RPI has shared their upcoming Fall 2010 lecture series poster with us. It happens to be designed by Andy Gilmore and the future of the series will feature new artists each semester. It is part of Dean Douglis’s plan to retool the schools graphics in which we could not agree more with the direction. This initiative along w/ naming Andrew Saunders the Director of Publications should result in some exciting new projects in the near future. enjoy >>>
From Icon comes news of the Zamani Project, a fascinating research initiative in which University of Cape Town scientists render the African landscape in 3-D. Through photography, laser-scanning, and a slew of other mapping techniques we’ve never heard of (photogrammetry? say what?) — they’re compiling a uniquely comprehensive digital database of Africa’s built environment, from Persian baths in Zanzibar to mosques in Timbuktu. As best we can tell, it’s the largest documentation endeavor of its kind.
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The iridescence of butterfly wings have been the source of inspiration for more energy efficient yet vivid displays, but their shine is proving useful for brightening up not just our gadgets, but the money we buy them with as well. Researchers are looking in to how biomimicry can foil the efforts of would-be forgers, using the radiant colors created by light rather than pigment. The Indonesian Peacock or Swallowtail butterfly is the subject of interest to scientists at the University of Cambridge, who are using nanofabrication processes to replicate the reflective structures onto money, making them much more difficult to counterfeit.
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