Daily Bits

General

Get Your Own Strandbeest Via 3D Printing

by

strandbeest3d
Remember those awesome “beasts” that were introduced to the world by Dutch kinetic artist Theo Jansen? They are called strandbeests, and they are made of every day materials such as water bottles, rods, plastic tubes, and rubber rings. The amazing thing about these creations is that they are self-propelling. Given the size of a strandbeest, seeing one in action is probably one of the most amazing sights ever.

Now, the average person will probably not have the opportunity to build or see one of these in real life. It’s a pity, especially since the amount of work and effort put into a single strandbeest is impressive. But what if there was a way to have your very own strandbeest? Not life sized, but something that can join your already huge toy collection.

With 3D printing, this is actually possible! I was quite a skeptic in the beginning with regard to 3D printing and its use, but the more I read about its applications, the more I am convinced about the whole concept.

Now Theo Jansen himself has shared his mini-strandbeest created using 3D printing! It really is fascinating, especially since the creature works just like its big brothers. Here’s the artist showing how it’s done.

http://youtu.be/nt8oHv09e_k

I have to admit – it looks like a tiresome process; but then again, I bet the original beasts were just as bothersome, if not more. You also have to think that in order to make something that is worthy of a permanent place in science fiction (as the strandbeests are), you have to go the extra mile. Now 3D printer manufacturers – make them so ordinary people can get hold of these devices!

Duct Tape Wave Machine

by

What do you do when you have a lot of spare time, a lot of duct tape, some shish kabob skewers, and rubber stoppers for Erlenmeyer flasks? ((Refresh your memory: an Erlenmeyer flask is a piece of equipment used in the lab. It is characterized by a flat bottom, a conical body, and a cylindrical neck.)) Well, if you’re YouTube user RDSQC, you will make your own wave machine, take a video of it in action, and upload it for the entire world to see!

As you can see, this is not the wave machine that you use to make waves in pool to simulate the ocean’s movement. (Duh.) If I am right, this is actually a DIY version of a Shive wave machine, which was named after Dr. John Shive. He developed the machine back in the 1950s when he was working at Bell Labs.

So what’s the point in having a machine like this? (Aside from the fact that the guys look like they were having fun making the machine move.)

The purpose of a Shive wave machine is supposed to demonstrate how slow transverse waves move. In order to make this machine, the rods (shish kabob sticks in this case) have to be placed at regular intervals. In conventional wave machines, the rods are attached to a wire spine. In a MacGyver-worthy move, this DIY-er decided to use duct tape.

I don’t know what practical use the average person will ever have for one of these machines, but RDSQC, MacGyver would be so proud of you! ((Source: RDSQC))

Now if you happen to adore physics, you can see videos of “real” wave machines here.

FIRST Robotics Competition: This Is the Real Thing

by

Recently, the FIRST Robotics Competition was held at the Boston University. FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology” and was conceptualized by no less than Dean Kamen. If the name is unfamiliar, think of the Segway Human Transporter. Does that ring a bell?

This competition covers four annual contests open to all grade levels in the United States: Junior LEGO League (ages 6 to 9), LEGO League (ages 9 to 12), and Tech Challenge (high school students). The main thing going for FIRST, though, is the Robotics Competition, which has gathered 12,000 students who are probably real geeks. Not the hipsters who seem to take pride in labeling themselves as geeks.

In the recently concluded FIRST Robotics Competition, teenagers are tasked with creating robots that are supposed to perform specific tasks. At the same time, the robots need to be able to defend against other robots so that the assigned tasks can be completed.

While the whole idea seems fun – and indeed, the contestants find it fun – there is a lot of hard work involved. The contestants actually get a kit at the start of the school year so that they have several months to work on their project. The ultimate test comes when they all get together to pit their robots against one another.

Here’s a sampling of what went on at the competition.

12,000 kids screaming and not for Justin Bieber. Any parent can be proud to have his/her kid in that crowd. I know I would.

Via PopSci

Social Vending: The New Wave of Vending Machines?

by

pepsi_social_vend_0Yesterday, soda make Pepsi announced their newest product – not a new soda, but a different kind of vending machine system. Riding on the popularity wave of everything social, Pepsi has introduced the idea of “social vending”.

