tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41228461211986329682024-03-13T16:52:04.051-07:00THWIM Sign at IBM: THINK. Underneath someone wrote: OR THWIM. We need more thwimming.
Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.comBlogger133125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-80689049354926843452019-03-28T12:38:00.000-07:002019-03-28T12:38:47.803-07:00A year since I posted--bad bad blogger<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKi3EItflWCo7yokEygkpb3To9mpyaOoWsXxa9G-HgpK4BAi8KqlXjb7TgL0cY7VmvJRsXS-4BVBe90wLm_KwiFPpxQPYdIVcx2Kymei83ZyTXXK8aRr2R5LGNReIYqTPIOElypngdmsU/s1600/synethesia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKi3EItflWCo7yokEygkpb3To9mpyaOoWsXxa9G-HgpK4BAi8KqlXjb7TgL0cY7VmvJRsXS-4BVBe90wLm_KwiFPpxQPYdIVcx2Kymei83ZyTXXK8aRr2R5LGNReIYqTPIOElypngdmsU/s1600/synethesia.jpg" /></a></div>
Sorry--I have been consumed with weirdness, not the least of which is our, shall we say, unconventional president.<br />
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Anyhow, recently I got in a confab on Linked In with Allen Gannett, author of a new book called THE CREATIVE CURVE. I understand it's great, but since I lost sight in my right eye (stupid doctor tricks), I rely on audios and have not listened to it.<br />
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But Allan and a guest recently got involved in a back-and-forth about whether everyone is creative.<br />
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I used to teach a 6-part course on Creativity at Smithsonian Resident Associates back in the day. Then, I subscribed to the idea that was going around that 10% of people are "creative." I would then say most people enter the creative process as appreciators, although some seek training in how to be more creative (thus my course and Allen's book).<br />
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What do you think of this?<br />
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Allen and I got in a discussion of what creativity and "being" creative means...I say it means people who can't NOT do so-called creative things--they MUST write, they are driven to draw or paint, etc. They are wired to crave this.<br />
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I do think people can be taught to think about creativity in more detail and look at things "out of the box," to use the cliche du jour. Creativity can be expressed as doing old things a new way, never-done-before things any old way, combining ways of doing things between disciplines...and many other approaches. For instance, people can learn to draw the space between objects, and not the objects themselves--and if they do it accurately, the objects appear.<br />
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What is your take? You don't have to agree with me--I may not even agree with me any more,<br />
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<br />Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-45300200081894326182018-03-18T12:58:00.003-07:002018-03-18T12:58:53.318-07:00Printing a house<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw5GsJzALkmwle2ESdxowe7V-r5vVLVQFJp-MeASaKrw_ukPqG5ragMSVfrFZ5UaiVgMN2NiY0Gp0gBi3W-ZERF1CN-K4NO1RgP6tk8JyYqlvJg9xQDlcduv64t_us9eVnKH5mu6fxMVo/s1600/printedhouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="1200" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw5GsJzALkmwle2ESdxowe7V-r5vVLVQFJp-MeASaKrw_ukPqG5ragMSVfrFZ5UaiVgMN2NiY0Gp0gBi3W-ZERF1CN-K4NO1RgP6tk8JyYqlvJg9xQDlcduv64t_us9eVnKH5mu6fxMVo/s320/printedhouse.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Credit: New Story/.ICON/youtube</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
ICON has figured out how to 3D print a small house in under 24 hours--800 square feet--a nice porch.<br />
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Cost now about $10,000--but they are going to bring it down to $4,000 as soon as they can.<br />
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Target at the moment is the third world, but these don't look bad for Americans in the tiny home range.<br />
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I lived in a 600 square foot apt with another person--and loved it.<br />
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<br />Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-79677338266469516062017-12-15T10:10:00.001-08:002017-12-15T10:11:12.697-08:00Pick up your "beach read" at the beach<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfXp6zxeGBdYxYWWRHk5a-PAJOqUqaI-Q-O_D9OE08ge8ozFND5hduNogXB_aQLtjepR2TY0F6gRIqTI8ec75qXwSnM8va2sNI4B3iQyQ1I2YAy3PrwiLWjvxCZuhuhSZZHX_83LeEXT8/s1600/libe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1280" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfXp6zxeGBdYxYWWRHk5a-PAJOqUqaI-Q-O_D9OE08ge8ozFND5hduNogXB_aQLtjepR2TY0F6gRIqTI8ec75qXwSnM8va2sNI4B3iQyQ1I2YAy3PrwiLWjvxCZuhuhSZZHX_83LeEXT8/s320/libe.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Some people are just all about the pages, not the electrons. In Varna, Bulgaria, a team of architects built an open-air library on the beach.<br />
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The Rapana Library looks a little like a seashell and shelves more than a thousand books. It also has a small stage.<br />
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The designers went through 20 models and the final contains 240 pieces of wood.<br />
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Varna is not the only city to come up with some spiffy public spaces. In Indonesia, a little library has been built out of 2,000 ice cream buckets. That's some sweet space!<br />
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I have a question on the Varna "seashell" library--what about moisture, rain even, wind? Books, as I recall, are made of paper.Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-14527482531774184892017-11-29T09:37:00.000-08:002017-11-29T09:37:00.062-08:00Tip of the hat--to life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjshIGigRrQ4_6zF6ov2wCIGFr14pycuTlEKiHAAyvVEgY1ijez8LbqoMuWqMLhZDRpcZmbzYePc4q_IPa3mazOSEgJd_dBOEcVy4If7dfYzwY-yczuJBg0lDXNcQFgePU57-0wjNUK8e0/s1600/hat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1280" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjshIGigRrQ4_6zF6ov2wCIGFr14pycuTlEKiHAAyvVEgY1ijez8LbqoMuWqMLhZDRpcZmbzYePc4q_IPa3mazOSEgJd_dBOEcVy4If7dfYzwY-yczuJBg0lDXNcQFgePU57-0wjNUK8e0/s320/hat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The Ford Motor Company has invented the SafeCap, which will alert drivers to their drowsiness.<br />
