Octocube: What the Heck is This? - Gizmodo Comments

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Mr.Wilson — Sat, 10 May 2008 02:03:46 EDT

Hmm, my first thought was a cubed brain, the way the pipes are twisted, but oddly the color didn't help me guess any.

Mr.Wilson

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Ultraorange — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:04:23 EDT

wow you guys couldn't figure that out from the picture. Radiator/cooler what the first thing that cam to mind.

Ultraorange

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

NikFromNYC — Fri, 09 May 2008 02:13:33 EDT

Is it signed R. Mutt? If not, then I want one. It's made of ONE part. The scale is indicated by the "hotrod" stainless steel braided reinforcement around the tubes. Straight tubes would be even more effective, allowing laminar instead of chaotic flow of fluid or air around it.

Low budget though, otherwise instead of superglue and a cheap bulk bag of bendy pipes, they would use rapid prototyping to make a mold or the object itself.

I'd say its either a frictionless liquid helium quantum brain or a frictionless quantum bowel.

Ah, it's not a cooler. It's a heater! A simple yuppie (priced) radiator.

NikFromNYC

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Eptin — Fri, 09 May 2008 01:59:32 EDT

Almost had an aneurysm trying to figure it out.

Eptin

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

macserv — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:42:50 EDT

Looks like part of the Magi.

macserv

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Crowbot — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:26:35 EDT

Stick a fan on that and then you'd really have something

Crowbot

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

shenanigans61 — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:05:21 EDT

You're all wrong.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.

It's the world's greatest bendy-straw :)

shenanigans61

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

TurboFool — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:20:01 EDT

Got it on the first guess. What do I win?

TurboFool

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

nimblesquirrel — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:31:24 EDT

Yep, radiator/cooler. It really depends if you're trying to cool the fluid in the pipes, or use the heat from the pipes to warm a space. Looks like the thing would have a huge surface area for the fluid.

nimblesquirrel

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

vote Obama — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:26:09 EDT

whatever it is it got attention.

vote Obama

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Set to evil — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:11:58 EDT

I though it was the skeletal remains of a Rubic's Cube.

Set to evil

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Woraug — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:37:32 EDT

Braaaaaiiiiiiinnnnsssss....

Woraug

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Atsumi — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:30:51 EDT

I thought radiator. But that's because my boyfriend's a gear head, and I see a donut and think of a snap ring now...

He may be offended that I am now a better man...

Atsumi

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

kyledwards — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:28:14 EDT

That thing would make a great wort chiller. Couple handles and BOOM!

kyledwards

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

General Tsao aka Ivan the Impaler — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:26:25 EDT

@DeadWriter: I really thought in the first few micro seconds - well first few seconds - well actually I still think it's one of those new colon cleansing devices - out with the old in with the new!

General Tsao aka Ivan the Impaler

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Yeebles — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:06:49 EDT

Isn't this a Window's Screen saver?

Yeebles

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

FilthyHarry — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:03:17 EDT

Ya I was thinking a cpu water cooler

FilthyHarry

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Aaron Martin-Colby — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:19:46 EDT

It could result in hot spots inside. Might present a fire hazard. Unless some powered air flow was blown through.

Aaron Martin-Colby

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

metalhaze — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:19:34 EDT

It's the Companion Cube's brain!

metalhaze

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

oopl — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:47:56 EDT

I think I made that with macaroni once...

oopl

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

cafenitro — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:40:30 EDT

Clearly this is the brain of a Bush Administration Official.

cafenitro

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Brian B — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:29:43 EDT

@ltcmurray: Dude, that is exactly what I thought! I guess I'm not the only homebrewer here.

My second thought was that it was a chiller for lagering.

Brian B

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Crescent — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:13:10 EDT

turns out I am a better man then you are :P

you are right on about the dust issue though, and also, you can't let a radiator just rest on the floor, it will burn and leave marks!

Crescent

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:02:13 EDT

I thought it was some sort of rubix cube designed to look like a brain.

shamoononon has a hebetudinous dog

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

ParJoe — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:56:56 EDT

Forget about fixing it if it springs a leak.

ParJoe

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Stacky Botrus — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:50:45 EDT

Looks like it would make a good CPU cooler too, if loaded with the proper cooling liquid.

Stacky Botrus

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Conrad — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:48:14 EDT

I'd say radiator.

Conrad

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Tony C — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:47:56 EDT

First thing I thought of was a water block. But as either a water block or a radiator, how efficient can it be when it looks like it's made out of plastic? Or at least not slathered in paint to a thick, glossy sheen. And wouldn't a cube design be more efficient if it was in the center of the room?

Tony C

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

maven2k — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:19:51 EDT

I was going to say it looked like a brain from a crash test dummy.

maven2k

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Evan394 — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:15:01 EDT

It's a condenser for a de-humidifier. All that surface area would be great at taking the humid, dusky air out of your basement.

Oh or I guess it could be a heater like the article says. Damn. Do I get anything for guessing de-humidifier?

