| Fibers That Can Hear and Sing Wow, piezoelectric fibers are being developed by MIT! From ScienceDaily: For centuries, "man-made fibers" meant the raw stuff of clothes and ropes; in the information age, it's come to mean the filaments of glass that carry data in communications networks. But to Yoel Fink, an Associate professor of Materials Science and principal investigator at MIT's Research Lab of Electronics, the threads used in textiles and even optical fibers are much too passive. For the past decade, his lab has been working to develop fibers with ever more sophisticated properties, to enable fabrics that can interact with their environment. Ordinary optical fibers are made from a "preform," a large cylinder of a single material that is heated up, drawn out, and then cooled. The fibers developed in Fink's lab, by contrast, derive their functionality from the elaborate geometrical arrangement of several different materials, which must survive the heating and drawing process intact. The heart of the new acoustic fibers is a plastic commonly used in microphones. By playing with the plastic's fluorine content, the researchers were able to ensure that its molecules remain lopsided -- with fluorine atoms lined up on one side and hydrogen atoms on the other -- even during heating and drawing. The asymmetry of the molecules is what makes the plastic "piezoelectric," meaning that it changes shape when an electric field is applied to it.Read the Full Story » | More on CRAFT » | Comments » | Read more articles in Technology | Digg this! blog.craftzine.com |
Lubbock Garden and Arts Center seeks participants for annual arts, crafts show The Lubbock Municipal Garden and Arts Center is seeking talented artists and craftsmen to participate in the 40th annual Arts and Crafts Festival, a one-day arts and crafts fair to be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sept. 18. lubbockonline.com |
Arts and crafts vendors added to Holiday at Home There is a whole day of Holiday at Home fun before the parade starts down Far Hills Avenue at 9:55 a.m. Labor Day, Sept. 6.From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 5, the Lincoln Park Commons from the Kettering Government Center on Shroyer Road to Fraze Pavilion will be filled with more than 140 arts and crafts vendors. daytondailynews.com |
Fallen Fruit Jam Lisa Gansky on BoingBoing writes: LA public art project, Fallen Fruit, started by mapping public fruit--fruit trees growing in or over public property. Since then, the interests of this Meshy project "have expanded from mapping public fruit to include Public Fruit Jams in which we invite the citizens to bring homegrown or public fruit and join in communal jam-making; Nocturnal Fruit Forages, nighttime neighborhood fruit tours; Community Fruit Tree Plantings on the margins of private property and in community gardens; Public Fruit Park proposals in Hollywood, Los Feliz and downtown LA; and Neighborhood Infusions, taking the fruit found on one street and infusing it in alcohol to capture the spirit of the place."Read the Full Story » | More on CRAFT » | Comments » | Read more articles in Food | Digg this! blog.craftzine.com |
Candy Corn Trick or Treat Bags Molly at The Purl Bee shows you how to make a simple candy corn trick or treat bag made from felt. What a fun bag for kids to collect their sweets in!Read the Full Story » | More on CRAFT » | Comments » | Read more articles in Halloween | Digg this! blog.craftzine.com |