Created by artist Soomi Park, these LED eyelashed light up according to the way your head tilts. Just watch this cute video…
Soomi says:
LED Eyelash is a clever product that speaks to many Asian women’s desire for bigger eyes. It features an inclination sensor with mercury to turn on and/or off. The sensor can perceive the movements of the pupil in the eyes and eyelids. If someone wears it and moves her head, LED Eyelash will flicker following the movement.
See this? This is a representation of the ships, on ghost/skeleton crews and devoid of cargo, sitting off the coast of Singapore. They’re waiting for work. According to a few articles around, it’s been massing since sometime at the start of the year. The economy has decimated the shipping industry, leaving these slow monsters to wallow and wait.
The size of the idle fleet becomes more palpable when the ships’ lights are switched on after sunset. From the small fishing villages that dot the coastline, a seemingly endless blaze of light stretches from one end of the horizon to another. Standing in the darkness among the palm trees and bamboo huts, as calls to prayer ring out from mosques further inland, is a surreal and strangely disorientating experience. It makes you feel as if you are adrift on a dark sea, staring at a city of light.
2 cups of beer (you can use water if you want, but beer seems to hold it together a little bit better)
1/2 tsp. sugar
Corn syrup (optional - for making it spreadable and sticky)
Wash/tease as much of the dirt from the moss as you can. Throw it, the yoghurt, beer and sugar into a blender and blend until a lovely smooth consistency. if it looks like it’s going to drip when you paint it, add the corn syrup to the mix.
When finding somewhere to paint, look for something porous (most older or rough concrete walls are perfect). Once you’ve painted your design, its suggested that you come back every week or to spray it with water, to help the moss along.
Check out Anna Garforth (her site is here), a dedicated moss artist.
This piece is a life-size cast bronze bust with steel for the arms, crosspiece and tray. The back is finished pressboard and the mounting system is wood. The video display is a b+w security monitor and the video loop (that i created specially for this piece) is ran with a dvd player(included) that is hidden in the back.
For $7,179.00 USD (plus postage) it can be yours. I want it to be mine. I would suggest looking at the other stuff available in the store.
Okay, so they’re just bone growths. And they don’t flap. Nor can the cat fly. But look at it! Mutant kitty!
Irrational exuberance on my part aside, it seems no one knows how this cat, who was born normal, grew these bone ‘wings’. It’s just one of those awesome mutations that happen every now and then that makes so so happy that nature makes ‘mistakes’.
I, for one, welcome our new winged kitty overlords.
Unlike some of my esteemed peers on Grinding, I am not a scientist. At best, I am a shy-entist, eager to learn and listen, but untrained and slightly scared of speaking with science-types lest I show my soft, pink humanities belly.
But I think I might have found an antidote for it in a random find: Cafe Scientifique
Cafe Scientifique is a place where, for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology. Meetings have taken place in cafes, bars, restaurants and even theatres, but always outside a traditional academic context.
The first Cafes Scientifiques in the UK were held in Leeds in 1998. From there, cafes gradually spread across the country. Currently, some forty or so cafes meetregularly to hear scientists or writers on science talk about their work and discuss it with diverse audiences.
Cafe Scientifique is a forum for debating science issues, not a shop window for science. We are committed to promoting public engagement with science and to making science accountable.
I know for a fact there’s one near myself and m1k3y, so I might drag him along to see if we can scope out the action. There’s a handy map here if you want to find your own and debate the living shit out of people.
And here is an old Guardian article about the Dana Cafe in London, which gives a very media-sparkle version of what goes on in one of these cafes.
Every now and then you’ll have a conversation with someone that will actually teach you something new.
This past week’s education came in the form of Travel Sprouting.
