BABYBE goes to MIT!!

BABYBE project was chosen between the three finalist of Aji Challenge to pitch the project in the MIT in front of a jury of experts!!!
This will take place in the frame of Encuentros2013, the largest gathering of Chilean students, researcher, professionals and entrepreneurs abroad, which will be held from 27th to 30th of June at the MIT Media Lab in Boston.  

3D portraits from random DNA samples

Heather Dewey-Hagborg

Something you may not be aware is that you are leaving a DNA footprint behind every chewing-gum you throw away in the street. And something you may not even imagine is that there someone that can pick it up, go to a DIY biology lab, amplify the DNA sample through PCR (polymerase chain reaction)  to study the SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) and trace in this way genetic traits like, gender, eye color, hair color, ancestry and so. But that´s not the end of the story, after an Allele profile has been define a computer software builds a 3D model of THE FACE! of the individual whose DNA was found in the chewing-gum and after some "finishing touches" the 3D model is printed and hang in a wall (some will say like a hunting trophy) of an Art Gallery. Yes, this is an Art project still. Heather Dewey-Hagborg is the responsible for this amazing journey from Science to Art. Her work can be seen in some galleries now and of course in her website and in her Blog.

Via: thisiscolossal

 

A boy and his Atom, The world´s smallest movie!!! (dancing atoms)

Ok, This is something we were not waiting for. Usually in technology you can predict with certain accuracy where things are going, either smaller or integrated in most cases. But this time foreseeing a stop motion movie made by moving single atoms around would have been a prove of prophetic talents, and this is not only because it´s a movie recorded with a 100 million times magnifier glass but because there are atoms telling the story of a kind falling in love with one of them, playing, jumping and laughing together. Of course the implications of this technology go far beyond the realm of filmmaking  straight to the data storage industry, promising that in a not so far future we would be able to storage all the movies ever made in one single smartphone.  Now think about this, what a better way to start that story, the story on which knowing something like the back of my hand will mean to know all the information ever produce by man, that with a love story between a young, curious and open mind and the single piece of matter that  builds that mind. That´s is just Poetic.
Cheers on IBM research for this one!!!

To see the making of  click here

3D Printed guns

A short documentary from VICE about the home based manufacturing of guns through 3D printing processes.

Guns, some will say, are tools and you cannot criticise or regulate the ownership of the tool by the potencial evil use of it. This is quite true in most cases but the reality is guns are tools ment to be use on evil ways, guns are either for killing something or for get control over a subject by threading to kill or injure it.  Criminals do that as well as the Police.

Now with the digital manufacturing revolution getting into every home and supported by 3D files sharing communities we can not only print guns but we also can share with the  world specialised knowledge about building guns, so everyone having a 3D printer can become a potencial gun man to defend his own couse, this being criminal life or a fighting an oppressive ruler.

As with every mayor technological revolution on manufacturing the bottom line quickly becomes about power and dominance either from one country to another or from one side of society to the other, but differently from previous breakthroughs this one place the responsibility to answer the question about how to use this new possibilities directly on the hands of the one used to know as the bystander.  


Via VICE

low cost cooling device for neonatal care

When babies are deprived of oxygen before birth, brain damage and disorders such as cerebral palsy can occur. A common cause of this deficiency is knotting of the umbilical cord, and in developing nations, untrained delivery, anemia, and malnutrition during pregnancy can also contribute to oxygen deprivation. Extended cooling can prevent brain injuries, but this treatment is not always available in developing regions where advanced medical care is scare. Johns Hopkins University undergraduates have devised a low-tech $40 unit to provide protective cooling in the absence of equipment that can cost $12,000. The device, called the Cooling Cure, lowers a newborn's temperature by about 6 degrees F for three days - a treatment that has been shown to protect the child from brain damage if administered shortly after a loss of oxygen has occurred. The device, simply made of a clay pot, plastic-lined basket, sand, instant cold pack powder, and a temperature sensor, is powered by two AA batteries.

repost via: tech briefs tv

Products through the ages - slideshow

3 1/2 minutes, 12 objects, one example for every decade between 1900 and 2010. Newspaper, telephone, pram, one pound, hearing aid, mannequin, milk container, music format, swimsuit, keyboard, jelly mould and alarm clock.

Micro manufacturing robots as a children´s book

Pop-up books are always a fascinating way of making narratives more appealing to children and delight craft-sensitive grown ups with unexpected volumes being unfolded in every turn of the page, but building functional complex robots through this process sounded -at least- far fetched.
This is how bees are born today... Well, just mechanical ones, for now.  Harvard Researchers have develop a process on which a a robot bee, its assembly scaffolding and its support are fabricated as a Printed Circuit MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) stacking  a group of 18 previously laser cut layers of different materials. In the cut, stacking and organization of these layers lays a surprising secret that rivalry the magic of  Alice in wonderland. (check the video to discover it)
Utterly amazing fabrication and assembly process that, although its complexity, looks simple as a children´s book.

Via: scientificamerican