July 25, 2010
In his 2008 “Second Nature” exhibition at Tokyo’s 2121 Design Sight gallery, Tokujin Yoshioka displayed chairs grown from crystals and fiber optic clouds suspended from the ceiling. The artist habitually crafts visually striking designs that conjure natural phenomena using simple materials. His new show, titled “Sensing Nature: Rethinking the Japanese Perception of Nature,” at Roppongi Hills’ Mori Art Museum adds the element of motion to the mix.
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July 25, 2010
Just when we assume technological standards for commercial media have stabilized, we have a surprise in store. Those still contemplating the switch from DVDs to Blu-ray, for example, will have another format to consider soon. Researchers at Sony and Tohoku University have recently created a new blue-violet ultrafast pulsed semiconductor laser, with an immediate application in disk storage. Capable of producing three-picosecond-long optical pulses, the laser has 100 times the output value of existing blue-violet pulse semiconductor lasers.
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July 18, 2010
The burgeoning field of daylighting often prioritizes materials that can propagate light deeply into interior spaces. However, light-reflecting materials are not ideal for every situation; rather, light absorption is often desired to minimize glare and solar heat gain. A look at the most light-absorptive materials reveals a recent discovery by the National Metrology Institute of Japan, which claims to have developed the darkest matter on earth.
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July 18, 2010
The 2007 biofuels fiasco resulted when the demand for corn-based ethanol came in direct conflict with other needs, such as food. Since then, scientists have been particularly focused on developing biofuels and bioplastics from inedible sources like switchgrass in order to avoid this conflict. Another approach is to reconsider our edible resources themselves. A search for a rapidly renewable foodstuff has drawn attention to azolla, a fast-growing, edible aquatic fern with a high nutritional value.
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July 11, 2010
Since reading Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart’s description of seed-bearing, biodegradable waste wrappers in Cradle to Cradle, I’ve been interested in the notion of so-called regenerative design. Can we really transform waste into food, and how would a society that biodegrades rather than throws away or recycles its trash operate?
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