"He sees! He hears! He talks! He walks! He feels!" This multitalented master of the sensory world is Alpha Rex, a robot created with Lego's Mindstorms NXT kit ($249.99). The user can build a variety of models (and invent a few) and program them to respond to their surroundings. This latest version of the kit boasts a 32-bit microprocessor, new sensors, an updated programming interface, Bluetooth capability, and a sleek look—plus 577 pieces, including more than 70 types of building elements.

Lego maniacs took earlier Mindstorms systems to a level of creative engineering that surpassed the company's wildest dreams. In developing NXT, Lego picked a team of Mindstorms black belts for design advice. Fan input will continue to shape the product, as enthusiasts are encouraged to devise their own hardware and software under Lego's "right to hack" policy. The price is steep, but Mindstorms NXT promises to deliver plenty of happy inventing.

Making Alpha Rex—installing software, assembling the bot, and creating basic programs—took a few hours. A light gauge, sound detector, range finder, and "touch sensor" (a button, that is) provide conditional input for your creation, while three motors allow for movement. Programming was straightforward with the intuitive drag-and-drop interface. The robot can be instructed to make sounds, show icons on an LCD display, and move in response to changes in light intensity, touch, or spoken commands.

Jennifer Barone

Book
The artist and the ideologist

That marine biologist Ernst Haeckel's drawings of sea squirts (below) resemble antique Christmas ornaments, or that his jellyfish look like the balusters of a Louis Sullivan staircase, is more than coincidental.

Haeckel's exquisite 19th-century science drawings—many depicting a selection of the hundreds of marine microorganisms he himself discovered—helped launch the Art Nouveau movement as well as the field of evolutionary biology. Visions of Nature: The Art and Science of Ernst Haeckel by Olaf Breidbach (Prestel, $100) is the third lavishly illustrated release about the scientist from Prestel, this one less about the beautiful illustrations and more about the scientist's life story.

Haeckel was so impressed with The Origin of Species upon its release that he strove to demonstrate that people could behold evolution by merely observing the physical traits of organisms. He can be seen as the first publicist for Darwin's ideas (sometimes tinkering with illustrations to prove his point). He was also the first to twist the theory into ideologies of racism and social Darwinism. His quip that "politics is applied biology" was used by the Nazis, as were his ideas about the positioning of races on the Darwinian template that he is crediting with inventing: the evolutionary tree.

Susan Kruglinski

Gizmo
Tank yourself

We live in a time of war and an age of paranoia. So it's no wonder (and perhaps something of a relief to some) that a personal armored tank, the JL421 Badonkadonk, can be purchased from your armchair via Amazon.com for a mere $19,999.95. Although this vehicle, created by NAO Design in Palo Alto, California, is no match for an M1 Abrams, it will withstand paintballs and other very-small-arms fire.

True militants may say the slight-but-mighty 'Donk is more about impressing your pals at the Burning Man festival than practicality. Why bother with a speedometer, seat belts, and the ability to drive in reverse when you can startle passersby with fireballs? Inside the vehicle's otherworldly rust-patinated steel shell—which resembles the Sail Barge from Return of the Jedi—are more than 35 unlabeled switches that control a bewildering array of features, mainly for enhanced nighttime travel. The flashiest of these is the 'Donk's pyrotechnic system, fueled by a 2.5-gallon propane tank. Six flames encircle the roof, each capable of throwing frighteningly loud, hot fireball bursts. If that's not enough, two roof-mounted 2.5-gallon rocket pods propel flames rearward and—with a well-timed gas-powered acceleration—add the illusion of forward thrust. For milder entertainment, 1,000-watt speakers blast music from an MP3 player, and a microprocessor runs light shows. Red underbody lighting gives the impression of hovering, and a Cyclops-like headlight leads the way.

The 'Donk is not street legal, but it is definitely drivable, given a little finesse and a lot of practice. A secret push-button ignition starts the six-horsepower gasoline engine, which can reportedly reach 40 miles per hour. The reverse steering (pull lever left, go right) is a bit tricky, as is cornering, since the wheels lack a differential. Nonetheless, the 'Donk handles bumpy hard-packed dirt well.

Alison Fromme