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The cap is aimed at truck drivers, but could be used by anyone.<br />
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They mapped the typical head, neck and shoulder movements of drivers and equipped the cap with a gyroscope and accelerimeter to detect atypical movements indicating sleepiness.<br />
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When these are detected, a sound is emitted--followed by light and vibration.<br />
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By heading off accidents due to the driver nodding off, the company hopes to reduce deaths and injuries.<br />
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Look for this in 2018.Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-54452726310766537282017-10-11T11:43:00.001-07:002017-10-11T11:43:28.614-07:00Bone screws made of--bone!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB57_o4UC-aVvGEfDvUyWV1BAqE_-84zTwyGMOZiVfFoBMZhaxOwDQb2yE2DDFvd3iDEuteoMWsz3Gz-dJcW_eRnOiLFkK2Ac4Ni7hewQ9f7n90wiZFVZFhCzhn6K5yohyLhVb2Re7p8o/s1600/Bone_screw_1280x750.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1280" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB57_o4UC-aVvGEfDvUyWV1BAqE_-84zTwyGMOZiVfFoBMZhaxOwDQb2yE2DDFvd3iDEuteoMWsz3Gz-dJcW_eRnOiLFkK2Ac4Ni7hewQ9f7n90wiZFVZFhCzhn6K5yohyLhVb2Re7p8o/s320/Bone_screw_1280x750.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Since the 19th century, surgeons have been using metal screws and plates to hold broken bones until they could fuse and heal.<br />
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However, titanium or steel screws can cause problems--such as infections--and sometimes need to be removed, meaning a second operation.<br />
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Now, engineers at the Graz University of Technology have teamed up with a startup called Surgebright to make these screws of human bone.<br />
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Called Shark Screws, these are made from donated bone--typed to match the recipient to prevent rejection.<br />
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A year after surgery, they don't even show up on x-ray--they are part of the patient's bone.<br />
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Surgebright was created in 2016 with the German Institute of Tissue and Cell Replacement.<br />
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Other surgical innovations to watch for? Tissue scaffolds and a smart needle to be used in brain surgery.<br />
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Can you think of others?<br />
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For more info, go to http:/www.tugraz.at,<br />
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<br />Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-30551370852109244892017-07-20T11:28:00.002-07:002017-07-20T11:28:43.191-07:00This building builds itself<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioJog1VlGw7KbQ25KS3_VoHyjV8AqtbPd1nDJVgwUnmCIOR_GIFOcv4LkAheqIrGY9iY92sQ92KubioCIcutByRuXO6rjOFngI5xUEPgJob_P6rbhcVEOvyVtZvVSoxRIdOpm_j0vXDyc/s1600/bldg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1280" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioJog1VlGw7KbQ25KS3_VoHyjV8AqtbPd1nDJVgwUnmCIOR_GIFOcv4LkAheqIrGY9iY92sQ92KubioCIcutByRuXO6rjOFngI5xUEPgJob_P6rbhcVEOvyVtZvVSoxRIdOpm_j0vXDyc/s320/bldg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
What if you need a decent-sized building someplace in 10 minutes? Call Ten Fold Engineering, a UK-based company (www.tenfoldengineering.com).<br />
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Each structure is 689 square feet of space. It can be transported to any site (no foundation needed) by truck.<br />
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All you need to set it up is a battery-powered, hand-held drill.<br />
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The building, you see, unfurls itself using a low-tech, counter-balanced folding assembly.<br />
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The units can be stack on each other or on sloped or uneven ground.<br />
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Use them for clinics, beach houses, offices, shops, anything.<br />
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Time to move on? They furl back together.<br />
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The company even combined some to make a 40-bedroom hotel for a festival.<br />
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What do these cost? The company's website promises more info on cost this month.<br />
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Oh--and you can see some cool depictions of the buildings unfolding.<br />
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Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-32158675378039140782017-06-26T10:25:00.000-07:002017-06-26T10:25:07.625-07:00Capturing your steps as energy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQySui27_WwX_HrAtqrzo1MkQmX3N1ZyXcGHXctlWoM4yTQRSvy2OEXv8cMX5TrGI462HC7YgNuYd__c6q76iKLlb3OvJ-4ilV3JfVePph82t0mK90-pmsBvaT5qLGpEAHtM_EXz2vaZ4/s1600/foot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="620" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQySui27_WwX_HrAtqrzo1MkQmX3N1ZyXcGHXctlWoM4yTQRSvy2OEXv8cMX5TrGI462HC7YgNuYd__c6q76iKLlb3OvJ-4ilV3JfVePph82t0mK90-pmsBvaT5qLGpEAHtM_EXz2vaZ4/s200/foot.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
People walk around public spaces--a lot. A group of University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers have develop an inexpensive way to convert footsteps to electricity.<br />
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Their brainstorm involves using wood pulp and nanofibers in the flooring.<br />
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This does not involve the sun having to be out and could work well in high-traffic places like stadiums or a mall, according to On Wisconsin magazine.<br />
