It’s one of the six simple machines, and quite definitely the most important invention of all time (because c’mon, fire so doesn’t count). It’s the wheel. And for this week’s Shooting Challenge, let’s pay it a worthy tribute.

To most of us, wheels seem pretty intuitive. You've probably known from an early age, for example, that circular or rounded things roll more easily than boxy or angular things. Knowing this, it's hard to imagine that our earliest ancestors did not come to similar realizations on their own — and yet, the first wheels…

Thankfully someone had the common sense to glue a wheel from a rolling office chair to our 12-year-old African tortoise-friend's missing leg, instead of going down the popular route of making tortoise soup out of him.

Researchers from Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey may have the solution to one of driving's most annoying mistakes —missed turns.

If you ever got caught with a flat—how about that—you know how much it sucks to jack up your car, especially in the middle of a storm, which is when these things usually happen.

We know, this pitch of a folding bike with collapsing wheels sounds a tad precarious, but this sequence showing how the wheels fold up is pretty darn convincing:

What is this? A clock? Steering wheel? The final, gruesome bout of sponsorship an F1 driver is subjected to before he dies? We're so confused and oh so cold. [Yab Design via Nerd Approved]

I'm in Singapore right now and had every intention to ride the Flyer, the world's largest Ferris Wheel. But after it left 173 people were stranded for six hours last night, I'm... hesitant.

The Freewheeler speaker features a frequency response of 52 - 21,000 Hz, a 112dB output, a built-in FM receiver, a battery life of 8 hours and a wireless range of 656 feet- but I'm having trouble figuring out what makes it worth $21,000. Is it the fact that it is roughly the size of a Mazda Miata tire (only thicker)…

What more can we ask for? This September, arcade cabinet manufacturer Dream Arcades will be releasing a sit-down unit that's pretty much every childhood and adult fantasy we've had rolled into one. Built upon a "high-end gaming PC" platform, the Octane 120 displays games through a 10-foot screen with its built-in…

The M.A.D. Gamepad is a mini USB gamepad that features an even minier steering wheel. We're not sure it's the most practical, ergonomic gamepad we've ever seen, but we sure admire the effort and, we'll be honest, the ludicrousness. Here's what just the wheel looks like:

Here's a old but good idea in honor of Fuzzywuzzymodo: power a toy car by hamster. The Flintstones would approve. I personally think its a better use of hamster power to rig a traditional gerbil wheel with a generator capable of charging a battery which in turn can charge a USB device. I mean, how else are the vermin…

It's not every day that an actual automaker creates a steering wheel for console gaming, so this Porsche 911 setup is especially awesome. It's a "fully licensed, to-spec reproduction," which means the wheel, the 6+1 gear sticks, and the wireless pedals are all as authentic as you're going to get in your living room.…

This is the Roller-Walker, a four-legged robot which can either walk conventionally or skate on retractable wheels. At the end of each leg there is a wheel which can turn 90 degrees to act as a foot. On rough surfaces the robot walks, but if it comes across a smoother surface then it swings out its wheels and skates…

Similar to the way that the power cables on the original Xbox had problems with possibly catching on fire, the Xbox 360 Racing Wheel can possibly cause your wheel to "overheat" and "release smoke." Thanks to a couple instances of this happening, Microsoft is instituting a program where you can get an AC adapter…