No worries – you’ll still recognize the vending machines for what they are, but you’ll be able to do a few new tricks with them. The idea is to provide consumers with a touch screen interface, which allows consumers to send gifts – Pepsi products only, of course – to their friends. You can even record a short video via the same machine. The interface will ask you to select the product that you want to send as a gift and then prompt you to enter the recipient’s name and mobile phone number. You can also send a text message to accompany your gift.

How does the recipient actually get hold of the gift? By going to any social vending system unit and entering the necessary details. So ideally, you can be somewhere in Asia (if they do release the machines there) and send a Pepsi gift to a friend in the US. Oh, and just to make everything more social, the recipient can also opt to send a gift back. You know, as a way of saying thanks. (And then you send a gift back again – and the cycle goes on; and Pepsi makes more money.)

Honest thoughts: “social” can only go so far. While this social vending system is a novel idea, I can’t see the need for it. Is Pepsi aiming to be the Facebook of sodas? Then again, maybe I am being short-sighted. Oh, and maybe because I drink Coke anyway.

What do you think? Will the features of the social vending system be useful for you?

Paper From Elephant Poo

by

Poo Paper
It sounds disgusting, but it does work and it contributes to the environment as well. What Michael Flancman and his group is doing is to gather the excrement of elephants to process it into recycled paper and other paper-based products.

Flancman’s business is based in Thailand where there are many elephant conservation parks. In Chiang Mai, particularly, loads of elephants can be found. You may have seen features on Nat Geo or Discovery Channel – these conservation camps are rather popular tourist destinations. There are even camps that allow tourists to stay for at least a night and participate in taking care of the elephants – feeding them, giving them a bath, and so on.

So where does the all the poo go? If you haven’t seen a live elephant relieve itself, you are missing half of your life. NOT!

Seriously, these humongous creatures aptly excrete a lot of waste, and while this material may be used for fertilizer just like any other waster matter, Flancman and associates decided to do something more creative: “repurposing” the fecal matter which contains a lot of straw and similar undigested material.

What the people do is to gather the waste and wash it with water in order to obtain the fibers. These fibers are then sterilized thoroughly and mixed with other plant material to create the pulp that will be used for paper and other products.

Oh, they are also now using the poo of other animals such as cows, horses, and donkey.

It’s not exactly high-tech but there’s no harm in going back to the basics is there? Oh, and the name of the company is The Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper Co. 😉

Via The BQB
Image Credit: The Daily Green

How Does Your Garden Grow? Atomically.

by

Green thumbs, listen up! It is spring (well, depending on where you are, obviously), and it is the time to spend time in the garden tending to those plants that will give you a lot of pleasure in the ensuing months. That is, if you are into one of the most relaxing hobbies there is.

But have you ever heard of atomic gardening? I only came to know about this concept today when I was doing my daily Internet rounds. Apparently, after World War II, the great minds of that period were busy trying to find some useful purposes for atomic energy. There is no need to expound on how disastrous the effects of atomic energy can be, and many of those people experienced that firsthand.

One of the results of their efforts was the idea of atomic gardening. In a nutshell, the concept involves bombarding plants with radiation. The goal was to induce mutations in the plants, which could then lead to positive things such as being disease-resistant or cold-resistant. The bottom line: to create plant varieties that would help with dealing with problems such as famine, hunger, and poverty.

The atomic garden experiments were conducted in the United States, in parts of Europe, and in what was then known as the USSR. While the studies were done under strict control, some products actually reached the market via C.J. Speas (an entrepreneur) and the Atomic Gardening Society. These products came in the form of irradiated seeds, which we may still actually buy today. In general though, it seems that these atomic gardens are gone and have been largely forgotten.

To give you a glimpse of the past, here are some photos about the atomic gardens.

First Atomic Garden USA
This is the first atomic garden in the US.

Atomic Seeds
An ad for irradiated seeds

Atomic Peanuts
Real atomic peanuts

With what is happening in Japan’s nuclear reactor sites, the topic of radiation is brought up rather often these days. Who knows, we might even hear about atomic gardening – or something similar at least – in the future?

Read more about atomic gardening at Pruned.