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Associate professor Xudong Wang is planning to build a prototype in a high-profile spot on campus...and from there, who knows.<br />
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Actually, this is not a new idea...It's being developed elsewhere as well--including England.<br />
Google <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 18.5933437347412px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 18.5933437347412px;">Laurence Kemball-Cook, for example. That's him in the picture.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Guardian Text Egyptian Web', Georgia, serif; line-height: 18.5933437347412px;">People walk--why let that go to waste? </span>Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-68690648538936836142017-05-01T11:39:00.001-07:002017-05-01T11:39:24.680-07:00Meet Mr. Trash Wheel<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDS10CEScI8vbAiC-0w4Cclz4CwthDaJOyLGFawNW93rQ0ePBDDXuewmdOrfsUx-A0sZsDm9oQI6B7FH0cmonNFC8YVN_vsTRIgLOS5SAejsRNG87Lb91L0cWeSLFYNglvMhPiWsmr8oY/s1600/trashcollector.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDS10CEScI8vbAiC-0w4Cclz4CwthDaJOyLGFawNW93rQ0ePBDDXuewmdOrfsUx-A0sZsDm9oQI6B7FH0cmonNFC8YVN_vsTRIgLOS5SAejsRNG87Lb91L0cWeSLFYNglvMhPiWsmr8oY/s320/trashcollector.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's it--Mr Trash Wheel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I used to love to go to Baltimore's Inner Harbor and poke around, back when I lived in DC.<br />
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Anyhow, I read on AwesomeOcean,org, that Baltimore now has a water wheel that sits at the mouth of the Jones Fall River and removes massive amounts of garbage from the water.<br />
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Since 2014, Mr Trash Wheel (the name could have used work) has removed over a million pounds of debris from the Inner Harbor.<br />
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That comes to 8.9 million cigarette butts, half a million potato chip bags, bottles, and you name it. and probably things you would not want to name.<br />
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It can scoop up 50,000 pounds of trash a day---which is then sent to an incinerator to power Maryland homes.<br />
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If the river current does not deliver up enough stuff, it also has solar panels to power it.<br />
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A second one is now in the planning stages and money is being raised.<br />
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Could work in a lot of situations, right?Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-55093592640592272622017-02-15T12:37:00.002-08:002017-02-15T12:37:35.596-08:00CloudFisher grabs water from fog<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5r9cfTm4fwQolbBu8BhfTZ0MS4YRjoHZFzmmjRmJIi4m8RtnSeSPVHDlYtjSNuK4EY8AAD0XI2VaPq_1P8U_o401ALCC6R_roLSS937whjcqBz9QqFlGPEA7CLVq3PRTdVAO0JfHnBts/s1600/cloudfisher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5r9cfTm4fwQolbBu8BhfTZ0MS4YRjoHZFzmmjRmJIi4m8RtnSeSPVHDlYtjSNuK4EY8AAD0XI2VaPq_1P8U_o401ALCC6R_roLSS937whjcqBz9QqFlGPEA7CLVq3PRTdVAO0JfHnBts/s320/cloudfisher.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Some areas of the world are short on water, but long on fog.<br />
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For them, a partnership between Morocco's Dar Si Hmad, a nonprofit, and Germany's The Water Foundation and Aqualonis, called CloudFisher, distills water from fog.<br />
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Located in the Atlas Mountains, CloudFisher's huge nets gather up the fog and funnel water into storage tanks, where it is pumped to homes.<br />
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The big nets can withstand winds of up t0 120 mph.<br />
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Women and children, who foemer spent many horus a day gathering water, now have time for other things.<br />
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Cultures are also preserved because tribes and populations do not have to move elsewhere to find water.<br />
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The project has been so successful, it has spawned a school and an observatory.<br />
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Similar projects gather tiny amounts of rain for cooking, and that water is also used to cool homes.<br />
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Cool, huh?Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-67007368365333774402017-01-04T13:05:00.001-08:002017-01-04T13:05:01.298-08:00Robot bees<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIzuqr4qutXrlYk03eduTkw6f-o6MhB7Il95i0Lf4F27FaGMwjaISJw1WlGXlBjiV73CF1YTgZWKyiZGRCcaZiApJqQ6HuHctEUK3-e1VWWwcr6WJGwhCESj8lUg9Ujv7NXPYTotF3Te4/s1600/robotbee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIzuqr4qutXrlYk03eduTkw6f-o6MhB7Il95i0Lf4F27FaGMwjaISJw1WlGXlBjiV73CF1YTgZWKyiZGRCcaZiApJqQ6HuHctEUK3-e1VWWwcr6WJGwhCESj8lUg9Ujv7NXPYTotF3Te4/s320/robotbee.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What do you think? More work? (This is the Polish B-Droid.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Isn't there an old axiom in the aviation industry that a big fuzzy bumblebee is so aerodynamically ill-designed it should not be able to fly? Yet it does.<br />
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This came to mind when I read about some mechanical pollinators being developed in Poland and at Harvard--the possible answer, temporary or permanent, to the declining population of honey bees.<br />
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Honey bees, wild and domestic, take care of 80% of the world's pollination. This includes seventy of the top 100 human food crops. No bees, no food--or at least that could happen.<br />
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In the US, honey bees have declined from 6 million hives in 1947 to 2.4 million in 2008. That's 60% fewer hives. The cause is called Colony Collapse Disorder.<br />
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Now, after four years of work, scientists at the Warsaw University of Technology invented the B-Droid.<br />
