“Northern Nigeria is an impoverished region where people in rural communities eke out a living from subsistence farming. With no electricity, and therefore no refrigeration, perishable foods spoil within days. Such spoilage causes disease and loss of income for needy farmers, who are forced to sell their produce daily. Nigerian teacher Mohammed Bah Abba was motivated by his concern for the rural poor and by his interest in indigenous African technology to seek a practical, local solution to these problems. His extremely simple and inexpensive earthenware “pot-in-pot” cooling device, based on a principle of physics already known in ancient Egypt, is revolutionising lives in this semi-desert area.”
Projects like this amaze me. A simple product with a huge impact for millions of people. It also makes me realaize how much we rely on electricuty in our ever so tech-centric lives.
Yves Behar has created a stunning watch for the mini_collection. The display has a landscape, portrait, and data mode. It’s a one size fits all, but it fits me fine, so no complaints on my end. I almost like looking at it more than wearing it.buy here! FuseProject (yves behars firm)
I got my hands on these fabuliciously cool soft magnets by GELTEC. When someone talks to you about magnets, you think about hard pieces of metal, but thees little suckers are as soft as gummi bears. Once you get these in your hands, it’s hard to let go…
check them out.GELTEC
If you want some fun in the office, get an Air Zooka. This is one of the most surprising little science toys you’ll get out there. This lil bucket hurls an invisible ball of air at any target. If your good, you can pin point targets at up to 20 feet and really surprise people. It feels like a ghost punching you. Its the best $15 you’ll ever spend. ZeroToys also has a few other little gadget toys that are fun. Check them out!Air Zooka
“A new material covered with nanoscopic hairs that mimic those found on geckos’ feet could allow people to walk up to sheer surfaces and across ceilings, say researchers.”I want some!!!
Have you ever wondered how popular your name was as a baby? Name voyager creates a visual diagram of baby name populations in the past 100+ years. Its interesting to see how some names just boom certain years..perhaps due to a rock star, movie, song, movement, etc.
Also reminds me of this discussion I had with a friend questioning the social implications of a persons life based on their childhood names. If any of you have info on this, please comment.
Anyhow, give it a try, type in your name, and watch the dynamic diagram flow.Name Voyager
What would you do if you could go all out with your classic VW van? Well these guys turned it into a super modular unit with a few surprises here and there. I’m pretty sure this is just a concept, but the site comes along with some nice video renderings and music.VERDIER
Ze Frank is one krazy dude. He’s got a bunch of curious games, videos, pictures, and just plain wacky entertainment on his site. Check out his dance lessons…this is how I first learned of the ZE.How to dance Properly Zefrank Singing Frog (works if you have a laptop or mic) condeleza song (hysterical)
Vik muniz is a extremely fun artist with some bewildering projects. The picture above is him drawing clouds in the sky, with those exhaust stunt planes. He’s got drawings made from wires, finger paintings using sugar, crop drawings from the sky, and a bunch of other projects that just make you smile. I first met him at the TED conference and have been following his work since. Go to his pages and listern to his commentaries about his work.
Daniel Rozins Wooden Mirror magically reflects your own pixelated image back to you by programming wooden chips to angel at different levels based on the amount of light you are reflecting. This is one of those “physical pixelation” projects that I like sooooo much. I had the chance to interact with it and it’s uber-tastic. In fact, it’s actually hard to tell what the image is since your so close to it, but the lovely part is the nostalgic flickering of wooden panels playing an orchestrated tune based on your movements. Sounds like those train old school train ticker panels.
Watch the videos at the below links or after the jump.
Loftcube is a pretty sweet project done by Werner Aisslinger. The idea behind the Loftcube is a portable customized living space that stations on top of roofdecks with unbelievable views. There are a bunch of really beautiful elements within this space that are worth checking out. (personally I liked the bathroom section) The site has a pretty nice presentation along with some chill happening music.loftcube
“Northern Nigeria is an impoverished region where people in rural communities eke out a living from subsistence farming. With no electricity, and therefore no refrigeration, perishable foods spoil within days. Such spoilage causes disease and loss of income for needy farmers, who are forced to sell their produce daily. Nigerian teacher Mohammed Bah Abba was motivated by his concern for the rural poor and by his interest in indigenous African technology to seek a practical, local solution to these problems. His extremely simple and inexpensive earthenware “pot-in-pot” cooling device, based on a principle of physics already known in ancient Egypt, is revolutionising lives in this semi-desert area.”
Vik muniz is a extremely fun artist with some bewildering projects. The picture above is him drawing clouds in the sky, with those exhaust stunt planes. He’s got drawings made from wires, finger paintings using sugar, crop drawings from the sky, and a bunch of other projects that just make you smile. I first met him at the 
Daniel Rozins Wooden Mirror magically reflects your own pixelated image back to you by programming wooden chips to angel at different levels based on the amount of light you are reflecting. This is one of those “physical pixelation” projects that I like sooooo much. I had the chance to interact with it and it’s uber-tastic. In fact, it’s actually hard to tell what the image is since your so close to it, but the lovely part is the nostalgic flickering of wooden panels playing an orchestrated tune based on your movements. Sounds like those train old school train ticker panels.