Mr T Chia Pet…not so much what I had in mind, but it’s still rather funny
Now, growing sprouts for …”fun” or “profit”, is not a new idea, but what I learnt was that there are people who grow sprouts in their backpacks. They have a couple of ways of doing this:
Easy Sprout is 3 1/4 inches on the bottom and 4 1/2 inches on the top. It is 7 inches tall. It has a 1 liter/quart capacity. It is made of High Density Polyethylene (Fortiflex® T50-3600 HDP) - which is one of the few non-leaching plastics. The Easy Sprout is also Kosher - we kid you not.
It came to the inventor Gene Monson in a dream in the late 1970’s and he has spent much of his life since spreading the word.
Just dip and hang! Made from 100% pure hemp and flax fabric for long life and durability. Won’t mold, mildew or shrink. If you can dip a tea bag you can grow sprouts! So easy to use and convenient. Ready in only 3-5 days.
Grows all grains and beans, including: green pea, mung, adzuki, red pea, wheat, rye, soy, peanut, garbanzo, fenugreek, chia, shelled sunflower.
There seems to be a fair few different types of sproutables available for the on-the-go gardener, and all with seemingly quick turn around in growing time. I don’t, however, know how travel-friendly Mr T is. Which is a shame.
Some resources should you be enchanted by the idea of having your own portable salad bar:
While inserting metal/ink/fabric/plastics/moon rocks into our skin and dangly parts makes for a striking and individual look, this development into the world of wearable science caters for those who like things a bit more natural…
epiSkin jewelry extends biological identity by combining technology and design into a new decorative body surface. This project is an exploration into the decorative technological control over biology to create an artifact which is a hybrid of both. Cultured in a lab, this biological jewelry is made of epithelia cells which grow to create an artificial skin. The cells are grown into custom designed forms, controlled by the artist. The cells are incubated for a period of time, following which they are stained with a custom dye. The skin is then visibly sealed into a wearable object. The process in creating these pieces includes human tissue culturing as well as computer generated form on which the cells are cultured and then transplanted into adaptive jewelry. The jewelry is worn on the body, completing the relationship of biological cells mediated by technology.
Before I start, yes. Propranolol. That little geek-ganglion deep inside me just jiggled.
So. A team of Dutch scientists - Merel Kindt being their fearless leader, Marieke Soeter and Bram Vervliet her minions - have successfully weakened fear memories using the beta-blocker drug, Propranolol. And we’re not talking fleeting adrenaline-type halflife here, it’s basically permanent.
Before fear memories are stored in the long-term memory, there is a temporary labile phase. During this phase, protein synthesis takes place that ‘records’ the memories. The traditional idea was that the memory is established after this phase and can, therefore, no longer be altered. However, this protein synthesis also occurs when memories are retrieved from the memory and so there is once again a labile phase at that moment. The researchers managed to successfully intervene in this phase.
The researchers used 2 different pictures of spiders as the ‘fear’ triggers on human volunteers. One of these pictures was accompanied by a pain stimulus, which eventually triggered a startle reaction even when the pain stimulus wasn’t administered. The protein synthesis had been set up.
One day later the fear memory was reactivated, as a result of which the protein synthesis occurred again. Just before the reactivation, the human volunteers were administered the beta-blocker propranolol. On the third day it was found that the volunteers who had been administered propranolol no longer exhibited a fear response on seeing the spider, unlike the control group who had been administered a placebo. The group that had received propranolol but whose memory was not reactivated still exhibited a strong startle response.
Even when the pain stimulus was reapplied, there was still no fear, or anxiety, response. They had weakened the anxiety memory to such an extent that the test subjects could not find the neurolink between ’spider’ and ‘argh’.
It’s currently being looked at as an alternative form of cognitive behavioural therapy, but personally? I’d like it to hit the market as a way of inhibiting the fear of making mistakes.
Found over at NWO, which was highly difficult for me to read with my pissweak Dutch, so I went to Science Daily instead.
Accidentally lost your virginity to someone you didn’t like? Want to relive the slightly uncomfortable and awkward experience of snapping your hymen with someone else? Or perhaps, you lied in your mail order bride application and you need to revirginise yourself?