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A tiny quadcopter, the B-Droid uses onboard cameras and an external computer to plan a flight path over a field.<br />
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Dina Spector, writing in the Business Insider (July 7, 2014), also wrote about a small mechanical pollinator called RoboBees. When tethered to a power supply, they can lift off and hover mid-air using robot wings that flap 120 times a second.<br />
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As soon as 10 years from now, the Harvard people say, RoboBees may be able to fly on their own and communicate like real bees (who use dancing movements to signal great pollinating).<br />
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One plus--the RoboBees do not eat and do not need to bring nectar back to the hive. They just pollinate.<br />
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But 10 years? Like the larger bumblebee, these seem heavy and clumsy--but they said that one couldn't do the job either--and it does.Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-50971987684960465792016-11-04T11:41:00.001-07:002016-11-04T11:41:13.791-07:00Jackpot available for good educational simulation ideas <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtvAvpaQDVeZhFJF5jlYn9CjkwG8oJJQqvyLbS9QM9mfryO_ryoenViBPzY4uSF1Mbisv7fRaq_p8wlcolJbCNb72Zp_6jhMeAOow1t_kPoIpAIF-8PAm54vxBqfeqqZWoiS4eNg3WoW8/s1600/childvirtualreality.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtvAvpaQDVeZhFJF5jlYn9CjkwG8oJJQqvyLbS9QM9mfryO_ryoenViBPzY4uSF1Mbisv7fRaq_p8wlcolJbCNb72Zp_6jhMeAOow1t_kPoIpAIF-8PAm54vxBqfeqqZWoiS4eNg3WoW8/s1600/childvirtualreality.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'source sans pro', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">It's called the EdSim Challenge, a $680,000 contest in search of ways to use simulation in the classroom.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.701961); font-family: "source sans pro" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.701961); font-family: "source sans pro" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> VR and augmented reality are welcomed. Finalists could get $50,000 to build a prototype. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.701961); font-family: "source sans pro" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.701961); font-family: "source sans pro" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The grand prize winner stands to get $430,000. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.701961); font-family: "source sans pro" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.701961); font-family: "source sans pro" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Concept proposals are due by next Jan 17, 2017.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" />
<a class="js-link post-link" href="http://www.linkedin.com/redir/redirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Enextgov%2Ecom%2Femerging-tech%2F2016%2F11%2Feducation-dept-seeks-vitrual-reality-video-game-devs-next-gen-tech%2F132915%2F%3Foref%3Dgovexec_today_nl&urlhash=V_Bi&_t=tracking_anet" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.1s; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #008cc9; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.1s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">http://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2016/11/education-dept-seeks-vitrual-reality-video-game-devs-next-gen-tech/132915/?oref=govexec_today_nl</a><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.701961); font-family: "source sans pro" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span>Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-48514938543039348842016-10-24T11:20:00.003-07:002016-10-24T11:20:47.387-07:00Wow--a new take on an old favoriteI was going to say this is like vertical pinball and YOU are the pinball--but does anyone know what pinball is anymore?<br />
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Time Trial is an interactive video rock climbing wall. You can try it in Brooklyn at Brooklyn Boulders Sommerville twice a month.<br />
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To wit:<br />
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<br />Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-13331046479864034762016-07-30T11:58:00.002-07:002016-07-30T11:58:50.650-07:00Look out, border collies--here comes Swagbot<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSYQUNLS4au2Q3t40opa_236XFE5J3yxgvnKERo0b4czA_M3dOppNIxxCHu4T-uxt8c7beYAYhu9MeEhPqzoO7LbIFhmdCejs7mgAZJyqglavogB8HIV8VXuX5pihSroNBKwv6DiZYNYI/s1600/swagbot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSYQUNLS4au2Q3t40opa_236XFE5J3yxgvnKERo0b4czA_M3dOppNIxxCHu4T-uxt8c7beYAYhu9MeEhPqzoO7LbIFhmdCejs7mgAZJyqglavogB8HIV8VXuX5pihSroNBKwv6DiZYNYI/s1600/swagbot.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Does it give kisses?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Even dogs may soon lose their jobs to a robot.<br />
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Writing in Nextgov, July 28, 2016, Mike Murphy says according to Smithsonian Magazine, researchers at the University of Sydney and the Australian Centre for Field Robots are working on a new robot that can:<br />
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--Monitor and herd farm animals<br />
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--Keep an eye on crops<br />
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--And do this off on its own, no human required.<br />
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The device wanders around the outback autonomously, picking up tree trunks like toothpicks and sending back messages on sick animals, among other services.<br />
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The things also work with drones watching the farm from on high. The drone can spot obstacles and help the Swagbot putter over to a trouble spot safely.<br />
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I wonder if this spidery, clunky thing appearing out of nowhere might frighten animals, cut milk production, run over things, I don't know...Seems a little ominous.<br />
