Made-to-debate « NextNature.net

Posts Tagged ‘Made-to-debate’

A.T.R.E.E.M.

Meet A.T.R.E.E.M. (acronym for Automated Tree-Rental for Emission Encaging Machine), a device that compares daily activities, energy and products to the growth of a tree.

“From an ecological perspective, CO2 is a byproduct of the living, either directly or indirectly. From the economic perspective, CO2 may become the world’s largest commodity market. What do we consider the price of our own byproducts?
This project aims to criticise the carbon trading system as well as raise awareness of how good we are at destroying the planet.”

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Arnoud van den Heuvel
on 03/08/09 Comments »
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- Biopolitics | Design-for-debate | Feed-Back | Green Blues | Made-to-debate | Physical-computing | Symbolic-Overdrive | virtual-for-real
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Reprogramming Skin Cells into Stem Cells

A major breakthrough in the world of genetics: Researchers have successfully reprogrammed skin cells into stem cells. Using a technique called iPS cell reprogramming (developed in Japan 2006) they were able to modify skin cells from mice and grow embryos:

“The mice seem to have a high death rate, with some dying after just two days, and others displaying physical abnormalities, details of which the team would not reveal. But some of their mice passed one of the most fundamental tests of health: all 12 mice that were mated produced offspring, and the offspring showed no abnormalities. The team says it now has hundreds of second-generation, and more than 100 third-generation, mice.”

“Unlike embryonic stem cells, iPS cells can be generated without the destruction of a human embryo and thus circumvent the ethical issues that have mired much of stem cell research. While iPS cells have been shown to be capable of developing into many different cell types, they had not been shown to be equal to embryonic stem cells — until today.”

It was 1993 that Spielberg directed Jurassic Park in which he envisioned the possibility of reviving the dinosaur through cell-cloning. Less than twenty years later science gives the beginning of an answer. It will probably take another twenty years to even speak of reviving the dodo or mammoth, but the way things are looking now; in the Next Nature life will be programming itself.

Via: technologyreview.com | see also: nature.com | whitehead.mit.edu | image credits: Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research & Nature | Related: Green Glowing Monkeys | Forefather Ox Cloned to Revive Delicious Steak
Arnoud van den Heuvel
on 28/07/09 Comments »
Tags
- Guided Growth | Made-to-debate | Manufactured Animals | Wetware
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Recycling robot takes the streets of Italy

Let the robots do the dirty work! This real-life Wall-E Recycling robot, part of the $3.9 million DustBot research program that is trying to improve urban hygiene, collects trash and measures atmospheric pollutants. He – or is it a she? – can also identify residents, and sort their trash into organic, recyclable, or waste.

The robot is nimble enough to navigate where conventional gas-guzzling garbage trucks cannot. The one on the picture is still in the prototype phase and robots aren’t legally allowed to roam around without human guidance in Peccioli, Italy. But who knows — some day soon you may see a friendly green robot zipping garbage down your street.

Via The Guardian. See also: Ladybug cleans the toilet, Killer Robots, the order Electrus.
Van Mensvoort
on 25/07/09 2 Comments »
Tags
- Anthropomorphobia | Designed-by-Evolution | Made-to-debate | Officegarden | On-the-Road | Organized-Networks | robotics | sexy-machinery | Technorhetoric | Toys-are-Us
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Four environmental ‘heresies’

TED talk by Steward Brand – the man who helped usher in the environmental movement in the 1960s and ’70s – has been rethinking his positions on cities, nuclear power, genetic modification and geo-engineering. Buckle up for some environmental heresies.
Van Mensvoort
on 24/07/09 2 Comments »
Tags
- Food Technology | Genetic-surprises | Guided Growth | Made-to-debate | manufactured-landscapes | Organized-Networks | Wild-systems
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Wooden Bankcard

Silver, gold or platinum creditcards? Expensive metals in credit card design used to have a certain luster in the past, yet today we are all (painfully) aware the mimicked material is totally meaningless – In the end it’s all plastic.

So, why not go for something different? Nowadays, many banks provide their customers with the opportunity to design their own bank card. At first I didn’t see the value of uploading a family holiday photo on my bankcard. Only once I realized this was the perfect opportunity to obtain my very own highly stylish and classical wooden bankcard my enthusiasm grew.

I have to admit, I am extremely happy with my wooden bankcard. Every time I slide it in the cash vending machine, I feel the magic of transforming wood into money.

And here is the good thing: you can have a highly stylish and classical wooden bankcard too. I have made the bankcard wood texture available for you download. Simply upload the file to the bankcard customization website of your bank and you will soon have your very own wooden bankcard and feel the magic of turning wood into money. This artwork is my gift to you (If you like I am even willing to sign your bankcard, although that’s probably not a good idea).

See also: Rainbow of creditcards, Datafountain – money translated to water, Flock of Visas.
Van Mensvoort
on 23/07/09 1 Comment »
Tags
- Biomimicmarketing | Fake-nature | Image-Consumption | Made-to-debate | Officegarden | Plastic Planet
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Egg improvements

Since it is Sunday, let’s have a genetically photoshopped egg with a handy integrated eggholder. Not sure if these should be mass produced (if possible): Too painful for the chicken.

