Category Archives: Science

Time is Light & Other Relative Topics

03 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by in Art, Physics, Science

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Calendar/ClockThe ending of one year—one complete circle of our planet around the sun—and the beginning of another. Milestones in the passage of time cause us to reflect on our past and speculate about our future. Time.

What is time, anyway?

A concept humans cling to in order to create structure from the chaos of the universe. Einstein proved time is relative. At the speed of light, time stops.

An award-winning art  installation unveiled at Milan Design Week in April 2014 brought Einstein’s theory into concrete reality.

Frozen Time

Light is Time is an art installation developed by Tsuyoshi Tane of DGT Architects. Featuring 80,000 suspended main plates—the basic component of a watch—to create the illusion of frozen time that people can actually move through.

Light Is Time

If there were no light, then there would be no time. In the 20th century, mankind digitized time, measured it and continued to economize our time, until eventually we forgot about its relationship with the essence of light. Without light we never would have had the wonders of the universe, the richness of our planet or the joy and pleasure of our lives. “LIGHT is TIME” — the manifestation of light’s return to time — is our great challenge of the 21st-century. – Tsuyoshi Tane (DGT)

Take a walk through the exhibit in the following virtual tour.

Citizen Milano Design Week 2014 “Light Is Time”

Chill Out in the “Rain Room”

12 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by in Amazing but true!, Science, Summer, Technology

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It’s July … and in many places it’s HOT!

Wouldn’t it be great to get a reprieve Rain Roomfrom the heat with a walk in the rain … whenever you wanted … and not get wet?

You can…

In  Barbican, London there’s a place where the weather is inside. A room where it’s perpetually raining, where you can always experience the cool and calming effects of rain. Without getting wet.

Walk in the Rain without Getting Wet

How’d they do that?

Short answer:

The Rain Room is a 100 square meter area that uses 3D tracking cameras to map your presence, allowing you to walk and move through the continuously falling water without getting wet.

Longer (and more interesting) answer:

How do you stay cool when the temps rise?

The Science of Fun

27 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by in Fun, Humor, Inspiration, Science

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The Fun Theory

Yes, I’m happy to say there is such a thing. The Fun Theory follows the simple premise that…

Making something fun is the easiest way to change people’s behavior for the better.

In Odenplan, Stockholm, The Fun Theory was applied to stairs in order to entice people to exercise, rather than riding the escalator.

Piano StairsThe exercise we get by taking the stairs (instead of the escalator) makes us feel better. But how many people follow that common-sense rule? The short answer: Not many.

Here, The Fun Theory challenge was to get more people to take the stairs by making it “fun”.

  • The tactic: Turn a regular staircase into a Piano Staircase. Just like in the movie Big, except the piano keys are real stairs.
  • The results: 66% more people took the Piano Stairs (rather than the escalator).

The Fun Theory works!

The following video demonstrates The Fun Theory in action. See how a little ingenuity creates “fun” that improves lives.

What chore would you want to make FUN?

Who knows? You could become the next Fun Theory winner!

Check out The Fun Theory web site for other amazing examples of the Science of Fun at work!