The quest to build accurate replicas of the time-space modifier gun used in Valve's Portal video games has recently died-down a little.
This is due to two main factors. Firstly, you can now buy Portal guns in Forbidden Planet.
Secondly, any attempt to actually build a working model comes unstuck by the fact that such a thing is clearly impossible.
Despite that, one hacker has managed to take us a little bit closer to, if not a real Portal gun, a much cooler replica.
Caleb Kraft reports over at HackADay.com that he recently modified a Portal gun with magnets so that it would levitate a floating cube in mid air - just as in the game.
Using a floating globe toy, wherein the (replica...) Earth is suspended by powerful magnets, he built a "companion cube" and fitted the housing to the gun.
The result is a Portal gun which does actually levitate cubes - as in the game. Check out the full report here.
No, it doesn't create holes in space. No, you can't even hold the gun when it's levitating the cube. But it's still absolutely wonderful.