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Yes, just call me a Luddite. Plus--I am standing up for the dogs!Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-29941797264508027782016-06-22T12:01:00.002-07:002016-06-22T12:01:42.852-07:00Electricity-free "air conditioner" you can build<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAm_NaLUfmqBvVr7vstH4fDsSsTEPi3RNNGceoS7PoEdEoT7xD5XExD023GHdw4_r9B-9j3aNWEDomTb9Chi40aGbCa5u2eJn_LWTe2tr9SVM2ebPu6ufaNoyFeSsW4QtQ74-3axZrKGk/s1600/Eco-Cooler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAm_NaLUfmqBvVr7vstH4fDsSsTEPi3RNNGceoS7PoEdEoT7xD5XExD023GHdw4_r9B-9j3aNWEDomTb9Chi40aGbCa5u2eJn_LWTe2tr9SVM2ebPu6ufaNoyFeSsW4QtQ74-3axZrKGk/s320/Eco-Cooler.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
From Bangladesh come clever air coolers called Eco-Coolers invented by Ashis Paul, a creative supervisor at the ad company called the Grey Group.<br />
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You saw off the bottoms of liter soda bottles and insert the remaining neck in a board, which is then placed "big side out" in a window.<br />
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With the wider part facing outside, hot air is drawn into the funnel created. Air pressure changes as the air passes through the neck into the room and cooled air is released. This can cool a room by five degrees Celsius in a short amount of time.<br />
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Maybe this wouldn't be "cool" in Phoenix, but it sure makes a difference in some countries where electricity is not available or is on and off.<br />
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For blueprints, check out www.grey.com.<br />
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Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-53226776152717664312016-05-24T12:07:00.001-07:002016-05-24T12:07:51.888-07:00Edible six-pack rings delight sea creatures<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoY4ywBjWYOmJ1wpUg9j2wVg6eS5Ckui2NonytQoon_lWbzeR8ceM8ccnJAEKmui_EdeaapH8lLc1ZNR21prKOlYeEfRXlvRXgONaIdd8EZRJTsdNRtm8A5hh3b45C1Yakt5ZxC4W-TW4/s1600/sixpackring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoY4ywBjWYOmJ1wpUg9j2wVg6eS5Ckui2NonytQoon_lWbzeR8ceM8ccnJAEKmui_EdeaapH8lLc1ZNR21prKOlYeEfRXlvRXgONaIdd8EZRJTsdNRtm8A5hh3b45C1Yakt5ZxC4W-TW4/s200/sixpackring.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://growlermag.com/mill-florida-brewery-<br />creates-edible-six-pack-rings-to-protect-<br />marine-wildlife/</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
You've seen the awful pictures--deformed turtles that grew with a six-pack ring around the middle, or plastic taken from the stomachs of dead water creatures.<br />
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Thousands of birds, fish, and turtles ingest plastic waste that ends up in the ocean by the thousands of tons.<br />
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Now, Saltwater Brewery in Delray Beach, FL, has invented a biodegradable six-pack ring that can be EATEN by animals or even humans.<br />
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No poisonous after effects, no years-long entrapment.<br />
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The rings are made of wheat and barley byproducts of the beer brewing process. They are also compostable on land.<br />
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Hungry? People can even eat them--although they are not really a gourmet snack.<br />
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Since the rings are more expensive than the plastic ones, the inventors are hoping demand will increase and other brewers will use these, and thus the positive impact will justify the cost.<br />
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Hear that, Budweiser? The ocean you save may be ours.<br />
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<br />Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-75729008837223073822016-05-07T12:38:00.002-07:002016-05-07T12:38:57.353-07:00Transparent wood--wow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGTqfbbWa2Af5WarGnJqGXjv19InWtokxqkJJr_6HFlrLwhlxmBq2KeSfpWYvoWBSCSjoMubmPka048cp8Jvc6dPaAK_pFU8lLRAHD1Si9vO3wo8bk7YjXAwH6nsw3rxVpmYGQGY4ri4/s1600/woodtransparent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGTqfbbWa2Af5WarGnJqGXjv19InWtokxqkJJr_6HFlrLwhlxmBq2KeSfpWYvoWBSCSjoMubmPka048cp8Jvc6dPaAK_pFU8lLRAHD1Si9vO3wo8bk7YjXAwH6nsw3rxVpmYGQGY4ri4/s200/woodtransparent.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Researchers at the University of Maryland have made a block of linden wood transparent.<br />
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They say eventually this will be useful as building material and in light-based electronics.<br />
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Basically, they removed the molecule called lignin, which makes wood rigid and dark in color. This left the colorless cellulose structures--which they then filled with epoxy.<br />
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You can check out the journal Advanced Materials for more details.<br />
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The results were a "wood" that is mostly see-thru and has a high haze (scattering light), which makes it comfortable to look at.<br />
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This material could help solar cells trap light. The light would come in because it was transparent, but the high haze would keep the light bouncing around until it was absorbed by the solar panel.<br />
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Right now, the blocks of wood they are working with are 4 inches wide--but they say the process is scalable.<br />
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They are looking at five years to getting this to the market for use.<br />
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Solid wood windows...what will they think up next? Stay tuned.<br />
