Incredible Flying Car of the 1950's

Equipped with wings and a propeller, Moulton Taylor Aerocar aerobile was capable of taking off from a stoplight or the runway

This is just cool! 

Motopia

How far are we from a future where pedestrians and automobiles can live together peacefully?  Living here in the Tri-Cities we really have a bad habit of not looking out for foot traffic.  I am to blame as well.  I don't give a second thought to the fact that someone maybe heading into a cross walk, or walking on the sidewalk as I am about to pull out from a parking lot into traffic.  It would be a terrible thing to hit a human with your your car.  I am also amazed when I head to Seattle and spend time downtown on a busy workday.  Walking the streets with huge numbers of pedestrians all plowing right into the street as soon as the WALK light comes on.  Especially since the traffic seems to go from 0 to 60 within on block.  Anywho...  I thought this article had some clever ideas about the future of commuting whether it be on foot or in a automobile.

A Pedestrian Paradise

Deep Thinkers Debate

Is The Internet Changing The Way We Think?

This questions regularly comes up in classes that I am taking. There are always arguments either way.  I think that we can honestly say that the internet has had a huge impact on the way we live today.  With that I guess it is inevitable that it would change the way we think.  I believe we take so many things for granted now.  We rush out into the middle of the wilderness with out a map as we just assume we will have an internet connection through our phone.  Sometimes we do and we are rescued from the side of a mountain.  Other times we don't and there we are, unprepared.

Each year the organization Edge poses this question to visionary thinkers on science and culture and collects essays.  Follow this link and see what the leading minds of our time think.  Article.

Science of Spreading Good

10 Things

Since this blog is about science, art and technology I am posting some suggestions from the article 10 Points About the Science of Spreading Good.  Although spreading good might not be consider a scientific in some circles I believe it is still worth sharing.

1. Good Deed Are Contagious.

2. The Network Acts Like a Matching Grant

3. Messages get Amplified when they Spread Naturally

4. Close Friends Matter More

5. Our Real World Friends are Online too.

6.Make Good Behavior Visible...

7. ... But Don't Overdue It!

8. Centrality, Interest, Influence, and Influence-ability are All Important

9. Central Actors Can Predict the Future

10. Realize Your Network Power

So with the holidays approaching it is important to stop and think about the science of spreading good.  Take a moment and read the article and see if you can make a difference.

!!BEWARE!!

After downloading ClipGrabber I became a victim of this malware.  Read article below from spyware techie to learn more.

 

Do you know what Claro Search Malware is?

Claro Search Malware is a generic name of a browser hijacker infection that changes user’s browser settings and then forcefully redirects him to malicious websites. Claro Search Malware is directly related to Isearch.claro.com website that pretends being a legitimate search engine. Basically, it changes your default search engine or default homepage settings in order to promote unwanted software.
Claro Search Malware is directly related to Babylon merchandise, and we know already just how annoying Babylon Toolbar can be. Claro Search Malware easily affects all three main browsers – Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. It takes one single click to install Claro Search Malware onto the target computer. Sometimes user does not even realize that this browser hijacker is being installed, because Claro Search Malware can also arrive bundled with other software. It is common for video codecs, players and other freeware to bring random third-party applications along.
When Claro Search Malware gets installed, the user will notice that his default homepage is changed, and he will be redirected to other third party websites that might be related to computer malware. Some users try to remove Claro Search Malware via Control Panel, because Claro LTD toolbar is listed among the installed programs list. However, Claro Search Malware does not want to be removed and it will try remain in your system for as long as possible.
Get yourself a powerful security tool and remove Claro Search Malware right now, otherwise you might face even more dangerous computer infections that Claro Search Malware will definitely invite your way.
In non-techie terms:
Claro Search Malware is a computer infection that pretends to be a genuine browser plug-in. It redirects user to malicious websites and hijacks the default search engine. Remove Claro Search Malware from your computer with a computer security program and safeguard your system against similar intrusions.

Global Oneness Project

Global Oneness Project

 

I found this website tonight.  It's wonderful.  The films range from portraits of artists to issues like global warming.  Included the "about us" below.  Please follow the link to the site and see if you are inspired.  The cinematography is very impressive. Be sure to check out the photo essays.

"The Global Oneness Project produces and distributes films, media and educational materials that challenge us to rethink our relationship to the world.

We've been traveling the world since 2006 documenting a range of stories including: films on food issues in East Africa, youth gangs in the barrios of Ecuador, an artist who paints with tea, and photo essays about street art in the Bay Area and prayer in New York City.
Through our screening and education programs, we hope to stimulate dialogue, support community engagement and inspire action."

The Key to American Innovation

EDUCATION

Here is an interesting article on the future of technology; the cost to the United States for the next 100 years of innovation and discovery, the benefits of crowd sourcing, and the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).  The article brings up some valid points with regards to the heart of a company lying within the R&D department.  The importance of Art and Design that should not be overlooked, as it is the missing link to success of a product.  Here is a link to the article if you would like to read more about it.   Article
 

Urban Transformation Projects

These day's due to the environmental issues architects and policy makers are changing their approach to design with regards to our cities, buildings and infrastructures.  Here are some examples below with info on each project courtesy of www.good.is. 

Has anyone been to the Seattle Olympic Sculputure Park?    It opened in 2006, I had no idea it existed.


Enjoy!


Seattle Art Museum: Olympic Sculpture Park
Seattle/United States
Designed by Weiss/Manfredi
Learn more about this project here.

