Archive for October, 2008

Posted on October 31, 2008 - by CDS

Raindrops by Evan Grant

Here’s a fantastic, and simple idea to reuse rainwater. It was originally designed as a contest entry for Design for Poverty (and it won first place, GOLD). It’s such a good idea, I think it would be very easy to create your own for home use. It not only reuses rainwater, but puts to use plastic bottles that would normally be discarged.

Here’s an excerpt from Yanko Design. You can also find all winners after the jump.

GOLD – Rain Drops by Evan Gant (United States)

Rain water is a largely untapped resource, especially in many developing countries where clean water is scarce. Water harvesting consists of three main components: a catchment area (generally a roof), a gutter system and a water storage area. The water storage area is by far the most expensive portion of this system, which makes it out of reach for many families. The RainDrops system simply allows people to adapt standard plastic bottles to an existing gutter system to collect rain water. This changes water storage from the most to the least expensive part of the system. These are much easier to clean and replace than larger storage units. The repurposing of these plastic bottles will also give value to many bottles that are otherwise headed for landfills. Corruption in the water sector is a real problem in many developing countries. The scalability of this system helps to give more power to the communities in need… more at Yanko Design

Posted on October 31, 2008 - by CDS

Tilt-Shift Photography

I’ve seen quite a bit of tilt-shift photography lately, or photos modified in photoshop to mimick the expensive tilt-shift lens effect. Essentially, by blurring out selected parts of a photograph, the focal area is made to look miniature. It’s pretty cool! Here are some samples from the Miniature Sunday Group. And here’s a tutorial to create a tilt-shift effect in photoshop, http://www.tiltshiftphotography.net/photoshop-tutorial.php.

Posted on October 27, 2008 - by CDS

Fishbowl Spacecraft from Armadillo Aerospace

More space stuff…. This is one of the craziest concepts I’ve seen yet. It’s another prototype for space tourism. The fishbowl is supposed to give tourists a 360 degree view of space. My first thought was, “How will they overcome reenty in something like that”? I don’t know… maybe since it’s suborbital it doesn’t go up high enough to burn up on reenty? The state of New Mexico and Armadillo Aerospace plan to have a manned launch in 2010! I’ll be watching for the end result of this experient. 

The state of New Mexico hopes to collaborate with two firms to create suborbital vehicles for space tourists. This illustration is one concept for the ship, which will afford passengers a 360° view of space. Armadillo Aerospace plans to build an initial prototype of the vehicle in 2009 and is aiming for crewed suborbital flights in 2010. The reusable vehicles will take off vertically from Spaceport America near Las Cruces, New Mexico. The ships can take two passengers at a time, and tickets will cost an estimated $100,000. Rocket Racing Inc, which is developing a NASCAR-inspired rocket racing league, will fund the effort. (Illustration: Rocket Racing Inc)

Source: New Scientist

Posted on October 26, 2008 - by CDS

Nuclear Destroyer – NASA Mars Rover 2009

US aerospace titan Lockheed Martin announced yesterday that they had shipped the “backshell” for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, the top half of the tin in which the rover will fly through space.

As the MSL descends from deep space into the thin atmosphere of Mars, the two-part aeroshell module will steer itself down by ejecting ballast to shift its centre of gravity. The backshell is mounted on a special-for-Mars ablative heat shield base made of cork and silicone, much of which will burn away from atmospheric friction as the spacecraft plunges down.

Source: The Register

Posted on October 26, 2008 - by CDS

MINI E

Love, love, love this car! A limited number will be available in the US in 2009 (New York and LA)

Up to 500 MINI E will hit the streets in the US shortly. Carbon-free driving (zero carbon emissions!!!) powered by a 100 % electric motor, seamless acceleration to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 8.5 seconds, and a top speed of 152 km/h (95 mph) – that’s big news for a small car.
The MINI E is the future of mobility – and creative use of space at its best!

Posted on October 26, 2008 - by CDS

Obama vs. McCain Dance Off!

This is hilarious!

Posted on October 24, 2008 - by CDS

Steampunk Goggles – Titanium Photochromatic Variable-Aperature Spectacles

Update: I thought I would post the actual maker of these goggles, too. The website is: http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/6278166_YCdn5. There are a lot more photos and details at this site.

It’s entirely possible that Mike Brown overdosed on ADD meds: These brass goggles scream “attention to detail.
Some numbers: The leather is actually bolted to the eyepieces, using 48 tiny bolts plus another four for the nosepiece. The leather was chosen for the tanning process which should give it a klife of a few thousand years.

Ditto the eyepieces, which are machines from titanium and coated with Titanium Nitride. Predicted lifespan: 500 years plus. There are even brass eyelets in the leather eyecups to stop the lenses steaming up.

Mike put in a few nice extras, too. The sliders in each eyepiece close the leaf-apertures inside, which will cut out light and also sharpen your eyesight, just like a pinhole camera. The lenses themselves react to light and get darker the brighter it is.

 source: Wired Magazine Blog

Posted on October 9, 2008 - by CDS

The Unnatural Selector

 The craziest Steampunk Raygun every designed. Limited edition, created by New Zealand’s Weta Workshop. Definitely an interesting (and expensive) collectors item. Priced from $7900 to $4500.

 Source: Weta New Zealand