21 year old Atheist, Systems theory junkie, INTP, Transhumanist, and feminist.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
‘Vacuum Tube’ processor 12x faster than silicone based transistors.
Vacuum tubes were used in computers until around 50 years ago, when transistors were found to be able to be mass produced onto silicon more cheaply and effectively. Now vacuum tube techniques have been used again to create a device able to operate at up to 0.46 terahertz - more than 12 times faster than the latest Ivy Bridge range of processors from Intel which operate up to 3.8Ghz.
…it is created by etching a tiny cavity in phosphorous-doped silicon. The cavity is bordered by three electrodes: a source, a gate, and a drain. The source and drain are separated by just 150 nanometers, while the gate sits on top. Electrons are emitted from the source thanks to a voltage applied across it and the drain, while the gate controls the electron flow across the cavity.
Because the device is so small in size, the team found they didn’t need a true vacuum to make it work, as the risk of electrons colliding with any atoms in the air is so low at the nanometre scale. This means they would be more suited to cheaper mass production.
This work is of particular interest to NASA and other space agencies, as traditional computers need to be radiation-proofed before leaving Earth’s atmosphere - this wouldn’t be a problem for the new device, potentially saving them time and money by enabling space-ready computers.
(Source: news.sciencemag.org)
TED Fellow Lucy McRae is a body architect — she imagines ways to merge biology and technology in our own bodies. In this visually stunning talk, she shows her work, from clothes that recreate the body’s insides for a music video with pop-star Robyn, to a pill that, when swallowed, lets you sweat perfume. Trained as a classical ballerina and architect, Lucy McRae is fascinated by the human body, and how it can be shaped by technology. (via Lucy McRae: How can technology transform the human body? | Video on TED.com)
3D print an entire room
A collaborative project to build the world first movable pavilion that can 3D-print entire rooms of plastics. The KamerMaker should be able print small interiors, measuring up to 2.4 meters x 3m x 3m.(via)
MIT PhD candidate Dave Smith, along with a team of mechanical engineers and nano-technologists at the Varanasi Research Group, have created LiquiGlide. From Co.EXIST:
“LiquiGlide is a super slippery coating made up of nontoxic materials that can be applied to all sorts of food packaging—though ketchup and mayonnaise bottles might just be the substance’s first targets. Condiments may sound like a narrow focus for a group of MIT engineers, but not when you consider the impact it could have on food waste and the packaging industry. ‘It’s funny: Everyone is always like, ‘Why bottles? What’s the big deal?’ But then you tell them the market for bottles—just the sauces alone is a $17 billion market,’ Smith says. ‘And if all those bottles had our coating, we estimate that we could save about one million tons of food from being thrown out every year.’”
I would love to see its impact on food and dining. However, I wonder how eco-friendly the chemicals in LiquiGlide are.
Mae Jemison fulfilled a childhood dream to travel to space. Now she wants to take humanity to the stars. Today, Mae Jemison may be best known as the first black female astronaut to travel to space, but someday she could be known for something much more monumental. That’s because she is now at the helm of what could well be the most audacious project ever imagined: a Pentagon-funded effort meant to lead within 100 years to a spaceship that will take humans to the stars. The 100-Year Starship, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), isn’t about building the Starship Enterprise, at least not yet. Rather, it’s about creating a nonprofit organization that can sustain efforts over the next century to enable interstellar travel. The Dorothy Jemison Foundation, headed by Mae Jemison, was selected earlier this year to lead the 100-Year Starship. This week the foundation announced its plans for shooting for the stars. First on the agenda is a gathering of scientists and the public in Houston, Texas, to discuss ways to advance interstellar travel. (via BBC - Future - Science & Environment - 100-Year Starship: Mae Jemison reaches for the stars)
Shadow QR Code
Promotional physical installation casts QR Code at specific time of day to encourage business during downtime. From Springwise:
Periodic lulls in business are a fact of life for most retailers, and we’ve already seen solutions including daily deals that are valid only during those quiet times. Recently, however, we came across a concept that takes such efforts even further. Specifically, Korean Emart recently placed 3D QR code sculptures throughout the city of Seoul that could only be scanned between noon and 1 pm each day — consumers who succeeded were rewarded with discounts at the store during those quiet shopping hours.
Dubbed “Sunny Sale,” Emart’s effort involved setting up a series of what it calls “shadow” QR codes that depend on peak sunlight for proper viewing and were scannable only between 12 and 1 pm each day. Successfully scanning a code took consumers to a dedicated home page with special offers including a coupon worth USD 12. Purchases could then be made via smartphone for delivery direct to the consumer’s door.
More info (and cheesy video) can be found at Springwise here
de/Rastra by Kyle Evans
Old television turned into real-time oscillographic synthesizer, reminiscent of Nam June Paik:
The de/Rastra oscillographic synthesizer is a real-time audio/video instrument and computer-interfacing device that allows a performer to generate visualizations intrinsic to cathode ray tube technology while simultaneously creating the acoustic analog of the displayed imagery. By way of building, bending and mutilating, de/Rastra shows the effects of altering the anatomical makeup of a CRT television, revealing the intrinsically hidden potentials of the technology through the repurposing and restructuring of its own ability. Through hacking and exploiting the capabilities intrinsic to all CRT devices, the technology becomes repurposed as a performative interface, breaking down the device’s ‘consumption only’ nature. The performer is given control over the technology by removing it from the intended application and forcing it into an active state through a combination of physical and mental effort. The de/Rastra oscillographic synthesizer is an open source project and will eventually be accompanied by tutorials on methods of CRT hacking.
What worries him most is that we humans haven’t yet evolved to be as wary of algorithms as we are of used car salesmen.
How The $25 Computer Could Change The Way We Learn, Work & Play - PSFK
The Raspberry Pi is a very basic looking micro-board that hides a sophisticated computer – the UK developers behind the computer expect other companies, hackers and DIYers to add their own peripherals and even casing. What’s buzzing the technology scene is the price. At $25 plus shipping, the inventors believe that the Raspberry Pi can revolutionize education – but they don’t expect its impact to just stop there. PSFK spoke to the Executive Director of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, Eben Upton, about what he and his team had created and the changes it might help create.
OK. The dumb question: Why does your computer look like one of those cards you stick in the back of a desktop computer? It’s not quite as cute as an iPad. Where’s the shell?
We’re expecting community members to design (and sell) their own shells for the device. In fact, both our distribution partners (element14/Premier Farnell and RS Components) will be marketing their own shells too.
Making Of A Hologram: Dita Von Teese hologram by Musion for Christian Louboutin at the Design Museum
Dezeen Magazine have published an exclusive piece which includes a very insightful video short on how a hologram installation / performance is put together. In this case, it is an installation featuring Dita Von Teese which is part of an exhibition of work by shoe designer Christian Louboutin for London’s Design Museum.
Also noteworthy, this is the next high-profile project from Musion, the holographics company that was responsible for the infamous Tupac Shakur at Coachella last month …
Burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese morphs into a stiletto shoe every fifteen minutes in a holographic performance that was created by London company Musion for the Design Museum‘s exhibition on iconic shoe designer Christian Louboutin.
This film shows the making of the hologram, projected onto a stage in the main exhibition room that’s shaped like an upside-down shoe.
The video itself can only be viewed on the Dezeen website, which also features photographs and information about the show, all of which can be found here.
mmmmm science… ;)
