Here are some more gadgets on display at AAAS 2009 in Chicago.

Featured below is the “Tactile,” an advanced structure set, two-slit interference and the hand crank Van de Graff generator.

The “Tactile” is about the size of a dinner table and maps the geological path of rainwater drainage in a given region. Notice how easily it changes focus and depth.

Pasco’s advanced structure set allows for stunningly accurate engineering simulation. Unlike most “toys,” the parts do not snap together but are bolted. This allows for more accuracy and durability of the simulation. The only difference between the structure featured below and a real bridge, the representative said, was that the model wasn’t steel.

Most of the gadgets featured in both posts are for sale.

You’re sadly mistaken if you think AAAS is just a conference full of esoteric lectures and bar room hobnobbing.

Tucked away in the basement of the Hyatt Regency this year was some of the world’s brightest showing off their newest gizmos and gadgets.

Below are inventions used to catch illegal immigrants, measure the CO2 of a given point on earth and detect charges. There’s also a g-force measuring device used as the basis for Nintendo Wii remotes.

Enjoy.

— Andy Balaskovitz