It’s been a little over a week since Burners set fire to "The Man" at Black Rock City in the middle of the Nevada desert, but the incredible images keep rolling in.
This week is Burning Man, when your quiet downstairs neighbor with the amber-lensed glasses takes off for the Nevada desert wearing less clothing than Miley Cyrus at the VMAs (but surrounded by the same ratio of plushies). Each year Burning Man has a theme beyond the overarching Will-Trade-Glowsticks-for-Molly, and this year the focus is on the incredibly fascinating phenomenon of "cargo cults": groups of South Pacific islanders who worship an American military figure who, they believe, will return someday, bringing gifts of wealth to their nation.
This 15 foot-tall steel brain sculpture can be controlled by your brain waves. It is called Mens Amplio (that means “mind expanding” in Latin). The interactive brain and head has been embedded with LEDs in the branching structures that represent neurons. Those are made from clear light-diffusing acrylic. The built-in LEDs show a sequence of light displays, which are controlled by an EEG reader placed on your head.
Raspberry Pi and Arduino processors are used to translate your brain waves into light patterns in real time. The huge brain also has flames on the outside, triggered only when the participant can successfully meditate.
It will show up at Burning Man this year, and then they want to take the giant head to schools in California to demonstrate it to kids and get them excited about science. technology and fabrication. The video below shows a 3D rendering of what you the finished sculpture will look like (without the flames.)
The Mens Amplio project is seeking additional funds on Indiegogo, if you want to take part.
[via Boing Boing via Damn Geeky]
This year I acted as an embedded reporter at Burning Man, a place of extreme temperatures, high winds, and white-out dust storms. The ultra-fine alkaline dust is hell on gear—so it’d seem like a good place to test some rugged stuff out, right? More »
The Next Industrial Revolution Starts in this 20-foot Shipping Container [Video]
Posted in: Today's Chili The guys at Re-Char, a small startup that makes carbon-negative products, were faced with a problem. They wanted to ship products to Kenya, but the options available were wasteful, costly, and not nearly as efficient as simply manufacturing near to the customers. To do it, in a place with little industry or infrastructure, Re-Char designed something new—a fully functioning, off-the-grid factory inside a shipping container. More »
We generally hear about drone aircraft killing people in war zones. But there’s a reverse side to that narrative—an autonomous copter can drop medicine and supplies to people stranded after a natural disaster even when roads have been demolished. A humanitarian group called Ideate recently tested drones’ viability as a real-world delivery vehicle in one of the harshest, most brutal environments imaginable—Burning Man. More »
A good tail light helps a bike rider get noticed on the road at night. The front light, however, has a more difficult challenge—it has to make you a beacon to drivers, and, crucially, it has to make the darkened world visible to you. More »
Sometimes you have a bunch of booze, but no fridge and no ice. During a blackout. Staying at a cheap hotel. Spending a week in the middle of the goddam desert. Don’t worry, though—with the right bottles of booze, you can still come up with a killer cocktail. More »
A giant man is burning somewhere in the desert, and Myriam is currently gazing upon him. In her absence, Brad will be joined by fellow Engadgeteers Dana Wollman and Jon Fingas to discuss the latest happenings at IFA (as well as the rest of the world). We’ve got a lot to discuss in a very short period of time, so the ratio of mobile geekery / minute is going to be pretty dang high. Join us at 3pm!
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Disco Fish and Snails on Wheels: The Amazing Vehicles of Burning Man 2012 [Video]
Posted in: Today's Chili