George probably deserved to be encased in Carbonite for corrupting the Star Wars Universe with Jar Jar Binks... but it's waaaay more satisfying seeing the floppy-eared one himself frozen in the same state, unable to frolic and waggle his tongue. Its actually part of an Industrial Light and Magic display, near Lucas's house, so maybe ILM think the same way too. [Geekologie] Photo: Pixdaus.

Scientists at Ohio State University have taken a thermoelectric material that's been used for decades to power deep-space probes, and worked out how to double its efficiency. That's good news: thermoelectrics convert heat directly into electrical energy. By catching exhaust heat, the new material may allow car alternators to be replaced... and that'll push up the efficiency of car engines. The team doped lead telluride with tiny amounts of thallium, which adjusts the crystal structure and increases its heat-electricity conversion efficiency from around 6% to over 10%. Even better, since engineers have years of experience of working with lead telluride, it should be easy to commercialize the product. Environmentalists will have to be pleased, and relax about the high toxicity of thallium, though. [Technology Review]

Maybe I'm not a slope-wise skier, but when I'm hurtling down a mountain I love to hear wind sounds—not music from my iPod. Other people are different, and this waterproof MP3 player from Lancer certainly fits the "rugged enough for big snowboard crashes" bill. The Laqa3's design is a plain metal tube. And... well, that's it. There's a headphone connector, and presumably controls somewhere, but other than that it's a plain metal tube. You may dig its industrial-look, or not, but it weighs just 25g, has IPX7 waterproofing so it's good for swimming, and comes with IPX7 silicon ear buds. It plays MP3s and WMAs, has an eight-hour lithium battery. It's released July 25th in Japan for about $185, which is lots considering it's 1GB. [AVWatch]

Buffalo's upcoming internal and external BD recorder units can burn both single or double-layer BDs up to a sizzling 8x speed, and DVD ±R up to 16x. Of course Blu-ray technology is going to improve, probably following a similar pattern to DVD burning tech. But here's a funny: these drives use Panasonic SW-5584 units inside... and the speed may actually outstrip the currently fastest available Blu-ray burnable discs. Amusing, and a situation that can't last long. The drives are SATA-based (with USB 2 on the external unit) and will be available in Japan at first for around $380 for the internal and $440 for the external drive. [PCWatch]

I just got to play with a phone that had been waterproofed using the Golden Shellback technology, and it was pretty amazing, not to mention legit. In the video above, Golden Shellback inventor Sid Martin took a Golden Shellbacked BB Pearl, started a call, dropped it in a glass of ice water, and it all worked without a hitch.

The amazing thing about Golden Shellback is how normal the modified phone looked and felt. There was no trace of residue, or added bulk because of the waterproofing process. The only way to tell it's been Shellbacked is to drop it in water.

Martin elaborated on the Shellbacking process a little more, explaining that a liquid is heated up into a gas, and is applied to the gadget in a vacuum. The gas reforms and bonds on the gadget surfaces as a deposit. But that's as far as Martin would explain, because of patents that hadn't been finalized.

That said, the process still has a couple of kinks. Temperature still seems to be a factor as the scroll ball on the BB Pearl wonked out upon removal from ice water. But Martin emphasized that despite the water submersion demos, Golden Shellback is meant more as a splashproofing solution, rather than an all-out waterproofer. Aside from the scroll ball, everything else worked fine.

Martin also spoke on a few of the reader concerns, such as how they work around connections like the headphone jacks and the apparent "bubbling" seen on the screen of the iPod touch demo. When a gadget is Shellbacked, ports and connectors are masked, and therefore aren't protected by Golden Shellback. Martin says its not crucial to waterproof those areas, since the focus is more on splashproofing, and that the gadget should still work underwater anyways.

As far as the iPod touch demo where the screen looked like it had a covering on it, Martin didn't have a definite answer. His only theories were that the iPod touch was an early test unit, and finger oils left from touching could have played a role.

Looking into the future, Golden Shellback has big plans. Outside of consumer electronics, they're talking with researchers in medical fields who are looking to waterproof things such as cochlear implants. In terms of availability, they'd like to have the service available to consumers in less than six months, but it all depends on finding the right distribution model. They've been in talks with retailers, and are also interested in working directly with handset manufacturers.

Eric Dawicki, present of Golden Shellback's parent company, Northeast Maritime Communications, also expressed interest in creating their own rugged cellphone that would utilize Golden Shellback technology. I think Golden Shellback is something to keep your eyes on in the coming months. [Golden Shellback]