Robot Comic Strip

PHilfy from ESP (HKG) sent the boys this funny little comic strip this morning. Thought I would share it with all of you:



Read the original strip plus hundreds more from PBC here.

"Fear" : 3 Canvases by Dkoda

A few new canvases I made last week as gifts for friends Stateside. The Dragon and Octopus are for my girl's nephews, and the Monster in the middle was a house-warming present for some friends in New York. I like to use these little yellow scared faces with an object of fear behind them as I feel it resembles the way society is administered these days.

Howling Monk Sold!!!

Sorry, I meant to post this a couple of weeks ago. The Howling Monk toy ESP UK made from scratch for the Evisu Toy Exhibit was finally sold!! It went for a grand total of HKD$1,000 or approximately GBP70 squid. Thanks to A-vibe for sorting out the purchase for us! We hope that Howling Monk protects your office space from any evil...






This was the ESP HKG toy made from scratch by PHilfy:



You can see more pics of the Howling Monk or PHilfy's toy on our Flickr accounts....

Disabled B-Boys Battle

Now this is some seriously inspirational stuff for the morning! These guys are battlin' each other despite the fact that they are physically disabled in one way or another.......hats off to the b-boys!



Originally found on www.style43.com

Caddis Fly Art

I have always been interested in aquatic biology as well as all the other messed up hobbies/passions shown on this blog and this post was a perfect blend of art and biology. Cabinet Magazine reported the following words:

"Caddis Flies are small winged insects that live near streams and ponds and produce aquatic larvae that protect their developing bodies by manufacturing sheaths, or cases, spun from silk and incorporating substances—grains of sand, particles of mineral or plant material, bits of fish bone or crustacean shell. The larvae are remarkably adaptable: if other suitable materials are introduced into their environment, they will often incorporate those as well.



After collecting the larvae from their normal environments, Hubert Duprat relocates them to his studio where he gently removes their own natural cases and then places them in aquaria that he fills with alternative materials from which they can begin to recreate their protective sheaths. He added semi-precious and precious stones (including turquoise, opals, lapis lazuli and coral, as well as pearls, rubies, sapphires, and diamonds) seen here. Additionally, cases built by one insect and then discarded when it evolves into its fly state are sometimes recovered by other larvae, who may repurpose it by adding to or altering its size and form. "



The pic below is taken of a Caddis Fly in its normal casing;


Original Link: Cabinet Mag Via Boing Boing
Photos by Jean-Luc Fournier

Rice Paddy Art

Each year, farmers in the town of Inakadate in Aomori prefecture create works of crop art by growing a little purple and yellow-leafed kodaimai rice along with their local green-leafed tsugaru-roman variety. It will be visible until the rice is harvested in September. There's a fantastic gallery of these illustrations, ranging from "36 Views of Mount Fuji" to various demons, gods and traditional illustrations, as well as the Mona Lisa.

View more pics here.

Via Boing Boing.

Drum solo heaven

If your not one of the 1,620,191 viewers who have already seen this, then watch how this 7 year-old child prodigy rips up those drums.



My jaw dropped........

i-Limb Hand

The rate at which prosthetic limb technology is progressing is unbelievable. This video shows you the i-Limb.....gadgetry at its best!



Thanks Gizmodo for the info!

"Thriller" by prisoners

The Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Philippines has put their inmates to the test: recreating the infamous "Thriller" video inside the prison! A really good rendition follows:



Thanks to the super-random Mysterious Al for finding the best videos ever!

Electricity generated by tiny vibrations

Micro electricity generators have been developed which work by using vibrations to create electricity. Tiny magnets which are excited by vibrations move through a coil field and generate electricity. Enough power can be produced to power pace makers and other small medical sensors which is a exciting developement for the field of medical sciences.

Check out the full article at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6272752.stm

Self healing materials

Livescience.com writes:

"A team of researchers at the University of Illinois have used a technique create a polymer-based system that heals itself. An epoxy-resin base is infused with a network of interconnected channels about 200 microns in diameter. The channels are filled with low viscosity healing agent - just like your blood vessels carry healing material to cuts in your skin. This "vascularized" substrate has a solid epoxy layer deposited on top of it. A catalyst is incorporated in this solid coating.

When the coating layer is damaged, healing agent wicks from the channels through capillary action.

"Once in the crack plane the healing agent interacts with the catalyst particles in the coating to initiate polymerisation, rebonding the crack faces autonomically. After a sufficient time period the cracks are healed and the structural integrity of the coating restored. As cracks reopen under subsequent loading the healing cycle is repeated."

The idea of a "self-healing" surface is part of a larger set of ideas called "autonomous materials systems." The intent is to develop materials that can respond to their environment without additional attention from human beings. This idea has wide application not only here on Earth, but in space as well."

check out the full article at:

http://www.livescience.com/technology/070618_skin_polymer.html

KJ Sawka, Jungle Machine

This guy is one musician we don't wanna miss this year at the Glade Festival. KJ Sawka plays jungle sets playing the drums live and using KAOSS pads and sample machines for the sound effects. Incredible music......