a wry smile when nerd-friendly worlds collide, and were worlds ever more nerd-friendly than those of Lego and Minecraft?  Read More