Chirkeysk Hydro Dam on Sulak River in the Buinaksk district of Dagestan, Russia

Similar thoughts here as with the Super Kamiokande experiment; there's a whole lot of Akira going on at this site. Great example of an aesthetically fascinating industrial installation. Particularly look at the interior machinery design & coloration.

Visual Concept Dictionary: Nostalgia, Futurism

Super Kamiokande Neutrino Detection Experiment

Nostalgia

I wonder at the scale and and futurism and (guided by the Japaneseness of the thing) I remember Akira and then Blade Runner, 2001, and even, laughingly, Total Recall;  a culture that justified studios rendering epic machinations like this for its stories. Sure; it's entirely functional and built specifically to best do what it does, but it's almost cartoonish how dramatic it is in photographs. It's a great piece for the visual dictionary because it triggers so much with its visual presentation. I think I'm nostalgic for that time I've associated with celebrating impressionist futurism.

Soft Robotics & Explosive Chambers

Harvard's silicone based "soft robotics" research has produced some fascinating results; here's a soft-body robot designed with elastic chambers containing a methane / oxygen mix which combusts provided an electric charge. The combustion within the body of the robot causes a violent but reasonably controlled spasm, launching the robot into the air. Sweet.

Our Relationship with the Written Word

Written word is one of the earliest forms of phenomenological design, a means to affect the presence of another person within the mind of the reader. It's a powerful and emotional phenomenon when executed by a skilled author, weaving engaging narratives and endearing, rich characters all from the simple context of a common written language.

Techniques in written word have been evolving since the advent of written language and technologies for the distribution of written word have matured over the ages to reach the mass market, but written word has always maintained a single fundamental feature: that the reader's copy of the material is static, non-interactive despite its faculty for delivering emotional depth. Even a written letter has a static nature, despite its purpose in demanding a response.

Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements

The most momentous and glorious discovery I have ever made on the internet.

Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements is an online compendium of technical diagrams (even animations!) for five hundred and seven mechanical movements used in simple machines.

Fascinating and hypnotizing, it's a testament to the quintessential human faculty for engineering.

One look is enough to make you want to drop everything and make like Michel Gondry. Anyone else ridiculously excited about Mood Indigo (L'écume des Jours) by the way?

Bending and Not Breaking

A particular article on Forbes.com struck a deep chord with me. It was posted yesterday morning under the tech section. It is an article about Ping Fu, a Chinese woman about my dad's age who even after a decade of torture, degradation and "re-education" is at the forefront of the 3D printing revolution. Many of you have probably heard or come across 3D printing solutions; well this woman headed Geomagic, a company that was recently acquired by 3D Systems. She's a big deal in the entrepreneurship world, but still remains extremely humble. Her new book called Bend Not Break was on Tina Brown's must reads list on NPR. After reading this article and watching her interviews I cannot wait to start her book.