Candy Fab

The Candy Fab Project is an off shoot of Evil Scientist Laboratories. In trying to find a low cost rapid prototyping method, they designed and built a 3D Printer, that uses sugar!!! They've had so much inquiry into it, that the Evil Scientist decided they needed to start a separate page for the printer. Best of all, they're inviting people to sign up and be part of their experiment. Which means they'll be offering the plans for you to make your own printer for free! I've already signed up. They say the candy isn't edible yet, the potential for sculptural food is there though. I wonder if you could layer ingredients to create odd recipes. As an industrial designer, I could print out model mock-ups and eat them for lunch when the presentation is over. This post ends here while I geek out.

Edible Tableware

They are made of flour, water and salt, a biscuit recipe traditionally used for emergency rations at sea. They'll last for months if kept dry [small ironic chuckle here]. They'll be put into production at Koratt Cafe, in Japan. I'd read up more myself, but most of the info is Japanese, and I'm out of practice. Everything I know was found at dezeen.

They're meant to be replacements for paper tableware. So far though, they have to be handmade. I wonder how this compares to a waffle cone bowl. It's always upsetting when the waffle cone bowl is served inside a styrofoam cup.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are the material of the future. They have been used to assist in cleaning up oil spills, and a pair from Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute have figured out how to use them as fire retardant insulation for houses. What's not to love about the magical mushroom? First they produced Smurfs, now this, who knows what's next.

Biochar

Biochar is "obtained from pyrolysing biomass." Being able to way the amount of biochar one has, makes it an accurate form of carbon sequestration. Additionally, it can restore soil nutrition, offering an alternative to slash and burn techniques. 

There are a lot of claims going on with this product, which for me has resulted in information overload and that sounds too good to be true. So, I'll start by breaking it all down. Firstly, pyrolysis is the subjugation of organic compounds to very high temperatures [thank you dictionary.com]. How Biochar amend soil nutrition, is not fully explained on the website. From my best understanding, it is stable in the soil, lasting for hundreds of years [sounds kind of like plastic]. I'm still out on a decision, though since I found out about it through Treehugger, I'm leaning towards Biochar being a good thing. Still have research more at Biochar Fund and Beyond Zero Emissions Podcast.

Found via Treehugger

Intrinsic Metal Coloration

Scientist at the University of Rochester have used a laser to create intrinsic colors in metals. For their experiments, they have transformed aluminum to gold, blue, and a extremely pure black, among other colors. The process actually changes the surface properties of the metal, so the color will never fade. This is an extremely large break through because it allows a form of biomimicry in the way that butterflies wings color themselves. I wonder if they could to this on a woven metal textile so that you could have a super black aluminum shirt? Oh the possibilities for this are endless.

Found via Long Views

Photo credit Richard Baker, University of Rochester

Under-Performing Apparel

Smart, intelligent, reactive and performance textiles are all the rage in design these days. A recent article in Businessweek Online says we may want to consider otherwise though. 

As an avid cyclist and triathlete I have some experience with these materials, though not many of the higher end ones. I haven't update my wardrobe for quite some time actually. I've never owned any of Under Armor's apparel. 

I am skeptic of the ability of the clothes to perform at various claimed levels. I imagine the difference between wearing jeans on a bike and spandex is easily recognizable to most people. If nothing else, I know I sweat less while wearing spandex when cycling than while wearing jeans. The difference between spandex and tech-x might not be so recognizable [ a fun little mathematical expression of that; jean:spandex > spandex:tech-x]. The added performance of tech-x is not in proportion to its increased expense. It really only matters to those athletes in the top 5% who are going to be setting world records in their disciplines. Everyone else should relax, eat fewer power bars, drink less gatorade and just have fun.

racing cyclist via cycling news

nude cyclist via boys will be boys

Ruminant Bloom

By Julia Lohmann, a sheep's stomach lamp. I'm a vegetarian, and this is still beautiful. This is exactly what I was thinking when I wanted someone to stick LEDs in Studio Libertiny's Honeycomb Vase. Bees and Sheeps, what other animals can we take advantage as natural beautiful structures? Hot dog glow lights anyone?

Latte Prototyping

Latte art meets rapid prototyping [found via communicadores.info]. My passion for food leaves me excited about the possibilities this opens up. Of course there is no practical application... yet! I'm going to put all my day dreaming hours to come up with a good use. I imagine Molecular Gastronomists would love to play with this.

It would also be interesting to take a note at where Latte Art started, and now how it has ended up in the hands of machines. 

[image via krassy can do it blog.]

What other food arts are currently performed by people that might be enhanced by machines? Maybe someone could rapid prototype a cake by sifting all the dry ingredients in layers, then adding liquid, then cooking each individual section with a laser. You could have nine different cakes right next to each other! You could have pink polka dot cakes, where the white was vanilla flavored and polka dots were strawberry!

Or maybe some intricate chocolate sculpture that was prototyped...

[image via barrels and bottles, the first google image link at the time]

Honey Comb Vase

The honeycomb vase, by Studio Libertiny, is an amazing concept of alternative prototyping. It looks good enough to be a final product for me. Someone please throw some LEDs inside that thing, I think it would be a fantastic lamp. Or maybe a more chemically inclined person could duplicate firefly bioluminescence in there!

Studio Libertiny has some amazing projects with paper on their site too. A paper vase that has the properties of wood! And a paper table that they describe as feeling like "erotic suede." Check out all of their projects, quite inspiring.