Living Sculptures - Non-Newtonian Fluid

I have been traipsing through the depths of the internet recently and have found some very interesting things! This is the first in a series of posts, of things that are just amazing, well i think so any way, its all about music, science, art and everything!

This is Non-Newtonian Fluid on a Speaker Cone, basically thick sloppy stuff that you play sound through and it makes weird evolving sculptures. Its really interesting and I could watch this type of thing all day!



And here is a Canon advert of something similar

The RISD Moonbuggy

For quite a while at the hub, I and a few others have had what could be called, because it is, a D.I.Y. bike obsession. Call it what you will this brilliant group entered NASA’s Great Moonbuggy Race, and won. The Rhode Island School of Design or RISD are these aforementioned winners. Please enjoy their exploits.

The web site dedicated to this project among others is www.bryancloyd.com , the statement on the site states "NASA’s Great Moonbuggy Race, which is held annually at the Marshall Space Flight Center, in Huntsville, Alabama, challenges students to design, build and race lightweight, human-powered vehicles that can whiz across a simulation of a rugged lunar landscape. Teams are judged by how quickly and easily their vehicles negotiate the twisting curves, treacherous gravel pits and other obstacles of a half-mile course riddled with some of the same challenges faced by Apollo-era astronauts in their lunar rovers. Last year RISD was the first design school to ever enter the competition. RISD "took home third place in their first race appearance, despite having no engineers on their team (all team members are Industrial Design students)," as NASA put it in their press release." to read more and somehead cam footage from the race catch the jump.

Brainwave Controllers

SH found these whilst having an amble through the recesses of the internet the other day.

I reckon they could step beyond Kinect and Wii by making the brain the controller rather than the body.

More importantly they are also being developed so that paralysed patients are able to control sensors, computers and the like without having to commit to complex surgery inside the skull.

Now there is a realistic possibility of the technology becoming more commonplace allowing people with reduced mobility and those with muscular conditions to improve their quality of life.

Aeroplane Concepts

The following are a number of aeroplane concepts developed by companies such as Eads, Aerion and Airbus. These concepts could be the future of long distance travelling - though will they match the luxury of Concord?

Old Skool Games Meet Nu Skool Games

Think of a computer game where the main playthings are boxes, and platforms, a game were you can jump into a hole and magically reappear at another part of the level almost instentaneously. Think you know what game i'm talking about, eh? That's right, 1985s Super Mario Bros!

What? You weren't thinking of Super Mario Bros? You were thinking of Portal? Well yeah, that's a good game too but it doesn't have a fat hairy italian in it though, but it does have a really cool gun. *sigh* if only there was some way we could combine the two...

Free Canon Training Days

What's this is hear you say Free Canon training days, what an unlikely event, well you'd be wrong there. Read Canon's website blurb below and click the link at the end of the article to register for some free camera training and a potentially good DVD.

Whether you are experienced in digital photography or taking the first steps on your EOS adventure, it has never been easier to take your photography to the next level with the latest promotion from Canon.


Capture stunning images and transform them into wall-worthy photographs with this exclusive offer in conjunction with Experience Seminars.

As a forewarning this is a UK offer and there may be US etc offers depending on your location and the generosity of the company, check out the Canon Online Offer here.

Homemade Atomic Reactor

Maybe it's because I have a hangover that feels like a bear is scooping out my brains and aliens are doing intrusive tests on what remains of me but this amuses me somewhat.

A Swedish man, Richard Handl has attempted to create his own nuclear reactor in his own home. He acquired the materials on the internet and said he had hoped he might split an atom. (See one of the images he posted on the web of his efforts below)

The authorities got onto his fiendish plot when he contacted the Swedish radiation authority to check if what he was doing was legal. What is clear is that the police have stopped a supervillain in the making. Holy Macceroni, maybe the police raid was accompanied by some crazy graphics of words like BAM!!! WHAM!!!! SMACK!!!! TWOOOH!!!

We will never know but the whole caper might just as well have involved Roger Moore aggressively seducing the nearest lady whilst making 1970's innuendo to a bald apparently headless man who strokes his bejewlled pussy...cat.

Niklas Roy: My Little Piece of Privacy

 

Niklas' workshop is located in an old storefront with a big window facing towards the street. In an attempt to create more privacy inside, Niklas decided to install a small but smart curtain.

Bill Stone : Deep Sea Exploration, Autonomous Robots & Lunar Mining

Bill Stone on Deep Sea Exploration, autonomous robots and lunar mining. This really is what we need to be doing. Although at this point NASA had not just stopped going to space so forgive some naivety on his part, its just these modern times. Enjoy.

Ekranoplans & The Caspian Sea Monster

Ground effect vehicles were developed initially in Scandinavia. Using "the ground effect", a physical anomaly, to induce low altitude flight. All of this was done in a relatively fuel efficient manner, certainly comparably against an aeroplane. The effect is caused by vortices of air under the wing of an aircraft which creates almost a cushion for the vehicle to ride along on. Vehicles utilising this phenomenon are referred to as ground effect vehicles.

