Microchip movies

A dot-sized radio chip has been developed at Hewlett Packard’s UK research laboratories. Called a Memory Spot it can store up to half a megabyte of video or audio or hundreds of pages of text. The chip is tiny enough to be attached to postcards and photographs and can be read by a specialised device or an appropriately modified mobile phone or PDA (palmtop computer).

The future of carpet!

Successful and environmentally-friendly, Carpet-Burns takes carpet waste and transforms it into a range of desirable consumer goods – from tables to table mats. Managing Director Kelly Atkins is leading the way in carpet recycling. Using a patented process, carpet waste becomes Heat Treated Carpet (HTC), a tough, scratch-resistant material that is suitable for use both outside and inside the home.

Bridget goes to Mars
In 2011 the European Space Agency will send a mission to Mars. The vehicle which will explore the surface is called Bridget (after Bridget Bardot). It’s being developed in a collaborative effort by a range of UK universities. Capable of being powered by solar panels or batteries, it has been tested already in Tenerife. And if you are thinking it’s called Bridget because it is beautiful and sexy, sorry! BB stands for Breadboards, meaning prototype of something that may not be built.

In addition, as part of the build up to the mission, UK scientists have developed a Life Marker Chip. This will look for molecules that may be associated with life. More down to earth applications will include innovations in health and forensic science.

The Colour project
Olafur Eliasson’s Weather Project in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern was one of the most talked about events in the UK art world in 2004. Eliasson’s follow-up is a collaboration with scientist Boris Oicherman from the Department of Colour and Polymer Chemistry, University of Leeds, called Your Uncertainty of Colour Matching Experiment. It begins at Birmingham’s IKON gallery but is travelling around the world. Eliasson and Oicherman will create a ‘colour laboratory’ as an art installation exploring variations in how people perceive colour. Members of the public will be able to interact with the work and measure their own sensation of colour.

John
October 2006

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