Not-the-Usual Economic Indicators
In addition to the consumer confidence index, stock market charts and industrial input/output numbers, there are other, less obvious signs hinting at the future of the economy. According to Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, you can glean economic guidance (or a good chuckle) from these unexpected economic indicators:

• Crowded Cinemas — Box-office sales increased in the last five recessions and, in the first quarter of 2009, jumped 9 percent from last year. Do fewer people in a movie theater equal better times or merely a season of bad flicks?
• Romance Novel Sales — Uplifting stories and low prices make these an inexpensive form of entertainment, and sales of these boom during tough times. Will Fabio's popularity fade when the economy starts looking up?
• Dry Cleaning Pick-ups — People visit dry cleaners less, and when they do, they delay picking up their clothes to avoid the bills. Will the International Drycleaning and Laundry Institute's 5,000 members start cleaning up again or will the recession leave them high and dry?

Do you notice things in the everyday that help you assess the economy? Share in the comments section. For more "quirky indicators," go HERE.

Honey, I Shrunk the... Quarter
Hackerbot labs built a device that uses electromagnetic forming to shrink quarters down to the size of a dime.

The folks at Hackerbot labs create a magnetic field by passing current through a coil of wire. The coin's magnetic field and the coil's magnetic field repel each other, creating a force powerful enough to overcome the strength of the metal. This causes the coil to expand out and explode and the coin pushed in and shrunk. The electromagnetic pulse shrinks the quarter in about 30 microseconds.

Intellectual Ventures captured the process with a high-speed camera:

Check out Intellectual Ventures' blog second video for the coin-shrinking process in slow motion.

Spot the Satellite
For those who live in North America and Europe, now through July is prime time for satellite spotting. There are several hundred man-made satellites that are large enough to be spotted by the unaided eye, Space.com says. Due to Earth's positioning in the summer, low-Earth-orbit satellites 100-400 miles above the Earth's surface can remain illuminated by the sun throughout the night, making them easier to see.

The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest and brightest of these satellites and can appear to move as fast as a jet airliner. It's so bright that astrophotographer Ralf Vandervergh was able to capture it using a digital camera (last item). The ISS circles the earth every 90 minutes so you can see it several times a night.

For schedules of when particular satellites will be passing by your area, check out Chris Peat's Heavens Above, Science@NASA's J-Pass, NASA's SkyWatch and Spaceweather.com.

Robot Furniture Eats Pests
English designer James Auger created domestic robots that are powered by "eating" pests. Along with telling time or lighting a room, these robotic furniture process pests through their internal microbial fuel cell. The flesh-eating robotic furniture set includes:

• Flypaper robotic clock;
• Mouse-eating coffee table;
• Fly-stealing robot; and
• Carnivorous lampshade.

For now, the robots rely on mains power, but Auger believes they could become truly self-sufficient, New Scientist says. "If the system fails, the grid goes down and all humans die, these robots could go on living so long as the flies don't go with us," Auger muses. (Image credit: Auger-Loizeau via New Scientist)

Defy Gravity Like a "Smooth Criminal"
The late pop icon Michael Jackson was world-renowned for, among other things, his superb dance moves — most notably those that created optical illusions like the moonwalk and the gravity-defying forward lean exhibited in his "Smooth Criminal" music video.

While the moonwalk was executed strictly by the sometimes-controversial star's freakishly amazing dance skills, the forward lean needed the help of specially designed shoes.

Co-invented by Jackson, the heel of the shoe featured a V-shaped slot that hitched on to a peg on the floor. According to patent No. 5255452 documents, the shoes anchored dancers' feet on to the floor, allowing them to lean forward beyond their center of gravity and blow everyone's minds.

The shoes in action (See 7:16):

Toodles!