Evan394

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

moogoescow — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:14:14 EDT

I was gonna guess some kind of transmission tube amplifier...meh

moogoescow

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Chunkylover21 — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:10:33 EDT

i honestly knewi before the jump. im the better man mwahaha.

Chunkylover21

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

ripfire — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:06:08 EDT

@DeadWriter: Even the Matrix has a colon.

Don't you mean a semi-colon?

ripfire

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

baristabrawl — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:06:00 EDT

It's a refrigerator thing. Some kind of coolant thing...

The 2 tubes at the bottom are why I guess this.

baristabrawl

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

ripfire — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:05:14 EDT

@FredicvsMaximvs: ...or high-end audiophile equipment...

Now that's just crazy talk...

ripfire

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

DeadWriter — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:03:39 EDT

Even the Matrix has a colon.

DeadWriter

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

FredicvsMaximvs — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:01:46 EDT

@PigVenus: Teflon-lined elbows, my friend. Decreases the friction to the point where the pipes are almost superconducting.

FredicvsMaximvs

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

FredicvsMaximvs — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:00:06 EDT

@FredicvsMaximvs: ...or high-end audiophile equipment...

FredicvsMaximvs

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

PigVenus — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:59:47 EDT

@FredicvsMaximvs: Wouldn't all the 90 degree turns make it really hard to for the pumps to drive the water through the radiator? I know for plumbing, the rule it to always avoid 90 degree turns due to the increase of friction/flow resistance. I've even heard that eleven 90 degree turns can bring flow to a stop (for propane/natural gas lines). That looks like it has waaaaay more than 11 turns!

PigVenus

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

frogpelt — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:59:03 EDT

It looks like a square brain.

frogpelt

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

FredicvsMaximvs — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:57:54 EDT

@Curves: Hee hee! Sounds good, doesn't it? ;)

Maybe I should start working on a perpetual motion machine, or a career in high-falutin' art...

FredicvsMaximvs

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

fostina1 — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:55:32 EDT

um its obvious a cooling or heating system

fostina1

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

fosho4 — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:52:36 EDT

I guessed correctly!!!

fosho4

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Curves — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:40:10 EDT

@FredicvsMaximvs: Are you serious? That sounds so totally OUT there, that it might actually be true.

Curves

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

j4sk868 — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:34:13 EDT

Windos screen saver.

j4sk868

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

middy — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:33:47 EDT

@Sean Robertson: That's not backward. Cooling and heating are both heat exchange and both use radiators / heat sinks (same thing).

middy

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

dragonphyre — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:27:35 EDT

That would be so awesome for my watercooling rig. Hmm... It's been forever since I did some copper pipe soldering.

dragonphyre

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Bitstuff — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:24:31 EDT

*Jumps on cube*
*crunch*

Bitstuff

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

ltcmurray — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:23:25 EDT

beer wort chiller! Put the cube in ice water then pump your hot wort through = wort, ready to pitch.

ltcmurray

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

HD_Geek — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:20:43 EDT

Wrap this baby around an ionic breeze and you've got a late-nite-three-easy-payments winner.

HD_Geek

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Sean Robertson — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:16:13 EDT

I got halfway there on my first guess - got it exactly backward and though of cooling rather than heating. LOL

Sean Robertson

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

oizo01 — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:09:26 EDT

Imagine the mess if a pipe is broken with a hole just in the middle.
or
How can you empty it when you need to purge it?

oizo01

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Grifter — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:01:53 EDT

Here is an actual link to the product though...
[www.designboom.com]

Grifter

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Bachblast — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:00:20 EDT

@dqkennard: Nice. I like that one.

Bachblast

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Grifter — Thu, 08 May 2008 11:00:09 EDT

Come on people...

It's Sponge Bob's feces!

[adweek.blogs.com]

Grifter

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

reddingofish — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:59:24 EDT

I thought it could be one of those new memristor thingys.

reddingofish

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

HJTravels — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:58:28 EDT

I thought it was a new IUD?

HJTravels

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

dqkennard — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:58:00 EDT

My first guess was a musical instrument for the Blue Man Group.

dqkennard

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

ripfire — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:54:35 EDT

A new Apple product?

But seriously, I don't think it will be efficient heating since most of it will stay within the core, unless you have a fan blowing through it.

ripfire

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Nyle — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:54:14 EDT

My honest first guess was CPU water cooling system.

Nyle

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

logruszed — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:54:12 EDT

@Carbonfly:

A liquid or steam radiator and a liquid cooling system are essentially the same things, just using the effect for different purposes.

logruszed

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

vote Obama — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:52:08 EDT

any guesses that this thing is gonna leak.

I mean if there is a 99.99% chance one will - then maybe 1-2% chance a wood floor will be ruined.

better as something for occupational therapy.

vote Obama

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

bms — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:50:04 EDT

I didn't know that radiators were that much of an eyesore.

bms

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Bachblast — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:50:02 EDT

Imagine the amount of CPU cores you could put in side a cooling system like that. "and now the Intel decasexa (16 if I'm right) (dual octacore better?) core." Plug it in and watch your electric meter just Spin away!

