A year since I posted--bad bad blogger

Sorry--I have been consumed with weirdness, not the least of which is our, shall we say, unconventional president.

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.

But Allan and a guest recently got involved in a back-and-forth about whether everyone is creative.

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).

What do you think of this?

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.

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.

What is your take? You don't have to agree with me--I may not even agree with me any more,

Printing a house

Credit: New Story/.ICON/youtube

ICON has figured out how to 3D print a small house in under 24 hours--800 square feet--a nice porch.

Cost now about $10,000--but they are going to bring it down to $4,000 as soon as they can.

Target at the moment is the third world, but these don't look bad for Americans in the tiny home range.

I lived in a 600 square foot apt with another person--and loved it.

Pick up your "beach read" at the beach

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.

The Rapana Library looks a little like a seashell and shelves more than a thousand books. It also has a small stage.

The designers went through 20 models and the final contains 240 pieces of wood.

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!

I have a question on the Varna "seashell" library--what about moisture, rain even, wind? Books, as I recall, are made of paper.

Tip of the hat--to life

The Ford Motor Company has invented the SafeCap, which will alert drivers to their drowsiness.

The cap is aimed at truck drivers, but could be used by anyone.

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.

When these are detected, a sound is emitted--followed by light and vibration.

By heading off accidents due to the driver nodding off, the company hopes to reduce deaths and  injuries.

Look for this in 2018.

Bone screws made of--bone!

Since the 19th century, surgeons have been using metal screws and plates to hold broken bones until they could fuse and heal.

However, titanium or steel screws can cause problems--such as infections--and sometimes need to be removed, meaning a second operation.

Now, engineers at the Graz University of Technology have teamed up with a startup called Surgebright to make these screws of human bone.

Called Shark Screws, these are made from donated bone--typed to match the recipient to prevent rejection.

A year after surgery, they don't even show up on x-ray--they are part of the patient's bone.

Surgebright was created in 2016 with the German Institute of Tissue and Cell Replacement.

Other surgical innovations to watch for? Tissue scaffolds and a smart needle to be used in brain surgery.

Can you think of others?

For more info, go to http:/www.tugraz.at,

This building builds itself

What if you need a decent-sized building someplace in 10 minutes? Call Ten Fold Engineering, a UK-based company (www.tenfoldengineering.com).

Each structure is 689 square feet of space. It can be transported to any site (no foundation needed) by truck.

All you need to set it up is a battery-powered, hand-held drill.

The building, you see, unfurls itself using a low-tech, counter-balanced folding assembly.

The units can be stack on each other or on sloped or uneven ground.

Use them for clinics, beach houses, offices, shops, anything.

Time to move on? They furl back together.

The company even combined some to make a 40-bedroom hotel for a festival.

What do these cost? The company's website promises more info on cost this month.

Oh--and you can see some cool depictions of the buildings unfolding.

Capturing your steps as energy

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.

Their brainstorm involves using wood pulp and nanofibers in the flooring.

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.

Associate professor Xudong Wang is planning to build a prototype in a high-profile spot on campus...and from there, who knows.

Actually, this is not a new idea...It's being developed elsewhere as well--including England.
Google  Laurence Kemball-Cook, for example. That's him in the picture.

People walk--why let that go to waste?