The soviets developed these machines as troop transports and even in the case of the Lun class Ekranoplan, weapons platforms.



For more images and videos of these marvellous machines read more after the jump.

The Hasselblad H4D-200MS

I recently had the pleasure of getting to play with a H4D-200MS. This camera is just unreal the quality and excellence of the hasselblad range is obvious however the ease of uses and just captureable detail is simply stunning. If you dont know 200 megapixels, 200, its just crazy. This camera is actually a 50MP body with MS (multishot) capability, recording 1, 4 (High Detail 50mp) or 6 shot (200mp) images. For more info or details on the H4D-200MS see Hasselblad's website. Please enjoy these images from the camera, for more images and some info from the Hasselblad website catch more info after the jump.

Amazing Robotic Hand

This is really quite scary as science moves forward and furthers itself all I can truly think about is a Mr Dyson and SkyNet. Check out this video but for me it gets a bit creepy around 2.40, generally its the precision and speed of the thing. Fantastic yet dark science, yet worryingly familiar and similar to a certain film. If we witness "The Rise of the Machines" I called it.

The Oomphalapompatronium

Thank the Lord for garden-shed inventors. I invite you to watch this video of the splendidly named "Oomphalapompatronium". It is impossible to watch this without smiling.

Automata Pistols - Birds in Disguise

We like surprises... and we like very clever bits of engineering. Here is something that combines both!

The auction house Christies has recently sold a pair of early 19th Century Pistols for five and a half million dollars.

On the outside the craftmanship is exquistie with detials picked out in gold, enamel, agate, pearl and diamond. But for SHUB the real beauty is inside.

Watch this:

These are the only complete pair of these pistols in the world - and there are only six pistols still known to exist. We want them.

Rocket Jet Engine Trucks

BIG TRUCK! BIG ENGINES! THATS ALL!

Freshwater Factory Skyscraper

The Freshwater Factory Skyscraper recieved a special mention at the 2010 eVolo Skyscraper Competition.

It was designed by the Design Crew for Architecture.

The tower is made of circular tanks filled with brackish water. These tanks are sheltered in spherical greenhouses. Tidal powered pumps bring the water up the structure. The structure would create its own fresh water to be used for irigation on surrounding arable land.

Seascraper Concept

I found this whilst researching yesterday's post. This is a concept design looking at the reapplication of oil rigs as sustainable living spaces.

This design by Young Wan Kim, Sue Hwan Kwun, Jun Young Park and Joong Ha Park recently recieved an honourable mention at the 2011 eVolo Skyscraper competition.

The structure also through a process of distillation would make its own drinking water.

Ultimate Saw

I found this a couple of days ago whist shopping for tools.

It is a saw capable of cutting through mountains and is used in Kazakhstan to cut thousands of tonnes of coal out of hillsides.

It is over 145 feet tall and weighs over 45000 tonnes. It also requires 27 people to operate it at any one time.

Steampowered Bikes - Steampunks Revenge!

A bicyle powered by a steam engine sounds like it something that roared straight out of the sepia-stained pages of a steampunk tale.  Gusts of steam rise through fog bound warehouses, chains and gears clank and grumble. Mutton chopped heros chase down clockwork automatons through the gritty cobbled streets of Victorian London, whilst genius-supervillans plot world domination through rooms of cigar-smoke and polished brass.  You can almost smell the tweed.

Alas, such men and their marvelous machines are destined to remain in the pages of fiction... or are they?

Tom Sepe's Steampunk "Whirlygig Emoto"


Tom Sepe is Steampunk artist, performer and fabricator. You can see some of his wonderful creations and visit his rather beautiful personal website here.

Tom's bike is essentially an electric bike with steam-powered effects - but is that all we can hope for? Is a true steam powered bike possible? Yes, yes it is.

Stability and Dynamics on a Ball : Rezero

Looking like something out of the Sci-Fi series CAPRICA and with elements of the beginnings of Dr Who's Daleks this Tech project has the potential to astound or horrify you. Shown in IEN, Europe's largest Engineering magazine, the Rezero project is described as "As a focus project of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ), students of its Autonomous System Lab (ASL) along with their fellow colleagues at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) have formed a cooperation of a special kind. Their Ballbot “Rezero” accomplishes not only the balancing act on the ball, but also convinces with technical solutions, unprecedented agility and appealing design."

"From a Ballbot’s perspective, moving on a ball is both, a blessing and a curse. Curse due to its general instability and the resulting high risk to keel over. Blessing since this also allows free movement in any direction and the rotation around its own axis. To commence movement, a Ballbot leans out of its center line, to further accelerate, it lets itself fall even more in direction of travel. For deceleration however, additional acceleration is required to first “out-compete” its center of gravity before coming to a synchronized upright standstill. Yet; total “standstill is the Ballbot’s death“. Even when appearing standing erect, it equilibrates by continuously revolving the ball underneath its center of gravity."



This post was found by Mr Shaun Booth hope it is too your liking. For more images of the tech involved here and a video of it in action hit the jump, Enjoy!