A while back I did some experimentation with stewing plastic bags in canola oil and then pressing them into solid forms. The process I followed used this method for molding a self-lubricating replacement bushing on a washing machine. While the results were certainly interesting, they had a side-effect of being impregnated in the oil, leaving grease stains in their path forever.
Lately I’ve taken to finding morals in the stuff I post. Last time it was radically limiting your options to inspire more creative thinking. Today, I think, the lesson of this simple-but-striking assemblage is about paying close attention to your starting material. What features does it already have, when you walk up on it, that you can exploit?
ITP students Michell Cardona and Nelson Ramon Ramirez created several different oscillating wind generators before settling on something that works the best. Similar to the Humdinger in function, their Linear Wind Electricity Catcher works by fluttering a magnet in close proximity to a transformer, which translates kinetic energy to electrical energy after being rectified.
Interesting off-beat find via kris de kecker’s “No Tech Magazine,” which today linked to WIKI-style and PDF versions of Klaus Grasser and Gernot Minke’s 1990 book “Building With Pumice.” Turns out pumice, a foamy igneous rock, often tan in color and generally known for its ability to float in water…
M Design of Montreal takes discarded furniture and hacks the disparate parts into new home furnishings in their “Project Scrap” series. We especially dig the bureau drawers flipped sideways and turned into shelving units. [via Dude Craft]
While there are LED alternatives on the market for MR16 bulbs, the technology is still prohibitively expensive. I pulled one of the halogens and found the socket was simply two pieces of 19 gauge wire. I decided to free-form some circuits made of different colored LEDs around the thicker terminals.
Our own Mark Frauenfelder discovered the work of Boulder, Colorado interventions-in-nature artist Mike Grab in the best possible way: He happened upon one of Mike’s sculptures, in the wild, soon after its completion. Simply put, Mike Grab balances rocks, one on top of another, in flowing water, with no glue or other means of support apart from gravity itself.
