Gizmodo: alps

Terrifying Alpine Roller Coaster Is Just One Faulty Screw Away From Death

Jesus Diaz — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:40:00 EDT

Ah, the Alps. I always enjoyed my vacations there. Fresh air, sun, good food, breathtaking scenery... a perfect place for relaxation, yodeling, and massive jacuzzi ~~orgies~~parties. And—looking at the world's highest roller coaster video—a perfect place to die.

It's called Alpine Coaster and is located at the Glacier 3000 ski area, with views to the Montblanc, the Matterhorn and the Jungfrau mountains. One kilometer long, the roller coaster races down the slopes with ten curves, six waves, three jumps and two bridges. And plenty of empty space below for you to fall down. There, only $56 stand and a faulty screw between you and sure death. [Techeblog—Thanks Noah !]

Alpine Capsule Is Probably Aliens' Favorite Refuge on Earth

Jesus Diaz — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:45:33 EST

Something weird must be going on in the Alps, because alien structures keep popping up like circles in the English crops and people insist on doing jacuzzi parties at 15,700 feet. Take this shiny Alpine Capsule, a beautiful—if not eerie—26-feet in diameter mountain shelter designed by Studio Lovegrove that seems to be made of mercury.

In reality, the shelter uses a double glass structural skin, offering a 360 degree view of the Dolomites at an altitude of 2,100 meters. The Alpine Capsule will be powered by external solar panels and vertical wind turbines. Located in the Italian Alps, construction will begin in 2010. [Dezeen]

Alps Trackpad Senses Your Hovering Fingers, Weird Gestures

John Herrman — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 05:05:00 EDT

Alps Electronics has decided to take the occasionally annoying sensitivity of some capacitive trackpads to a new extreme, demoing a technology that can accurately sense fingers without coming in direct contact with them. The system is able to sense movements at an admittedly modest range of 3cm, from which distance users can control applications with a range of gestures.

While the raw tech isn't new (capacitive proximity sensors have been around in other forms for a while), this application is, and could prove useful in situations where the sterility is necessary. Alps says that they've still got a few problems to address, namely that device "often malfunctions." Of course, there's also the fact that using one of these things will invariably make you look like you're trying to perform a magic trick and/or dramatically faith-heal your laptop, two of the most surefire methods for remaining alone for the rest of your life. [TechOn]

Alien Secret Base Discovered in the Alps Is Actually Medical Center Concept

Jesus Diaz — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 08:12:00 EDT

First an alien mothership stranded in the desert, and now a whole extraterrestrial homebase right in the heart of the Alps, where people love to have jacuzzi orgies at 15,000 feet and fly on jet wings. Fortunately for earthlings, it's just a concept for a medical center for rehabilitation of trauma surgery patients designed by Sarah Schneider. Seeing how outwordly it looks inside, I wish it was just apartments.

Absolutely beautiful. [Dezeen]

Avalanche Simulator Ride: The Thrill of Being Crushed By Tons of Snow

Sean Fallon — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 18:30:08 EST

The ski resort of Les Deux Alps wants to give visitors a chance to experience what it is like to be caught in an avalanche and learn how to survive without all of that messy "white death" business. The "Robocoaster," as it is called, was the brainchild of of local businessman Marc Dode, who lost a friend in an avalanche several years ago. The simulator is encased in a large dome that features two cabins and a large fan to blow cold air.

It can also rotate around six axes and can throw the user through an arc of seven meters during the course of a two-minute ride, with the final 20 seconds focused on the avalanche itself. The simulator is set to open today at a cost of 10 € or $14 per person. [Les Deux Alps and Pistehors via Get Outdoors]