Shauna Richardson crochets beautifully crafted sculptures of animals that she calls crochetdermy
.
Her work is currently in the exhibition, The Power of Making
at the Victoria and Albert Museum — via CRAFT
Geckos inspire robots, but there’s no reason to limit one’s imagination. Why not use the fantastic properties of gecko feet to make something everyone needs: tape?
At the University of Kiel in Germany, a group led by Stanislav Gorb has made a silicone tape patterned after the feet of the lizard. Unlike your garden-variety scotch tape, this stuff is strong, it can be used over and over again, and it doesn’t leave sticky goo behind. In fact it is so strong a piece a bit less than 8 inches by 8 inches (20 cm on a side) can hold up the weight of a fully grown person.
How does this work? Geckos and some insects have tiny hair-like structures on their feet called setae, and each one end in a flat structure called a spatula. When they touch a surface, the attraction between molecules, known as the Van der Waals forces, pull on them and cause them to stick. This is the same force that makes water droplets stick to the ceiling or to the side of a glass — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A Hobart man jailed for bashing a toddler two years ago was back in court yesterday after attacking an acquaintance with an axe.
The Supreme Court heard it was toilet paper, or rather the lack thereof, that prompted the fight in October last year.
Nathan Thomas Charles Howlett, 22, and the victim were at a Kingston house when the victim used the toilet.
Discovering there was no toilet paper, the man utilised a rag.
Howlett appeared soon after with a roll of toilet paper but it was too late.
On realising he had used the rag, Howlett became enraged and a scuffle ensued in the hallway. A woman approached the fighting men carrying an axe.
It’s generally not a good idea to introduce an axe when there’s a fight going on,
Justice Alan Blow said — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A US doctor is trying to pioneer a laser treatment that changes patients’ eye colour.
Dr Gregg Homer claims 20 seconds of laser light can remove pigment in brown eyes so they gradually turn blue.
He is now seeking up to $750,000 (£468,000) of investment to continue clinical trials.
However, other eye experts urge caution because destroying eye pigment can cause sight problems if too much light is allowed to enter the pupil.
Stroma Medical, the company set up to commercialise the process, estimates it will take at least 18 months to finish the safety tests — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Dr Bunsen Honeydew of Muppet Labs doesn’t actually have eyes, but his glasses are stylin’. Craftster member djonesgirl made this crocheted model of his head so you have a place to put your glasses — via Neatorama
The Japanese government has unveiled radical plans to build a standby city for Tokyo’s political functions to move to in the event of a disabling earthquake or other natural disaster.
The back-up city, which has been codenamed IRTBBC (Integrated Resort, Tourism, Business and Backup City) will sit 300 miles west of Tokyo on the site of Itami Airport, which is politically unpopular and has been largely superseded by other airports, including Kansai and Kobe.
The site, which is approximately five square kilometres in area, will contain facilities for parliament and ministries, so that government will be able to continue in the event of a disaster. However it will also include office complexes, resort facilities, casinos and parks, as well as a 652-metre-high office building.
The infrastructure has been planned for a population of 50,000 residents (which we should note is some way short of Tokyo’s population of 13 million) and a workforce of 200,000 — most of whom will commute from Osaka, Japan’s second city, which the site lies to the north of — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Café Racer Dreamsis a Spanish custom shop with a sleek and pared-back style. So this vintage-themed machine is something of a departure for Pedro and his crew, but it works beautifully. It’s based on the 1979 Ossa Copa 250, a lightweight two-stroke single known for its four distinctive fins on the cylinder head — via Bike EXIF
A rare strain of a disease never seen in the southern hemisphere before has been discovered in Tasmania.
Two women contracted tularaemia earlier this year after being bitten and scratched by sick possums in western Tasmania.
Tularemia is an infectious bacterial disease which affects a range of species and is transferred through direct contact or biting ticks — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Glance quickly at some of the items on display at La Maison du Danemark and you might think you just saw a gun, a pair of high heels, a set of dice. Look closer, though, and you’ll see that the works are made of an unlikely material: everything is wool — via CRAFT
The skeletal remains of three people have been found in a house in northern Japan, police said, amid reports a family suicide could have gone unnoticed for up to a year — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A Brazilian Tapir baby named Little Ron, at only 9 days old, is now out and about in his paddock at Marwell Wildlife. Born with a very pretty coat of pale spots and stripes on a reddish brown background, he is delighting visitors with his striking appearance. When he is about a year old he will lose his markings and develop a beautiful light brown colour, just like his mum Summer and sister Quito. He’s named Little Ron
in memory of his Dad, Ronaldo, who sadly died at the park last month after an acute illness — via ZooBorns
The Squidulus line of skateboards from Stimulus Skateboards features superb squid designs. The Squidulus artwork was designed by Joe Scordo — via Laughing Squid
In their infinite desire to protect the rights of their hate-filled children to spew anti-gay nonsense, bully other children, and drive gay kids to suicide (or at least a childhood of self-loathing), Republicans added language to the bill that allows religious people to continue bullying.
The bill now says that the anti-bullying requirements don’t prohibit a statement of a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction of a school employee, school volunteer, pupil, or a pupil’s parent or guardian
Outspoken South Melbourne priest Father Bob Maguire has lost his fight to stay on as a parish priest.
The Catholic Church has confirmed Father Maguire’s tenure at Saint Peter and Paul’s parish will end next year.
The archdiocese was putting pressure on the 77-year-old to step down because of his age, but Father Maguire says he wanted to stay on — via redwolf.newsvine.com
BFLS have designed the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, Wales — via CONTEMPORIST
Want to make some super amazing Wolverine claws on the cheap? — via Instructables
Toronto residents were hastily evacuated from homes and businesses in the city yesterday as police feared that tinfoil-wrapped packages of human excrement found beneath a car might explode, flattening an entire neighbourhood in a devastating poo-based blast horror incident of some type.
Understandably reluctant to tackle the potentially devastating turd-torpedoes themselves, the local police bomb squad instead sent in a robot — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Following user outrage at its redesign, former lead designer for Google Reader, Kevin Fox, has offered to come back to the company to help Google fix up the Reader product.
The changes to Google Reader, unveiled earlier this week, have been met with anger by many users who dislike the white space, and protest the removal of social functionality in favour of sharing through Google’s social network Google+.
Fox, who worked for the internet giant between 2003 and 2008, according to his Google+ profile, wrote in his blog yesterday that he believed that in trying to make Google Reader visually consistent with other Google products, the company had failed to ensure that Reader maintained its unique user experience — via redwolf.newsvine.com
RSS – Posts