You can click on the image here for a slightly bigger version or follow the link for the super-dee-duper huge original which you can scroll and zoom through for the full effect. [Gigapixel Dresden via SZ Online via Slashdot]

So it's a hell of a lot cooler and more powerful than a scooter, moped or Segway—but the 1300 watt lithium ion-powered motor will only take you between 18 and 31 miles on a one hour charge (depending on weight). That's not enough to make it a serious mode of transportation, but if you live in an urban area it might make some sense. You don't need a parking spot and you can ride it in the same areas as a traditional bicycle. Of course, that kind of flexibility won't come cheap. Expect to pay €5877 ($8742) for the Grace E-Bike when it ships in January. [Grace via DVICE]

Designed by a group called KARO, the library started out as an art installation consisting of beer crates stacked up in an abandoned district center in Magdeburg, Germany. Now sheltered seating areas and extra cozy nooks constructed out of wood from an old warehouse have been added to complete this crazy design. I've got no clue how they keep books dry when it rains, but I definitely wanna snuggle up with a novel in one of those corners. [Dezeen]

The Die Nachteule also features 40 hours of battery life and a weight of only 8 grams (as you know, the Germans always make good stuff). No word on when or if this reading light will ever make its way to the States, but I'm not in any rush. The last thing we need over here is a guy wearing a Bluetooth headset, glasses and one of these things simultaneously. [Meineeule]

The Bibliosphere is focused on sustainability, with natural lighting, ventilation, and using only renewable energy sources, and consumes an amazing 50% less than German regulations require—and we imagine German environmental laws are already much more strict than those here in the Land of the Free and the Home of the SUV. [Greeen Architects [sic] via PopSci]

German scientists were actually trying to create synthesized gasoline from brown coal, also called lignite, which is the least energy-efficient form of coal that can still actually be called coal. Lignite power plants actually still make up about 25% of Germany's energy sources, though the Germans use far more of the stuff than any other country. The lignite-derived gasoline was supposed to replace oil-based gas as oil prices rose in the 1980s and '90s, and though the prices did rise, lignite never caught on. [Popular Mechanics]

Gizmodo '79 is a week-long celebration of gadgets and geekdom 30 years ago, as the analog age gave way to the digital, and most of our favorite toys were just being born.

The con was simple (and old): A group of British con men showed the German bargain hunters a few iPods, laptops and other gear as "proof" of their authenticity; offered to sell them hundreds of second hand iPods at basement prices; and then proceeded to hand over a 4-lb. sack filled with potatoes instead.

They made off with about $972 for their efforts, along with the knowledge that they probably took advantage of people who were about to take those "iPods" and resell them again for a high markup. Too bad, so sad!

Regardless, the Polizei are on the case, and there no doubt will be a very large, bitter serving of German potato salad on someone's dinner table very soon—provided the authorities return their hard-earned wares, now evidence, in a timely fashion (pictured). [Orange - Thanks, Sigurd]

The process is the same as the one used in the Lego factory, but instead of Lego, these guys make things you touch pretty much all throughout your day. [RGS]

A prototype "Gold-to-Go" machine in the Frankfurt Airport initially charged customers around $42 for a 1g wafer of gold and $341 for a 10g bar. The prices update every two minutes and average about 30% higher than market value for the cheapest product. So, given the premium price and extremely small quantity sizes, this really isn't much of an investment at all—more like a novelty or a unique gift idea. On the other hand, it does seem like a great target for thieves, although the company does monitor the devices with cameras and claims that the casing can withstand a dynamite blast. Still, a poor economy also means that thieves will go to greater lengths to pull off a job. [TG-Gold via Telegraph and Fox News]

Like a nerdy, non-adorable version of the Tweenbot, the ACE (Autonomous City Explorer) is designed to find its way to a specific urban location, relying on the assistance of strangers it meets along the way. But instead of asking to be manhandled into the right direction, it politely asks each pedestrian it meets if he or she would like to help it, via a touchscreen and a synchronized "mouth" and speaker.

