Moving Structure by Pavel Hladik is the design of the moving structure takes advantage of the Teflon foils and Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) NiTiCu. This structure is fixed to the ground or to another structure and is a part of the electrical circuit. The reactions controlled by computer are caused by the various circuits which connect the members of spirals of SMAs. The members are covered by the layered Teflon foil which is welded to the shape which is determined by the critical shape of the whole structure.

via Interactive Architecture dot Org

Tesla Motors has just unveiled the Tesla Roadster, a 0-to-60 in 4 about seconds, electric car.  No, it's not a dead end wish-it-would-be-real prototype.  The car is set to ship to your door late spring/early summer of 2007.

Presented in the spectacular 18,000 sf Skylight Studios Gallery, Soho, NYC, Mobile Living will exhibit the unparalleled advancements in our society that have manifested our modern nomadic lifestyle. . . Mixing design and technology this will be a groundbreaking, curated presentation, running concurrently with the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF), and DesignDowntown in New York City, May 2006. Mobile Homes, Mobile Phones, Mobile computing, Automobiles, Motor homes, indoor and outdoor furniture will all be topics in the show.

Length: 73 m (239 ft 6 in)
Wingspan: 79.8 m (261 ft 10 in)
Height: 24.1 m (79 ft 1 in)
Wing area: 845 m² (9,100 ft²)
more at A380 Wiki [video (google)]

via Screenhead

MCP Group’s MCP Realizer takes 3D printing / rapid prototyping into the world of metals. MCP uses a technique called SLM (Selective Laser Melting) which uses ordinary metal powders (bronze, zinc, stainless steel, tool steel, titanium, cobalt-chrome alloys) and a laser to melt thin layers of geometry repeatedly to produce finished parts. more>

Treehugger

Imagine that your coffee maker breaks just before you’re about to host a brunch. You go online and click on the model you want to buy. But you don’t have to wait for it to be shipped; instead, a machine on your desk kicks into operation. Inside a glass chamber, a nozzle spits out the electronics, chassis, motor and other components, layer by layer. An hour later, you snap together a few parts and the brewing begins. David Pescovitz has written a great article for Salon on the future of desktop fabrication and the various approaches researchers are pursuing.

Industrial Origami uses its patented “smiles” stamp or cut to create foldable sheet metal products up to 2 inches thick. Benchmark tests have shown remarkable strength and unusual resistance to fatigue.

Thanks, John.

Anyone who has bought “white” LED devices knows that the light is not quite white. Michael Bowers, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, has discovered an alternative method of producing white LEDs with a broad spectrum while remaining cool to the touch. This discovery will certainly make its way to architectural lighting and large scale applications as LED production costs drop. Bowers’ method also indicates possibilities to provide illumination through chemical processes in a luminescent paint to transform any surface into an light source.

via Exploration | Treehugger | Worldchanging

The Florida Advanced Center for Composite Technologies (FAC2T) under the direction of Ben Wang, is working to develop real-world applications for Buckypaper, a material made of carbon nanotubes. The film holds potential for use in illuminating devices, heat sinks, armor, and electromagnetic protective skins. [press release]

via Physorg

Researchers at Lucent Technologies’ Bell Labs and Germany-based BASF Future Systems and Printed Systems unveiled the worlds first working circuit made using regular printing methods. Their method, unlike others experimenting with organic circuitry printing, doesn’t involve any lithographic steps. The conductive ink is simply printed and evaporates, leaving a crystalline semiconducting material.

via Sci-Tech Today