Phenomech Stream

Stuff we like, things we do

[phenomech-blog]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRMv1E1YKxg)

The first design attempt for mark i

[techfutures]

GM microbes created that can’t escape the lab

Critics of genetic engineering have long worried about the risk of modified organisms escaping into the environment. A biological-containment strategy described this week in Nature1, 2 has the potential to put some of those fears to rest and to pave the way for greater use of engineered organisms in areas such as agriculture, medicine and environmental clean-up.

Two US teams have produced genetically modified (GM) bacteria that depend on a protein building block — an amino acid — that does not occur in nature. The bacteria thrive in the laboratory, growing robustly as long as the unnatural amino acid is included in their diet. But several experiments involving 100 billion or more cells and lasting up to 20 days did not reveal a single microbe capable of surviving in the absence of the artificial supplement.

“Our strains, to the extent that we can test them, won’t escape,” says Dan Mandell, a synthetic biologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, and an author on one of the two studies describing the strategy.

The microbes also do not swap their engineered DNA with natural counterparts because they no longer speak life’s shared biochemical language. “Establishing safety and security from the get-go will really enable broad and open use of engineered organisms,” says Farren Isaacs, a synthetic biologist at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, who led the other study.

[phenomech-blog]

This little news gem reminds me of the plot from Jurassic Park (I). Great invention but somewhat a little bit too enthusiastic about their own ingenious idea. For example, how will they be able to continually prevent genetic transcription errors when the cells divide? Or: Other cells won't be able to assimilate? Great! But what about the GM cells assimilating unmodified DNA allowing to establish some sort of parallel metabolism and - as a consequence - circumvent the necessity of the new amino acid?

*smh

[prostheticknowledge]

AR Screen hackathon project

Proof of concept demo of an AR / VR interface by Leap Motion engineer Raffi Bedikian presents a convincing desktop interface of the future:

We had a hackathon at work and this was the project I worked on for a few days. - C++/OpenGL - Oculus DK2 - Prototype Leap color sensor (using standard public SDK and image API) - Window textures and interactions are all legit Win32 calls (you’re actually manipulating your OS) - Note: the news feed on the left, chat bubbles in the middle, and widgets on the right are just placeholder art

Link

[phenomech-blog]

It looks really great. I'm curious about how it will perform irl work flow

[quick-tech-news]

An #Advanced #hightech #wheelchair capable of going up the stairs!

the high tech wheelchair, giving mobility hope to the handicapped.

More Gadgets, high tech, robotics & tech gifs «   &  tech news «

[phenomech-blog]

Boot a RepRap 3D Printer (Pt I)

Boot a RepRap 3D Printer (Pt I)

When scooping through the available HowTos explaining what to do to build a low-budget 3D printer, I realized most of the available DIY texts explained you need 3D printed parts to create a 3D printer.

Now that confused me. Well not really – however I sensed a hen and egg problem here. I wanted to build a printer, not print a new one.

So I continued searching and then most simple design yet…

View On WordPress

[phenomech-blog]

Image processing

Always fun, if you like attention to detail, image processing is always interesting, especially when having to process streams of images. Setting up the project from scratch is no easy task and always takes a good amount of time to get right, particularly if you want to get the process streamlined from the get go.

Initially, I am setting up the project to only process 1 frame and render the image…

View On WordPress

[phenomech-blog]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_8vXfs_JBk)

This video shows how to create a 3D Printer using standard parts and quite simple tools.