Water and fat — those are the two primary building blocks Oxford Universityresearchers have used to 3D print the droplet you see above. Sounds unremarkable until you consider its intended application as a human tissue replacement. By stringing together thousands of these so-called droplets (which measure about 50 microns across) using a custom-built 3D printer, the Oxford team believes it has engineered a “new type of material” that could eventually be used … Read More → "Oxford University researchers create new 3D printed ‘soft material’ that could replace human tissue"

“Interactive Fish Tank” is an installation that explores new, wet boundaries in touch-based interfaces. Developed in 2011 by Manuela Donoso and Crys Moore, Masters candidates at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunication Program, the piece effectively turns a bed of water into a capacitive touchscreen, creating a virtual aquarium full of pixelated goldfish.

With “Fish Tank,” users can “feed” a swarm of fish by simply tapping their … Read More → "‘Interactive Fish Tank’ turns water into a capacitive touchscreen (video)"

… Read More → "Chris Hadfield demonstrates how tears work in space (video)"

The resulting augmented reality (AR) sandbox allows users to create topography models by shaping real sand, which is then augmented in real time by an elevation color map, topographic contour lines, and simulated water. The system teaches geographic, geologic, and hydrologic concepts such as how to read a topography map, the meaning of contour lines, watersheds, catchment areas, levees, etc.
via … Read More → "Augmented reality sandbox with real-time water flow simulation (video)"

Rorschach Masks is a company that offers a series of 5 different moving inkblot costume masks. The inkblots animate from the heat of your breath and are themed after an identical disguise that fictional character and antihero Rorschach(Walter Kovacs) wore in the Watchmen comics and 2009 film.
via Laughing Squid

</ … Read More → "Moving Rorschach inkblot masks based on Watchmen comics & film"

If the Earth were 100 pixels wide….

Distance to Mars, a very cool visualization.

A group of scientists from Kyoto has managed to successfully analyze and “record” the basic elements of what people see when they dream. The idea of recording dreams has been a mainstay in science fiction, but also a frequent goal for researchers. AsSmithsonian Magazine writes, this group designed its … Read More → "Scientists turn dreams into eerie short films with an MRI scan (video)"

Sure, we’ve seen rats control other rats, but that won’t give us a legion of mind-controlled creatures to unleash upon an innocent public, will it? Harvard Medical School may unwittingly assist with solving our (rather misguided) plight, as it just experimented with a system that lets a human mind trigger actions in a rat’s motor cortex. The test had sensor-equipped humans watch a screen that flashed … Read More → "Harvard lets human minds control rats, private rodent armies remain distant (video)"

This picture was taken in a park in Vöcklabruck, Austria that you might want to go to right now. You can actually sit in the middle of the pond, thanks to a sunken spot where you can hang out without getting soaked.
via Gizmodo

Continue … Read More → "You can sit in this pond without getting wet"

This is a 3-D chalk art stop-motion from Chris Carlson (of 3-D Snake game fame) of Tetris being played.
via Geekologie

… Read More → "3-D Tetris chalk drawing stop-motion (video)"