hirst skull

British artist Damien Hirst revealed his latest work of art at the White Cube Gallery in London, June 1, 2007. "For the Love of God" is a life-size cast of a human skull in platinum and covered by 8,601 pave-set diamonds weighing 1,106.18 carats. The single large diamond in the middle of the forehead is reportedly worth $4.2 million alone. Hirst financed the project himself, and estimates it cost between 10 and 15 million. Of course, it will cost someone a pretty penny to own the work: It's priced at $99 million. But given the cultlike following for Hirst's previous works -- and corresponding financial takings -- some hedge fund manager, and closet Hirst fan, may shell out the cash for the diamond-crusted skull

front

The 3-person FRONT Design team “draws” directly into the air using the tip of a pen, creating invisible line sequences that are captured by surrounding cameras connected to computers. Then, the sketches are translated into 3D digital files, which are subsequently materialized through an innovative Rapid Prototyping technique.

Here’s where it gets crazy: The Rapid Prototyping form is the digital system connected to a plastic molding machine that includes a laser beam positioned on the top of the structure and solidifies the liquid plastic 0.1mm at a time, layer-by-layer, and finely detailing the recorded digital sketches. The end result is a fully functional, and oddly familiar, piece of furniture, with the whole process taking about a day.

As expected with something this interesting, the design team has been on a whirlwind tour with full “performances” of their work in Miami, Tokyo., and other cities.

Watch this video for the process details and the accompanying presentation, which is both fascinating and strange...

aerogel

A miracle material for the 21st century could protect your home against bomb blasts, mop up oil spillages and even help man to fly to Mars.

Aerogel, one of the world’s lightest solids, can withstand a direct blast of 1kg of dynamite and protect against heat from a blowtorch at more than 1,300C.

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