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<br />Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-91247456949016611332016-03-10T11:27:00.001-08:002016-03-10T11:27:46.092-08:00SLAC's X-ray laser--a little-known advance equal to moon shot?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi88A7KcN69TCeF2zTpBXx3PyaNVvgFwZ0qFuROQmhnW9Fpp-5_auSqO_PiEYLc-OH4_EdKhwcPnN5CxQERe8ExkPWYBmEe_Ro5lQ72tUK6xx_p3BKBR6feVum6SyuoqPh5Al8JMcyEYyI/s1600/laserimage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="86" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi88A7KcN69TCeF2zTpBXx3PyaNVvgFwZ0qFuROQmhnW9Fpp-5_auSqO_PiEYLc-OH4_EdKhwcPnN5CxQERe8ExkPWYBmEe_Ro5lQ72tUK6xx_p3BKBR6feVum6SyuoqPh5Al8JMcyEYyI/s200/laserimage.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
According to some, the future of science--spawning the electronics, medications, and energy solutions we will need--comes from being able to see atoms and molecules at work.<br />
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For that, you need a special light--such as an X-ray light with a wavelength as small as an atom, pulsing at the rate of femtoseconds. A femtosecond is to s second what a second is to 32 million years. In other words--fast.<br />
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Six years ago, the Dept of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Lab answered the call of the scientific community and built an X-ray-free electronic laser--the XFEL.<br />
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Since 2009, this powerful "microscope" has generated molecular "movies," gotten a glimpse of a chemical bond, traced electrons moving through materials, and made 3-D pictures of proteins leading to drug discoveries.<br />
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Such machines have now proliferated all over the world. Check out the March issue of Reviews of Modern Physics for an overview of the first five years of progress.<br />
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Some high spots:<br />
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<b>Next-gen computers and the power grid.</b> The Linac Coherent Light Source or LCLS, as it's called, is homing in on new computer components surpassing old limits on what computers can do.<br />
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<b>Better, cleaner fuels and chemicals. </b>Using this technology, scientists can now measure never-seen-before steps in chemical reactions, helping them design better fuels, fertilizers and industrial chemicals.<br />
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<b>More effective meds with fewer side effects. </b>Half of all medications on the market target receptor proteins on the outer layers of cells--we can now see how the meds dock on the cells. The LCLS technology allows smaller crystals to be examined as well as crystals too easily damaged by conventional X-rays.<br />
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<b>Renewable energy that mimics natur</b>e. LCLS has allowed us to see how plants use energy from sunlight (photosynthesis), It can measure steps in the process not seen before.<br />
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<b>Fusion reactions and seeing inside planets. </b>High-power laser systems heat matter to millions of degrees and crush it with billions of tons of pressure. This allows scientists to see test resilience of materials and to see conditions as they might be at the heart of planets, which may lead to learning how solar systems form.<br />
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Located in Menlo Park, Calif, the DOE's SLAC lab attracts hundreds of scientists from around the globe.<br />
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This is an example of a US Govt basic research "challenge" that will be worth every penny spent.<br />
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For more info, go to http://science.energy. gov or http://slac.stanford.edu.Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-65964153078598260092016-02-18T11:28:00.000-08:002016-02-18T11:29:09.316-08:00Adidas project highlights sports creativity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0xJWngNQoRi6vuqfHIXQ3zJKvhEcxPsrOSPLdPj1-ts_NeZeW3yhp1A8cprHt6OBj4P5Qpu_6uiXAkZPQLFkTDcaV6LMdW07Z01SbOesCFHKYAJk9SoICgd58guEyMsQolV6ifK4HfGo/s1600/julieaubert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0xJWngNQoRi6vuqfHIXQ3zJKvhEcxPsrOSPLdPj1-ts_NeZeW3yhp1A8cprHt6OBj4P5Qpu_6uiXAkZPQLFkTDcaV6LMdW07Z01SbOesCFHKYAJk9SoICgd58guEyMsQolV6ifK4HfGo/s200/julieaubert.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
"I'm Here to Create" are films of Adidas' Sport16 Initiative.<br />
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The films feature female athletes--showing how they bring their own definitions of creativity to sports.<br />
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<--- EXAMPLE: French runner Julie Aubert. https://youtu.be/244vlGAQGbY. At 24, Julie began running through the streets of Paris, eventually getting her friends in on it. She created Mademoiselle Run, a digital tribe for women into running.<br />
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EXAMPLE: US Soccer star Morgan Brian. https://youtu-be/OTNbVxh-FZM. Morgan was essential to the US Women's Soccer Team's 2015 World Cup Victory. She's young--22--and doesn't let being on the stage with the top players get to her..she just has fun.<br />
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EXAMPLE: Brazilian volleyball champ Jaqueline Carvalho. https//youtu.be/mfF-bYmMoEU. Jaqueline led her team to double Oly gold in 2008 and 2012. She plays with reckless abandon, which has resulted in countless injuries and long periods of rehab.<br />
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EXAMPLE: Skater Julia Lipnitskaya. https://youtu.be/EDJHt79YUE8. In 2014, Julia led Team Russia to the top in the Sochi Olympics, making her the youngest Russian Gold Medal winner ever. She is still just 17.<br />
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"I'm Here to Create" airs in more than 50 countries and will be seen at the Oscars, as it was at the GRAMMYs.<br />
