Visions Of The Future

Bonsai

2010-05-25T18:57:00.004+02:00

Flickr

2009-08-11T15:45:00.001+02:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Pixar, the beginning

2008-08-31T11:29:00.002+02:00

This movie is the very first animation made by Pixar. It's also the reason why they use that small lamp as some kind of logo.

Honestly, it surprised me how good the animation was, coming from 1986. Or do I look at the 80's now as some kind of stone age? Maybe I do...Because in the 90's Jurassic Park was released.

What so ever, it's cool to know the symbolic value of the video.

There are loads of other, funny animations made by Pixar on Youtube. Maybe I will post some of them later, in a moment without inspiration.

Dubai, where else?

2008-08-28T22:42:00.004+02:00

Housing one million people and being totally carbon neutral. Those are the goals of Ziggurat, a pyramid shaped building that has been proposed in Dubai. "Ziggurat" is the name people used to give to pyramids in the Middle East, back in the ancient times.

With a surface of 2.3 square kilometres and a height of 1350 metres, the megatructure has to provide living and working space to one million people. Because of an ingenieus internal transportation system there will be no need for fuel burning cars. The tower - pyramid - will use a combination of steam, wind, and solar power to keep itself entirely off the grid.

Timelinks, the design firm that unveiled the plans, says the purpose of the project isn't all about reducing the ecological footprint. They also want to show that complete cities can be built on surface areas 10 times as small as used today.

The project will be unveiled officially at Cityscape Dubai, which takes place from 6-9 October 2008.

Recycle a can

2008-08-19T17:45:00.004+02:00

Without special reason

2008-08-17T14:12:00.001+02:00

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." (Lao Tzu)

"There are no shortcuts to any place worth going." (Beverly Sills)

"It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves." (Sir Edmund Hillary)

LHC countdown

2008-08-12T11:55:00.002+02:00

Watch this Countdown!, waiting for the Large Hadron Collider to be plugged in.

String Theory

2008-08-12T11:39:00.003+02:00

The speaker in this video is one of my favorite figures in the world of physics: Brian Greene. He's a professor at Colombia University and when he was twelve he already did mathematics at an academic level. He's also one of the inventors of String Theory. This theory says that all particles are made of very little strings, that vibrate in a certain way. When it vibrates like this, it's an electron, when it vibrates like that, it's a photon, ...

Here it comes:

I've got to known Brian Greene because of his books. Especially his bestseller "The Fabric of the Cosmos" is a must read. Normally you should be able to find it an every decent library.

Switch, don't drill.

2008-08-11T22:38:00.001+02:00

Dot

2008-08-11T20:02:00.004+02:00

Do you see that little dot? Take another look at it.

Because, everybody you know lives on that little dot. Everybody you've known and will ever know. Everybody you have ever heard of. Everybody who ever existed. All happiness and all suffering, every birthday. Every religion and every ideology. Every couple in love, every king and all corrupt politicians. Every movie star, every football player and all orphans. Every one of them on that speck of dust, reflecting in the sunlight.

That little dot is an unbelievebly small stage in an unbelievebly big, empty space. And yet...On that small stage, every battle in history has took place. Every general who gained the victory and every bloodbath. Every riot and every party. Every happening you know of.

It's our home. As far as we know, that little dot is the only place where life has evolved. We have nowhere else to go to. Not yet. That's why we have to pay respect to our blue globe. We have to cherish it and protect it.

This picture is a beautifull demonstration of human arrogance and banality. Someone gets angry because the neighbour has parked his car in front of the window, again. What's the meaning of those things when you see that little dot is that infinite emptiness?

Carl Sagan, an American astronomer who died in 1996, could place our existance in a cosmic point of view like no one else could. To Sagan, this picture showed that we should take responsibility to be kind to each other and to keep this blue dot safe. It's the only home we will ever know.

"Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money." (Indian saying)

M=B²

2008-08-11T13:15:00.004+02:00

Not another formula in physics, but what written in full: McCain=Bush². I just want to say that if McCain would be elected as the new president of the USA, we will glance back at the Bush-era with a nostalgia-like feeling. And Bush already barely had the talents of a monkey.

Now look at this movie about the real McCain.

I also found this: (source: newspaper)

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"Republican John McCain said Monday that drilling for oil off the U.S. coast is an essential part of any plan to lower gas prices and reduce dependence on foreign sources, and he criticized Democrat Barack Obama for opposing it.

McCain called Obama the "Dr. No" of energy. But McCain once was too. Just last month, McCain reversed himself after years of opposition and called for lifting the federal ban on oil drilling off the U.S. coast. The Arizona senator promotes energy development as a way to boost the economy, and a recent poll found many voters are open to offshore drilling as a way to ease gasoline prices.

But McCain's views could be troublesome in California, which has seen its share of catastrophic offshore oil spills. Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a McCain ally, opposes such drilling and in a television interview indicated he would be open one day to serving as the "energy czar" in an Obama administration.

McCain has said governors should have the right to veto proposed drilling off their state coasts. Some, including Republican Charlie Crist of Florida, have said they would support such drilling."

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What a great example of hypocrisy from McCain's side: "Obama is Dr. No because he opposes", and saying at the same time "Governors should have the right to veto proposed drilling off their state coasts", knowing that Schwarzenegger will use his veto.

I think it's pathetic that someone like that even has a chance to become the most powerfull man in the world. He already disavows his principles to gain more votes, so that looks promising. When will those retarted republicans ever learn that there is no future left for oil?

Dubai, a second chance?

2008-08-10T13:29:00.006+02:00

Dubai, in 1960 a small city with only 40 000 inhabitants, is now one of the fastest growing cities in the world. In 2007 it was the home of 1 500 000 people and that number keeps on growing.

Day and night they are building the most unimaginable projects. With its Palm Islands, The World and the highest buidling in the world, Dubai is a heaven on earth for architects with great plans. To help you imagine how intensive Dubai is planting buildings: 15 to 25% of all tower cranes in the world are used in Dubai.

The picture below shows the skyline of a part of Dubai, with The Burj Dubai in the centre. It already is the highest buidling in the world and still it's not finished. Keep in mind that the 'small' buildings surrounding the Burj Dubai are actually comparable to most of the skyscrapers in a city like New York or Hong Kong.

Unfortunately it's not all sunshine and rainbows. In this oil state, contructors don't mind using a lot of energy. Dubai is a top destination for decadance. The energy use per inhabitant is higher then any other place in the world. Just looking at the world largest indoor ski resort - 400 meter - in the middle of the desert tells it all...

But, the tide is turning. Respect for the environment is growing and Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum - Pfjoew... - has announced that from now on only energy effecient buildings are to be built. Because of the 300 days of sunshine per year and a powerfull wind, Dubai is blessed with the presence of renewable energy recourses. That environmental friendly buildings also can be beautifull I already showed here.

One of those new green projects in Dubai is the so called Da Vinci Tower. It exists of 68 floors, which correspond to 313 meters. What's unique about this tower is that each floor can rotate independently, so the building looks different every other day.

Developer Dynamic Architecture thinks of the Da Vinci Tower as the beginning of a new method of building. That's because in advance, every flat is completely made in a factory, to be connected to the core afterwards. Because of this method, the time of contruction is reduced from 30 months to 18 months and the crew can be reduced from 200 to only 90.

This part is the most interesting part of all. Between - almost - every 2 floors, there's been installed a wind turbine. In total there are 48 turbines. Assuming Dubai has about 4000 hours of wind per year, each turbine can produce up to 1 200 000 kWh. That's the equivalent of 50 families. In order to make the tower completely independent from exterior energy resources, there are 4 turbines needed, 8 in the worst case scenario. That means that the other 40 turbines can be used to produce energy for the rest of the city.

Construction is expected to be finished at the end of 2009.