This model takes the Latex & Thread Skin Model 01 to a larger scale developing the minimal system and forming a 1:20 fragment of a potential skin. The result is an intricate but surprisingly strong web.
Vertical growth/closed loop production has been developed by biofuel companies to produce algae faster and more efficiently than open pond growth. With vertical growing, algae are placed in clear plastic bags/tubes, so they can be exposed to sunlight on all sides. The extra sun exposure increases the productivity rate of the algae, which in turn increases oil production. The algae are also protected from contamination due the closed envionment of their growth.
This small scale experiment shows the growth of algae in a clear plastic tube of rainwater exposed to sunlight. An air pump is used to circulate the algae solution and to provide ample ‘dirty’ air including carbon dioxide. The rainwater provides nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus also required for algae growth. It can be seen that algae grows rapidly – in a matter of days – unlike seasonal crops.
As a continuation in the development of the Crest Pouring technique, diverting components are introduced in order to gain control over the flow paths of the material. These videos show a series of initial experiments in RealFlow, which help to understand how different components placed in different configurations have a specific effect on the material flow. These experiments will now be backed up by more specific investigations and physical experiments.
Burning Man Presentation_Kayleigh Dickson
The concept of is primarily based on the purifying and recycling of shower water, plus the evaporation of Grey Water. Fractured Interstitial Water System uses the water from a shower and through a series of thought out cracks filtrates, purifies and re-disperses the water around the shower systems. The programme of recycling the water at the Burning Man Festival informs the architecture by controlling the cracking formation to the preferable form for the programme, the Grey Water cracks vary in depth and scale to suit the change in the needs of the water and allows the grey water to be taken out into the playa for evaporation.
Water is a desirable and limited resource at the Burning Man festival; this programme will reduce the need to remove numerous liters of grey water from the Burning Man site after the festival and allows the concept of showering to be a daily activity rather than once or twice in two weeks.
This image is from the flooding in Pakistan where millions of spiders climbed in to the trees to escape the flood waters. Because of the scale of the flooding and the fact that the water has taken so long to recede, many trees have become cocooned in spiders webs. People in this part of Sindh are reporting that there are now far fewer mosquitoes than they would have expected, given the amount of stagnant, standing water that is around. It is thought that the mosquitos are getting caught in the spiders webs and therefore reducing the risk of malaria.
“In North-East India, the giant cliffs, lead up to a hidden word: Meghalayas. Nearly 2km high and buffeted by mansoon clouds this is possibly the wettest place on earth. Once 25 meters of rain fell here in a year, the world record. Living here poses an unusual problem and it is not just keeping dry. Nearly all the rain falls during the summer mansoon. River flows from gentle stream to raging torrent. They become wild and unpredictable and almost impossible to cross. Harli and his niece Giuliana are busy cultivating a cunning solution: 30 years ago, Harli planted this strangler fig on the river’s edge and today he is teaching Giuliana how to care for it…”
David Attenborough in the BBC Documentary How the world made us below (from the PermacultureForest Youtube Channel) narrates the beautiful story of the live bridges of Meghalayas which is a network of living fig tree bridges, sometimes several century old, used to cross the torrents in the Mansoon season.
Above: The “double decker” bridge, in Travel the Unknown blog
Above: Close up Photo of a fig tree bridge by Neeraj2608
Above: Even Handrails were made with the roots, article from Inhabitat
Above: view of one of the bridges from dpreview
Following on from the tutorial yesterday where Jack talked about possibly casting his experiments with sand using a saline solution sprayed onto the forms created here are two further ways of utilising sand to create rigid structures.
http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/16/view/15402/markus-kayser-solar-sinter-3d-printer.html
The first is a 3D printer which concentrates the solar energy to form glass structures from the sand the machine sits on. I know many of you have seen this before but I thought I’d post it in relation to this specific topic. The link is to designboom, a great website with daily updates from the latest innovations in architecture, art and design. Check out the link to find further information on Markus Kayser’s printer.
http://www.ted.com/talks/magnus_larsson_turning_dunes_into_architecture.html
The second is a TED lecture given by Magnus Larsson. He proposes an ambitious project to stop desertification in the Sahara by literally forming a wall across the continent using the desert sands as a bulding material.
If anyone wants to edit this post to try and embed the video from the TED lecture go ahead, I can’t get it to work with their f=video format but that may just be me.
Very interesting video showing how a lotus leaf reacts to liquid. Notice how even honey slides off the leaf like water. Research is being done on material with a Lotus-like property, also known as superhydrophobicity.
Below is an image from a scientific paper published in 2008 titled Laser structuring of water-repellent biomimetic surfaces and fully available here. The image shows a comparison between the microscopic texture of a leaf and a surface shaped with a laser. The artificial lotus shows very similar behaviour (and appearance) to the real leaf. A group in Germany called “Lotus-Effect” is also working on the reproducing the magic and has published great documentaries on their website.
Stunning images of the Martian Landscape taken by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter since 2006. Thank you to Subtilitas for pointing it out and for The Big Picture for posting them.
Part of the Abalos Undae dune field. The sands appear blueish because of their basaltic composition, while the lighter areas are probably covered in dust. More, or see location on Google Mars. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)
Scalloped sand dunes in the southern hemisphere of mars, displaying seasonal frost on the south-facing slopes, which highlights some of the regular patterns, as the frost forms only on parts of the ripples. More, or see location on Google Mars. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)
