Tree Caught up in the Matrix
So you thought is was just you, feeling domesticated by the systems around you? Now imagine how this tree must feel wondering “What is the Matrix?”. Peculiar image of the week. Spotted by Piebe van der Storm.
What is Next Nature?
With our attempts to cultivate nature, humankind causes the rising of a next nature, which is wild and unpredictable as ever. Wild systems, genetic surprises, autonomous machinery and splendidly beautiful black flowers. Nature changes along with us.
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Eating In Vitro: Meat Paint
Beyond imitating known meat products like steaks and hamburgers, in-vitro meat could give rise to entirely new food products and dining habits.
Paint with meat! is a speculative product for children of 5-10 years old. It allows them to prepare their own meat dish in a very creative, fun and safe way: by painting! The meat paint lets children put some extra effort into their meal, which makes the dinner more valuable and meaningful again. By painting their own meal children get more affinity with their food and are therefore more willing to eat it.
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Pick Pig – Name Pig – Love Pig – Eat Pig
In a time of all-horse hamburgers and E. coli outbreaks, food provenance has become a huge issue. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the lack of traceability within the food industry. Often, shoppers have to rely on packaging to tell the truth – which it often doesn’t. What if the origin of a food could be proven at the most basic level?
While some may struggle with harsh reality that an animal must die for us to eat meat, Yorkshire Meats has seen this as an opportunity to provide people in the UK with full traceability and accountability. Through their Adopt-a-Pig scheme consumers can track their pig’s life from start to finish, developing a relationship with the animal whilst also being aware of exactly how and where the pork they eat has been raised.
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Implanted into Bacteria, Synthetic DNA Functions as a Diagnostic Computer
In the movie Fantastic Voyage, a submarine and its crew were shrunk and injected into the body of a sick man in an attempt to save his life. Despite the fictional nature of this story, in the near future miniaturized, organic “computers” may roam our bodies, detecting early-stage diseases and treating them on the spot. There are already 10 times more bacterial cells than human cells in our bodies – so why not add a few more?
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A Robot to Make Rats Depressed
The robot in the picture above chases and attacks the living rat rights besides it. The W-3, as the robot is named, is designed to make rats seriously depressed. In fact, this robot is one of the best methods to induce depression in lab rats.
Making a rat depressed might seem strange or even unethical, but researchers have already done it for years. After all, you can’t develop antidepressants without having depressed rats to test them on. Current methods to make rats depressed, like making them swim for hours or giving them electric shocks, do not quite mimic the day-to-day situations humans go through. Therefore, the researchers at Tokyo’s Waseda University developed a robot that more precisely mimics the social stressors that can trigger depression in humans.
I wonder how a depression-inducing robot for humans might look.
Story via Spectrum IEEE.
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Cavemen Used ‘Facebook’ Already
Scientists claim to have discovered a “prehistoric version of Facebook” used by ancient tribes to communicate with each other. After analyzing over 3000 rock art images in Sweden and Russia, Mark Sapwell and his team from Cambridge University concluded that the sites functioned like an “archaic related stories version” of social networks where users shared thoughts and emotions and gave stamps of approval to other contributions – very similar to today’s Facebook like.
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Offshore Wind Farms Generate Their Own Microclimates
As we strive to milk all available energy from nature, we not only harvest but alter our surroundings in the process. By mixing the warm sea air with cooler air above, offshore wind farms create their own clouds and could even alter weather and storm patterns. This phenomenon might even project the future potential of constructing wind farms to disperse storms and evade natural disasters before they happen.
From the Greenopolis website: “Wind farms receive a lot of praise in the fight against climate change. Along with solar, they’re often pitched as our last hope for energy independence. Ironically, not only do they “fight” climate change but they also create micro-climates… Studies have shown that wind farms are even capable of changing weather patterns.”
Image via Greenopolis.
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Bionic man
It’s not really a man, and it’s not really a robot. Nor is it a cyborg, although this might be the most accurate description. This $1 million dollar bionic something is a showcase of what we are currently capable of installing in human beings along with a look at the future of augmented biology.
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Software That Fakes An Active Social Life While You’re On The Sofa
Now that our cooler friends can Instagram, tweet, and FourSquare the heck out of every underground concert and speakeasy cocktail, FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) has become a persistent problem for the less-hip. But there’s hope for those who would rather spend their Saturday nights watching re-runs of Downton Abbey than heading downtown to the newest brewpub.
The new application CouchCachet promises to give you the fully-booked, in-the-know life you so desperately wish to present. The app is a full-service social booster: Not only does it check you in to the trendiest places in your neighborhood, it also periodically tweets obscure lyrics and photos of hipsters in skinny jeans. As one of the quotes from the site says: “I can finally be who I want you to think I am”. And what you are, along with the rest of the internet, is mostly an algorithm.
Via the New York Times.
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Portrait of a Generation
When exactly does Second Nature become First Nature? Our peculiar image of the week was spotted by Natalie Villalobos. Via Moti Museum.
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Wearable Urban Farms
Ever wondered what will happen to our city gardens if space becomes scarce? Jewelry designer Hafsteinn Juliusson has shrunk these gardens and made them wearable. His line ‘Growing Jewelry’ holds actual living greenery. The sterling silver accessories are handmade in Iceland and seem like a promising alternative for bringing some green into the city streets. No green thumb? Don’t worry! It only needs watering every 5 weeks, although Hafsteinn takes no responsibility for that. How about growing a rose for your next date?
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The Future of Solar Power? Snail Teeth!
Gumboot chiton is a marine snail with an appetite for algae growing on rocks. Grazing on rocks would destroy the teeth of others, but not the gumboot chiton. This snail produces the hardest biomineral yet discovered to deal with its punishing eating habits.
This mineral, called magnetite, has inspired a new type of solar cell and a new type of lithium battery. By understanding how the snail produces this mineral, researchers could develop similar ways to make nano-materials at room temperature. This will allow researchers to develop low-cost, high-efficiency microscopic structures.
Dr. Kisailus, of Riverside’s Bourne College of Engineering in California, believes that understanding the gumboot chiton will lead to solar cells that can capture and convert more sunlight into electricity, as well to more efficient batteries. “If we can reduce the size of particles in batteries, which at present, are massive on a nano-scale, this will reduce their recharge time and increase their power efficiency”.
Via Elements Science
