This article is more than 1 year old

LOHAN sponsor knocks up nifty iMac fish tank

Something to entertain while waiting for the FAA

It's a tip of the hat today to Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator (LOHAN) sponsor Lucidica for demonstrating an entertaining way to fill the time while waiting for Federal Aviation Administration approval for an audacious rocket-powered spaceplane launch.

There are basically two ways you can handle the FAA "long silence": go to the pub; or go to the pub and dream of a better world where fish swim unfettered in a couple of converted iMac cases.

According to Lucidica head honcho Thomas Jeffs, the iMac fish tank was the result of "a slow build up of ideas over drinks", meaning that it was conceived due to impressive volumes of alcohol, much like many Reg readers, we suspect.

The iMac case naturally lends itself to aquarium conversion, so it's no surprise to find various examples splashing around the web. However, we must applaud Lucidica's audacious twin-tank configuration connected with an acrylic tube:

The finished iMac tank prior to filling

Throw in some LED strip lights and you've got a veritable piscine entertainment centre:

The fish tank illuminated with white light

The tank illuminated with red light

The tank illuminated with purple light

And yes, that is indeed a Tardis, as seen here with Kylie the Siamese fighting fish:

Kylie the fighting fish and a Tardis inside the tank

Nicely done. We've asked Lucidica to turn their skills to putting together a Blofeld-style piranha pool, complete with bridge over which FAA bureacrats will be invited to walk:

Watch this space... ®


The Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator, sponsored by...

  • EXASOL logo
  • Pulse_Eight
  • SecQuest logo
  • Lucidica logo
  • NXT logo

...and with the invaluable support of...

  • Edge Research Laboratory logo
  • Space Graphic Solutions logo
  • 3D Robotics logo
  • 3T RPD logo
  • University of Southampton logo
  • Applied Vacuum Engineering logo
  • Escher Technologies
  • Flashpoint Fireworks logo
  • HAB Supplies logo
  • Rock 7 logo
  • Random Engineering logo

More from the lovely LOHAN:

  • You can find full LOHAN coverage right here.
  • If you're new to LOHAN, seek out our mission summary for enlightenment.
  • There are photos our our magnificent Vulture 2 spaceplane here, and detailed structural plans here.
  • For your further viewing pleasure, we have all our photographic material stored on Flickr.
  • Our LOHAN and Paper Aircraft Released Into Space (PARIS) videos live on YouTube.
  • We sometimes indulge in light consensual tweeting, as you can see here.

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like