This one, called “Galia,” is just one of twenty-two beautiful kinetic sculptures, most of which are zoomorphic, featured in Bend, Oregon artist Chris Cole’s online portfolio. Each has a well-produced video showcasing its movements, and they’re all available in Chris’s YouTube channel, to which I am subscribing right now.
The eagerly awaited OpenPCR kit is now shipping! UPS picked up the first batch of kits and OpenPCRs are on their way to users in 5 continents and 13 countries around the world. For $512, every OpenPCR kit includes all the parts, tools, and beautiful printed instructions – you ONLY need a set of screwdrivers.
OpenPCR first came to life last February, and we showed off our first prototype at Maker Faire last May. Those of you following the OpenPCR blog know we designed, refined, and engineered our hearts out. Today, Josh and I are pleased to make the first version of the OpenPCR design docs public. Whether you’re a […]
This morning I saw several tweets about DNA testing and Osama Bin Laden: “All I’m sayin is, if they took DNA samples for bin Laden, who did they match it against,& that was one ruddy fast PCR, can I have your machine?” – upulie “Did they bring PCR machine on the site to confirm Bin […]
From Huai-Ti Lin, Gary G. Leisk, and Barry Trimmer from the Departments of Biology, and Mechanical Engineering, at Tufts University. ScienceNOW has video of the model organism, and the model behavior, that inspired this impressive means of locomotion.
This prototype clock from UK designers James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau is powered by a microbial fuel cell. It features a conveyor belt of flypaper that attracts flies and drops their bodies into the fuel cell. Depending on the available fly supply, the process can generate enough power to sustain itself and power a digital clock, as well. [via Boing Boing]
From a group of what seem to be mostly Italian scientists with the delightfully ominous name of The Octopus Project. Construction details were published as Design of a Biomimetic Robotic Octopus Arm in Bioinspiration & Biomimetics in 2009. A 2008 conference preprint is available here.
