Amazing Images From the 2010 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge

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The world’s most detailed 3D model of HIV.

We’re always suckers for a good art/science mashup, so perhaps it’s no surprise that we’re feeling pretty good about today’s release of the 2010 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge winners. This year’s winning entries included the most detailed 3-D model of the HIV virus ever made (above), a sweeping infographic primer on the many ways fungi impact our lives, and a non-interactive media project that tracked 3,000 pieces of garbage from their origins in Seattle to destinations across the U.S. (Pics)

 

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Billboard Swing Set

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Billboards are good for more than advertising.

Architect Didier Faustino made Double Happiness out of an old billboard in New York City:

Double Happiness responds to the society of materialism where individual desires seem to be prevailing over all. This nomad piece of urban furniture allows the reactivation of different public spaces and enables inhabitants to reappropriate fragments of their city…

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HOW TO: Turn Your Facebook Profile Photo Into a Video

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Say goodbye to boring old profile photos.

Some Facebook users — myself formerly among them — are obsessive profile tweakers. We edit our list of interests. We reorganize our photo albums and experiment with awesome profile photo hacks. We weigh carefully whether we want to “Like” this Page or that, because we wonder how that information will be inferred. And we’re always just a little bit, well, bored with our profiles.

Enter FlipYourProfile, a new Facebook app slash browser plugin that allows you to replace your profile photo with a video. That’s right…

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A 33 Foot Touchscreen Built Using Off-The-Shelf Hardware and Public Domain Software

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The University of Groningen in the Netherlands made this 32.8 ft. by 9.2 ft. touchscreen interface from six expensive cameras… and some “cheap” infrared emitters, 1000 LEDs, some old computers that were sitting around, and some free software.

The result is a positively enormous curved screen with a resolution of 4900 by 1700 that can track 100 different touches at a time… and that’s just at optimum speeds.  Latency is between 30 and 50 ms.

Anyone up for a game of Pong?

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Book Uses Colored Thread Between Pages To Make Hyperlinks

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Hyperlinks on paper.

Maria Fischer’s “Traumgedanken” book is a collection of “literary, philosophical, psychological and scientifical texts” about dreams. The book uses threads pierced through the pages and affixed to other pages to make physical hyperlinks between ideas.

On five pages there are illustrations made out of thread. Their shape and colour relies on the key words on the opposite page. This way an abstract image of the dream about dreaming is generated…

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Flypaper Clock Eats Flies, Uses Their Bodies for Energy

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Carcasses Create Energy For Clock

Design student James Auger was inspired by carnivorous plants to make a clock that is powered by converting the bodies of dead insects into electricity. A roll of flypaper catches the flies, which are in turn scraped off and dumped into a fuel cell…

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The Water-Scraper Habitat

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Visions of water dwellings.

Taking advantage of the 71% of the Earth covered in water, the “Water-Scraper” is a partially submerged, self-contained habitat. A combination of tidal, solar and wind sources generate power for the floating behemoth while garden acreage just above the water line produces food for the structure’s inhabitants.

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Electric Beauty Lift High Nose

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Am I beautiful yet?

Want to lift your nose? Now you can with the Electric Beauty Lift High Nose.

Push up that nose of yours to create the perfect profile with this handy Beauty Lift High Nose, a beauty gadget that applies gentle electric vibrations from the bottom, side and front. Just slip it on and turn on the switch on the front of the frame…

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‘Nothing is Impossible’ – World’s Smallest Engraving on the Edge of a Razor Blade

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The world’s smallest engraving by human hand has been completed on the edge of a razor blade.

Graham Short etched the motto “Nothing is impossible” which measures just a tenth of a millimetre.  The letters are invisible to the naked eye, and can only be read with a medical microscope at 400 times magnification.

Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.