Chemistry, Physics, Mechanics that might be interesting in bio-hacking
Is this why you should do a CPJ? The link is a nice interview too. the bulk of the 7 years of the project was the flies sitting in their environment slowly getting used to new conditions. I kept the flies for a year under a Titan analog orange light before testing for adaptation. modelled… Continue reading A CPJ Example (and fruit-flies on Titan)
There are single-pixel cameras, that trade time (a series of patterns are projected, and the reflected brightness recorded) for pixels (it's just brightness: single pixel). We can see the original object if the brightness/pattern is played back ... fast enough. Cf. ~16Hz rate of motion pictures ("flicker fusion"). Picture of Einstein in the pdf. Why… Continue reading Aka 10KHz, Humans as single pixel cameras
Can make nanotubes, in some colors: With direct synthesis, large quantities of clean sample materials can be produced ... [using] aerosols of metal and carbon Can we make them? I mean, nanotubes are interesting.
Seems to be "cured" graphene oxide, but a technique for 3D Printing To create these complex structures, Hensleigh started with graphene oxide, a precursor to graphene, crosslinking the sheets to form a porous hydrogel. Breaking the graphene oxide hydrogel with ultrasound and adding light-sensitive acrylate polymers, Hensleigh could use projection micro-stereolithography
Math, modeling, water tanks, to figure out how mangrove roots work to resist storms. Via eurekalert.org. mangrove root systems even have the ability to dissipate tidal energy through unique hydrological flows and divert the energy of water ... robust network of roots that can withstand extreme environmental conditions. modeled the complex mangrove roots as a… Continue reading Artificial Mangrove
Liquification of bulk cargo can sink ships: granular materials loaded directly into a ship’s hold – can suddenly turn from a solid state into a liquid state... Solid bulk cargoes are typically “two-phase” materials as they contain water between the solid particles. As everyone knows, liquification happens during earthquakes A lot is known about the… Continue reading particles + water + pressure
LiveTag (via slashdot) new smart tags that harness reflected Wi-Fi signals ... copper foil printed onto lightweight paper-like material ... had to experiment with many different combinations of shapes, sizes, and materials for the LiveTags and run all those combinations through computer simulations. ... the smart tags only work within a three-foot range of Wi-Fi… Continue reading RFID Circuit Bending
in Why Love Generative Art? (via kottke.org) I see a clear line of influence on generative art starting from Cézanne and shooting straight through.... a simplified definition of generative art ... some non-technical examples of how generative art works ... history of generative art Relevant, of course, to The Sympathy of Things.
What it says on the label. a series of biodegradable food packaging ... agar-agar seaweed ... the package will wither ... biodegradable beeswax ... caramelised sugar, coated with wax ... melts when it comes in contact with water Seems much more reasonable than other so-called biodegradables. I wonder how they work in practice though.
In the paper Origami - inspired Cellular Metamaterial with Anisotropic Multistability we create a family of origami-inspired cellular metamaterials which can be programmed to have various stability characteristics and mechanical responses in three independent orthogonal directions. ... Our study provides a platform to design programmable three-dimensional metamaterials significantly broadening the application envelope of origami. Metamaterials… Continue reading DIY Metamaterials from Origami
A tool for simulating origami by Amanda Ghassaei This app allows you to simulate how any origami crease pattern will fold. Actually, it's a "solver": iteratively solving for small displacements in the geometry of an initially flat sheet due to forces exerted by creases. Does it work? Is it useful? How does it help you… Continue reading Origami Simulator
Microfluidic skin-on-a-chip device Hack this.
in Why Is the Color “Blue” Difficult To Find In Nature? Among living things, the color blue is oddly rare. I don't see the answer to "Why is blue hard (and rare)?" Another articles says, "The reason why is still a mystery'. But, interesting about tweaking red pigments (anthocyanin), and of course "nano" structures for… Continue reading Blue is Hard
In https://m.phys.org/news/2018-07-species-genes-driven-evolution.html They have found that cross-species transfers, even between plants and animals, have occurred frequently throughout evolution. I've wondered about this a lot in the past, known it happens with bacteria (via viruses and plasmid weirdness), and now I know it happens (somehow) more universally. How does this affect "dna aging clocks"? What are… Continue reading Not Just Your Parent’s DNA
Via boingboing: The very clever Electron Plumber figured all this out and built an LED "candle" that goes out when you blow on it, using the LED itself as a sensor that detects voltage drops (caused by cool air, caused by blowing) Realizing a side effect can be exploited is cool. In various incarnations of… Continue reading Its Own Sensor: Side Effects
From Nautilus: You don’t often see the word beautiful in scientific articles. Yet it’s easy to see why cell biologists Niccolò Banterle and Pierre Gönczy used the word when describing a crucial cell structure called the centriole in a recent review.
awgrover 