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Putting it all together in sports may not be what first comes to mind in terms of creativity, but it does require creative drive and talent.Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-88334886308931195142016-01-01T09:49:00.000-08:002016-01-01T09:49:01.627-08:00Creative, creative--too much of a great thing?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNSPoXeVbOJZJ9JcwhUMPx8lR0Afd0NQg94IfqwpV8av6q9qMeZ80pKC3Ag9nS_yxlIsJLV2uBOEmzy_An6mpvXhlLrVoTGDYJtRy2QrffDe7R5Wo2VFDJStyPV-2eO87lggVQh2-KVQw/s1600/firehosedrinkingfrom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNSPoXeVbOJZJ9JcwhUMPx8lR0Afd0NQg94IfqwpV8av6q9qMeZ80pKC3Ag9nS_yxlIsJLV2uBOEmzy_An6mpvXhlLrVoTGDYJtRy2QrffDe7R5Wo2VFDJStyPV-2eO87lggVQh2-KVQw/s200/firehosedrinkingfrom.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
I have not posted for more than a month...Why? Because there is too much creativity going around. It's like trying to drink out of a fire hose...<br />
<span id="goog_696228603"></span><br />
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Or is it really creativity? Sometimes I see stories and programs dubbed with the Creativity description just because they are different than what the organization did before...so they got "creative."<br />
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People jump "out of the box," "get told to stay in the box," "make a new kind of box," or think up weird whimsical products that really address no real need or impulse. Examples: A gizmo to give the bike lane a green light faster when it rains...or a little rocker you can stand on at your standing desk...Both of these sound dangerous. How about those flaming Hoverboards, too?<br />
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Creativity--to me, anyhow--means conjuring something out of nothing, or destroying something harmful and putting something helpful in its place. Or maybe something just intriguing or beautiful.<br />
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The Apple watch--people had a watch to tell time. They had a phone to access the internet. The buttons were teeny...Not a huge seller...<br />
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All this wearable technology...Do you want your clothes buzzing you or bossing you around?<br />
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I saw a device the other day that will analyze what you put in a cup...The cup does it. Someone said, "So you're holding a beer, you put it in the cup and it says, 'This is beer'? So what."<br />
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So as we drag ourselves into the largely random world of news and discoveries and inventions to start another year...We need to look for the truly creative. The truly new. Or the truly new way of doing something truly old.<br />
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<br />Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-68780566977423909752015-11-22T10:56:00.000-08:002015-11-22T10:56:24.982-08:00Calling botanists and farmers<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FeJ1nEG252wmrRbJxic_D37T0NHDaJ0JSi7gQxtbnFW_-IokxqKmJYUheoWbGsCEt2RL0J88B3-GtAhiYEe6MeJ6lP9rND-JvQDkQJ4HpUg43wciz2UoFzZJcNSzLoBkq_mkoPWaP5E/s1600/watermelonsstanchi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FeJ1nEG252wmrRbJxic_D37T0NHDaJ0JSi7gQxtbnFW_-IokxqKmJYUheoWbGsCEt2RL0J88B3-GtAhiYEe6MeJ6lP9rND-JvQDkQJ4HpUg43wciz2UoFzZJcNSzLoBkq_mkoPWaP5E/s200/watermelonsstanchi.jpg" width="144" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watermelons with white inner <br />
rinds (top--lower right)?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
According to a story by John Allen in On Wisconsin, the alumni mag of the Univ of Wisc, horticultural professor James Niehuis, PhD, uses paintings to show how fruits and veggies have changed over the centuries. Check out the watermelons in Giovanni Stanchi's painting.<br />
<br />
He and his students in his World Vegetable Crops class go a a nearby museum to look a Renaissance still lifes to see how carious aspects of plants have been bred in or out over the centuries.<br />
<br />
With grains, he says, archeologists can look at actual samples--but the more moist plants don't last.<br />
<br />
He calls fruits and vegetables "art you can eat."<br />
<br />
Hmmm...What else could we tell from paintings? Maybe that people are taller now. Breeds of dogs we don't have now? Certainly trends in fashion. Weapons?<br />
<br />
<br />Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-80242634146425039412015-10-21T12:13:00.003-07:002015-10-21T12:15:29.314-07:00Jumping Jiminy--it's a robotJohns Hopkins engineering students and their professor spent more than 8 months studying the hopping and landing skills of spider crickets, the kind often found in basements.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg1S0P-kMrhaABkNg7qEYyBP3SBkH5ax1TrizDx2UssRI3MHokVPUfu15URCwUDAc-slnfryPg8CXP_pr3ChKd_cHJ7vFpH_NckhrhIxH7fsHEgGmxhSRxyXKKlINW9uA-8uzP0ToYFCQ/s1600/cricket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg1S0P-kMrhaABkNg7qEYyBP3SBkH5ax1TrizDx2UssRI3MHokVPUfu15URCwUDAc-slnfryPg8CXP_pr3ChKd_cHJ7vFpH_NckhrhIxH7fsHEgGmxhSRxyXKKlINW9uA-8uzP0ToYFCQ/s200/cricket.jpg" width="147" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emily Palmer and...muse.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
They are not just cricket lovers--but robot builders--and they want one that can jump around.<br />
<br />
The researchers think non-human creatures are the best models.<br />
<br />
So they trained high-speed video cameras on the insects to find out how the wingless bugs can leap 60 times their body length. A human--to do this--would have to jump the length of a football field.<br />
<br />
The crickets use their limbs (legs and antennae) to stabilize them. They saw--in slow motion--that this process was sort of like a dance. Beautiful and intricate. On the way "up," they pulled in their limbs to counter air resistance.<br />
<br />
We have robots that crawl into small spaces, drones that sail overhead, creepy humanoid ones that lift old people into bed...so why not little jumpy ones?<br />
<br />
Check out the video: http://youtu.be/Ua6wauucdOo<br />
<br />
<br />Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-42871728339622992212015-09-19T12:00:00.000-07:002015-09-19T12:00:07.413-07:00LEGOS bursting into the executive suites<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2i4HRFdP_w4JKeN2l1mnaiKf9pyyIQBhP7gOCvhUso2Twu6DAq3PvXjEwFZNv5xHY8lyYhetI4d_rLWhEV-_K9Wvh12to4TzVnyjR3DXUxQXIePhF_RVK3CvutozZgim8RO5BilMtj04/s1600/legos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2i4HRFdP_w4JKeN2l1mnaiKf9pyyIQBhP7gOCvhUso2Twu6DAq3PvXjEwFZNv5xHY8lyYhetI4d_rLWhEV-_K9Wvh12to4TzVnyjR3DXUxQXIePhF_RVK3CvutozZgim8RO5BilMtj04/s200/legos.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This company needs new offices and a chopper.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
