Markus Kayser Builds a Solar-Powered 3D Printer that Prints Glass from Sand and a Sun-Powered Cutter

Industrial designer and tinkerer Markus Kayser spent the better part of a year building and experimenting with two fantastic devices that harness the sun’s power in some of the world’s harshest climates. The first he calls a Sun Cutter, a low-tech light cutter that uses a large ball lens to focus the sun’s rays onto a surface that’s moved by a cam-guided system. As the surface moves under the magnified light it cuts 2D components like a laser. The project was tested for the first time in August 2010 in the Egyptian desert and Kayser used thin plywood to create the parts for a few pairs of pretty sweet shades. But he didn’t stop there. Next, Kayser began to examine the process of 3D printing. In mid-May the Solar Sinter was tested for a two week period in the deserts of Siwa, Egypt, resulting in the amazing footage above.

Happily Jumping on Clouds “Homeless” is an animated film that was projected on city streets and buildings of Sao Paulo. It was made for MTV Brazil by Vjsuave (Ygor Marotta and Ceci Soloaga). It is brilliant! Credits: Director: Vjsuave Producer: Juliana Borges Art Direction: Vjsuave Character design: Dante Zaballa and Vjsuave Character animation: Dante Zaballa Animation: Vjsuave Music: Juan Tortarolo Editing: Guillermo Coube and Vjsuave Cameraman: Rafael Garcia Camera assistant: Joao Maia Camera car operator: Neto Valesi Selected locations by Rafael Garcia and Vjsuave Top: “Homeless” (2011). The making of “Homeless.” This is an earlier video production entitled “Run,” directed by Vjsuave. Film stills © Vjsuave Link via Design You Trust

Thomas Doyle’s Apocalyptic Dioramas (click images for detail) Using materials that would equally be at home amongst idyllic model train sets artist Thomas Doyle builds these incredibly intricate mixed media dioramas that instead suggest something much darker. The sense of loss and a brooding darkness is present in almost every piece, where homes dangle on sheer cliffs, or are surrounded by apocalyptic waste. I found Thomas Doyle while working my way through the strangely-named but enjoyable Gorky’s Granddaughter, an interview series by Christopher Joy and Zachary Keeting who sit down and chat casually with incredible artists.

Animation on a Bike Here’s a wonderful zoetrope animation using paper discs mounted on bicycle wheels by Katy Beveridge as part of her 3rd year dissertation project at CSM in London. Beveridge mentions being partially influenced by the technique of Tim Wheatley who has also explored the ideas of bicycle-wheel animation. See many more zoetrope videos previously on Colossal. (via peta pixel) 10 Websites To Make You Think | The Online Learning Blog from Study2U Supposedly browsing the internet requires more brain power than watching television. Although judging from some of the websites we’ve come across that assumption is cast into doubt. Here’s some of the sites we like that might get your brain to sit up and listen. Ted A conference that started in 1984 bringing together experts in technology, entertainment and design quickly grew into so much more. The conference itself is invitation only, but the website features all the talks at the conference in high res video format. New Scientist The New Scientist website carries new articles from the magazine as well as the NS archive of over 76,000 pieces. Big Think The Big Think website is a collection of ‘global thought leaders’ who offer their thoughts and analysis on world events and other important developments. Café Scientifque ‘for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology’ Breathing Earth Arts & Letters Daily How Stuff Works

Make A Cheap & Easy Solar USB Charger With An Altoids Tin Photos by Joshua Zimmerman The craftster behind the very popular $3 solar-powered emergency radio is back with a new awesome project: a cheap solar battery charger with a USB plug. Zimmerman wrote, saying that he saw a lot of small solar powered chargers being talked about over Earth Day, but there was a big problem: "They're all quite nice, but also quite expensive. So, he came up with his own, using one of our favorite reusable items -- the ever wonderful Altoids tin. In looking for the cheapest way to accomplish the task, Zimmerman found that he could build a USB solar charger for under $30 (or $10 if be buys parts in bulk, though it's not likely you'll be buying bulk solar cells and DC-to-USB converter circuits). Zimmerman states, "The central brain of our project is a DC to USB converter circuit. It can be done with a Minty Boost kit, a premade circuit off of ebay, or grabbing one from a cheap USB charger.