Like so many innovations in material science these days, it sounds utterly fictional and totally fantastic: tiny bacteria (humorously and aptly dubbed BacillaFilla) genetically modified to seek out cracks in concrete then secrete organic glue, effectively as strong as the surrounding structure — via Dornob
Kroon Hall School of Forestry & Environmental Studies is Yale University‘s Greenest Building. Chosen as a 2010 AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Project the ambitious goals for Kroon Hall encompassed taking a brownfield site crowded by looming and gloomy brownstone edifices – an area replete with dumpsters, pavement, and an aging power plant – and establish a building that would bring light, openness, and a connection to the natural world — via ArchDaily
Metamaterials that can bend light in nearly any direction may hold the key to future military camouflage based on the chameleon-like photosensitive skin of the squid. Marine biologists collaborating with engineers and scientists at Rice University will develop the new metamaterial with a $6 million grant from the Office of Naval Research — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Digital clocks have come so far – great features, bright easy-to-read numerals and multi-functional alarms … but on many, switching to or from daylight savings time still involves buttons, adjustments and double-checks.
Not so with this super-simple design solution: just tilt the table clock from one small flat side to the other and be done with it. For one half of the year it leans left, and the other half it sits slightly to the right — via Dornob
When Philip Johnson, who has been called the godfather of contemporary architecture, first entered the just-completed Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, he wept. It wasn’t the first time Frank Gehry, the building’s architect, inspired emotions rarely caused by an edifice. Johnson is just one of many architects and critics who have crowned Gehry the most important architect in the world.
Gehry’s hauntingly beautiful, completely original buildings have redefined architecture and transformed cities. Some are made with common materials such as chain-link fences and corrugated metal, on one hand, and on the other, some with sheets of titanium, curving like ocean waves. Like no other architect since Frank Lloyd Wright, Gehry transcends the often-rarefied field to become a celebrity. He hangs out with friends such as Brad Pitt and Bono, for whom he has envisioned pop-up stores for Product Red, a charity that uses its profits to fight AIDS in Africa — via redwolf.newsvine.com
This residential renovation by Atelier Waechter transformed an existing 1947 single story Cape Cod style house into a compact and functional 1,400 sqf modern dwelling. Simple clean lines, each level of the new house has a distinct character to meet the needs of the new inhabitants. Cape Cod received a 2010 AIA Portland Built Merit Award — via ArchDaily
A little retro action from Ball right here. No doubt you are going to start thinking of all the classic watches that Ball looked to for influence when designing the Engineer II Ohio GMT COSC Chronometer watch — via A Blog to Read
This family residence is conceived as an open arrangement of “architectural” and “natural” elements in which the architectural element is wrapped around the natural one. Together they constitute a united domestic landscape that meets both the private and social needs of its inhabitants. The living quarters, which need a roof as well as walls, close off three sides of the patio. Its fourth side, shaded by a canopy, protrudes into the garden extending it further towards the woods — via ArchDaily
Honda’s most important motorcycles? Tough question but the Super Hawk 305 and Scrambler 305 have to be in the conversation. These were the two that put Honda on the big-bike map in the mid-1960s, each more than a match for British 500s of the day. And now the aftermarket firm Cobra USA has just paid homage to the CL77 Scrambler, with a new showbike that started life as a 2010-model Shadow RS750 — via Bike EXIFr
A collection of rare and valuable toys put together over almost 40 years by the late Malcolm Forbes and his sons is going up on the auction block.
The Forbes collection of antique toys is estimated to bring in anywhere from $3 million to $5 million in the sale Friday at Sotheby’s — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The dwelling is placed in the centre of the plot, dividing it in two like a diaphragm. It is a pure concrete box opened in the middle, where the living is placed, by two large French doors (9 x 2,5 m) in both North and South faces which allow a complete transparency that visually connects the vineyard with the trees — via ArchDaily
Alex Patrocinio edits the Barcelona-based custom culture magazine El Diablo, and this is his bike. It was a 35-year-old UJM with a seized engine when Alex found it, but his friends at the custom shop Mad Crow Garage have turned it into a very smart street tracker — via Bike EXIF
Film director and writer Blake Edwards, best known for his work on the Pink Panther films, died last week aged 88 — via redwolf.newsvine.com
D3 Architectes has shared with ArchDaily his proposal for the Guyane Memory Center in Cayenne, French Guiana — via ArchDaily
Few devices know more personal details about people than the smartphones in their pockets: phone numbers, current location, often the owner’s real name—even a unique ID number that can never be changed or turned off.
These phones don’t keep secrets. They are sharing this personal data widely and regularly, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found — via michaelsautter.newsvine.com
Like a scene from a TV crime show, Victorian police have used an iPhone GPS app and a helicopter to track down a thief.
His crime? Stealing the mobile phone — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The trend towards online shopping will be examined in a Federal Government inquiry into the retail industry.
The Productivity Commission will examine the structure of the industry, including the $1,000 tax-free threshold that applies to goods bought from overseas — via ABC News
If you were going to compose a list of the ten greatest technology products ever, it would be a plausible contender. If you were compiling a list of the ten greatest Web services and didn’t include it, I’d tell you your list was wrong.
It’s AltaVista-the first great search engine. Probably still the second greatest one ever, after you know who. And as Liz Gannes of All Things Digital is reporting, it’s apparently going away due to downsizing at its current owner, Yahoo. (Other victims of Yahoo’s death panel include the once-great Delicious and AllTheWeb, the bland Digg clone Yahoo Buzz, the could-have-been-neat MyBlogLog, and stuff I can’t identify, such as Yahoo Picks) — via redwolf.newsvine.com
That enormous sigh of relief you heard yesterday was likely from 5,400 unidentified porn downloaders reacting to a West Virginia judge’s ruling that an adult-film producer cannot force their unmasking in an effort to sue them for copyright infringement.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is calling the judge’s decision a big victory in the fight against copyright trolls
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
Watch out, TSA: Google’s getting into the game of exploring the human body.
Hang on, though — there’s no groping going on here. Google’s approach is a new educational tool called Google Body Browser. Launched on the Google Labs website today, Google Body Browser uses HTML5 technology to let you examine the human body in fully layered, three-dimensional detail — via redwolf.newsvine.com
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