“We discovered a vertical hole on the moon,” says JAXA’s Junichi Haruyama. A mysterious tube so large and deep that it can shelter a future moon base. Until the creatures inside kill everyone, which is what happens in these cases.

Before, they didn’t know what the hole’s origin was. Now they have a theory: According to a study published in Geophysical Research Letters, the vertical cave—”213 feet (65 meters) across and some 262 to 289 feet deep (80-88 meters)”—may be a collapsed lava tube, which could provide a perfect shelter for a future moon base:

Lava tubes, underground cave-like channels through which lava once flowed, are commonly found on Earth. Because lava tubes are sheltered from the harsh environment on the moon’s surface, such tubes could one day be useful for lunar bases.

Their theory is that the flowing lava left the tunnel a long time ago, with a lava roof that later collapsed.

I’m reading their report and only two things come to my mind. One, the awesome lunar base in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001. Two, a sci-fi horror movie flick directed by Roger Corman, in which the moon base is invaded by slimy aliens, pissed off because the humans built their base on top of the entrance of their hidden colony. Based on real events, of course.

OK, maybe I have three things in mind, because now I can see Sybil Danning there too, as the queen in “Amazon Women on the Moon.” No hole connection there, though. Or maybe there is. I don’t know. Whatever. Leave me alone. I’m drunk.

[Space]

A wannabe Wolverine is crying somewhere in the UK, because these homemade claws of his were seized by border agents as part of a crackdown on illegal goods shipping into the country. Guess he’ll just hope for a mutation now.

Look at how sharp these seem. A pair of them and some of those nanopaticles that aid healing and I could be the next Logan. [TMZ]

Would you want to be bathing in a LED light shower in the future? The idea from Visentin is a luxury shower head that bathes you in a rainbow of therapeutic colored LED lights such as orange, renewing white, relaxing blue, healing pink or refreshing green, each with its own therapeutic qualities, turning your shower into some sort of a home spa. It certainly looks futuristic, and who knows, maybe we’ll all be using this sometime in the future, right?

Permalink: Visentin LED Light Shower from Ubergizmo | Hot: Blackberry Bold 9700 Review

A report on Fox News has confirmed that Apple has an event planned at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco on Jan 26th. With the indications strong that Apple will be making a major product announcement, word is going around that it will be associated with a product in the “mobility space”, which certainly seems to allude to the Apple tablet, or if not, an updated iPhone. To further fuel the rumors, it’s been said that Apple has told some of its iPhone developers to prepare their apps to run on a larger device, which would probably mean a tablet device. It looks like we’ve less than a month to go to (hopefully) get an official Apple tablet announcement!

Permalink: Apple Event On Jan 26th In San Fran from Ubergizmo | Hot: Blackberry Bold 9700 Review

We’ve seen people pamper their pets before, but would you buy a mini air purifier for your pet? Well, the folks who came up with the Mini Wearable Ionizer Air Purifier for Pets certainly think so. Fortunately it doesn’t seem like it will cost as much as normal air purifiers, as it’s going for $17.20. The device can be worn directly on the pet, around the collar, so as to ensure that the air around them it’s clean. It even comes with different scents to help relax, calm and energize your pet. It grabs its power from the 2 AAA batteries inside it. Do you think this is necessary in this day and age, or do you think your pets are surviving just fine without it?

Permalink: Mini Wearable Air Purifier For Your Pet from Ubergizmo | Hot: Blackberry Bold 9700 Review

Is there still room in your heart for eight more unassuming bits of Xmas? We hoped you’d say yes. See, 8-bit Xmas 2009 is an all-new NES cart full of festive LEDs and an original multiplayer snowball fight NES game. It sells for $43, but for $5 more you can get a personalized title screen — which seems like a relatively cheap fulfillment of that decades long dream of yours to have your name up in pixelated lights on the home console that defined the home console. The cart should be compatible with all real NES systems and hopefully many fake ones, and while it can’t help you forgive your Aunt Samantha for giving you that Sudoku quilt, it might just do the insignificant task of teaching you the true meaning of Xmas.

‘8-bit Xmas’ breathes new life into your ‘Bah! Humbug!’ NES originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This still is an unconfirmed rumor, but word is that Samsung Mobile won’t be doing any handset launches at CES 2010. The news that they will be holding their CES press conference at 730am on the 2nd day of CES might also indicate that they’re not showcasing anything breathtaking. There will apparently be plenty of TV-related announcements from Samsung, just a lack of cell phone related news. We certainly hope this rumor is wrong, but with LG not placing all that much importance on CES 2010 this year also, perhaps there might be some truth in this rumor?

Permalink: Rumor: No Samsung Phone Launches At CES? from Ubergizmo | Hot: Blackberry Bold 9700 Review

No, this isn’t an instructional guide on how to build a TwitterPeek. This device is even more useless. Impossible? Hardly. Check out the video. Then hit the following link for the complete set of build instructions. [Instructables via Neatorama]

Want to have a giant TV that’s just for your own personal viewing? It might sound a little selfish at first, but we’re sure that you’ve thought of it at some point or other before. The iTVGoggles might be able to help you out with that, as this spectacle-like device sports 2 little LCD screens inside the glasses, and when worn, will give you the impression you’re viewing a 50-inch or 80-inch big screen (depending on which model you go for). You’ll get the added benefit of it being able to support 3D movies on the 80-inch screen model, and they also come with stereo ear buds, light shield to protect your viewing experience from bright lights, and can last for about 4-5 hours on a full charge. The iTVGoggles will work on anything that has an AV output, which would include devices such as DVD players, iPod Video, DVR recorders, TiVo, Nintendo Wii, Xbox and all the other stuff in the same categories. The 50-inch model will be going for $180, and the 80-inch model will be going for $310. Do you think it’s good enough to replace your current TV set?

Permalink: iTVGoggles Will Give You A Personal Viewing Experience from Ubergizmo | Hot: Blackberry Bold 9700 Review

Hey, good news everybody! The Palm App Catalog, which has lagged far behind its peers, has reached the 1,000 app milestone as of this morning. Well, to be precise, it’s hit 946, as pointed out by Electronista, but still, it’s a nice little sign of growth for the webOS apps, whose development was hampered by very restricted initial access to its Mojo SDK. In comparison to contenders such as Android, whose catalog numbers around 20,000, and Apples iTunes store, which boasts over 100,000, Palm’s numbers are extremely modest — but progress is progress, especially considering it launched its App Catalog in June with just 30 apps. We look forward to hearing Palm’s CES keynote, that’s for sure.

Palm App catalog hits 1,000 apps… okay, 946 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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