kuratkull

The Laboratory at Harvard [bioephemera]

2009-11-08T22:01:31Z

I’m currently attending the Grand Opening of the new Laboratory at Harvard University, “an exhibition and meeting space for student idea development within and between the arts and sciences,” for a special colloquium on Art, Science, and Creativity featuring David Edwards (author of ArtScience), Lisa Randall, and others. This is awesome. Stay tuned for a report tomorrow.
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Original post by Jessica Palmer none@example.com

Turning Rainwater Into a Playground

2009-11-08T20:12:39Z

Image: De Urbanisten and Studio Marco Vermeulen
Two Dutch architects want to alter the storm drainage system of the city of Rotterdam to redirect water into playgrounds. The water will be used to fill fanciful ponds and moats for children to play in/around:
In Florian Boer and Marco Vermeulen’s proposal, rainwater runoff isn’t funneled into a complex system of underground pipes, a system that is rather expensive to build and maintain, but is managed instead through a network of surface reservoirs, the Waterpleinen, or Watersquares. These storage spaces will be dry for most of the year, but during storm events, they will collect water from the surrounding neighborhood. If one reaches capacity, excess water will overflow into another basin. After the rain, the collected water will slowly recede into nearby bodies of water or seep into the soil.
So instead of being buried in concrete, excised from the daily life of the [...]

Original post by John Farrier

Bread Shoes

2009-11-08T20:09:43Z

Photo: Dalia Birske
Martynas Birskys of the Vilnius-based design studio DaDaDa sells slippers made out of bread. For your comfort, you can select from various sizes and grains. It’s hard to argue with his sales pitch “eatable…dries itself… made from bread…first in fashion…needs no pressing…feels good in dry climate …won’t sag.”
Link via GearFuse

Original post by John Farrier

8-Bit Wedding Invitation

2009-11-08T20:07:29Z

Image: GeekStir
Luis Diaz Santis and Magaly Guerrero Ramierz sent out invitations to their wedding depicting themselves as 8-bit characters in a two-player combat video game. Chris Jacob of Gizmodo suggests that this is a subtle social commentary on modern marriage. Either way, it’s cool, and you can view a picture of the groom proposing in binary at the link.
Link via Gizmodo

Original post by John Farrier

Inflatable Seat Belt

2009-11-08T20:03:26Z

(YouTube Link)
Ford is developing a seat belt that inflates when the car detects a crash. In The Wall Street Journal, Matthew Dolan writes:
Its inflatable rear seat belts spread crash forces over five times more area of the body than conventional seat belts, said Sue Cischke, Ford group vice president of sustainability, environmental and safety engineering
Each belt’s tubular air bag inflates with cold compressed gas, which flows through a specially designed buckle from a cylinder housed below the seat. The inflatable belt’s accordion-folded bag breaks through the belt fabric as it fills with gas, expanding sideways across the occupant’s body. It looks something like a water wing children wear in the pool before they know how to swim.

Link via Popular Science

Original post by John Farrier

Harp Cover Songs

2009-11-08T19:37:41Z

(YouTube Link)
Ben Miller of Urlesque has compiled several pop, rock, and metal songs performed by harpists, such as CKania13’s rendition of Led Zepplin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” The other videos are selections from Journey, Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Lenny Kravitz.
Link | Previously on Neatorama: Harptallica

Original post by John Farrier

Longcat Fleece Scarf

2009-11-08T19:08:24Z

Longcat is long, and warm, too because he’s a scarf made of fleece, felt, and polyfil. Also available in Tacgnol style (black). This internet meme is brought to you by artist Heather Dugger. Link -via The Daily What

Original post by Miss Cellania

The Australian’s War on Science 41 [Deltoid]

2009-11-08T18:23:15Z

Despite her training in law, Janet Albrechtsen was not able to figure out that the Copenhagen treaty wasn’t going to impose a COMMUNIST WORLD GOVERNMENT, so you just know that she has no chance in hell of understanding a scientific question. Albrechtsen claims that it is a “fact” that “Sea levels have remained constant for the past 30 years”. Study the graph below from te CSIRO to see that measurements from tide gauges and satellites contradict this claim.

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Original post by Tim Lambert none@example.com

The Tin Horse Highway

2009-11-08T17:41:48Z

The Outback town of Kulin, Australia, welcomes many tourists for the annual Kulin Bush Races in October. In the days leading up to the races, locals construct fanciful horses out of all kinds of materials to entertain those who travel the highway leading to the Jilakin Racetrack. This has become known as the Tin Horse Highway. See more tin horses placed in funny situations at Holtie’s House. Link

Original post by Miss Cellania

Teeny Tiny Books

2009-11-08T16:36:39Z

This is sort of like the library necklace, but with real books. From the Publishing House of Miniature Books in Russia come these tiny masterpieces measuring less than half an inch tall. I used Google Language Tools to try and translate some of the titles, and found one title translated as “And Bunin. A. Antonovsky apples”.
An Amazon search brought me to Ivan Bunin’s Collected Stories. The first story is called “The Scent of Apples,” and I learn on the first page that antonovka means autumn apple:
“I remember a fresh and quiet morning…The big garden, its dry and thinned out leaves turning golden in the early light. I remember the avenue of maples, the delicate smell of the fallen leaves, and the scent of autumn apples — antonovkas –that mix of honey and fall freshness. The air’s so clear it seems there is no air at all…”
There is a long history [...]

Original post by Marilyn Terrell