What do you think of when you hear the words ‘material ecology’ ?
Mix shrimp peals and silk and what do you get ? Shrill..!.. an engineered biodegradable alternative to plastic. Confuse a sikworm and bild a tet ? Hack a utility truck into a giant 3d printer. All ideas we heard abotu today while meeting with Prof Neri Oxman from MIT. Neri was up at UVM giving the annual George Aiken lecture. I also had the chance to sit down with Prof Oxman in a smaller group this afternoon. I was impressed with her creativity and vision. The talk tonight was really packed.. She had so much material to share… left my head spinning. She showed how there are many lessons we can learn in nature which we can then apply to digital manufacturing processes like 3D printing. My favorite was concrete with variable density.. just like our own bobes. .. now why didn’t i think of that ?
The crowd gathered there this evenign was as interesting as the talk itelf.. sceintists, artists and makers enoguh to fill Ira Allen chapel. It was great meeting up with so many freinds..
Now its time for me to meet up wit my pillow. I’m workign too hard right now.. and not gettign enough sleep. Time to fix that !
Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit.. it’s October 1st already.. and that means that he new Vermont hands free cell phone law went into effect today. The new lay (described here) prohibits drivers from even touching their phones while driving. there do seem to be some exceptions.. you’re allowed to turn your phone on an off.. but nothing else. How would they enforce that ? Wireless headsets are ok.. but you’re not allowed to touch your phone to .. say.. change volume.. or go on mute.
it was quite an adjustment.. I use a good 3000 minutes of cell every month.. much of that time in a car. many times today I found myself reaching for my phone.. but I stopped short. I tried using the fancy voice dialing features of the car.. but those never work. I think getting over this distraction on is going to be.. well… distracting !
i like the intent of the new law.. anything we can do to make driving more safe is definetly good with me..
i just…….
well.. i just wish it applied to other people.. not to me !
Interesting treat this afternoon. I had the annual board advance (opposite of retreat) at the Echo science museum . The goal in this coming year is to increase our STEM outreach to preschool . To drive the point home, the museums very engaging preschool science coordinator. Elizabeth treated the board members to a quick story time circle. Complete with preschool size chairs. It was a great way to get us thinking like kids.. very creative !.. We read “little turtles big adventure” and made our own turtle habitat. By the end I was ready for nap time..
Just back from Chris’s house. Had to help him fix a motion sensor on one of his pieces.. All fixed now. He and ki are heading to Georgia tomorrow for another burn. This one is father time 2.. ther first father time was a year ago or so.. This one is portable size as he has to fit in a trailer on the way down.
as always, Chris has done and excellent job. look at this guy ! Wonderful, flammable art !
earlier in the day diane pryed me out of work and we took a run up honey hollow.. It was so beutiful up there.. Again.. couldn’t take my camera on the run.. but here are the sights on the way in and on the way out. It’s fall for sure !
