Quantum Levitation – YouTube
Stick with the video to the end, when he gets to the magnetic track. Your mind will be *blown.*
Category: Uncategorized
Landfill Harmonic: A Student’s Orchestra of Upcycled Instruments in Paraguay
Landfill Harmonic film teaser on Vimeo
Landfill Harmonic film teaser from Landfill Harmonic on Vimeo.
There’s lots to love in this documentary–much of it sort of predictable (the “universal” appeal of music dominated by dead white European men, the indomitable human spirit, silk-pursing the sow’s ears, blah blah blah)–and I’d be lying if I said those things didn’t tug-tug-tug at my heart’s single string, but I’d likewise be lying if I didn’t admit that what I love best is the way the form of the violin has been optimized to the materials they have at hand. All fingers crossed that this film permits itself a few digressions into the technical aspects of making violins from salvaged cooking oil cans.
The Real Story is the Motor, not the Robot
This lil self-molding robot came out of a DARPA-funded project at MIT to build “programmable matter” (in a non-nanotech context free of grey goo risks). I keep seeing it hyped online as the first steps towards a real Transformer, which I guess is a neat link-bait hook, but no doubt leads to plenty of disappointed link-followers who click through only to see what amounts to a pretty slow robo-worm. But watch the video, because the legitimately exciting lede is getting buried: In order to build the worm these MIT poindexters had to invent a new kind of super-small gearless motor that holds its position even after power is removed, making for a sort of electromechanical e-ink. It’s a far cry from a Transformer, but really promising in construction, for example, where these tiny motors could control vents and blinds to regulate temperatures, controlling air flow and how much sun chines directly into a building, rather than clicking the HVAC off and on constantly to jockey the temperature.
(via The tiny transforming robot that can turn into (almost) anything – The Week)
Nostalgia Hit and Non-Denominational Gift Giving Holiday Prep
Sorry for the long silent spell: family obligations, croupy babies, a big-deal election, and the kinda work that pays net 45 or better has kept me from my appointed rounds. In the meantime, a couple totally mundane updates.
First, nostalgia trip! My dad was cleaning out his home office and came across this little fella (as well as a smattering of very well-played with figures much the worse for wear):
{*squeeeeeee!*}
Also, I’ve begun Holiday Gift prep with two unbroken hours of zesting organic lemons (which also means I’m stocked up for Hot Lemonade and Bourbon Season–which is a much more narrowly recognized seasonal celebration mostly practiced within the confines of my home):
I’ll post the recipe some day soonish, since it’s easy (although a little time consuming), ripe for riffing, and the results make everyone *super happy*!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
I’ve been up since 4:20am on nothing but coffee, “Fun Size” Snickers, and positive baby vibes! Time for organic pizza and *more coffee*!!! *Whoooooooooooooo!!!*
(oh, and don’t forget to hit that No Starch Press LEGO promotion; scroll down one post for details)
Cardboard Bikes!
Made In Israel: Recycled Cardboard Bicycle F $9 | Environment News
The primary use, like any bicycle, is to prevent pollution while encouraging physical activity and exercise. In an interview with Newsgeek, Gafni said that the production cost for his recycled bicycles is around $9-12 each, and he estimates it could be sold to a consumer for $60 to 90, depending on what parts they choose to add.
. . .
Judging based on the prototypes leaning on the wall during the interview with Gafni, it seems that his hard work paid off. The prototype in the room was impressive. It was hard to believe there was any relationship between that bicycle and cardboard. The bicycle is coated with a strong solid layer of brown and white material, making the finished product look like it is made of hard lightweight plastic.
In Tel Aviv, for example, where all but a few cyclists have had their bikes stolen at some point, low-cost bikes are all the more attractive and also weaken the sting of a steal. If the bicycle costs less than the lock required to keep it safe, the appeal and potential profit from stealing a bicycle are significantly reduced.
. . .
Judging based on the prototypes leaning on the wall during the interview with Gafni, it seems that his hard work paid off. The prototype in the room was impressive. It was hard to believe there was any relationship between that bicycle and cardboard. The bicycle is coated with a strong solid layer of brown and white material, making the finished product look like it is made of hard lightweight plastic.
In Tel Aviv, for example, where all but a few cyclists have had their bikes stolen at some point, low-cost bikes are all the more attractive and also weaken the sting of a steal. If the bicycle costs less than the lock required to keep it safe, the appeal and potential profit from stealing a bicycle are significantly reduced.