Created by Dominic Wilcox. See also: Cubic Fruit, Modernistic Watermelons.
Van Mensvoort
on 19/07/09 10 Comments »
Tags
- Designed-by-Evolution | Fake-nature | Food Technology | Genetic-surprises | Hypernature | Made-to-debate | Supermarket
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Triceracopter

The Triceracopter is half Triceratops, half helicopter. If dinosaurs and technology evolved at the same time, this is what the helicopter might have look like? Built as a sculpture in 1977 by artist Patricia Renick, crafted of fiberglass and built on the frame of a Vietnam era U.S. Army OH6A/Cayuse helicopter.

The piece is now available for the discerning collector/dinopilot. Peculiar object of the week.

Via Joshspear.com. See also: Aquasaurus, Skeleton Car, Skeleton mouse, Animatus, Pacman’s skull. Thanks Jurrian.
Van Mensvoort
on 17/07/09 3 Comments »
Tags
- Designed-by-Evolution | Fake-nature | Made-to-debate | Manufactured Animals | On-the-Road | sexy-machinery
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The next hacking frontier: your Brain?

In the past year, researchers have developed technology that makes it possible to use thoughts to operate a computer, maneuver a wheelchair or even use Twitter — all without lifting a finger. But as neural devices become more complicated — and go wireless — some scientists say the risks of “brain hacking” should be taken seriously.

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Dr Natural
on 12/07/09 1 Comment »
Tags
- Augmented-Bodies | Boomeranged Metaphors | Digital-Presence | Intimate Technology | Made-to-debate | Officegarden | Physical-computing | Technorhetoric | Wetware
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iReligion

Graphic designer Roel Boonen takes the Apple cult to the extreme with this iReligion triptych. His piece is illustrative on how central corporations and digital technology have become in our everyday lives. Will technological corporations replace religion and the holy church in the long run? Read more »
Van Mensvoort
on 07/07/09 Comments »
Tags
- Back to the Tribe | Corporature | Design-for-debate | Made-to-debate | Technorhetoric
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Credit on Color – rainbow of creditcards

Although these next ecologies – like the global financial system and the internet – unquestionably differ in many regards from older ecologies – like rain forests, cloud formations, or coral reefs – there still lies a certain luster in visualizing them as phenomena of old nature.

Already we have seen approaching hurricane$, the ¥€$ datafountain and a magnificent flock of Visa’s. Now there is also the credit card rainbow, compiled of thousands of creditcards, freecards, discount carts and gift cards from around the world.

The piece was commissioned by the Graphic Design Museum in Breda, the Netherlands where is is currently on display until the end of September 2009. After that, I expect this nextnature rainbow will travel the world.

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Van Mensvoort
on 03/07/09 Comments »
Tags
- Global-Image-Economy | Image-Consumption | Made-to-debate | manufactured-landscapes | Symbolic-Overdrive
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How will Michael Jackson appear in heaven?

Our beloved King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who died tragically at the age of fifty after suffering cardiac arrest, was one of the most widely beloved entertainers and influential artists of all-time. And he wasn’t only a pioneering in music.

Throughout his career, he underwent countless groundbreaking cosmetic operations to recreate his own face according to an ideal he had in mind. Sadly, after each surgery, that ideal seemed to shift, necessitating new adjustments.

Using childhood photo’s of Michael and knowledge on basic aging trends, forensic artists constructed a portrait of how Michael would have looked at age 50, had he never undergone plastic surgery. The difference between the portraits is striking. But which is the real Michael? The man of flesh and blood, sculpted by plastic surgeons or the highly speculative forensic image? Both Michaels are virtual in their own right.

If heaven exists, I am sure Michael Jackson is chilling there now with James Brown. Yet, I have no idea how Michael will appear in the hereafter.

Related: Fake for Real Memory Game, The photoshop beauties: before and after, A Society of Simulations.
Van Mensvoort
on 26/06/09 39 Comments »
Tags
- Anthropomorphobia | Augmented-Bodies | Guided Growth | Hyperreality | Made-to-debate | Plastic Planet
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A more realistic Zoo

Going to the zoo is a favorite summer past-time. Visitors to the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna will see lots of animals in recreated ‘natural’ habitats. Except this summer, along with the animals, there’s an odd addition. Junk.

The zoo is hosting the work of two German artists who are questioning whether the environments created at zoos are actually natural representations of the real world. In this case, one untouched by man. Artists Christoph Steinbrener and Rainer Dempf created a new ‘natural’ context in which to view the animals in an exhibition called Trouble in Paradise.

In one enclosure, the German duo have half-submerged a car in a watering hole used by the resident rhinos. In another enclosure, penguins frolic in the shadow of an oil pump, and in yet another, alligators must share their modest bayou with a bathtub and a monster truck tire.

