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Stories filed under: "origami"
DailyDirt: Molecular Electronics Isn't Quite Science Fiction
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
There’s going to be a point where Moore’s law stops — because the things we build can only get so small before quantum physics starts to really mess with how circuits behave. Still, researchers keep pushing technology to make smaller and smaller devices. Molecular electronics aren’t practical just yet, but the development of nanoscale components isn’t completely ridiculous. Here are just a few examples.
- Origami and kirigami (aka origami that allows for cutting) could be useful in designing electronics from sheets of conductive materials like graphene. Flexible and bendable gadgets could be good for wearable or implantable devices, but it might take a while before graphene is ready for consumer electronics. [url]
- A single molecule diode made from a single symmetric molecule, an ionic solution and two gold electrodes has set a performance record, beating previous molecule-sized diodes by a factor of 50. Clearly, no one is going to be using this diode outside of a lab, but it could help design better fundamental devices with extremely small dimensions. [url]
- A team of scientists has created a field-effect transistor (FET) from a single molecule — but it requires a scanning-tunneling microscope (STM) to function. This isn’t the first single molecule transistor, and it probably won’t be the last. However, it’s still going to be tricky to find a way to make these nanoscale components useful for practical purposes. [url]
After you’ve finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.
Filed Under: diode, graphene, kirigami, materials, molecular electronics, moore's law, nanotech, nanotechnology, origami, predictions, stm, transistor
DailyDirt: Paper Airplanes For Fun And Profit
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
If you’re interested in paper planes, you could try to beat the world record for distance — and it looks like there may be annual contests for you to compete in pretty soon. You could also try to make a paper airplane that stays aloft for the longest time. Or you could come up with your own record (most loops? most accurate landing? best tricks?). Check out some of these links if you think you could be obsessed with paper planes.. in a healthy way.
- John Collins is kickstarting a campaign to create The National Paper Airplane Contest. The competition aims to encourage kids and adults to experiment with paper airplanes and maybe learn some science and technology along the way. [url]
- The farthest flying paper airplane thrown indoors was designed and folded by John Collins. This is a short video showing how the record holding plane (aka Suzanne) is folded. [url]
- A much much longer video on how to fold the record holding paper airplane takes about half an hour to watch. If you replicate this plane AND throw it farther than the current record, Collins is offering a $1000 reward. [url]
If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
Filed Under: competition, contests, design, education, john collins, origami, paper airplanes, paper planes, stem, suzanne, world record
Companies: kickstarter
DailyDirt: Build A Better Mousetrap Umbrella…
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
There are all kinds of ways to improve on everyday items. We’ve talked about how wallets are a popular type of project on Kickstarter, but there are certainly plenty of other things that could be re-designed and made slightly (or significantly) better. The Ralph Waldo Emerson quote about building a better mousetrap actually didn’t mention mousetraps, but we’ve ended up with a lot of mousetrap inventions, regardless. Here are just a few examples of umbrella inventions that the world might beat a path to.
- A novel umbrella (called the Sa) uses origami techniques to fold up nicely and resist inverting in strong winds. It’s a $70 umbrella, though, so it’s not quite for everyone. (Plus, it’s not made out of a single square sheet of paper.) [url]
- Another Kickstarter umbrella project is selling a battery-powered wand that shoots jets of air to repel raindrops. It doesn’t actually exist yet (which might be a violation of Kickstarter’s terms), and it looks not unlike a fat plastic toilet plunger. Despite the drawbacks of this design and its $88 price tag, it has exceeded its funding goal by about an order of magnitude. [url]
- A few years ago, another Air Umbrella was designed by Je Sung Park & Woo Jung Kwon, but this concept product didn’t solve the engineering challenges of creating a curtain of air that actually repelled raindrops. Perhaps someday there will be a wide selection of nice-looking, quiet, electric umbrellas, but in the meantime, noisy air-blowing umbrellas hopefully won’t get too popular. [url]
If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
Filed Under: air umbrella, crowdfunding, design, inventions, origami, sa, umbrellas
Companies: kickstarter
DailyDirt: Paper Airplane Tricks
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Paper airplanes have advanced quite a bit — with added motors and smartphone controls or fancy new folding techniques that can be found all over the internet. Paper airplanes can become an incredibly complex hobby if you really have the motivation to take them to the next level. If you have the free time, try out some of these paper airplane projects.
- A paper airplane has flown 82 miles, launched from a helium balloon at a altitude of over 96,000 feet. We previously noted a paper airplane launched from 89,000 feet in 2010. [url]
- If you want to make a paper airplane fly “forever” indoors, you need a chair and a hair dryer and the patience to throw a paper airplane dozens of times until you get it just right. This video demonstrates the phenomenon of dynamic soaring which is used by birds and glider pilots to gain some energy under the right conditions. [url]
- There’s a robot made from Lego that folds and “throws” a paper airplane. This is cool, but it might be cooler to see a robot arm try to beat the human throwing record of a paper airplane (226 feet, 10 inches). [url]
If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
Filed Under: dynamic soaring, helium balloon, lego, origami, paper airplanes, paper planes, record, robot, space
Companies: lego
DailyDirt: Rise Of Flexible Robots
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Robot researchers often look to biology for inspiration because nature has evolved some pretty efficient means of locomotion and self-assembly. The idea of a robot that has a stiff metal body is being replaced by more lightweight, flexible and organic designs and materials. Robot parts made from various polymers could lead to some interesting biomimicry. Here are just a few examples.