If the pedestrian acquiesces, the ACE asks him or her to point in the direction it should be going, and using several cameras and custom software, it interprets the gesture with apparently flawless accuracy. The ACE's physical design seems sort of risky, in that running into a curb could send it flying face-first into a Munich gutter (do they have gutters in Germany? I'm inclined to think not), but it found its way to its destination a kilometer away with only one incorrect direction, so we guess the complex system of cameras and gesture-based mapping works. [New Scientist]

Why? Because the country is turning out all the lights to save energy, and they'll only turn on if you point a cellphone at them and command them to do so.

So far, the program has been met with modest success. In the small town with a big name Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz, the citizens were given the ability to turn on street light with their cell. So far, they've managed to save $5,300. Not too bad for a town of only 900.

In Döblitz, resident Heinrich Frühauf tripped and fell in the darkness, and before you knew it, that town was turning lights on with their cellphones too. A timer shuts off the lights after 15 minutes.

The systems are so popular in Germany that a company called Dial4Light (so clever!) now charges the cost of a phone call to have the lights come on in the town of Dörentrup. In Rahden, 60 minutes of light costs about $4.65.

The problem with this system, of course, is that people have tendency to cut corners (i.e. not pay for as much light as safety would require). Light or bread? Light or heat? This could lead to a more than a few open manhole accidents, especially in this tough economy. Maybe this isn't such a bright idea after all. Yes, you can groan about that pun now. [Dial4Light via Treehugger]

New wind projects made up 42% of the U.S.'s total new power-producing capacity added last year, adding 8.4GW of new facilities into the grid. That brought the U.S. total up to 25GW, one more than Germany's 24GW.

These figures are coming in from even before the “Obama bounce” expected from the new president's vows for more clean energy initiatives. Last week, the Senate Finance Committee approved $31 billion in tax breaks to boost alternative energy supplies and efficiency. [Ars Technica and Scientific American]

Kuka robot arms are nearly ubiquitous in heavy automated manufacturing plants for cars, airplanes, IKEA—everything. These two particular Kuka DJs are from an installation called juke_bots from a few years back. They can select any number of records from their nearby crates, and play selected parts of them by lifting them up to waiting styli. Grandmasters they are not, but they're also, er, machines. [robotlab via Bot Junkie]

This supposedly historical shot was pulled from the 1997 documentary Area 51: Alien Interview. According to the film, on November 4, 1697, the citizens of Hamburg, Germany spotted "two glowing wheels" in the air. To some, it was just further proof of another civilization visiting Earth.
But to modern historians (that would be me, browsing UFO sites when I was bored one Sunday afternoon), these glowing wheels are proof not of future alien technology but of current Microsoft technology. Clearly the company has some sort of time travel machine that resembles a giant Xbox 360 logo. Wait, scratch that. According to this sketch, they have two such machines. And they're probably running some sort of advanced NXE with really fantastic avatars and Netflix streaming in 4K.

Well, that, or the pundits were right and Bill Gates is an alien after all. [flickr and Alien UFO Pictures and IMDB]

The segment of elevated walkway will be built at the the Museum for Contemporary Art in Berlin, Germany, and embedded with motion detectors. As soon as visitors enter, hydraulics will start to make the segment shake while low rumbling sounds—like an earthquake or avalanche—will emanate from hidden speakers. The end result, as Dezeen says, is supposed to convey a feeling of "deep uneasiness."

Cuz, see, that's what I've been missing! Stock markets all gone to hell, fate of the nation hanging in the balance, wars raging pretty much every place that Bush can actually identify on a map... yeah, I still somehow need an artificial dose of "deep uneasiness." Thanks Tom... thanks a freakin' lot. [Dezeen]

There's no evidence to suggest it currently transmits a signal from car to the traffic light, one that could perhaps tell it to turn green when you approach. Audi did leave that open ended, though, saying in its press statement:

The experimental ‘Travolution’ system...will not only improve synchronisation and phasing of traffic light networks to reduce stopping times, but could also dramatically reduce the number of actual stops needed by creating a communications link between cars and the traffic light network.

It's still not clear what happens in unexpected traffic, and Travolution definitely doesn't tell you what to do when the grandma in front of you doesn't also happen to have a specially outfitted A5 or A6 Avant. If enough lights are rigged up, though, I'm sure a portable version could be designed so even jalopies could get a shot at winning the sequenced-light game. [Jalopnik]