Phantom Physicalizations: Machines that make dreams physical. VINCENT OLISLAGERS just graduated from the Interaction Design Masters Programme at K3, Malmö University. His thesis Phantom Physicalizations, Reinterpreting Dreams Through Physical Representation (download) investigates how dreams can inspire waking life and design and explores how we can value them in new ways using digital tools through two prototypes that make dreams physical. Phantom Physicalizations exhibited at Medea Why should we explore dreams further? Dreams allow us to experience life in a different manner than during waking life. You have designed two devices which make dreams physical in different ways. In essence there are two parts to it. One of the devices that makes dreams physical is a coffee grinder.
The other works a bit like a lava lamp, except that instead of heat it uses ‘non-newtonian fluid’, low frequency sound and color changing lights to make a liquid swirl and change shape and color. Why should dreams be made physical, and why make two devices? MEMS. Spider Mite's Secrets Revealed. Tiny pest's genome opens door to novel approaches to crop protection and silk production The tiny two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae) causes much anxiety for farmers, and has been, to date, a scientific mystery. It feeds on over 1,100 species of plants, including 150 greenhouse plants and crops, such as maize, soy, tomatoes and citrus. The cost of chemically controlling damage caused by the spider mite exceeds USD 1 billion per year. In the latest issue of the journal Nature, a multinational consortium of scientists publish the sequenced genome of the spider mite, revealing how it is capable of such feeding frenzy, as well as other secrets of this tiny pest.
These findings open the door to new approaches in pest control and crop protection, by allowing greater insight into the biological interactions between plants and herbivores that feed on them. Tetranychus urticae Credit: Wikipedia Colony of spider mites. Video Journey Into Nanotechnology. Nano. Nanotechno. Nanotechnology - Foresight Institute.