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February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 |
March 30, 2004 new dragonfish permalink
posted by bev
 this is the first new dragonfish species discovered in more than a decade, named Eustomias jimcraddocki (named after Jim Craddock, a legend in the deep-sea fish biology field). they have small bioluminescent organs along their bellies that help camouflage it with the sunlight shining from above. the end of the protrusion from under their chin is also bioluminescent to attract prey. March 26, 2004 red iceberg permalink
posted by bev
 controversial artist Marco Evaristti's latest project is a red iceberg spray painted with the same dye used to tint meat, diluted with sea water. in a previous installation, he had goldfish in blenders so gallery visitors can just press the button and liquify mr. goldfish (which at least one person did). yes, sacrifice is a significant part of this guy's work to demonstrate that: "We all have a need to decorate Mother Nature because it belongs to all us," he said. March 25, 2004 translucent concrete permalink
posted by bev
 now, why didn't someone think of this before? it's brilliant, concrete can now be translucent. LiTraCon is the name of the material created by 27-year-old architect, Áron Losonczi, that makes concrete embedded with optical glass fibers running in a matrix while still retaining the strength of concrete. [ via ] however, the idea of translucent concrete is not that new. in 2001, Metropolis mag wrote about Bill Price's idea for translucent concrete using pieces of glass and a polymer binder. March 23, 2004 electric spot + sheepworks permalink
posted by bev
 Scott Draves (aka spot) recently put out a dvd that has been blogged around but mainly using Ernst Haeckel's works {don't get me wrong, i love E.H.'s work too, it's been my inspiration for years and years and i'm actually a bit bummed that everyone knows about it now (look what you've done, spot! ;-)}. however, my point is, THIS IS NOT DOING JUSTICE TO SPOT'S OWN WORK which includes the famed Electric Sheep. check out the animation clips and more frames. spot is a good friend/former roommate of mine, a helluva great guy, one of my favorite human beans in the whole wide world (as mentioned on friendster), and you should buy his dvd!! NOW! :-) March 22, 2004 technocow permalink
posted by bev
 Cowboard™ is a project that is in the traveling exhibition called Wonderful: Visions of the Near Future. "CowBoard™ is a prototype controller device that enables cows to access the Internet. The work addresses the notion that British cattle are undervalued, vulnerable and in desperate need of collective empowerment. Dedomenici suggests that the cow is the most technologically integrated of all farmyard animals because modern intensive agriculture, particularly dairy farming, has acted as a catalyst in the cow's evolutionary tolerance and understanding of technology." [ via ] March 19, 2004 iso-phone permalink
posted by bev
 talking on the phone while multitasking has never worked well for me. i'll either mis-interpret what the other person said or miss something. basically, you're not giving 100% when you talk on the phone most of the time. especially now with cell phones, people are walking somewhere while they're having a phone conversation. that's why i think this iso-phone is a pretty neat idea. plus, it looks cool, if not a bit eerie being suspended in water only by your head, which is completely wrapped in a shell. seems to work like a sensory deprivation tank. i wonder if it affects your conversation. it's great for working out a conflict with your partner since you'd be relaxed and fully concentrated on the conversation.[ via ] March 18, 2004 telekinetic game permalink
posted by bev
 to play the game Mind Balance, the player just has to wear this wireless headset, called Cerebus, to balance a tight-rope walker creature by just thinking. when the creature, named Mawg, starts falling to one side, the player has to concentrate on a flickering orb on the other side. [ via ] March 17, 2004 weird fields permalink
posted by bev
 each year, there's a Weird Fields contest for MIT physics students to come up with the best electromagnetism formula that will produce the most aesthetically pleasing image. this one by David Rush was one of the finalists. the video is very, ummmmmmm, mesmerizing. March 16, 2004 musical robot permalink
posted by bev
 Honda, Sony, and now Toyota are going to keep leapfrogging each other in their humanoid robot creation, eventually tackling all the features that make us human. the latest version from Toyota can play a trumpet. but can it jam with real musicians? visual memory permalink
posted by bev
 a smart bracelet to remind you, visually. "Looking into the landscape through an opening, this bracelet will capture visual images in the angles adapting to the distance from the viewers' faces through distance sensors installed in the device. Furthermore, users can browse through the visual images on its viewer and also display them just like a picture frame." if they can make this happen, i'd be very impressed. March 11, 2004 glowing butterfly permalink
posted by bev
 yet another animal to add to the growing list of GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein) victims is the butterfly. the scientists did this to track how the colors and patterns of this butterfly develop. i'm pretty sure they didn't do it for publicity. of course not! the bbc happened to be in the lab when they did it. uh huh. March 9, 2004 human washing machine permalink
posted by bev
 the japanese are so good to the elderly. nursing homes have human washing machines that feature peach body shampoo and bubbles. there will also be motorized, battery-operated pants to help the aged move around on their own. everything will be roboticized there....baths, pants, what else will be next? March 6, 2004 networked rings permalink
posted by bev
 Alison Lewis's networked/social rings are inspired by the lumitouch picture frames. touching one ring can send warmth to the other ring. [ via ] March 4, 2004 my pet fat permalink
posted by bev
 probably the cheapest (and healthiest) weight loss program is My Pet Fat. for $14.95, you can get a nice blob of body fat (replica) and a set of thoughts called "mind stretches". honestly, i actually think that's basically what it boils down to, the power of the mind. still, this may only work for either the really strong-minded or someone who can actually be motivated by seeing what their fat looks like. [ via ] March 3, 2004 DNA barcode permalink
posted by bev
 if our DNA can be represented as a barcode it could look like this, according to CATGee, a company that sells affordable kits for you to get your DNA profile as well as a graphical representation of it. then you can print it on t-shirts, mugs, cards that you can carry around. i saw this a few months ago and thought it was too novel but apparently, they are selling well. culturelab-uk reports about them. |
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