Beautifully packed in a wooden box, your new boxliner only costs $14.90USD for two and is made from natural albumin. It’s supposedly easy to use, soluble and expandable to body heat, is non toxic to humans and has no side effects, is no pain to use and has no allergic reactions. Which means it’s not really like your old virginity at all, because there were definitely side effects to the last virginity I had. But don’t let that stop you!
No more worry about losing your virginity. With this product, you can have your first night back anytime. Insert this artificial hymen into your vagina carefully. It will expand a little and make you feel tight. When your lover penetrate, it will ooze out a liquid that look like blood not too much but just the right amount. Add in a few moans and groans, you will pass through undetectable.
(I feel like I should be saying “Good news everyone!” in an old man’s voice.)
A chip, originally used in the US to treat Parkinson’s Disease, is being developed by Morten Kringelbach, a fellow at Oxford University, to stimulate the pleasure centres of the brain. He has “found the orbitofrontal cortex could be a ‘new stimulation target’ to help people with anhedonia - an inability to experience pleasure from such activities.” Kringelbach’s colleague Professor Aziz says there’s a good chance the chip will work, which just inspires confidence in what they’re doing. He goes on to elaborate…
‘A few years ago a scientist implanted such a device into the brain of a woman with a low sex drive and turned her into a very sexually active woman. She didn’t like the sudden change, so the wiring in her head was removed.’
But Professor Aziz said the present surgery needed to implant the wire in the brain was ‘intrusive and crude’ and would need about 10 years worth of development.
‘When the technology is improved, we can use deep brain stimulation in many new areas. It will be more subtle, with more control over the power so you may be able to turn the chip on and off when needed.’
Which makes me wonder if the woman mentioned was just walking around, orgasming like crazy all day…
Here at Pictures For Sad Children, they talk of many things…afterlife and hallicinations. Probably carpenters and kings too. But this especially made me smile. Not in the nice way.
And just so we’re clear, it’s a ghost doing all the talking. Not a pickle.
By attaching a millimeter-sized camera robot to a tether, scientists have designed a way to allow individuals with non-medical backgrounds to perform minimally invasive surgery in almost any location. Unlike room-size and expensive surgical robots, mini in vivo robots are inexpensive and mobile enough to support emergency surgeries almost anywhere, from the battlefield to outer space.
Now if that first paragraph didn’t have you pissing yourself with excitement, well…obviously you have better metaphorical bladder control than I do.
Researchers from the University of Nebraska tested these little robots with the help of 3 astronauts and a surgeon, the ‘inmates’ of a long-term underwater training facility called the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO), located 20 meters underwater off the coast of Key Largo, Florida.
The inmates were trained in the basic ideas of bowel inspection and ’stretch-and-dissect’ and also performed an appendectomy without any prior instruction. (Un)fortunately, they did these ops on an adominal cavity simulator, not a real person. But like I always say, the possibility is there.
The crew used two robots: one was 20 mm in diameter and 110 mm in length, and the other was 15 mm in diameter and 60 mm in length. Both robots were equipped with a CMOS camera and inserted into the abdominal cavity (which measures 20 x 15 x 8 cm when artificially inflated) through a trocar port. Controlling the robots with either a joystick or a switch, the crew members could see various angles and adjust the focus of the images, receiving feedback at 30 frames per second.
The crew members also performed the same surgeries using a standard laparoscope – a tube that’s inserted into the body in which a camera can be used. The results showed that the crew members achieved about equal levels of accuracy with both systems, but the camera robots enabled the crew members to work significantly faster at all three surgeries. Performing surgeries quicker could minimize patient trauma and the risk of infection.
Another notable result was that the crew members were able to successfully perform the appendectomy, even though they had not been trained on that procedure.
