Research facilites

Deputydog has a series of unbelievably cool posts on unbelievably cool research facilites here, here and here.

But surely there's something missing from this glamorous lineup of research facilities?... A wonderful collection of these extraordinary things can be found at Curious Expeditions:

I have, I think, gone off books. Which is unfortunate. But looking at libraries in the same light as these strange devices is starting to claw back my interest...