On 24 May 2007, Brick: the exhibition will open at the Groot Handelsgebouw in Rotterdam during the manifestation Rotterdam 2007, City of Architecture.
Brick: the exhibition shows the experiments architects, designers and visual artists ventured into with the brick as a starting point. Inspiring, exciting results from 16 participants from different disciplines and cultural backgrounds, originating from 1 assignment: develop a new type of brick.

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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

SENSITIVE.FLOOR is a new interactive video projection floor by iO also distributed in the Sensitive Space System by 3M.

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.

An emerging branch of medicine called “organ printing” takes a patient’s own healthy cells and uses a printer, cell-based “bio-ink” and “bio-paper” to create tissue to repair a damaged organ.

A new hydrogel or “bio-paper”,developed by the University of Utah College of Pharmacy, enables printing of organs by layering thin sheets embedded with cells. The cells and liquid hydrogel are put in the printer cartridge and then dropped into three-dimensional, 1-microliter dots that form layers as the hydrogel hardens. The cells form tissue that can be implanted into a damaged organ. Glenn D. Prestwich believes testing will begin on humans in the next year as research pushes to repair damaged organs in real-time.

via Medgadget

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

What!? Moses Chan and his colleagues at Pennsylvania State University have created the world’s first “supersolids“, bizarre crystals that slide through each other like ghosts. [article 2005] [article 2004]

via NS

Dr. Angela Belcher and her group at MIT are developing an organic-inorganic hybrid method of growing batteries. By forcing viruses to interact with materials like metals, Dr. Belcher is exploring new materials that are self assembling with a high degree of control based on the chosen DNA sequence. Imagine selecting DNA for any type of material you want the virus to grow. [Discover Article]

via Medgadget | ScienCentral

Deborah D. L. Chung’s mixture of carbon fibers and conventional concrete, is an electrically conductive “smart concrete” (developed at the Composite Materials Research Laboratory) that can be continuously monitored for changes in electrical resistance as the material goes under stress. Levees and other critical structures can benefit from “smart concrete” and other early warning systems that sense subtle changes which occur prior to its failure.

via Physorg