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innovation

Science

Cool clock combines ’80s digital displays with ancient sundial technology

Via Mojopitx/YouTube

Cavemen must have been perpetually late, given that humans didn't get around to inventing the sundial until 1500 BCE. The first attempts at measuring time via sun movement were shadow clocks created by the Egyptians and Babylonians. These led to the sundial, an instrument that tells time by measuring shadows cast by the sun on a dial plate. Sundials were our preferred method of timekeeping until the mechanical clock was invented in 14th-century Europe.

Photo via (cc) Flickr user Sara Bogush

In 1972, Hamilton introduced the world's first digital watch . Its $2,000 price tag was hefty, but by the '80s, digital watches became affordable for the average person. Now, both technologies have merged in a cool invention, the digital sundial. Created by French Etsy seller Mojoptix , this outdoor clock uses the patterns on a suspended wand to mold natural shadows into a digital-looking time readout. The digital sundial has two major drawbacks: It only reports the time in 20-minute intervals, and it's not very effective after sundown. But it sure does look cool.

Here's the digital sundial in action!

This article first appeared on 9.15.17.

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Pop Culture

Bored guy spent his free time building a restaurant for the squirrels in his yard

It has a menu and everything!

James Vreeland/Instagram

Two for dinner?

One man from the Detroit area put his quarantine creativity to great use. James Vreeland used his newfound free time to, as he put it on Instagram , "get into the restaurant game."

He did that, of course, by building an entire tiny restaurant in his yard specifically for squirrels. It's hilarious and also weirdly very impressive.


It's an open-air concept with communal picnic-style tables and natural grass floors, which really brings a sense of connection to the earth and the source of the squirrel food. It's a brilliant design.

It's called Maison de Noix, or "The Nut House" in English, and it's the newest, hottest neighborhood spot that all the squirrels are chattering about. If they didn't have to social distance, there would be lines out on the sidewalk every day to get a table. It's very exclusive.

communal, neighborhood, creativity

A picnic style lay out for the squirrel restaurant.

James Vreeland/Instagram

It has a tiny coat rack with wire hangers for squirrel jackets and everything! And even though the restaurant is aimed at its squirrel patrons, it's open to all sorts of creatures. James said that the blue jays in the area are also loving the new place.

Not only did James build an innovative restaurant, but his menu is like nothing I've ever seen. It's so diverse, and yet, so streamlined. And don't worry; he's printed out the menu and stationed it at the front of the restaurant for those who might be interested.

Let's take a closer look, shall we?

menus, nuts, comedy, nut house

What’s on the menu?

James Vreeland/Instagram

So simple, yet so sophisticated, you know? A mixed seed trio! How intriguing. And you can't go wrong with stale bread or pizza crust. I appreciate that the chef leads with what he has on hand and fresh (I mean, stale) that day, instead of shoehorning out-of-season ingredients into a year-round menu.

Raw peanuts on the shell are a known squirrel favorite, and counter-softened apples, well, that's an application you don't see very often, mainly because they're so hard to get just right. But I have faith in the kitchen staff of Maison de Noix.

peanuts, Facebook Live, shaky cam, streaming

Business is nutty.

James Vreeland/Instagram

For a brand new restaurant that opened during a global pandemic, Maison de Noix is doing very well. It helps when you are the only restaurant that caters to squirrels in the whole United States. They really cornered the market.

He has even started doing Facebook Live videos that are just a live stream of the restaurant. You can tune in each day to see the animals stop by. At one point during the last live stream, James commented, "Sorry for the shaky cam — there is a bluejay sitting on the camera."

A time-lapse of the "brunch rush" can be found on his Instagram, and it's just delightful. This whole venture is just entirely lovely, and I thank James for his efforts. I hope things like squirrel restaurants don't go away once the pandemic ends. We need them now, and we'll need them then.


This article originally appeared on 4.5.20

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Science

Engineering students created a life-size 'Operation' game—with a fun twist on the fail buzzer

The game trades in tweezers for tongs and the anxiety-producing buzzer for an audio meme.

Courtesy of Washington State University

Students at Washington State University created a life-size Operation game.

Anyone who has ever played the game Operation likely feels a teensy bit of anxiety just thinking about it. The experience of painstakingly trying to extract the Charlie Horse with those tiny, wired tweezers with a steady hand, only to accidentally touch the metal side and get the lightning-like jolt of the buzzer is hard to shake. That's the stuff of core memories right there.

But what if you had a humongous game board the size of a real human, with life-size bones and organs to extract? What if instead of tweezers, you had large tongs as tools to perform your operation? What if instead of Pavlovian-style fail buzzers, the game produced a much less traumatic womp womp womp sound when you mess up?

That's exactly what students in Washington State University’s chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) spent the past two years designing and producing—a life-size Operation game that's not only fun to play, but can help kids learn about the human body.

Students took on the project after Pullman Regional Hospital’s Center for Learning and Innovation approached WSU engineering professor Roland Chen about the idea. Chen took the concept to his senior-level design class and they created an initial plan, which was then passed on to the engineering club.

operation game; bones

3D cut outs of bones

Courtesy of Washington State University

WSU senior Joel Villanueva, who served as a team leader on the project, tells Upworthy that approximately 15 students were involved in the game's creation over the two years it took to complete it. The project was quite complex as it involved translating the computer-aided design to a real table, creating multiple prototypes, figuring out the right level of challenge and making sure it was safe for kids to use.

In terms of gameplay, Villanueva says it's very similar to the original board game, but obviously much larger and with a few key differences. "We have tongs that aren't connected to wires, which was a safety concern, so we found a way to increase that safety factor, " he says. "And it also has sound. So when it's triggered, a red light is emitted and an error sound is also emitted."

operation game, human body

The life-size version of Operation uses tongs instead of tweezers.

