De la cuna a la cuna Ciclo de la cuna a la cuna. De la cuna a la cuna. Rediseñando la forma en que hacemos las cosas (en inglés: Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things) es un libro publicado en 2002 por el químico Michael Braungart y el arquitecto William McDonough en el que se propone una nueva forma de interpretar el ecologismo, la Próxima Revolución Industrial. Tradicionalmente la consigna principal del ecologismo ha sido "Reducir, reutilizar, reciclar". Los autores proponen mediante este libro un cambio de enfoque. Reducir el impacto sobre el medio ambiente provocaría una ralentización del mismo, pero más rápido o más despacio estaríamos llegando a un mismo final. Los conceptos clave de la filosofía "de la cuna a la cuna" son intuitivos y enraizados en la imitación a la naturaleza, o de modo más preciso la conexión con ella: Partes del libro[editar] Referencia bibliográfica[editar] Cradle to Cradle (De la cuna a la cuna): Rediseñando la forma en que hacemos las cosas Enlaces externos[editar]
Gecko tape Stickybot – A Climbing Robot using Synthetic Setae[2] Basic principles[edit] Close view of a gecko's foot Geckos are renowned for their exceptional ability to stick and run on any vertical and inverted surface (excluding Teflon[3]). Extraordinary adhesion[edit] The two front feet of a tokay gecko can withstand 20.1 N of force parallel to the surface with 227 mm2 of pad area,[4] a force as much as 40 times the gecko's weight. Micro and nano view of gecko's toe[5] The possibilities finally narrowed down to intermolecular forces, and the development of electron microscopy in the 1950s, which revealed the micro-structure of the setae on the gecko's foot, provided further proof to support this hypothesis. N of force[7] There are about 14,400 setae per square millimeter on the foot of a tokay gecko, which leads to a total number of about 3,268,800 setae on a tokay gecko's two front feet. where and Attach and Detach procedure of gecko's foot[5] Lift-off mechanism[edit] Self-cleaning ability[edit]
Theme: Innovation Inspired by Nature – University of Copenhagen This year the theme of the Next Generation summer school is Innovation Inspired by Nature. With nature as a source of inspiration 40 students from UCPH, DTU, CBS and international universities will participate in developing new solutions to cases suggested by four external companies. They will be taught the newest theories and methods from experts in the fields of innovation, entrepreneurship,biomimicry, bionics, evolution, design, communication and team dynamics. It is nature’s own way to handle problems that will inspire the students to create innovative solutions to challenges posed by four companies. The students will work closely with a cross-disciplinary teaching corps and creative facilitators. Students at work in cross-disciplinary teams. Biomimicry is composed by the word bios, e.g. life, and mimesis, e.g. to mimic. Facts and dates The summer school is the third in a row and is a part of the project Next Generation.
Decrecimiento El decrecimiento es una corriente de pensamiento político, económico y social favorable a la disminución regular controlada de la producción económica con el objetivo de establecer una nueva relación de equilibrio entre el ser humano y la naturaleza, pero también entre los propios seres humanos. Rechaza el objetivo de crecimiento económico en sí del liberalismo y el productivismo;[1] en palabras de Serge Latouche: «la consigna del decrecimiento tiene como meta, sobre todo, insistir fuertemente en abandonar el objetivo del crecimiento por el crecimiento, [...] En todo rigor, convendría más hablar de "acrecimiento", tal como hablamos de "ateísmo"».[2] Por ello también se suelen denominar "objetores de crecimiento". La investigación se inscribe pues en un movimiento más amplio de reflexión sobre la bioeconomía y el postdesarrollo, que implicaría un cambio radical de sistema. Historia decrecentista[editar] Gestación ideológica[editar] Nacimiento del concepto[editar] El libro de 1973 de E.
Breathing Soil Bacteria Makes You Smarter - Lifestyle Spending time outdoors has always offered health benefits for the body and the mind: fresh air, clean water, awe-inspiring vistas, peaceful quietude. Now, it turns out, even the dirt is good for you. Scientists at the Sage Colleges of Troy, New York, have discovered that exposure to certain kinds of soil bacteria can reduce anxiety and increase learning capabilities when ingested or inhaled, reports Physorg.com. The amazing bacterium in question is Mycobacterium vaccae, which occurs naturally in soil and is often breathed in innocuously when people spend time in nature. But decreased anxiety isn't the only effect of increased serotonin, and researchers wanted to investigate further. After feeding the live bacteria to a group of mice, Matthews and her colleague Susan Jenks subjected the mice to a test of wits with a control group by having them run a maze.
