Category: general

The Orilamp

Some time ago my friends in the Origami Group showed me how to make a box model originally designed by Clemente Giusto. I found it interesting, especially since when folding it you have to use a “twisting” technique that afterwards, when the model is finished, allows you to open and close it without needing to make a second matching part.

The fact is that the flaps of paper on top of the box made it look kinda strange, as they were really big in comparison to the rest of the piece. Therefore, I started fiddling with it to see if I could Continue reading The Orilamp

Orimeeting in Santiago

Last weekend I had the pleasure to assist to the meeting organized by my friends of the Origami Group, which took place in a hotel located close to Santiago de Compostela and gathered enthusiasts coming from all over Spain and abroad.

These were three days of intense folding and a great opportunity to learn while making great friends! Many people brought their own models (either made from diagrams or original creations), and I have to admit that I was absolutely amazed by the level and skill of the participants. I´m sure that you will agree with me that these models show great expertise and a unique beauty.

I had the chance to take lots of pictures during these three days (even if I always arrived late! 😛 ). Many of them are shown below; I added a picture of Xerome to the article I wrote on the models he made from tree leaves, and some 15 pictures of earring designs to the article I wrote a month ago on the same topic. Furthermore, I took so many pictures of tessellations that I think they deserve a separate article, so if you like the pictures below I suggest that you come back tomorrow: you won’t be disappointed, I promise!

Related Article: Tessellations galore

Related Article: Origami earrings

Related Article: The Art of folding tree leaves

Taste the Tril-o-bites

http://www.georgehart.com/trilobites/trilobite.html

These cookies are the result of my most recent research into what ancient trilobites would have tasted like if primitive biochemical processes were based on jam/chocolate/cookie molecules.

An easy recipe, served by George Hart, for the dinousaurs’ favourite cookies to enjoy at tea time. With lots of butter, chocolate and humour, what else can one ask for?

…Well, actually there’s more! you should must visit George’s site, and see for yourself some of his sculptures, his prototypes (I really want one of those rapid prototyping machines!), and his 3D puzzles, all based in polyhedra. Oh yes, and the picture of his office. I guess it looks like a phone booth from outside… 😉

Related Article: Chocolate chip cookies

The Garden of Eden

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11114156/

Those unknown bugs from Papua Island should consider themselves screwed up. When someone discovers a Garden of Eden, it automatically ceases to be, so I really feel for the honey eater bird, the tree kangaroo and the Zaglossus Bruijni ( a mix between a hedgehog and a duckbill), which should have hidden themselves better. The “fifth extinction” has already reached them, unless scientists erect in that jungle a wall like the one used to contain King Kong and throw the key into some abyssal hole. And even so.

Experts calculate that there are seven million species in the world, from which only 1.75 million have been described. Every year 17 000 species are lost, many of them without having shown their credentials. Who knows if some of those which are still hidden, or are already gone, hold the cure for AIDS or radical islamism. I would be content if that frog which looks at me with bulging eyes from the picture in the newspaper spit the poison of common sense.