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Cool Techie Geeky Stuff...
Mac:
Ferrofluid (fluid with iron bits) Sculpture
I've seen non-newtonian demonstrated with speakers, but this is just even weirder with the magnetisation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUz1ZI-w6LQ
Here's basic non-newtonian demo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v0c0Al5X0g
Mac:
This is Techie in a primeval kind of way. Genius.
I my quest to figure out how to lift boulders into my brothers truck without getting hurt I ran across this classic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCvx5gSnfW4
Chiprocks1:
Mr. Block = Stonehenge Reloaded
Mac:
Blight Solar Blind
First Place winner @ Greener Gadget Design Competition.
Pretty cool idea.
--- Quote ---Blinds are handy things. They give us privacy at night and block the sun’s rays during the day. But what if there was a way to capture the light from the day and give it back at night to illuminate the house? That’s the thinking behind Vincent Gerkens’ concept design which takes a Venetian blind and combines it with flexible solar cells and electroluminescent foil to produce the ‘Blight’ – that’s short for ‘Blind Light’, but I’d be tempted to give the name some more thought if I were Vincent given the images of pestilence and decay the word evokes. The Blight captures solar energy during the day and uses it to power the electroluminescent foil covering the blinds to produce light at night.
--- End quote ---
Mac:
Another cool idea from a 2nd Place Winner at the Greener Gadget Design Competition.
Gravity Powered Lamp
--- Quote ---Clay Moulton of Springfield, Va., who received his master of science degree in architecture (concentration in industrial design) from the College of Architecture and Urban Studies in 2007, created the lamp when he was an industrial design graduate student. The light-emitting diode (LED) lamp, named Gravia, has just won second place in the Greener Gadgets Design Competition as part of the Greener Gadgets Conference in New York City.
Concept illustrations of Gravia depict an acrylic column a little over four feet high. The entire column glows when activated. The electricity is generated by the slow fall of a mass that spins a rotor. The resulting energy powers 10 high-output LEDs that fire into the acrylic lens, creating a diffuse light. The operation is silent and the housing is elegant and cord free -- completely independent of electrical infrastructure.
The light output will be 600-800 lumens - roughly equal to a 40-watt incandescent bulb over a period of four hours.
To "turn on" the lamp, the user moves weights from the bottom to the top of the lamp. An hour glass-like mechanism is turned over and the weights are placed in the mass sled near the top of the lamp. The sled begins its gentle glide back down and, within a few seconds, the LEDs come on and light the lamp, Moulton said. "It's more complicated than flipping a switch but can be an acceptable, even enjoyable routine, like winding a beautiful clock or making good coffee," he said.
The design is based on future developments in LED technology. With current technology, Moulton concedes, a great deal of weight –- tons -- would be required, and current LEDs are not sufficiently efficient. But there are many exciting developments occurring in the field of LED technology so this futuristic lamp could one day become a household item.
Moulton estimates that Gravia's mechanisms will last more than 200 years, if used eight hours a day, 365 days a year. "The LEDs, which are generally considered long-life devices, become short-life components in comparison to the drive mechanisms," he said.
The acrylic lens will be altered by time in an attractive fashion, Moulton said. "The LEDs produce a slightly unnatural blue-ish light. As the acrylic ages, it becomes slightly yellowed and crazed through exposure to ultraviolet light," he said. "The yellowing and crazing will tend to mitigate the unnatural blue hue of the LED light. Thus, Gravia will produce a more natural color of light with age."
He predicted that the acrylic will begin to yellow within 10 to 15 years when Gravia is used in a home's interior room.
A patent is pending on the Gravia.
--- End quote ---
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