Bachblast

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

MyPetFly — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:49:28 EDT

My digestive system. I swallowed a Rubik's Cube when I was a kid, and it still hasn't passed.

MyPetFly

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Raz — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:45:22 EDT

unless it's that well designed, surely there's an issue with placing a heater directly on a floor, especially a laminate wooden one (it wouldn't exactly be aimed at carpet folk now would it?)... think of the damage to the laminate unless the bottom stayed sufficiently cool/cold (which seems unlikely given the design)

Raz

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

dingus — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:41:01 EDT

This is how Gene Ray keeps his house warm.

dingus

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

windowi — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:36:17 EDT

its that old windows pipes screen saver gone horribly wrong!

windowi

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Valicious — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:35:32 EDT

I guessed.

Valicious

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Absent Blue — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:27:39 EDT

I want one, I don't care what it is.

But I don't have much use for a heater in San Antonio =\

Absent Blue

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Sora57 — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:26:55 EDT

Dr. Frankenstein's brain collection after going through the car compactor.

Sora57

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

FredicvsMaximvs — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:26:52 EDT

It's actually designed to confuse the water molecules with all the twisting and turning they have to do when they pass through the system. Confused water gives up its heat energy much more easily, and is therefore vastly more efficient than regular radiators.

Conversely, solar water heaters all have very straight tubes running through them. The water is much more focused and alert, and is able to grab the heat energy more readily.

Very interesting new technology, this psychological water energy transfer. Definitely something to look for in the near future.

FredicvsMaximvs

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

TOWken22 — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:26:50 EDT

@Curves: I guessed it was a radiator because of the hoses coming out of it, but I think I like this idea better.

"Where the hell is the bowl man?!"

TOWken22

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

wanago — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:25:54 EDT

@Carbonfly: That's what I thought as well

wanago

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Sora57 — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:25:09 EDT

First glance, I thought it was some kind of fluorescent light. Then I saw the two flex pipes and thought "fluid filled mood-cube."

Sora57

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

tamoko — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:24:24 EDT

It's so obvious.... it's an OctoCube!

tamoko

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy! — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:22:59 EDT

@Curves: Only for the most patient of bong-fiends.

"Where's the hit man???? WHERE'S THE HIT?!"

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

gimpols1908 — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:22:18 EDT

was going for the cooling system...

darn you #1

gimpols1908

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

cryptoknight — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:21:48 EDT

sexy time machine nass!

cryptoknight

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

FaiZ — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:20:32 EDT

woohoo, got my first guess right, nice!

FaiZ

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Bitstuff — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:20:23 EDT

A radiator, huh? It LOOKS like something that fits into your pocket and makes a small, yet satisfying cracking sound when stepped on!

Bitstuff

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Curves — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:19:15 EDT

PS-First glace I thought it was a bong.

Curves

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy! — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:18:58 EDT

I was gonna say Ramen of the future. Silly me.

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

P3nnst8r — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:18:41 EDT

I thought it was a bunch of neon tubing. Thing would glow like the sun when plugged in.

P3nnst8r

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Gann — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:18:31 EDT

Looks like its small enough to just dip in a bucket of cleaner.

Gann

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Curves — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:18:02 EDT

I am wondering how much of the heat from the inside coils of the cube would radiate out efficiently. The one on the wall looks nice, but seems sort of high on the wall to use the heat well. I think the flat model placed on the floor would be the most useful, but hard to walk on or clean, and may not be structurally stong enough. A good concept, but needs some refinement.

Curves

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Carbonfly — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:17:49 EDT

@faslane: Actually, your guess was exactly wrong. It's a heater.

But don't worry, I was thinking cooler also.

Carbonfly

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

madmathias — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:17:18 EDT

radiator? wasn't there some sort of design contest for this a while back?

madmathias

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

SQLGuru — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:16:42 EDT

It reminds me of those "do nothings" you get from vendors that are constructed out of quarter circle pieces.....I'm wondering if you could "unwind" it without disconnecting anything in order to clean it.....or you could just try one of these: [www.asseenontv.com]

SQLGuru

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

SigmundTheSeaMonster — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:16:35 EDT

Borg Radiators! On Sale! Call 800-555-1515! Limited Lucotus Edition!

SigmundTheSeaMonster

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

DustyButt — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:15:33 EDT

This is your brain on "Borg"

DustyButt

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

faslane — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:15:26 EDT

Cooler of somekind...My Guess Was Right.

na na na na na

Faslane

faslane

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

PhiCancri — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:14:33 EDT

A Borg's Small Intestine?

PhiCancri

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Carbonfly — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:14:17 EDT

Oh, I was gonna guess that it was some kind of new CPU cooler.

Carbonfly

Octocube: What the Heck is This?

Michai — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:13:39 EDT

A compact fluid cooling system?

Michai