Tech

Translucent Concrete Lets The Light Shine In (via io9)

Mad Materials Science: Translucent Concrete Lets The Light Shine In

translucent concrete

What’s particularly impressive about translucent concrete is that the optical fibers only make up 4% of the mixture, which is what allows (they claim) the concrete to retain the same “technical data” as normal concrete. In layman’s terms we’re assuming this means “Pretty light shine through, house not fall down.” Based on the photos of the concrete in action, and if this load-bearing claim holds up (get it?) then we imagine that this would get put to immediate use in the construction of formerly boring government buildings everywhere.

More from a google search.
Hehe, this looks pretty cool, and vaguely useful. Like you can see how big a mob as amassed outside your walled fortress, and never have a baseball-shattered window again. 😀

Art, Jewelry, Tech

Mechanical Chic – the Jewelry of Connie Verrusio

Mechanical Chic – the Jewelry of Connie Verrusio
Fascinated by the way things work, Connie Verrusio creates radical new jewelry forms from leftover functions.

Connie Verrucio who uses mechanical “junk” to make fine jewelry.  Gears, lugpins, screws, nails, old film–they don’t sound like the subjects of fine jewelry, but that’s just what Connie Verrusio turns them into.

Gear earrings

“I am fascinated by all things mechanical,” she says, “and the choices I make reflect a deep reverence for the quality of workmanship, all too often a thing of the past.”

Ruler Bracelet

It’s steampunk without the attitude.

books, Tech

Probably one of the best definitions of what a book is, that I’ve ever read.

Cool Tool: Five Good eBooks

1) A book (even without its paper pages) is a long argument that coheres as a whole, and whose argument or story is made by integrating well-selected parts.
From Kevin Kelly, one of the founders of The Well (The WELL was an early, influential, and pioneering outpost in what later came to be called cyberspace.), an editor of Whole Earth Review 9and actin publisher after Stewart Brand left), and one of the founding editors of Wired magazine, among other things (for those who don’t know who he is). This is from his Cool Tools blog which is about Cool Tools for everyday living–sorta a continuance of the Whole Earth Review.
Check out the blog, and his other stuff.

Health, Tech

Steroids for your brain?

Drugs to build up that mental muscle – Los Angeles Times
From the article:
“If there were drugs that actually made you smarter, good Lord, I have no doubt that their use would become epidemic,” Yesalis said. “Just think what it would do to anybody’s career in about any area. There are not too many occupations where it’s really good to be dumb.”
Could be the start of Timothy Leary’s “SMI²LE” (a succinct summary of his pre-transhumanist agenda: SM (Space Migration) + I² (intelligence increase) + LE (Life extension).).