Robot Pebbles

My daughter would argue that I have no idea what is and what is not cool.  I believe, however, that THIS is really freaking cool:

Researchers at MIT have hyptohesized a "smart sand," which will allow you to clone real 3D objects.  A key use case is replacement broken mechanical parts, creating a very interesting future direction for rapid prototyping.

Please read more here:

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/smart-robotic-sand-0402.html