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Tech NewsDesignThe Tallest Elevators On Earth Are Being Tested In an Old Mineshaft
Jeddah’s Kingdom Tower will be taller than any other structure ever built. At more than one kilometer high, this supertall will require feats of engineering that, until now, have been the stuff of science fiction. Like the world’s tallest, longest, and fastest elevators—which are being developed in a mine shaft in Finland. Kone, a Finnish … Continued
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Tech NewsDesignHere’s a Chart to Help You Identify That Strange Light in the Sky
With ever-brighter skies reducing our ability to stargaze, and ever more bright objects soaring over-head, it’s increasingly complicated to identify just what is that awesome thing you’re looking at. The League of Lost Causes understands your pain. To solve it, they’ve produced this handy identification flowchart. Image credit: HK/The League of Lost Causes Although I … Continued
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Tech NewsDesignScientists Are Making Condoms Out of the Same Material As Your Contacts
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently awarded a grant to an Australian research team trying to build a better condom. They’re hardly the first to win such an award, but they have a novel approach. These polymer scientists are making condoms out of hydrogels, the same materials used in contact lenses. It’s actually a … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
Playing with Science and Technology for Fantastic Costumes
As convention season heats up, we get a steady stream of fan tributes to various media characters in the form of elaborate costumes. While this is independently awesome, I’m particularly fascinated by just how much science, technology, and mathematics goes into design. I don’t get to many conventions — this summer I’ll be visiting Comic … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
3D Printed Steel Structures Are As Efficient As They Are Awesome-Looking
No matter how many times you hear about a new breakthrough, 3D printing is amazing, transformative technology. Now, a new method for 3D printing steel joints stands to revolutionize the construction industry. It looks pretty badass, too. Arup, an engineering and design firm, has developed an additive manufacturing technique for critical structural steel elements that … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
Machines Are Forced To Dig Their Own Graves Under Luxury London Flats
Folks with loads of cash who are looking to build their wildly extravagant dream home in London are getting around strict architectural preservation laws by building down, not up. And after excavating space for subterranean ballrooms, pools, and bowling alleys, the diggers that do the dirty work are being abandoned underground and there, covered with … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
Articulated Hand Armor Makes These The Safest Gloves Ever
Traditional gloves sacrifice outright protection for hands from crushing, abrasion and falls in order to retain freedom of movement and tactile feel. These new gloves from a Manhattan start up aim to fix that. Motorcyclists may be familiar with the name Del Rosario thanks to the company’s wild-looking concept helmet from a few years back. … Continued
By Wes Siler -
Tech NewsDesign
This Interactive Trash Bin Turns Recycling Into a Giant Game of Plinko
Recycling should be second nature now, but once you toss a plastic bottle into the dark abyss of a public bin, well—that’s it. Why give it a second thought? ReFILL is an interactive installation that gives a glimpse at the pile-up of would-be trash that’s destined for a second life; everything that goes in is … Continued
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Tech NewsDesignA Rare Look at the Graffiti-Covered History of NYC’s Subway
In just about every movie set in New York City in the 1970s and 80s there’s an establishing shot with a graffiti-covered subway. Saturday Night Fever That graffiti was like illegible technicolor hieroglyphics—a language that even most New Yorkers couldn’t read. It gave you a sense that the subways controlled by wild gangs of teenagers. … Continued
Roman Mars - 99% Invisible -
Tech NewsDesignThis GPS-Enabled Bike Bell Rings To Help You Find Your Ride
There are bike-friendly cities, and then there are places—like Amsterdam—with so many cycles on the street that people lock up at racks in multi-story garages, creating a completely nutso mass of wheels. How the hell are you supposed to find your ride at the end of the day? How about strapping on an innocuous-looking smart … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
This Office Chair Was Built For Two Butts
Sometimes in a professional office environment, you’re gonna have to forgo Gchat for a minute and communicate with a colleague in person. So you get up. You wander over. Now what? You could hover awkwardly behind them. You could pull up a chair. Or you could ask them politely to split their seat in half … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
A Simple Bottle Redesign Makes Removing Lids a Lot Easier
There’s good news for those of us who’ve ever felt embarrassed about not being able to get the cap off a bottle. A team of researchers in Japan have found that the bottle’s round shape could actually be to blame, and that getting caps off bottles with a parallelogram-shaped cross-section is considerably easier. Developed by … Continued
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Tech NewsDesignThe Decrepit, Unreliable Fire Hydrant Just Got a Brilliant Upgrade
These days, fires are rare enough that most of us rarely think about the state of our fire hydrants. But unfortunately, that also means we’re ignoring a dangerously decayed piece of urban infrastructure. Except for a retired NYC firefighter and inventor named George Sigelakis, that is. Meet the fire hydrant of the future. Sigelakis is … Continued
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Tech NewsDesignLet Your Stoner Flag Fly with the High Kite
With more than 50 percent of the public in favor of decriminalization, it’s high time for America’s stoners to come out of the shadows. Get loud, be proud, maybe get off the couch today and show everybody your stoner pride with the High Kite. The High Kite from The World’s Best Ever, is exactly what … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
I Would Totally Wear High Heels Equipped With Hydraulic Springs
Oh, high heels. You look so hot but hurt so much. Think a little interior padding will save your feet from a world of pain? Psssh. The Kinetic Traces collection by London College of Fashion grad Silvia Fado Moreno, however, are like Easy Spirits with an advanced engineering degree. Check out the hydraulics on these … Continued
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Tech NewsDesignThis Museum Gave Kids Crayon Helmets And Let Them Go Wild
If drawing on the walls at home is a no-no, drawing on the walls at a museum is a massive don’t-even-think-about-it. Or it was, until the playful design duo behind Matheny Studio teamed up with Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria to create a new on-site space where kids can strap on crayon studded helmets, shoes, … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
Would These Redesigned Cigarettes Help You Quit Smoking?
Quitting smoking cold turkey takes a rare sort of willpower that most of us will, unfortunately, never know. So for the weaker willed masses looking to kick the habit, these new cigarette packaging concepts may be just what the (questionable) doctor ordered. Created by Taiwanese designer Tseng Yi Wen, the simply named Tobacco project looks … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
Nike’s Latest Bag Is Hot Off the 3D Printer
Nothing can escape the gaze of the 3D printer’s nozzle these days—including the humble duffle bag. Nike’s latest luggage uses a combination of fine traditional leather and intricate 3D printing to carry its owner’s kit. Designed and manufactured especially for Brazil’s 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Rebento Duffel is Nike Football’s first 3D-printed sports bag. … Continued
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Tech NewsDesign
Was Apple’s Futuristic HQ Inspired By A 1960s-era San Francisco Motel?
Apple’s new Cupertino HQ promises to be an ultra-modern hub of highly considered, state-of-the-art design. But was this UFO-beamed-down-from-the-future actually inspired by a architectural relic from the Bay Area’s past? John King, the San Francisco Chronicle‘s architecture and urban design critic, puts forth the engaging, if not entirely verifiable, theory that both Steve Jobs and … Continued