This fascinating article and paper have been making the rounds amongst DC dorks. Seems like there’s lots of potential here for smart metering and other low power sensing, including medical applications. If these walls had ears, they might tell a homeowner some interesting things. Like when water is dripping into an attic crawl space, or […]
This whole Chilean miner incident has made me realize how claustrophobic I am because the very idea of being buried thousands of feet in the Earth, in a tiny room, filled with other anxious, surly dudes, is viscerally terrifying to me — even if they have three precious 3.19″ boreholes through which they can get […]
Self-assembling photovoltaic technology can keep repairing itself @ KurzweilAI… MIT scientists have created a novel set of self-assembling molecules that can turn sunlight into electricity; the molecules can be repeatedly broken down and then reassembled quickly, just by adding or removing an additional solution. In an attempt to imitate the  process of photosynthesis, Michael Strano, […]
My son got one of the Emotiv headsets as a college graduation present. It’s pretty amazing tech, early-adopter gear, for sure, but with tons of potential. He’s already coming up with ideas for game designs and art installations controlled by it (he has a degree in game design). In this video, Robert Oschler, of Robots […]
The worst thing about summertime in Austin is the facehuggers. They’re more than just a nuisance; if you’re allergic to alien embryos, like I am, they can actually be quite dangerous. Plus there’s that whole chestbursting thing–inconvenient, embarrassing, and uncomfortable to say the least. I’ve gotten pretty good at removing them using the old spork-and-a-defibrillator trick, but it’s terribly slow and, no matter how careful I am, I always seem to end up burning myself with molecular acid and having to stick those little bits of toilet paper to my face. Fortunately, thanks to space medic Ronald Renne, now there’s a better way. [via Gizmodo]
I love that, for many of us here at MAKE, our families and friends get actively involved in sending us possible material for the magazine and site. Today, we ran a piece on some repair and maintenance tips from editorial assistant Laura Cochrane’s dad. And tonight, our creative director, Daniel Carter, sent along this video, […]
Who hasn’t driven past a high-voltage power line and thought that the pylons looked like Wagnerian giants? This concept design from Boston architects Choi + Shine would take that romantic notion and turn it into what might be, if actually completed, the world’s largest sculptural art installation. Unfortunately, it looks like the concept, called “The Land of Giants,” only took honorable mention in the pylon design competition for which it was conceived, and will probably remain a dream. It’s getting so much attention online I can’t seem to find any info about the design that actually won. Anybody know who/what it was?
