The Olympics is all about grand feats of athletic prowess and endurance demonstrated by its competitors. But for the folks behind the scenes, it's hardly a party. In fact, engineers running data centers around the Olympics will be sleeping in these tiny pods next to their computers the whole time.

With so many hurricanes and earthquakes and tsunamis and 2012 only being a year away, I wouldn't blame you for preparing for the end of the world. So feel free to buy the Noah Disaster Shelter, a gigantic yellow pod that can house 4 people.

A pair of former Boeing engineers are building an escape pod that would let people ride out the worst of a Tsunami inside a giant ball. The Tsunami capsules could hit the market in two years with a price tag as low as $1000.

Monopods are usually quite handy, but if you're looking to take a self portrait, one leg's not gonna cut it. For that you better grab the Twig Pod, a collapsable monopod that can be used hands-free.

How does Google keep its employees fresh for long days and nights of working? With sleep pods.

If I had a backyard big enough for a home office, the MercuryHouseOne is what I'd be saving all my pocket money up for. It's a mobile solar-powered lounge, hard and space-age on the outside but warm and soft inside.

Jalopnik has a clip from the Today Show demonstrating how the GM/Segway PUMA pod rolls about. And just like with the Batpod, Meredith Viera takes the sexy honors of a sexy first ride.

Here's an insane move by Apple: sending a cease and desist to a company who makes an iPhone stand called the Podium for using the word "pod" in its name. What in the hell?

Sometimes you just want to shut the world out and tackle the next level of your fave game, don't you? The Ovei isolation pod, launched this week in the UK, will let you do just that. For the sum of $100,000. And before you fall about laughing, that cash will get you a unique capsule, designed by Lee McCormack and made…