The artists hope the exhibition forces the viewer to reconsider their idyllic vision of what a natural animal habitat looks like and realize the impact man has had on the environment.
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Van Mensvoort
on 24/06/09 5 Comments »
Tags
- Anthropocene | Fake-nature | Green Blues | Image-Consumption | Made-to-debate | manufactured-landscapes | Recreation | Suburban Utopia
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Mobile Evolution

Miniaturization of mobile phones visualized in the style of a Russian Matroesjka doll. If this continues your phone will soon be small enough to fit into your tooth? Created by art director/animator Kyle Bean.

Via Dutch Cowgirls. Related: My latest cellphone, Evolution in the bathroom, Excuse me, is your tooth ringing?, Phone of the future.
Van Mensvoort
on 23/06/09 2 Comments »
Tags
- Design-for-debate | Designed-by-Evolution | Made-to-debate | Officegarden
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Not so Happy Meals

This week a Brazilian prosecutor asked a judge to nationally ban toys sold with meals in fast-food outlets like McDonald’s and Burger King, because it can lead children to develop bad eating habits. The move comes amid wide-spread concern over the link between some fast food and illnesses such as diabetes, as the U.S. congress considers requiring chain restaurants to disclose calories on their menus to help fight endemic obesity.

Prosecutor Marcio Schusterschitz, a federal prosecutor in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state, said fast-food toy promotions encourage children to buy high-fat meals through “the abusive creation of emotional associations” that turn them into life-long eaters of high-fat foods. Read the full article on uk.reuters.com

Toys are us… Apart from the health-aspect and cases of obesity, this article makes me wondering; how much plastic are we talking about on a yearly basis? According to thebluebrick.net, it takes 34 cents to manufacture and package each Happy Meal toy. At 2.5 million Happy Meals sold annually, $850 thousand is spent on those little wads of plastic a year.

You think that is much? Why no; it is good investment. Children really need some entertainment to go with their meals. It is educational, every toy is played with over and over again and almost never thrown away. And when children play, they burn calories. I guess it is the toys that determine the nature we deserve.

Related: Fake For Real: Image Consumption | Hamburger Sneaker | Million Dollar Burger | They are made out of Meat | Where it came from |
Arnoud van den Heuvel
on 17/06/09 5 Comments »
Tags
- Food Technology | Image-Consumption | Made-to-debate | Mass-customization | Plastic Planet | Toys-are-Us
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Stop continental drift

Is it a cynical gesture to glue a ‘Stop Continental Drift’ bumper sticker on your gasoline addicted car? Absolutely. Yet indirectly it also criticizes the romantic environmentalist longing to perceive nature as static: something that must not change – although environmentalist typically perceive themselves as progressives, such a static concept of nature is undoubtedly a conservative longing.

Perhaps the bumper sticker teaches us that, rather than merely trying to stop all changes that are taking place, we should spend more time on developing a more flexible attitude towards the changes in our environment. After all, continents drift, climates alter and change happens.

Via Stardove. Related post: Doggerland – Mapping a lost world, Country looking for new land, If the implications of Global Warming were fair, Diesels global warming ready campaign, Humans to blame for global warming.
Van Mensvoort
on 16/06/09 5 Comments »
Tags
- Anthropocene | Green Blues | Made-to-debate
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Foldable Icons

In response to the Boomeranged Metaphors post of last week, visual wizard Ton Meijdam sent us these foldable icons. Print them, fold them and use them to decorate your 3D desktop (you know that one from the pre-digital age). Should keep the kids busy during the weekend.
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Van Mensvoort
on 10/06/09 2 Comments »
Tags
- Boomeranged Metaphors | Digital-Presence | Made-to-debate | Officegarden | Physical-computing | Toys-are-Us | virtual-for-real
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Modern Fossils

Remember the Gameboy Bricks by Gijs Gieskes? The same vibe must have been picked up by Christopher Locke (Chicago, US) as he opened his Modern Fossils Shop with many more peculiar specimens. Read more »
Arnoud van den Heuvel
on 18/05/09 20 Comments »
Tags
- Back to the Tribe | Fake-nature | Made-to-debate | Technorhetoric
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Liberate the Breast Cancer Genes

On May 12, 2009 the ACLU and the (not-for-profit) Public Patent Foundation, filed a lawsuit, charging that patents on two human genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer are unconstitutional and invalid. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of four scientific organizations representing more than 150,000 geneticists, pathologists, and laboratory professionals, as well as individual researchers, breast cancer and women’s health groups, genetic counselors and individual women.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has granted thousands of patents on human genes – in fact, about 20 percent of our genes are patented. A gene patent holder has the right to prevent anyone from studying, testing or even looking at a gene. As a result, scientific research and genetic testing has been delayed, limited or even shut down due to concerns about gene patents.

“Patenting human genes is counter to common sense, patent law and the Constitution,” said Daniel B. Ravicher, Executive Director of PUBPAT and co-counsel in the lawsuit. “Genes are identified, not invented, and patenting genetic sequences is like patenting blood, air or e=mc2.”

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Arnoud van den Heuvel
on 16/05/09 2 Comments »
Tags
- Biopolitics | Genetic-surprises | Made-to-debate | Wetware
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