And this bike has a cardboard transmission! *SO RAD!*
We think of cardboard as cheap, throwaway stuff, which is why a project like this is so worthwhile: it reminds us that cardboard, when treated properly, is really no different from any other particle board (such as MDF–which, off-gassing concerns aside, is a wonderful building material, and a great use of what was once thought of as useless byproduct). All of this puts me in the mind cellulose nano crystals, a sort of refined wood pulp that shows good potential as a multi-use material for everything from grocery sacks to ballistic barriers.
Not-OK Craft Project Alert!!!
Although, let’s be fair: Dogs being how they are, Rex probably thinks this is *rad* as *HELL!!!* This reminds me of when I was little and we all thought garbageman was the raddest possible job, on account you got to ride around clinging to the back of the truck. Now, of course, we all know better: Garbageman isn’t the raddest job because you get to cling for dear life to a truck; it’s the raddest job because you are vital to city life, and earn benefits, a living wage, and have a modicum of job security.
Got Maggots in Your Compost?
Ugh! I know, gross as Hell, right? And the compost–which is normally devoid of any smell, and certainly not offensively odorous–had taken on a distinct “bad septic field” aroma. It . . . it was pretty not OK (although the maggots seemed happy). But, as it turns out, maggots in your compost aren’t disastrous, they are tiny messengers.
I’m not a passionate compost evangelist–am, in fact, a pretty mediocre and neglectful gardener–but I like minimizing our garbage output, and I like the fact that a few scoops of our kitchen compost, when dumped into a pot with some soil, reliably produces volunteer kale and tomatoes. Since volunteers self-select for heartiness, and because all the seeds are coming from food I already ate and enjoyed–well, I’m basically guaranteed a free, low-effort crop of things I like. This is all I want from gardening. So, I was upset–in addition to being at least a little totally grossed out–when maggots infested my free lunch.
I’d always been told that maggots in your compost were basically cataclysmic, that this indicated that someone had tossed meat or grease or lard or bones in there. Maggoty compost, I’d been assured, was unrecoverable, likely harbored food-born pathogens, and you’d need to dispose of the whole batch and start over. A little poking around online wasn’t terribly helpful: A few sites indicated that *some* maggots were beneficial–specifically the big, biting horseflies–while others (like the common houseflies I was supporting) were still Bad News. But I really didn’t want to start over, so I kept digging and, with the help of several Ag Extension websites confirmed that maggots are totally benign.
If you have maggots–any sorts of maggots–in your compost, what it indicates is that your pile isn’t getting turned enough (unlikely in my case, as I use a Tumbleweed compost bin–both a design and a brand I heartily recommend), or is too wet (which this poop-stinky pile certainly was; it was a mucky mess). So, I tossed in just a few scoops of top soil and pine needles (i.e., the dirt right next to the compost in–remember, I’m really lazy), gave her a tumble, and two days later:
*BOOM*
No smell, no maggots, back to business as usual.
Attention Freelancers: Even in Brooklyn a Robin Isn’t a Pigeon
Don’t Get Screwed Over on “What it feels like to be a freelancer”:
This is actually a splashy little viral landing page for Docracy, an open legal documents clearinghouse (especially handy for the freelancers out there):
In six years of freelancing, I’ve only had one client pull payment shenanigans like these–but, predictably, it was for over a grand, and it was a *helluva* hassle. Let the freelancer beware.
Come to the *ONLY* Midwestern Screening of the Lo-Fi Sci-Fi Mockumentary GHOSTS WITH S#!T JOBS!
We still have seats open for the September 9 Ann Arbor screening of the award-winning sci-fi mockumentary GHOSTS WITH S#!T JOBS. We’d love to have a capacity crowd, and this is cleraly pretty short notice, so please feel free to post, repost, share, reshare, double-share, tweet, heptotweet, gurgle, snuggle, and shout these details from the rooftops of your choosing:
GHOSTS WITH S#!T JOBS
By 2040 the North American economy has collapsed and most Americans and Canadians subsist on crappy jobs outsourced by the rich industrialized nations of Asia. The mockumentary GHOSTS WITH S#!T JOBS presents itself as a Chinese documentary exploring the plight of these workers, called “ghosts” (the Cantonese slang “gweilo”–an existing Chinese dysphemism for non-Asian foreigners), which include under-employed roboticists, human spam, digital janitors, and migrants who gather the silk of the giant mutant spiders infesting Toronto.
“Ingenious—a gripping movie that uses cleverness, not CGI, to paint a vivid and satirical future.”—Cory Doctorow
This darkly comedic look at the world our children will inherit won Best Feature Film at the 2012 London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film and and was produced for under $4000 (!!!) Filmmakers Jim Munroe and Anthony Cortese will be on hand for a Q&A after the film.
The only midwestern screening of this award-winning sci-fi mockumentary will be in Ann Arbor on Sunday, September 9.