Future hopes for the mini in vivo robot include telecontrol and autonomy, not to mention possible hacks. So just in case M1k3y’s flying ambulance doesn’t get to you fast enough, this could possibly keep you together long enough for said ambucopter to get to you.
Oh fine. I’ve come back to you with more lies. No flying cars. Yet.
But good news, we’re getting a little step closer to being able to own our own flying something, say the good people at io9.com:
ESA scientists are currently testing intermetallic materials, combinations of metal similar to alloys in which two or more metals are diffused together on a molecular level. Titanium aluminide is an intermetal that could cut the weight of fan blades in jet engines by half. Unfortunately, titanium aluminide tends to fail under high temperatures.
The idea is to use the metals, like titanium aluminide, and ’sprinkle’ them with elements, like tantalum, nickle and niobium, to strengthen them. According to ESA project leader Dr David Jarvis, these new metal combinations would be more advanced than traditional alloys, if only they could figure out how to overcome the weaknesses. Here’s the BBC article, that goes into much more detail.
I know, I know, no mention of flying cars. But if this kind of science is used for government/private agency work, it follows that the tech will be gobbled up and used by corporate/commercial entities, making them homogenised and ready to use for all kinds of every day purposes…like getting those pesky automobiles to get off the ground. Or making us jetpacks.
We just need to steer them in the right direction…
As I type this, it’s 2 hours, 24 minutes and 23 seconds until CERN (possibly) destroys the universe.
Back on March 30, Pseudoscience posted about how Luis Sancho and Walter Wagner wanted to stop CERN from turning on their Large Hadron Collider.
The court case got things paused, but CERN counteracted it by holding open days to prove how safe the equipment is. No one died and there haven’t been any updates. Good news is, CERN still hope to start their LHC very soon. Maybe not the exact time that my sadly unreliable countdown clock predicts:
The LHC is in the final stages of construction, and commissioning, with some sections already being cooled down to their final operating temperature of ~2K. The first beams are due for injection mid June 2008 with the first collisions planned to take place 2 months later.
But I thought it was worth bringing it up again and supplying a couple of videos of what they’re planning on doing for the avid DIY Black Holer. Episode One, Two and a few other tidbits of edutainment can be watched here
Whoops, 2 hours 17 minutes and 03 seconds. I took too long typing this up!
A wonderous creation from Nemo Gould, “artist of post-consumer waste, liege, and robot supreme commander” (so says Engadget) is all you could ever want in a minion and more.
Created from Vintage wooden radio cabinet, street lamp poles, vacuum cleaner parts, an industrial food processor, antlers, chair legs, dining room table top, floor polisher, miscellaneous found pieces of hardware and scrap metal, motors and lights this delightful 8 foot high robot friend Big Man is controlled from within by Little Man. The artist describes the piece as an exploration of an ‘”inner world” feeling’ brought on by an earlier piece, a split personality of tough and vulnerable.
I don’t know whether to be in love with the cuteness of Little Man or the chaos-making a Big Man could do. After watching this video, I choose both. I also kinda wish we could put Nemo Gould and the sexual ingenuity of this creepy guy together and make me a secret destructive robot lover.
Straight outta Japan is this delicious development in designer dishware.
Made from hardtack - once the torture device rations of choice on the high seas - a combination of water, flour and salt, these plates, bowls and chopsticks are meant to replace the disposable ones used in the ORTO CAFE.
Created by designer Nobuhiko Arikawa of Rice-Design these bowls are able to stay usable for months as long as they’re kept relatively dry.
Not the greatest design feature in a restaurant, but they are fully biodegradable and are an optional snack for later, if you can handle the taste.
While rather backwards in technology, the idea that we can get rid of the the future-mounds of disposable cutlery, plates, bowls etc is good no matter how much you may sneer at the idea of eating noodles off a glorified biscuit. The more world we have left the conquer…eh?
Here is the original article at Dezeen Design Blog. The designer himself comments at the bottom.