You know LEGOS--those colorful blocks that hurt so much when you step on them with barefeet?<br />
<br />
At our house--we used to call it "toy foot."<br />
<br />
But, now, thinkers far more serious than I are using these little menaces to study "play"--even in adults.<br />
<br />
"It's an engine...a language...a technique without content," enthuses one executive.<br />
<br />
This from an article by Jenn Choi in Nextgov Magazine, Sept 17. 2105.<br />
<br />
Sometimes these executives will say, "Name one challenge that is preventing growth in your company and answer with LEGOS--you have four minutes."<br />
<br />
This is called out of the box--out of the LEGOS box, apparently.<br />
<br />
"The subconscious rules us," another executive says. This means, I guess, that translating the mental into the physical (the LEGOS) uncovers things you didn't know you knew.<br />
<br />
This is now called LEGOS Serious Play--LSP.<br />
<br />
For example, one challenge was to describe the difference between a manager and a leader--using LEGOS.<br />
<br />
One participant built a wall between him and his colleagues--was he the manager or leader, though? I didn't get it.<br />
<br />
Show me in LEGOS...oh, wait, you did.<br />
<br />
I think sitting around, getting to know each other, laughing and building "things," is a good way to get some creative juices--and maybe even some corporate solutions--going.<br />
<br />
So let's hear it for the Danish blocks! Just wear shoes, is my advice.Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-40926969745478966972015-08-17T12:30:00.001-07:002015-08-17T12:30:29.281-07:00The book of life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdmgAD1mJxcLxvZRHZ2xhxiTGn8nK9QKhpSYJaW2ZliDSu6KR7fOapmSL_GBpcveNaKRfC230pYPg8yzb4szmkTb0wPX3ROPDWxN9ML96omkWs0XMVB47aBuxTbGwDWLlfFnZPMFLCuYc/s1600/drinkablebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdmgAD1mJxcLxvZRHZ2xhxiTGn8nK9QKhpSYJaW2ZliDSu6KR7fOapmSL_GBpcveNaKRfC230pYPg8yzb4szmkTb0wPX3ROPDWxN9ML96omkWs0XMVB47aBuxTbGwDWLlfFnZPMFLCuYc/s200/drinkablebook.jpg" width="162" /></a></div>
Drinking bad water causes millions of deaths around the world each year. But now some creative types have invented The Drinkable Book.<br />
<br />
Each page is impregnated with anti-bacterial silver and copper nanoparticles with killing capabilities--killing of bad flora and fauna, not people.<br />
<br />
They tested it at the Univ of Virginia on simulated "bad water" and then on "real" contaminated water in Africa.<br />
<br />
Even with the worst contamination, the "pages" of the book, with their silver and copper-nanoparticle paper, filtered out 99.9% of the dangerous stuff.<br />
<br />
Each page of the book is printed with water safety instructions, both in English and in the target country's language.<br />
<br />
A page cleans 26 gallons--and the whole book would last an individual 4 years.<br />
<br />
Cool, huh?Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-76675753759384237052015-07-13T12:01:00.001-07:002015-07-13T12:01:45.239-07:00Spooky guilt-provoking<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvGONX-P5a8Bfm0h8y7JBNXJh6-HmIjuDpyz9GxApmUtJdW7dw2CbI-A-Ea7DcRW4cGPHUDMRPQlkzTgefk7t37RwTgjgk9vjsopOCLKjXu_msEDJgH2LrjPKaLEsy4cQkD-RqY1ITWek/s1600/disabledhologram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvGONX-P5a8Bfm0h8y7JBNXJh6-HmIjuDpyz9GxApmUtJdW7dw2CbI-A-Ea7DcRW4cGPHUDMRPQlkzTgefk7t37RwTgjgk9vjsopOCLKjXu_msEDJgH2LrjPKaLEsy4cQkD-RqY1ITWek/s200/disabledhologram.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Have you ever parked in a handicapped space?<br />
<br />
For shame!<br />
<br />
Or maybe you just thought about it...<br />
<br />
Now you won't even do that--if this little wrinkle spreads beyond Russia.<br />
<br />
This system checks your car for a disabled sticker--if you don't have one, a hologram of a disabled person appears in the space. The image is thrown on a thin, water mist screen.<br />
<br />
As the image appears, a voice says, "STOP..don't pretend I don't exist."<br />
<br />
Well, you sort of don't exist. Kidding, kidding--this is weird but interesting.<br />
<br />
For more info--www.dislife.ru.<br />
<br />
<br />Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4122846121198632968.post-88597786201082026052015-06-11T12:50:00.001-07:002015-06-11T12:50:37.239-07:00Biomimicry robot<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrVrWJPNi3p8llPRa74N6rmOSiXR6grlRVhKQtr5q_oZ7iYAKA9l6yf59ygNdOOraREeW5LICbElr6d4r9S2auxgwaNo5o9lwY52HvIyrdxJSNJRo_1smfJ1vSDQHdGpx_CzWP-EY8vak/s1600/insectvisionrobot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrVrWJPNi3p8llPRa74N6rmOSiXR6grlRVhKQtr5q_oZ7iYAKA9l6yf59ygNdOOraREeW5LICbElr6d4r9S2auxgwaNo5o9lwY52HvIyrdxJSNJRo_1smfJ1vSDQHdGpx_CzWP-EY8vak/s200/insectvisionrobot.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The insect-vision stalker robot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Do we want robots who can "track" the way insects stalk their prey? Too late--we're getting them!<br />
<br />
In a paper published in the J of the Royal Society Interface, researchers at the Univ of Adelaide describe how things learned from both humans and insects can be applied to make an artificial intelligence system "pursue" an object.<br />
<br />
Detecting and tracking small objects against complex backgrounds is challenging, they say--but bugs can do it.<br />
<br />
Especially good at it are dragonflies, who can chase prey or mates even in a swarm of bees.<br />
<br />
They can catch prey flying up to 60 mph--and do it 97% of the time. Their brain is only the size of a grain of rice, though. Nevertheless, the researchers could track how it worked.<br />
<br />
Roughly explained, the scientists developed an algorithm that locks onto the background and lets the target move against it.<br />
<br />
So far, they have put this concept into a robot quite a bit larger than a dragonfly--perfect for going after larger prey? I mean, goals?Star Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04130255761118933523noreply@blogger.com0