Speeding Up Science explores the idea of rapidly identifying species using networks across facebook. After a research expedition to Cuyuni River (Guyana, South America), with potentially 5,000 fish to identify, Oregon State University ichthyologist Brian Sidlauskas called on his friends and colleagues to speed up the identification process. By uploading photos, members of the scientific community were able to identify and tag almost all of the photos within 24 hours. The power of social media isn’t always to brag about your day-to-day events, it can actually be useful, too! Oh, and not to forget the nice video & infographics mix.
Whilst making a homemade bomb for blast fishing, Chinese farmer Sun Jifa, lost both of his hands when it exploded prematurely. Because he could not afford the hospital’s prosthetic limbs, he decided to make his own pair of bionic hands.
It took Sun eight years of prototyping before he designed a pair of steel prosthetic hands with a series of wires and pulleys, allowing him to grip and hold.
Whilst the steel is heavy and it’s tiring to use them, he can feed himself and continue to work. Sun has created a functional piece of design - one which he plans to develop for other handicapped or disabled people in a similar situation.
For more info about the story visit our friends at designtaxi
An Incredibly beautiful animation inspiring us to question the long term impacts of our meals (beyond an impending food baby).
(via thehonestpalate)
From Sydney to Stockholm, This Is Now is a mashup that paints a real-time portait of a city based on the photos of local instagramers. Looking beyond the mass of food porn, it’s a curiously addictive experience…like peering into a visual manifestation of the attitude and mood of a whole city (well at least those with access to a smart phone).
Poverty must not be a bar to learning and learning must offer an escape from poverty.
- Lyndon B Johnson
We like this guy! Canadian illustrator, Marc Johns, never fails to entertain us with his humorous artworks. His thought processes alone are interesting. Take this next paragraph, an extract from his website where he discusses a day in his life:
For instance, the pen I am using to write this draft would probably say: “I’m tired. Can we stop for a bit?” Or perhaps it would say: “I can’t believe you’re making me write this. This is rubbish. Signing cheques would be more inspiring than this.” These are the things I think about. I think about a lot of things. I think about thinking. Don’t try it though, it’s not worth it.
If you haven’t already, take a look at his blog full of illustrated goodness.
Over the past two years we’ve worked on projects that we hadn’t yet managed to achieve alone, and produced heaps of ideas that we hadn’t thought of previously. Being constantly surrounded by passionate people, means that their passion drives us and motivates us to do things that makes us healthier and happier.
Despite the various industries that people around you may work within; their thought processes, ideas and views on life are invaluable. Whether it’s over a few casual drinks with colleagues or clients or having dinner with friends and family, the discussions that arise are the best way to get inspired. This article, by Leo Babauta of Design Taxi, sums it up quite nicely.
It follows the same idea of contagious smiling - if someone smiles at you, you’re more likely to smile back. We’re constantly talking to and collaborating with passionate people, and we suggest you do to!
Tactus Technology has presented a nice addition to touch screen technology - physical buttons that rise up from the surface on demand, and then recede back into the screen, leaving a perfectly flat, transparent surface when gone.
How? Using a 1-mm-thick Tactile Layer containing tiny channels of non-toxic fluid, managed by a small internal controller that adjusts the pressure of the different portions liquid, causing the buttons to rise up or down. Along with all of the other benefits, we think it’s a great way to introduce braille to existing touch screens.
Our office neighbour brought in a pair of special glasses this week, allowing us to gaze on the once in a lifetime event of Venus crossing the Sun with our own eyes. What we saw was a tiny black spec foreground by a large orange ball, yet we couldn’t stop staring.
For most of us, all that stuff that goes on up in space is so far removed from our everyday lives that we separate it out completely from our existence here on Earth. Like buying steak from the supermarket, we take for granted the complex system which actually makes our environment possible.
This bout of midweek philosophy had the following effects: 1) making me want to go out and buy one of those rotating galaxy models you find in primary schools, and 2) watching endless ‘educational’ space videos on the internets.
Enjoy!
There is not much in life that compares to a few drinks over a home cooked meal with good company.
But Eat for Equity manages to go one step further in the warm and fuzzy stakes by providing an opportunity to contribute to local and global grassroots non-profits (whilst also stuffing your face). The idea is pretty damn simple: turn up and give what you can afford, then relax and enjoy an evening of food and good times.
It’s this honest attitude that has seen the initiative break down barriers for everyday people to contribute within their means on a regular basis. So far $34,000 has been donated, we’ll raise our forks to that.
At Cocoon we really love change, we kind of thrive on it. Which is a very happy coincidence because life likes to a throw curve ball or two, or in our case more balls then we feel anyone is entitled to. Yep, we are ball magnets. And as a result we’ve gotten pretty good at reminding ourselves of the bigger picture (the one with less balls).
But sometimes we still get discouraged and bogged down (with all those balls) and need reminding about the comparative distance between us and the light at the end of the tunnel. This video is a pretty amazing reminder that some people are able to dedicate their whole lives to the pursuit of goals they know they will never see achieved in their (or their children’s) lifetime.
What if your food talked back? A bunch of clever designers have made a break through in human-food communication with their project ‘Noisy Jelly’. The invention was created using Max/Msp and uses capacity sensors and a variety of jelly shapes (all with different salt concentrations) to detect the proximity and strength of finger contact. This feedback is then turned into an audio signal, giving the jelly a ‘voice’!!
I wonder what chocolate sounds like.
Tahnee and I let our inner science nerds out to play on a recent field trip… what we discovered was awe-inspiring, humbling, and down right frightening. I might think twice next time I squish a mozzie or absentmindedly flatten an army of ants because if there is anything my 90’s childhood has taught me it’s that at some point I WILL be the same size as one of these monsters. *shudder*
We hope that, when the insects take over the world, they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics - Bill Vaughn
- Jess
