something to note are the new additions on the right: a "found photo" blog and a personal news area where i can post if i won't be blogging for some time or any other news pertaining to me myself and I, and my projects. and the cherry on the top is that the background changes every time you load the page! woot!

Scientists at the Department of Industrial Microbiology at University College Dublin have discovered a bacterial strain that can detoxify styrene, a toxic byproduct of the polystyrene industry (which produces Styrofoam, among other things), and turn it into a green, biodegradable plastic.

Styrene is found in many types of industrial effluent. It causes lung irritation and muscle weakness, and affects the brain and nervous system in people and animals.

The Irish scientists used a species of bacterium, Pseudomonas putida (picture below), that occurs naturally in soil and can live on styrene. They grew it in a bioreactor with styrene as the sole source of carbon and energy. Their efforts resulted in the isolation of the styrene-eating Pseudomonas putida strain CA-3, which converts styrene into the plastic polymer PHA as a stored energy source.

The process completely removes the pollutant and the plastic made by the bacteria has a wide range of potential industrial and commercial uses such as medical implants, scaffolds for tissue engineering, wound management, drug carriers, plastic coating of cardboard and heat-resistant plastic.

"I think we'll see a lot more of this type of technology in the future," said O'Connor, one of the Dublin researchers. "Sustainable development and clean production through white biotechnology is the way forward. Not only bacteria to clean up the mess we make -- as in oil-eating bacteria -- but to prevent the mess in the first place.

From Wired News.

SCOTTeVEST (SeV) and Global Solar Energy announced that the solar-powered jacket designed to carry, connect and charge portable devices will be available in time for the holidays.

The solar panels are attached to the jacket, which boasts removable sleeves, over 30 hidden pockets and the "Personal Area Network (PAN)", which conceals wires associated with power sources and earbuds.

The solar panels are flexible thin-film photovoltaic material made from copper indium gallium diselenide sun-absorbing material placed onto a thin stainless steel substrate. The panels convert sunlight into electricity that charges a hidden battery pack, which in turn can charge any device compatible with USB chargers, including mobile phones, PDAs, Game Boys, MP3 players and other mobile devices.

The solar panels are removable and can be used separately from the jackets.

You can preorder one for $425.

From The Raw Feed (< eMediawire) and Engadget.

Pod Massager by farah sit @ risd	Feels Good - from New Nomads by Philips Design

Farah Sit, at the school of design has won an award of distinction from I.D. Magazine for ‘Pod Massager’ a scarf-like massager made of electric screw parts. {via}

From “>I.D. Magazine:

“In a year of war and uncertainty, this project tapped into a widespread desire for creature comforts,” observed Kalman of Farrah Sit’s portable massaging device. The brief, for a course called Appropriate Technology and Sustainability, was to design a product using all or some of the mechanical and electrical components of a handheld, battery-operated screwdriver. With help from Brown University engineering student Abby Thomas, Sit machined and press-fit an off-centered weight onto a small motor, encased and wired it to batteries, then sheathed it in rubber to distribute the vibration. Noting that most handheld massagers on the market are impersonal products made from bulky injection-molded plastics, she housed her massaging motor in a form more appropriate to its function: a soft, comforting scarf. The pea-green textile, which Kalman seized and draped over her own shoulders, can be wrapped around the body or slung over the back of a chair.

The project reminds me of the one of the garments created by Philips Design. The website that was once available at the Philips Design site is now defunct, but the book is available from 010 publishers. ‘Feels Good’ is a cream kimono with a conductive embroidered spine at the back. The fibres are able to disperse an electrostatic charge which creates a tingling sensation, supposedly relaxing the wearer. The level of charge can be set via a remote control device hidden inside a pocket, or biometric sensors.

Zentai Woman (galleries @ infoseek.co.jp)

Previously: The Art of the Mask, Nicole Tran Va Bang, Fetishwear by Demask, Skintight, Rubberella, Live Anime Porn

Don Norman speculated about a "Personal Life Recorder" (PLR) type of device back in his 1992 book "Turn Signals Are The Facial Expression of Automobiles". He theorized that these PLR's would start out as a device given to young children, called the "Teddy". The "Teddy" would be given to us as children and record all of our personal life moments, and as we mature, the data could be transferred to new devices that matched out maturity level.

