Archive for June, 2010

Little Clear Critters Or Do I have X-ray Eyes!

Small animal specimens that have been bleached and dyed to display their inner workings. No Photoshop involved! The page is in Japanese so you that scares  you use this link.
[via io9]

Transparent specimen ( specimen double stained transparent).

Popularity: 1% [?]

Programmable Self-Folding Origami

Only a matter of time until technology like this becomes common in everyday items. I want a bed that will make itself when I get out of it in the mornings.

(The device)… consists of a thin sheet of resin–fiberglass composite, just a few centimeters across, segmented into 32 triangular panels separated by flexible silicone joints. Some of the joints have heat-sensitive actuators that bend 180 degrees when warmed by an electric current, folding the sheet over at that joint. Depending on the program used, the sheet will conduct a series of folds to yield the boat or airplane shape in about 15 seconds. The folding-sheet approach is an extension of the field of computational origami, the mathematical study of how flat objects can be folded into complex, three-dimensional structures.

Shifty Science: Programmable Matter Takes Shape with Self-Folding Origami Sheets: Scientific American.

Popularity: 1% [?]

DIY 6×17 Panoramic Film Camera

An ongoing project, this homemade 6×17 panoramic camera is not something that will win a beauty contest but the photos it takes are amazing! The body is mostly built out of 2mm aircraft grade aluminum and the lens is a wide Caltar W-II  90mm, something that would normally be on a 4×5 camera. He does a great image comparison between the results from this camera and a Nikon D200 to show the leap in quality. I love pages like this, the inspiration they give make browsing the web well worth it.

diy 6×17 camera

Popularity: 1% [?]

Multimeter Clock Is A Multimeter

… Well a bunch of multimeters to be exact. I found this in  my mailbox today:

Your readers are sure to get a kick out of my latest clock project. The clock consists of three multimeters, the first meter displays hours, the second displays minutes and the last displays seconds. A 16F628A PIC microcontroller keeps track of time and outputs a calculated current to each meter to display the current time.

Heck yeah, that’s pretty darn cool!

I thought it would be cool to have a clock that looks like an old Simpson 260 multimeter. The clock consists of three multimeters, the first meter displays hours, the second displays minutes and the last displays seconds.

Check out his project on his page:

Multimeter Clock – Styled after the Simpson 260 Multimeter – Hacked Gadgets – DIY Tech Blog.

Popularity: 1% [?]

US Army To Fly Airships Over Afghan

I’ve been a fan of airships for years and I think it’s great that their unique functionality is once again going to be used.

The airships – which have been dubbed Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) systems – will be deployed in just 18 months.
“It is critical [for] our warfighters [to be] equipped with more enabling integrated ISR capability to tackle today’s and tomorrow’s conflicts,” explained Northrop spokesperson Alan Metzger.
“[So], we have designed a system with plug-and-play capability to readily integrate into the Army’s existing common ground station command centers and ground troops in forward operating bases.”
According to Metzger, the LEMVs are expected to be capable of sustaining altitudes of 20,000 feet for a three-week period.

US Army orders hybrid airship for Afghan deployment.

Popularity: 1% [?]

The Classic Macintosh iPad Stand

A clever hack that combines a Mac Classic with a brand spanking new Apple iPad. No, the Mac Classic no longer works after this hack but you have to admit that it’s better than leaving to molder on a closet shelf somewhere.

iPad のスタンドを自作してみる – Macintosh iPad Stand | site hirac.
[Translated via the mighty Google so non-Japanese folks can read it]

Popularity: 1% [?]

« Older Entries