Really, this controller-gone-bug is the work of Industrial Design student James Killinger. Using just three screws from an external source, he rearranged and reattached the joystick's parts to create this completely new form. (There's not even much fudging with mass since 70% of the joystick's original components are seen in the recreation.)

Now if only Sega had released the gruesome robo-insect controller in the first place instead of the typical version directly above, we might all be playing Sega Siis right now, and it would be Sony/Nintendo releasing all the Sonic games...somehow or other. [coroflot]

The ring hasn't been discovered till now because it's so diffuse that it reflects very little sunlight. That makes it undetectable by optical telescopes. The particles in it, however, glow with heat radiation, which was captured by the Spitzer's infrared instruments.

This image is an artist representation of what Spitzer's discovered, showing us, once again, that we are still bloody clueless when it comes to almost everything around us. I can't wait to see the actual image. [NASA]

It's true. We (being astronomers and people far smarter than I) really don't know. But we do know where this mysterious event took place: One billion kilometers away, in Saturn's F ring.

The pic was snapped by a school bus sized gadget we call Cassini. It's been orbiting Saturn since 2004, and the wealth of data, photos and knowledge beamed back to us in that timeframe is nothing short of amazing.

But this latest snapshot is an enigma. Something punched through the F ring, violently spewing a plume of dust, ice and rock out into the nothingness—but what?

Even more mysterious is the bright spot left in the object's wake. Icy crystals laid bare for the Sun's rays? A new material? A cosmic mooning from some alien prankster? Possibly, but whatever it is, it's yet another reminder of how violent and unexpected space can be.

Isn't that right, Jupiter? [Bad Astronomy]

The joint NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens spacecraft is well past its 4-year mission: It will be an extra year in June, but it still working and sending stunning images of Saturn and its moons. Here's a small selection of them, picked from The Big Picture.

Most people take images send from outer space for granted, perhaps because we have grown used to movies and other discoveries. Not me. It must be my perennial Peter Pan complex or the Bowie I play in the morning, but I still get giddy and happy and simply amazed when I see these beautiful images of other worlds.

Head to the Big Picture for the rest of the art shots. [Big Picture and NASA]

The video was done by Scholz&Friends, a Berlin-based ad agency, for European electronics chain Saturn. [Dark Roasted Blend]

Now scientists are calling for the probe to be sent sailing through the plume and over the moon in detail to look for complex carbon molecules that may indicate the presence of life in the ocean using its Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer. The argument runs that abundant life living in the ocean should produce molecules like methane which could then be detected: scientists have already built a test chamber at NASA's Ames Research Center to try to simulate the conditions on Enceladus and calculate what kinds of gasses may be expected.

It's a long shot, but it may provide useful data before NASA sends more probes to the gas giants in the next decade. And you never know, we may find out we're not alone. [New Scientist]

First of all, the system list:

Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari Jaguar, Atari Lynx, Coleco ColecoVision, Coleco Gemini, Coleco Telstar, Commodore 64/128, GCE Vectrex, Mattel Aquarius, Mattel Intellivision, Mattel Odyssey 2, Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox 360, Miscellaneous APF TV Fun, Miscellaneous Handheld Games, Miscellaneous PC Games, Miscellaneous SC Eight Thousand, Miscellaneous Sega Pods, Miscellaneous TV Games, NEC Turbo Duo, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo NES, Nintendo Nintendo 64, Nintendo Super NES, Nintendo Virtual Boy, Nintendo Wii, Sega Dreamcast, Sega Game Gear, Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, Sega Saturn, SNK Neo Geo, SNK Neo Geo Pocket, Sony Playstation, Sony Playstation 2, Texas Instruments TI 99/4A, VM Labs Nuon.

As for games, he has, well, a lot of them, including weird rare stuff like the Christmas version of NiGHTS for Sega Saturn and the Gold Cartridge Micro Machines for NES. Gold Cartridge!!! How can you resist?

You really need to see the full list to really appreciate how bananas this auction is. Right now it's at $3,383.33, but the Buy It Now price is $10,979.00. Plus free shipping! What could you possibly be waiting for?! [Auction Page and eBay via Geekologie]

Built into the wooden base is a "mega-powerful" Windows Media Center PC. Two tuners, 400 GB hard disk, and a DVD player that can be upgradable to either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, the PC part of this TV is can hold its own against similar separately-built units.

The sound system is similarly impressive.

Even if you're just using the speakers built into the main console the quality is outstanding, with effortless power, dynamic range and clarity. But splash the cash on that extra surround sound speaker set and you'll experience the sort of home cinema and hi-fi heaven only usually found on megabucks separates systems for the blue-blood audiophile set.

At nearly $30,000, this set is way out of the price range of most readers. But for those who can afford it, this entertainment center should last you quite a while.

Vivadi Saturn HD50 50-inch Plasma & Media Center [Trusted Reviews]