Chinese province recognises engineering at Bath Professor Julian Vincent, Honorary Professor of Biomimetics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been awarded a Friendship Award by the Government of Jilin Province in China. Professor Vincent has been given a Friendship Award for his work in the Jilin Province. The award, one of just five given by the province following over 500 nominations, recognises an outstanding contribution made by foreign experts in developing science and technology in the region. The annual award ceremony is held to celebrate the anniversary of the Province’s National Day and to thank foreign experts for their important contributions to the revitalisation of industrial Jilin and the promotion of sound and rapid economic development. Professor Vincent was initially asked to go to Jilin University, one of the largest and most successful Chinese universities, in 2005. Through his involvement in Jilin Province, Professor Vincent has made many local friends. If you enjoyed this article you might also like:
Design thinking Design thinking stands for design-specific cognitive activities that designers apply during the process of designing.[1] Overview[edit] Design thinking has come to be defined as combining empathy for the context of a problem, creativity in the generation of insights and solutions, and rationality in analyzing and fitting various solutions to the problem context.[2] According to Tim Brown, CEO and president of IDEO, the goal of Design Thinking is "matching people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and viable as a business strategy" [3] The premise of teaching Design Thinking is that by knowing about how designers approach problems and the methods which they use to ideate, select and execute solutions, individuals and businesses will be better able to improve their own problem solving processes and take innovation to a higher level. Origins of the term[edit] (For a detailed evolution, see History, below.) Solution-based thinking[edit] Bryan Lawson Architects vs. Lawson found that:
BioMechanics Lab Creates Next Generation Robotic Snake The Israeli Military is testing a new generation of robotic snake that is made from independent segments each with its own sensors, power source and processor. When together, the snake robot is a highly maneuverable object that can move through difficult terrain and scan the place from all angles, but where it really improves upon the previous version is that its segments that can detach themselves from the parent body and perform independent missions. In a urban warfare situation, this snake robot can stealthily sneak inside buildings, scan its interiors and once it has detected its target, it can simply detach one of its segments packed with timed-explosives and leave it behind. The snake robot has been developed by the BioRobotics and BioMechanics Lab (BRML) and will eventually be inducted into the Israel Defense Forces. BioRobotics and BioMechanics Lab [via Dvice]
Press Release - 09 May 2006 - University of Bath Copying nature could save us energy, study shows New technologies that mimic the way insects, plants and animals overcome engineering problems could help reduce our dependence on energy, according to new research published in the Royal Society journal Interface. When faced with engineering difficulties, such as lifting a load or coping with extremes of heat, up to 70 per cent of man-made technologies manipulate energy, often increasing the amount used, in order to resolve the problem. However, new research which has compared how nature and man-made technologies overcome similar problems has shown that only 5 per cent of natural ‘machines’ rely on energy in the same way. Instead, insects, plants, birds and mammals rely on the structure and organisation of their body parts and behaviour; the solutions to problems are already built in. “An example might be a hammer,” said Professor Julian Vincent from the University of Bath who led the research .
User-centered design The chief difference from other product design philosophies is that user-centered design tries to optimize the product around how users can, want, or need to use the product, rather than forcing the users to change their behavior to accommodate the product. UCD models and approaches[edit] For example, the user-centered design process can help software designers to fulfill the goal of a product engineered for their users. User requirements are considered right from the beginning and included into the whole product cycle. Cooperative design: involving designers and users on an equal footing. All these approaches follow the ISO standard Human-centred design for interactive systems (ISO 9241-210, 2010). The ISO standard describes 6 key principles that will ensure a design is user centered: Purpose[edit] UCD answers questions about users and their tasks and goals, then uses the findings to make decisions about development and design. Who are the users of the document? Elements[edit] Language[edit]
The Hedonistic Imperative