I think we all look forward to the day Mr Incredible, and the whole Incredible family team up with the Fantastic Four.
Category: installation / sculpture
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Space Mobile!
Shortly after Maximilian was born, I decided that he should get a mobile to place over his crib. I knew what theme I wanted. I wanted a space mobile. I looked all over, but couldn’t find any in stores, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to spend 90 bucks on one from Etsy, so I decided to make one myself. Normally, these things are made out felt, but not having a sewing machine, decided make Maximilian’s out of paper.
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Rat as Jellyfish
Janna Narwoth, advised by Kit Parker at Harvard, created a jellyfish mimic from the cardiac muscle cells of a rat. (Video after the jump.) Copying the structure of Moon Jellies, the cardiac muscle cells were grown so that they were aligned into ring shape on a sheet of polydimethylsiloxane. When electricity is applied, the muscle cells contract, deforming the ring into a bell shape. When the electricity us removed, the cells relax, and the natural elastic properties of the substrate reflatten the disk. Examining the fluid dynamics, the mock jelly not only propels itself, but also creates a counter vortex that drives particles up and into the center of the bell, just like real jellyfish. The researchers hope to apply this technology as a tested for examining the effectiveness of certain cardiac drugs.
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A Tool to Deceive and Slaughter
Caleb Larsen‘s “A Tool to Deceive and Slaughter,” sells itself on eBay every week. Every ten minutes, the microcontroller inside the the acrylic box wakes up and checks connects to a server that then checks eBay for an active auction. If none exists, then the server creates one. Each owner agrees to keep the work connected to the Internet at all times, and to set the starting price at “market expectations.”
Current price: $7500.Larsen says his work represents the temporary nature of ownership, and draws form Robert Morris’s “Box With the Sound of Its Own Making”, a wooden box that contains an audio recording of the carpentry work done to construct the box, and Jean Baudrillard’s ideas on art auctions
via
WiREDWired UK -
Bento Curry Bathers
Categories: installation / sculpture -
NASA’s 3D Models
Today I learned that NASA makes available for download 3d models of various spacecraft and ancillary equipment. Want a LEM? They got that. Want a a space shuttle? They have five. Vehicle Assembly Building? Launch Gantry? Crawler? Got it. Got it. Got it. Want an astronaut? Sure thing. Don’t want the whole thing? No problem.
It’s pretty cool that NASA is making these available. I guess the original intention was for these models to be used for things like XPlanet or Celestia, but I discovered these through people are using these to print 3D models.
3D printing is interesting, but it seems like most things that people are printing are just toys. Don’t get me wrong, part of me kind of likes the idea of printing toys for Maximilian, but it seems a hard to justify spending $1800 on a toy maker.
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Stone Tree
Categories: installation / sculpture
Jordan Mason and Eric Landman built this tree into a wall for Island Lake Conservation Area in Orangeville, Ontario.
I particularly like how the moss on the round fieldstones added to the illusion of leaves. It seems like walled yards are pretty common in the SF Bay. If I had a wall, it would be nice to have something like this. It’s much better than a blank wall, and it probably would take less maintenance than a painted mural.
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Cryoscope
The Cryoscope by Robb Godshaw is a solid aluminum connected to a peltier, which is in controlled by a computer. The cube heated and cooled to indicate the temperature forecasted tomorrow. The cube doesn’t directly give the predicted temperature, since at room temperature, the metal cube is perceived as cold. Instead, a 73°F outside temperature is mapped to 85°F on the cube, since that temperature was perceived as neutral.
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Drinking Water Running Through the Streets
Luzinterruptus is at again, this time putting glowing jars around water fountains throughout Madrid. Agua Potable Corriendo por las Calles (Drinking Water Running Through the Streets) is their protest to fact in last 30 years more than half of the public water fountains in Madrid have either been removed, disconnected, or allowed to fall into disrepair. 200 glass bottles were strung together and placed at four of the cities dilapidated water fountains in such a way to mimic water.
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Kai Table
Designed by Naoki Hirakoso and Takamitsu Kitahara, the Kai Table has multiple internal compartments, but with the twist that each of them takes the form of a hidden compartment as seen on other furniture.
I’ve always been a sucker for hidden compartments, and although the location of the compartments are quite obvious given the size of the piece, it still presses all the right buttons for me.