Weiss/Manfredi’s Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle was an instant landmark the moment it opened in 2006. The park’s sculptural form was carved out of a former brownfield site, navigating a difficult urban plot that traditionally acted as a buffer between city and coast. The large-scale project, which uses a hybrid retaining wall system of concrete panels and earth to hold up 200,000 cubic yards of infill, weaves a zig-zagging path around artworks by Alexander Calder and Richard Serra to the Elliot Bay shore beyond. The park is part of a city initiative to revitalize the waterfront.
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CaixaForum
Madrid/Spain
Designed by Herzog & de Meuron
Learn more about this project here.

Herzog & de Meuron describe the CaixaForum as an “urban magnet” meant to attract not just aesthetes and museum goers but the general public at large. The project gutted a decommissioned power station, retaining the brick shell while filling it with several sculptural elements. The foundation was removed, creating an open plaza at the base (and underneath) the building. A tall garden wall was erected on the side of an adjoining building, completing the “architectural identity” that has proved quite the crowdpleaser.
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Rendering: Biomorphis

Leith Walk
Edinburgh/Scotland
Designed by Biomorphis
Learn more about this project here and here.

These days, there seems to be a High Line for every city. Just rustle up some dying infrastructure, and you’re set! But, unlike other similar schemes, the Leith Walk proposal for Edinburgh takes a more nuanced approach. The project, by Biomorphis, seeks to create a living urban corridor that will bridge a green belt around the city. The design, which features repetitive measures of interlocking wood beams, would be constructed by local artisans using regional materials. Best of all, the public would be free to cultivate the park’s designated green spaces, freeing the project up from the mandate of tourism charters to be used by the community at large.
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McAllen Public Library
McAllen/Texas
Designed by Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle, Ltd.
Learn more about this project here and here.

From commerce to classrooms, this old Wal-Mart center was converted into the nation’s largest single-story library. The warehouse-space, which spans two and a half football fields, is lined with aisles upon aisles of books. The library is organized around programmatic clusters, with clusters of reading materials sprinkled throughout according to genre.
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Photo: Superkilen

Superkilen
Copenhagen/Denmark
Designed by Superflex, BIG, Topotek1
Learn more about this project here.

Superkilen is a new urban park that cuts through the heart of Copenhagen’s diverse Nørrebro neighborhood, which is home to more than 50 nationalities. The mile-long park, which consists of three themed parts (“Red Square”, “Black Market”, and “Green Park”), is dotted with various pop artifacts and cultural mementos “sourced” from the home countries of the area’s inhabitants. Here, you’re just as likely to stumble across manhole covers from Paris and Islamic tiled fountains from Morocco as you are (ironic) neon Communist signage from Moscow and curvy benches from Brazil.
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+Pool
East River/New York
Designed by Family, Playlab
Learn more about this project here and here.

What is there to say about the +POOL besides that we really like it. The self-initiated project takes the best of architecture and technology and combines them to create an entirely new and unique public space. The “plus” shape is instantly iconic, without resorting to any of the tedious formal games that plague most architectural projects of this scale and program. Most importantly, +POOL is for everybody. The team behind the design has launched a big fundraising push to raise $1 million that will be needed to see the pool through towards realization. We think we speak for all New Yorkers when we say that we really hope we’ll be swimming in the East River in summer 2015.
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LentSpace
New York
Designed by Interboro Partners
Learn more about this project here and here.

Interboro’s “Lentspace takes a stalled construction site in Lower Manhattan and makes it into a vibrant urban park. The project’s actual material content–planters, modular walls and space dividers–come second to the decidedly urban arc that informs the installation: namely, the notion that the city can be “remade” through cohesive and opportunistic interventions into the city fabric.
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Photo: David Sundberg/ESTO

McCarren Pool & Bathhouse Renovation
Brooklyn/New York
Designed by Roger Marvel Architects
Learn more about this project here.

It took nearly 30 years for McCarren Pool to get back on its feet after it was closed in 1983. The pool reopened to much fanfare (and controversy) this past summer, but little argument could be made against Roger Marvel Architects’ sensible renovation, which includes new changing pavilions, meeting rooms and offices, and sports courts open to Brooklynites. Wood salvaged from the Coney Island boardwalk was repurposed to clad the pavilions, while original wire baskets were applied to the lobby ceiling as a decorative treatment. In the winter, the beach deck will be converted into an ice rink, making the pool a year-round destination.
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Happy Magic Water Cube
Beijing/China
Designed by Forrec Ltd. (Water Cube by PTW Architects)
Learn more about this project here.

The architectural legacy of any Olympic Games is usually tinged with melancholy, entropy, and rust. Just look at what remains of the 2004 Athens Olympic grounds to see what we’re talking about. City and planning officials in Beijing were set on preventing the 2008 Olympic camp from falling into such decay. True, the Bird’s Nest stands in an ambiguous state–neither used nor disused–but the same cannot be said for the WaterCube. In 2010, the structure was retrofitted with a large-scale water park filled with looping slides and all kinds of anemone-like knickknacks.
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VOTE

Why isn't election day a nationl holiday?  Great Question!

 

Here's some great propaganda posters encouraging it.

 

By making election day a holiday people it would encourage people to celebrate their right to vote. Hopefully these posters encourage you to be thankful about your right to have a say, thoughtful about what you are really saying with your vote, and most of all ensure that you take the time to vote.