Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Star Trek Meets Golden Eye at Moscow Electricity Control Center [Architecture]

This amazing 320 square meter control room features a two-level, six-workstation podium to oversee the Moscow United electricity network. More after the jump.

Designed by Russian architects, Arch Group, and ABTB, the space includes a wall of 36 Barco video cubes detailing the network's current condition.

(Updated pic, thanks Larissa!)

The project was apparently built in 2008-2009, but it almost looks rendered with all those super clean lines. One thing's for sure: give me 5 minutes in the Captain's chair and my gear's cable clutter will have the whole shop looking more like something from the Matrix. [Arch Group and Dezeen via William Gibson and Unfolding]

Mimo 710-S Monitor Flips Shut to Go Portable [Monitors]

If you're looking for a tiny, extra monitor, Nanovision makes some utilitarian Mimo-branded gear. But now their latest 710-S monitor adds a bit of flare to the mix.

The Mimo 710-S is the "Mobile Slider" edition of their existing line, a 7-inch, 800x480 USB monitor that opens like a clamshell and rotates 90 degrees depending on your viewing preference. The catch? It costs $20 more than the existing Mimo 710 to attain this new portable formfactor. So if you're not planning to travel with it, you can probably save a few bucks on an older model.

Look for the 710-S when it's released later this month for $150. [Mimo via Everything USB via DVICE via Engadget]

Lab-in-a-Chip Can Perform 1,024 Chemical Reactions Simultaneously [Science]

An University of California Los Angeles' team of chemists, biologists and engineers has developed a funky lab-in-a-chip capable of performing 1,024 chemical reactions in parallel. Using microfluidics, the system may dramatically accelerate drug development for cancer and other diseases:

The precious enzyme molecules required for a single in situ click reaction in a traditional lab now can be split into hundreds of duplicates for performing hundreds of reactions in parallel, thus revolutionizing the laboratory process, reducing reagent consumption and accelerating the process for identifying potential drug candidates

The UCLA scientists think that their new invention can revolutionize chemistry laboratories, and drug development, since their chip is capable of performing more than a thousand simultaneous chemical reactions in seconds, processes that take insane amounts of time to do using traditional lab bench material.

The "integrated microfluidic device for large-scale in situ click chemistry screening" works by funneling the chemical matter through micro-channels etched in the chip. It works at the molecular level, so even while the reactions are the same that boffins get with traditional lab tools, the liquid quantities are so small that the eye can't actually see them. The results of these combinations are then analyzed manually using a mass spectrometer, a part of the process that the team expects to automate in the future.

In other words: Fasterer and fasterer research, less development time, more drugs to try. Seem! s like a win-win combination to me. [UCLA and Lab on a Chip journal via Medgadget]

Beautiful Waveform Timeline Shows Music Sales In All Media Through Time [Music]

This simple and powerful statistical graphic would make Edward Tufte proud: It shows all music sales since 1973, dividing them by media type, and presenting them like waveforms. Click to enlarge.

[NYT—Thanks David]

Nikon Coolpix S1000pj projector-cam beams into reality along with friends

Man, the Nikon Coolpix S1000pj has gone from crazy rumor to seemingly-real to whoa-here's-the-press-release in record time -- the compact cam with the integrated projector was just officially announced, along with the three other cams we saw leaked earlier today. Leaked specs for the S1000pj were dead-on: a 12.1 megapixel sensor with ISO 6400 sensitivity mounted behind a 5x wide-angle zoom lens with five-way VR stabilization, and that LED-powered projector that'll put up a 40-inch image for slideshows complete with music, effects and transitions. We're a little less excited about the $430 list price this thing will carry when it hits in September, but on the whole it's a pretty terrific idea and we're completely intrigued -- looks like we'll be saving our pennies this month. Pictures of everything in the gallery, deets on the other cams and a video of the S1000pj after the break.

Gallery: Nikon Coolpix S1000pj projector-cam beams into reality with friends