- Researchers have created a self-assembling robot that starts as a flat sheet of paper and plastic (and some not-so-flat electronics) and can walk around in under 5 minutes. The prototype cost about $100 in parts and uses some origami techniques to allow the bot to spring into action. [url]
- Robot parts that can be 3D printed and incorporate self-assembling components could be the building blocks of re-configurable or self-replicating machines. Machines making machines? How perverse! [url]
- Making robots out of elastomeric materials can result in flexible and extremely modular designs. Skynet is pretty far from making liquid-metal Terminators, and these T-1000 ancestors aren’t too intimidating. [url]
If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
Filed Under: 3d printing, biomimicry, origami, robots, self-assembly, self-replicating
DailyDirt: Flying Paper Airplanes
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Folding paper has been taken to an extreme in recent years, and a few entertaining examples involve making paper airplanes. Almost anyone can make a paper airplane (even some robots can do it), but to really make your mark, you have to do something pretty extraordinary with construction paper. Here are just a few world records for paper airplanes.
- A giant 45-foot long paper airplane was released from a helicopter over the Arizona desert, promoting the PIMA Air and Space Museum. It didn’t fly for very long, but it was big enough that the helicopter pilot jettisoned the big paper plane slightly earlier than planned because it was pulling on the helicopter a bit too much. [url]
- A Japanese engineer, Takuo Toda, flew his paper airplane which stayed aloft for 27.9 seconds — setting a world record in 2009. But for Toda, 28 seconds is nothing compared to his dream of launching a paper plane from the edge of space…. [url]
- Throwing a paper airplane that can fly over 226 feet isn’t easy, but it can be done — and it beats the previous record of just over 207 feet (set in 2003). Hmm. How far can a robot arm throw a paper airplane? [url]
- To discover more cool sites about aviation, check out what’s currently flying around StumbleUpon. [url]
By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.
Filed Under: origami, paper airplanes, paper planes, pima air and space museum, world records
Origami Creators Sue Artist For Copyright Infringement Concerning Crease Patterns
from the fold-away dept
Wow. Via Joy Garnett, we discover the latest in a long line of ridiculous copyright lawsuits. Apparently six “origami artists” have sued painter Sarah Morris for using their origami patterns as inspiration for some paintings she did. From the exhibits in the lawsuit, you can see the origami folding patterns on the left, and Morris’ paintings on the right:
Yeah. The artists don’t seem to have any good reason for this lawsuit, other than that they don’t like derivative works. They exaggerate in claiming that copyright holders have full control over all derivative works. That is not true. Works that are transformative (as these appear to be) can qualify as fair use. I also think that if you look at the key prong in the fair use test (the impact on the market for the original), it’s difficult to see how these painting are not fair use. They don’t compete with the original patterns at all. If anything, I would think those paintings would enhance the demand for those patterns. After seeing the paintings, I’d be more curious about the original origami patterns… if I wasn’t so turned off by a bunch of greedy origami artists trying to cash in.
Filed Under: copyright, origami, paintings, sarah morris
DailyDirt: Cool Robot Videos
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
More and more robots are learning new tricks every day. In the not-too-distant future, everyone could be playing and working with robots all the time. Here are some interesting videos of robots demonstrating cool motor skills.
- This throwable robot that magnetically sticks to walls is designed as a recon scout to fight pirates at sea. But if a ship’s hull isn’t magnetic, this little remote-controlled bot just drowns in the ocean… [url]
- If you want to make really small paper airplanes, there’s a bot for that. FYI, these remote-controlled robot hands can also do things besides origami — like heart surgery. [url]
- A robot made from Lego can sort different colored Lego bricks at a rate of about 48 per minute. This looks like an early version of a Lego digestive tract — which may eventually be part of a Lego artificial life form…. [url]
- To discover more interesting robot-related content, check out what’s currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]
By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.
Filed Under: motor skills, origami, robots
Companies: lego
DailyDirt: Extreme Origami
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Almost any hobby can be taken a bit too seriously, depending on how enthusiastic its practitioners really are. Origami has some extremely cool applications (eg. unfolding solar panels in space, trisecting angles), and it’s being studied by mathematicians just for fun. Even if you’ve only folded paper planes, here are some interesting origami links for you.
- MIT is just one institution that studies origami and has a club dedicated to folding stuff. Apparently, the first rule of OrigaMIT is not to not talk about OrigaMIT. [url]
- The history of curved origami is covered by the folks at Makezine. MacArthur fellow Erik Demaine goes over some curved origami scuptures dating back to the 1920s. [url]
- An ‘origami robot’ can fold itself into various shapes all by itself. It’s too bad GPS devices have made self-folding maps somewhat obsolete…. [url]
- To discover more interesting crafts, check out what’s currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]
By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.