Imaging

Ikea camera dolly hack

Ikea camera dolly hack

I love this DIY camera dolly track, built from a $15 “Ivar” Ikea shelving “side unit.” A few days ago, I found out that the Ivar “wooden ladder” was perfect to use it as rails for my cinema dolly! I can now make some nice sequence shots with this 18€ (USD$15) accessory from Ikea. [Thanks, […]

Atomic-bond resolution microscopy

Atomic-bond resolution microscopy

Pardon me while I go chemistry geek. It has recently come to my attention that Leo Gross and co-workers at IBM Research in Switzerland have developed a special atomic-force microscopy technique that can image actual molecules with enough resolution to “see” individual bonds and hydrogen atoms. Shown uppermost is a computer-generated model of the pentacene molecule, and below it, an actual image from the microscope. The microscope’s probe is tipped with a single molecule of carbon monoxide. Unbelievable.

Glow-in-the-dark record player display

Glow-in-the-dark record player display

This light sculpture by German multimedia design collective lab binaer may look like a persistence of vision (POV) display at first glance, but in fact works on a very different principle. It’s built from a record player, and the turntable has been treated with a phosphorescent pigment. Messages are printed on the pigment by an array of bright lights on the tone arm, and slowly fade to black as the phosphorescence wanes. It’s titled »Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod« or “Death calls the tune.”