USA Today reported that a newly developed type of computer memory, called MRAM could make the vision of a PLR-type device possible, as well as "instant-on computers" and "longer battery life for pervasive devices".

Below is the description of New Media Arts from the Australia Council Support for the Arts Handbook 2004.

"New media art describes a process where new technology is used by artists to create works that explore new modes of artistic expression. New media art projects use new technologies such as computers, information and communications technology, virtual or immersive environments, or sound engineering to create works.

Projects which apply new technologies within a single art-form will not be funded by the New Media Arts Board."

Appart from the vague description of technology, it is interesting to note that they view new technologies as a tool, and not the subject of creative work. Is our relationship with technology is not a valid subject? As materially intense new media technology become just another creative tool artists and their works become increasingly disconnected from their global dwelling. Another example of how technology itself is becoming increasingly unquestionable while at the same time connecting us more directly to a global flows of materials and labor, which can be argued as being unsustainable.

http://www.ozco.gov.au/boards/new_media_arts/

"As long as there's some cocoa around, I can now go and stay at my boyfriend's place and know I don't need to worry if my tummy starts hurting," a young woman liberated by the beverage tells Shukan Gendai. "I can have a crap in peace..."

Australian artist Natalie Jerimijenko is attempting to make the movie “Babe” (about a talking pig) into reality. Her new project “OOZ” (Zoo spelled backwards) is a series of human/animal interfaces that provides communication channels between species as well as increasing our understanding of how we relate to our natural environment and the other “creatures” that inhabit it. Some examples include “GooseSpeak” (pictured above) which features a tele-operated goose that swims with the natural geese and allows you to communicate to them remotely. The “WaterStrider” is a remote controlled water bug with an embedded pager motor that allows people to send “mating calls” to other bugs over the water’s surface. A good start to some integration of robots into nature, but I’m curious if the effect will be much different than simple remote controlled boats, people in boats, people feeding the animals normally - or if the bugs, geese, and horses will actually respond to these interventions? I guess we’ll have to wait until results are posted or maybe we can just spend more quality time with our dogs and cats and ask them?

While bioinformatics isn't likely to create any new software stars, neuroinformatics will. The reason is simple: complexity. As I mentioned recently, the data about a person's genome can already fit on an ipod, yet the data about one's brain will require petabytes, if not exabytes, of storage capacity.

How much is a petabyte? One example is the Internet Archive Wayback Machine that contains approximately 1 petabyte of data and it has been archiving almost every webpage created since 1993.

Along with government initiatives like the human brain project there are also several small companies targeting neuroinformatics like Australia's Brain Resource Company (BRC), San Diego's Neurome, and Chicago's MIICRO.

Here is an overview of what BRC is up to (courtesy of Psychscape)

BRC has has set up the world's first standardized international database on the human brain. BRC already has a database of over 1,000 normative subjects and over 500 clinical subjects and still growing. This collaboration of scientists and technology partners (such as IBM) gathers information into a neuroscience database which includes demographic, neuropsychological (cognitive), electrical brain-body function, sMRI, fMRI, genetic and lifestyle data along with function, structure and genetics of patients' brains. A patient who is referred to the database (by over 50 researchers from around the globe), first enters data online - this consists of demographic data such as age, gender, eating and drinking habits, early childhood experiences. The patient tben goes into one of the BRC labs to undergo various tests, such as MRIs and EEGs

One of the goals of the BRC is to allow rapid comparisons of a patient profile against the normative data with the goal of predicting a response to particular drugs or anticipate a side effect to a specific intervention. Science has been chasing the ability to predict a personal response to any clinical intervention. Who will respond and who will not respond is extremely valuable information to the pharmaceutical industry as well as to clinicians.

The Aquadom is the world's largest cylindrical aquarium. It's in the lobby of a multi-use development, stretching 5 storeys up, with a glass elevator down the middle of it.

Link

(Thanks, kokogiak!)