ExRex - Slashdot User

Submission + - NON-GPS OPEN NAVIGATION SYSTEM INSPIRED BY INSECT EYES (dezeen.com) 1

Submitted by ExRex on Tuesday April 23, 2019 @12:02PM

ExRex writes: A team of student designers and engineers from the RCA and Imperial College have designed an open-source alternative to GPS, called Aweigh, that does not rely on satellites. Instead, the device calculates a user's position using the sun – a feature inspired by the polarized vision of insects.
They said that Aweigh can even work on a cloudy day when the sun is not in view, and unlike devices that use satellites, such as smartphones, Aweigh functions offline so a user's positional data cannot be leaked through the internet.
Describing the system as "a set of tools and blueprints", the team wanted users to be able to hack or fix the tools they use, so making the project open-source was important.
The device's custom circuit-board that reads light values to find the sun is powered by Raspberry Pi. The circuit board can be modified to customize interactions and the team imagine the device could work with older navigation tools like maps, and satellite navigation tools, by replacing the GPS chip.

Submission + - World's First 3D Printed Building Planned (3ders.org)

Submitted by ExRex on Sunday January 20, 2013 @10:06AM

ExRex writes: Dutch architecture studio Universe Architecture is planning to construct a house with a 3D printer for the first time.
The Landscape House will be printed in sections using the giant D-Shape printer, which can produce sections of up to 6 x 9 metres using a mixture of sand and a binding agent.
Architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars of Universe Architecture will collaborate with Italian inventor Enrico Dini, who developed the D-Shape printer, to build the house, which has a looping form based on a Möbius strip.
3D printing website as saying: "It will be the first 3D printed building in the world. I hope it can be opened to the public when it's finished.”
The team are working with mathematician and artist Rinus Roelofs to develop the house, which they estimate will take around 18 months to complete.
The D-Shape printer will create hollow volumes that will be filled with fibre-reinforced concrete to give it strength. The volumes will then be joined together to create the house.

Submission + - Element 114 Verified (physicstoday.org)

Submitted by

ExRex

on Tuesday October 20, 2009 @02:49PM

ExRex writes: "A team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has confirmed the results of researchers at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, who first reported producing the superheavy element 114 in 1999. Such independent verification is important, particularly given evidence of fabricated results for other superheavy elements.
If you're a subscriber to Physical Review Letters you can download the full article."

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