Reinventing The Wheel

This house is being 3-D printed with human and robot construction. Mesh mould technology uses the precision of robot building capacities to eliminate waste.

follow @the-future-now

Machine learning could finally crack the 4,000-year-old Indus script

After a century of failing to crack an ancient script, linguists turn to machines.

The ultimate puzzle!

This dartboard from former NASA engineer Mark Rober guarantees a bull’s-eye through the power of software, motors, and motion tracking.

Noodle tearing up the dance floor

9 Ocean Facts You Likely Don’t Know, but Should

Earth is a place dominated by water, mainly oceans. It’s also a place our researchers study to understand life. Trillions of gallons of water flow freely across the surface of our blue-green planet. Ocean’s vibrant ecosystems impact our lives in many ways. 

In celebration of World Oceans Day, here are a few things you might not know about these complex waterways.

1. Why is the ocean blue? 

The way light is absorbed and scattered throughout the ocean determines which colors it takes on. Red, orange, yellow,and green light are absorbed quickly beneath the surface, leaving blue light to be scattered and reflected back. This causes us to see various blue and violet hues.

2. Want a good fishing spot? 

Follow the phytoplankton! These small plant-like organisms are the beginning of the food web for most of the ocean. As phytoplankton grow and multiply, they are eaten by zooplankton, small fish and other animals. Larger animals then eat the smaller ones. The fishing industry identifies good spots by using ocean color images to locate areas rich in phytoplankton. Phytoplankton, as revealed by ocean color, frequently show scientists where ocean currents provide nutrients for plant growth.

3. The ocean is many colors. 

When we look at the ocean from space, we see many different shades of blue. Using instruments that are more sensitive than the human eye, we can measure carefully the fantastic array of colors of the ocean. Different colors may reveal the presence and amount of phytoplankton, sediments and dissolved organic matter.

4. The ocean can be a dark place. 

About 70 percent of the planet is ocean, with an average depth of more than 12,400 feet. Given that light doesn’t penetrate much deeper than 330 feet below the water’s surface (in the clearest water), most of our planet is in a perpetual state of darkness. Although dark, this part of the ocean still supports many forms of life, some of which are fed by sinking phytoplankton. 

5. We study all aspects of ocean life. 

Instruments on satellites in space, hundreds of kilometers above us, can measure many things about the sea: surface winds, sea surface temperature, water color, wave height, and height of the ocean surface.

6. In a gallon of average sea water, there is about ½ cup of salt. 

The amount of salt varies depending on location. The Atlantic Ocean is saltier than the Pacific Ocean, for instance. Most of the salt in the ocean is the same kind of salt we put on our food: sodium chloride.

7. A single drop of sea water is teeming with life.  

It will most likely have millions (yes, millions!) of bacteria and viruses, thousands of phytoplankton cells, and even some fish eggs, baby crabs, and small worms. 

8. Where does Earth store freshwater? 

Just 3.5 percent of Earth’s water is fresh—that is, with few salts in it. You can find Earth’s freshwater in our lakes, rivers, and streams, but don’t forget groundwater and glaciers. Over 68 percent of Earth’s freshwater is locked up in ice and glaciers. And another 30 percent is in groundwater. 

9. Phytoplankton are the “lungs of the ocean”.

Just like forests are considered the “lungs of the earth”, phytoplankton is known for providing the same service in the ocean! They consume carbon dioxide, dissolved in the sunlit portion of the ocean, and produce about half of the world’s oxygen. 

Want to learn more about how we study the ocean? Follow @NASAEarth on twitter.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.  

Jeff Chang

Designer and artist is experimenting with ARKit to place and control cute characters he has created and place them in realworld scenes:

A post shared by Jeff Chang (@jeffchangart) on Aug 28, 2017 at 8:03am PDT

A post shared by Jeff Chang (@jeffchangart) on Sep 11, 2017 at 6:03pm PDT

A post shared by Jeff Chang (@jeffchangart) on Sep 12, 2017 at 6:08pm PDT

A post shared by Jeff Chang (@jeffchangart) on Sep 13, 2017 at 6:15pm PDT

Jeff has a Tumblr account [@jeffchangart] but you can find updates on Instagram here

komorebi

Design project by Leslie Nooteboom is a lamp that can project artificial natural lighting onto walls, created with high-rise apartment spaces in mind:

komorebi is sunlight filtering through leaves, creating a dance of light and shadows where filtered sunrays hit a surface. It is the reflections on pavements underneath centuries-old trees on a sunny day, and moving, framed lightboxes through windows of homes onto walls. However, these days buildings are taller than they have ever been, creating a place to live for as many people as possible on the tiniest piece of land possible. Homes become a place of isolation from the outside – windows are absent or so tiny that even the idea of nature disappears, and lighting has become so artificial that there is no sense of day, time or place anymore.

komorebi lets you curate natural lighting experiences indoors.

In a time where indoor sunlight is becoming more scarce, the need for technological nature is increasing. With an ever growing global population and urbanisation levels reaching huge rates, fewer living spaces are able to receive direct sunlight. There are attempts at solving this issue, however these are very static. Intensity and colour seem to be the only way in which their light is dynamic.

You can find out more at Creative Applications here or the project page here

[Patreon] Best of 2017 - Augmented Reality Photography

For Patreon backers, I have put together a brief look at some projects that creatively explores the potential of Augmented Reality, which has been brought into the mainstream via Apple’s ARKit technology.

More Here

Creating Face-Based AR Experiences

Apple have just published an example for developers on how to use their front facing camera on the iPhone X for AR apps:

This sample app presents a simple interface allowing you to choose between four augmented reality (AR) visualizations on devices with a TrueDepth front-facing camera (see iOS Device Compatibility Reference).

The camera view alone, without any AR content.

The face mesh provided by ARKit, with automatic estimation of the real-world directional lighting environment.

Virtual 3D content that appears to attach to (and be obscured by parts of) the user’s real face.

A simple robot character whose facial expression is animated to match that of the user.

Link

An intro video can be found here