<![CDATA[Gizmodo: luke skywalker]]> http://tags.gizmodo.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gizmodo.com.png <![CDATA[Gizmodo: luke skywalker]]> http://gizmodo.com/tag/lukeskywalker http://gizmodo.com/tag/lukeskywalker <![CDATA[Buy Luke's Original Lightsaber for $185,000, Gizmo Animatronic for $5,000]]> This is it. The real McCoy: Luke Skywalker's one and only lightsaber, used in the original Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. It can be yours for only $185,000. If you don't have $185,000 handy, you can get the real fedora hat or the bullwhip used by Indiana Jones in Temple of Doom for $61,000 each (reportedly, the ones from Indiana Jones and the Crappy Flying Saucers with the Stupid Kid will be $20.84). These are only three of the original props that will be available in a December 11 auction, which will include one with our name on it: The original Gizmo, the animatronic puppet used in Gremlins, with control box and wires included.

The original Luke Skywalker is the property of Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz, and is going to be auctioned along the rest of the movie goodies by Profiles in History on December 11:

• C-3PO face for $83,000 and hands for $30,000.
• Mohawk and Brain Gremlins puppets for about $7,000 each.
• The original Jor-El tunic wore by Marlon Brando in Superman for $51,000.
• His t-shirt in Apocalypse Now for $20,000.
• An original set of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, bound in red cloth, signed by Tolkien, and containing a fold-out map of the Middle Earth for $124,000.
• For the same amount you can also snatch an 82-inch flying saucer made of wood, steel and fiberglass from Forbidden Planet.
• First editions of James Bond novels inscribed by Ian Fleming, including one that said "To the real James Bond from the thief of his identity", which was dedicated to American Ornithologist James Bond.

In total, there will be over 500 objects related to movies, from the silent era to sci-fi classics. Now, can any reader with deep pockets bid for Gizmo and then give it to us. Thank you very much. [Daily Telegraph]

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<![CDATA[Fluidhand Prosthetic Makes Us Think of Darth and Luke]]> *Warped voice through Tannoy system* Chut chut. Pay Luke Skywalker bolla Tatooine frumf ti pund, konchee er pinkosponto kapa. Luke Skywalker bolla Tatooine frumf ti pund, pay." Translated from Huttese into Galactic Basic, that reads: "Greetings. Could Luke Skywalker make his way to the Tatooine Lost & Found, where his prosthetic hand has been handed in. Luke Skywalker to Tatooine's Lost & Found, please."

Well, a girl can dream. But this prosthetic hand, inspired, I kid you not by spiders' legs, has scored highly in tests. Currently a prototype, Fluidhand is battery-powered, with five electric motors—one in each finger. Soren Wolf, an 18-year-old patient at Heidelberg University Hospital was the first person to try out the device, alongside the iLIMB, which, unlike the Fluidhand, is controlled using myoelectric signals from the stump of the arm.

The Fluidhand works on different principles, and its digits are based on the biological principle of the spider leg—elastic chambers in the joints are pumped up by miniature hydraulics, thus allowing flexibility. This allows each individual digit to be moved independently. Perhaps the most astonishing thing about the device is that it gives feedback to the stump, which allows the wearer to sense just how strong the grip is.

Of the two hands, Soren said that the Fluidhand just had the edge over the iLIMB. It is currently only a prototype, but the inventors are looking for investment. Maybe George Lucas would be interested. [UniversitatsKlinikum via MedGadget]

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<![CDATA[Imperial Stormtroopers Invade British Empire at London Star Wars Convention]]> London was the scene for yet another Star Wars convention this weekend. Opened by Mark Hamill and Ian McDiarmid, the ExCel Centre in Docklands was packed to the gills with people willing to pay 85 ($173) for Mark's autograph. And Luke came face to face with his father once again...

Both Hamill and Anthony Daniels, aka C-3PO, gave talks to the 50,000 aficionados gathered there. And Steve Sansweet, Lucasfilm's head of fan relations and director of content management said that Star Wars would see no more big-screen action: instead, forthcoming projects would include The Clone Wars, an animated TV series; and The Force Unleashed, a video game. He did, however, add a caveat.

"George has made it very clear that he will not be making any more Star Wars movies. He will also not let anyone else make a Star Wars movie," Sansweet said, adding, "Has George ever changed his mind? Yes!" [Channel News Asia and The Sun]


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