In all seriousness, Dyson's legacy is about more than a few home appliances—though they're no doubt impressive. He's a brilliant designer and inventor in an industry starved for brilliant designers and inventors; he's got a clear enthusiasm for what he does, and he's become a sort of evangelist for engineering and inventing; also he's a nerd. I had, like, three minutes with the man, but managed to blurt out a couple questions.

We started on tech:

Giz: PC or Mac?

Sir James: (Emphatically) Mac! Since 1984. I bought the first Macintosh.

Giz: What kind of phone do you carry?

Sir James: Well, I have a BlackBerry and an iPhone.

Giz: Are there any unlikely companies or designers that you see doing really interesting stuff right now?

Sir James: There's my son, who does lights where he varies the angle of the light in quite an interesting manner.

Giz: So they're not lasers?

Sir James: No, they're regular lights. They're floor lights where the shade goes up and down to create a wide or narrow beam. There are wall and ceiling lights which have barn doors as a shade; you get an amazing effect on the wall. I don't know if nepotism is allowed on Gizmodo. [Ed. note: It is! So here's how they work:]

We also run a student competition around the world, and there are some really interesting ideas that come out of that.

Giz: You're fond of removing requisite parts from things—bags from vacuums, blades from fans—is there any particular part in another device that you just want to get rid of?

Sir James: Well, I'm sure there will be, but I don't think we should talk about it now. But yes, it is quite a nice approach to minimalism, removing things—well, removing things that cause problems; that's the point.

Giz: Have you thought about directing your talents away from domestic inventions, and toward something more altruistic? Do you have any projects or dreams outside the world of Dyson?

Sir James: (Laughs) I'd like to do a better vacuum cleaner, but there's all sorts of things I want to do. We're very interested in encouraging people to get into design. In the West, we're training far too few engineers and scientists. Schoolchildren love science and love technology, but somehow their parents, teachers and society tells them that other things are going to be far more interesting, so I'm on a bit of a mission to try and change that.

And as quickly as he stepped into my mic range, he stepped back out. Later, James!

You can read Mark's review on Dyson's $300 bladeless Air Multiplier fan here, as well as the rest of our Dyson coverage.

It's actually a pretty ingenious optical illusion. Water is pumped out of the tops of each ramp, cascading water down both the ramp and over its edge. Bubbles rising inside each ramp give the illusion of water flowing uphill, and all together it makes it look like the water is defying gravity. Pretty amazing stuff, and it took a solid year to design and build.

You can go check it out at the Chelsea Garden Show in England if you're in the area. [BBC via Oh Gizmo! via The Daily What]

To put that into perspective, the Dyson motor is "ten times as fast as a commercial aircraft, five times as fast as a Formula 1 engine and more than twice as fast as the most powerful industrial milling machines."

Yeah, careful—you could probably suck the family dog into this thing from across the room. Because this technology is scalable, it's looking more and more likely that Dyson could build that super electric engine he has been talking about lately. The DC31 will retail in two versions, the standard DC31 and the DC31 "Animal" for around $220 and $270 respectively starting next month in the UK. [Dyson and Telegraph via CrunchGear]

When you think of Dyson—if you think of the expensive British vacs at all—you probably think "suction." After all, the slogan "doesn't lose suction" is plastered on all of the Dyson vac marketing material. But James Dyson's first innovations were not in vacuums, but in wheelbarrows of all things. Sir James built a wheelbarrow with a ball on it—the ballbarrow—adding stability to a traditionally wobbly device.As you can see in the video above, the DC24 pivots right and left as you twist your wrist, allowing it to corner like it's on rails. It has two tiny rear wheels, but they rarely touch the floor. It's all ball.

Does that make it worth the money? It's up to you—we're not going to tell you it's the best vac in the world. It's just fun to see a product as part of an evolution, rather than some standalone brain fart. If you want to know more about Dyson's early days (he designed boats, too, including something called the seatruck), have a look at this old Core77 interview. And if you want to know how his Airblade did against the Mitsubishi Jet Towel, well, just check out our Ultimate Hand-Dryer Battlemodo. [Dyson]

Notice that the Dyson has a HEPA air filter but the Mitsubishi doesn't? Says the Dyson camp:

The Jet Towel draws the already filthy air through a basic gauze filter (designed to protect the motor) using the heating element stores unfiltered air at around 95°F (ideal temp for breeding bacterial) and then blows it out on your hands and back into the room. Even though you just washed your hands, the air from Jet Towel contaminates them all over again with warm bacteria laden air. It's a vicious cycle.

[The HEPA filter] clogs very quickly and when it does the air flow is dramatically reduced. Mitsubishi found this to be true when they experimented with HEPA filters long ago.

Because the Airblade has no drain tank (unlike the Jet Towel's drain tank which is easily emptied in about five seconds), when the filter runs out and has not been changed the bacteria is exhausted into the environment. Very unsanitary. [Also] water splashes out the sides of the unit and therefore drips down the side of the unit and onto the floor. You will probably notice this happens even after 5-10 uses. It does not happen with the Jet Towel. A serious sanitary issue.

Waste water stagnates in a collection tray mounted right above the storage heater, warming up and brewing bacteria.

The Dyson motor's lifespan is estimated at about 1/3 of the lifespan of the Jet Towel [we have ascertained that this is true]. If there is a problem with the Dyson motor, it is mechanically almost impossible to replace it. On the other hand the Jet Towel motor is modular and can be easily swapped out if needed (but has not happened in our experience).

Jet Towel's DC brushless motor is less efficient and not as powerful, therefore only generating a 200MPH airflow. [Mitsu claims even less at 180MPH.]

Dyson Airblade Copied Mitsubishi Jet Towel? [Gizmodo]

James Dyson Shows Giz His Airblade [Gizmodo]