Bringing Molecular Structures to the Real World

http://chem.sci.utsunomiya-u.ac.jp/v7n1/nagao/

modelling the structure by means of up-to-date 3 dimensional molding method offers an effective teaching aid.

(Freely “rearranged” from the babelfish translation of the page above.)

I highly recommend that you take a look at this article even if you don’t know japanese, since its pictures (scroll down a bit) beautifully illustrate several techniques currently used to make real objects from 3D models. In this case the subjects are molecular structures: these techniques not only bring them to a human scale but also to the human world, thus helping scientists twice. Furthermore, some of the machines used, like the Roland mdx scanner and milling machine, are getting cheap and easy to use enough that in a near future they may become as common as photocopiers!

HoBot

http://www.craftsmanshipmuseum.com/Ho.htm

http://www.zoho.nl/zoho2.html

the “ultimate puppet” that could duplicate the grace and range of human movement

Mark Ho has recently been spotted in many sites across the Web after his work on the ArtForm No.1, a metal fully poseable robot sculpture. The reasons for this interest? Well, according to a post in digg, Mark is selling a limited series of these sculptures, priced at more than 36000 dollars each. That will raise some eyebrows, but honestly, I think that the price is fair (and it would be even if the series weren’t limited). From a craftsperson’s point of view the statue is a masterpiece, comprised of 920 pieces that Continue reading HoBot