Courtesy of Washington State University

Villanueva says they didn't want the fail signal to be too alarming, which makes sense since the game was made for kids at the local science center. So instead of the buzzing of the original game, touching the sides of the organ or bone opening results in a sad trombone sound— womp womp womp wommmp .

The game is officially referred to as the Surgery Skill Lab and is now a part of the EveryBODY exhibit at the Palouse Discovery Science Center (PDSC) in Pullman, Washington. It's ultimately a learning tool, and Villanueva says they put the bones and organs in their appropriate locations in the body to help kids learn about human anatomy.

"We worked with the BMES [Biomedical Engineering Society] student section who created some fact sheets about the project," adds Villanueva. "For example, 'The heart pumps this much blood at a given time'—small fun facts like that."

The bones were 3D printed, then coated with silicone (so the tongs can grip them), and the soft organs were molded out of silicone using 3D-printed molds.

operation game, engineering, washington state university

Pictured left to right at the Palouse Discovery Science Center: Kevin Dalbosco Dal Forno, Silas Peters, Roland Chen, Connor Chase, Ryan Cole, Becky Highfill, and Joel Villanueva

Courtesy of Joel Villanueva

The game was unveiled at a Family Night event at the PDSC on January 19, so Villanueva and his team got to see how it was received.

"It was an eye-catcher," says Villanueva. "There were many kids playing with it and it seemed like they were having lots of fun with it."

Jess Jones, who is part of the education team at PDSC, tells Upworthy that there was also a real doctor at the exhibit during the opening to talk with kids about medicine. She says the game has been a hit with kids so far.

"They're loving it," she says. "The organs are 3D printed so they feel kind of realistic. The kids are loving the texture."

brain, operation game

The life-size 3D-printed brain kids can remove in the Surgery Skill Lab.

Courtesy of Washington State University

The project is a win-win for both the university students and the local community. The students got to put their engineering skills into practice using various software and technologies and also gained valuable life skills such as time management, documentation, leadership and more. And the community gained a fun and educational exhibit both kids and nostalgic adults can enjoy.

Three cheers for innovation and collaboration that helps us all learn. (And good riddance, stress-inducing buzzer.)

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Innovation

Prince William prepares to announce the next great innovators who will save our planet

The Earthshot Prize

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, the idea of sending a person to the moon was unfathomable. The moon is over 238,000 miles from Earth! How would anyone ever reach it safely, and more importantly, return to solid ground when the mission was complete?

But people are amazing, industrious creatures, and President John F. Kennedy was determined to make that giant leap. He referred to it as a ‘Moonshot;’ a play on words—a variation of "long shot, " describing a monumental effort and a lofty goal—uniting millions of people around an organized mission to put man on the moon. Moonshot catalyzed the development of technology as we know it.

Today, our challenge is more urgent. Humanity faces dire environmental problems requiring bold, groundbreaking solutions like, yesterday. In 2020, His Royal Highness Prince William, inspired by John F. Kennedy’s leadership in inspiring new innovation, launched The Earthshot Prize . He aims to find and grow the solutions that will repair our planet this decade; to regenerate the place we all call home. (Thanks, Prince William!)

The Earthshot Prize is the world’s most prestigious environmental award, involving a 10-month selection process, a panel of global experts, and a £1 million award for each winner to expand and launch their ideas.

“The Earth is at a tipping point and we face a stark choice: either we continue as we are and irreparably damage our planet, or we remember our unique power as human beings and our continual ability to lead, innovate and problem-solve. People can achieve great things. The next ten years present us with one of our greatest tests—a decade of action to repair the Earth,” said Prince William.

Fleather, a finalist in Build A Waste-free World

The prize is centered around 5 ‘Earthshots’ which are both simple and ambitious.

Protect and Restore Nature: By 2030, we choose to ensure that, for the first time in human history, the natural world is growing—not shrinking.

Clean Our Air: By 2030, we choose to ensure that everyone in the world breathes clean, healthy air—at World Health Organization standard or better.

Revive Our Oceans: By 2030, we choose to repair and preserve our oceans for future generations.

Build a Waste-free World: By 2030, we choose to build a world where nothing goes to waste, where the leftovers of one process become the raw materials of the next—just like they do in nature.

Fix Our Climate: By 2030, we choose to fix the world’s climate by cutting out carbon. We wish to build a carbon-neutral economy that lets every culture, community, and country thrive.

Out of the more than 1,000 nominations submitted, 3 finalists have been selected from each of the five categories, and the winners of the award (a total of 5, one from each category) is set to be announced at a ceremony in Boston, MA. The solutions and innovations represented by the 15 Finalists for 2022 will help to put the world firmly on a trajectory towards a stable climate.

The Great Bubble Barrier

One finalist in the Revive Our Oceans category is an invention titled “The Great Bubble Barrier,” created by a team of ocean enthusiasts based in The Netherlands. Francis Zoet, Anne Marieke Eveleens, and Philip Ehrhorn have developed an ingenious way to stop harmful plastic from reaching our oceans. Prevention is vital; every year, more than 8 million tons of plastic ends up in the world’s oceans, traveling in from rivers and canals. Once it enters the ocean, it is nearly impossible to capture and remove.

The Great Bubble Barrier has developed an effective solution designed to intercept plastic waste before it reaches the sea: the Bubble Barrier. The technology is simple: air is pumped through a perforated tube placed diagonally on the riverbed to create a “curtain” of bubbles, which directs plastic up to the surface and into a waste collection system, all without obstructing wildlife or boats. The concept has been used in the past by the oil industry to contain spills, and has now been developed to help local authorities remove debris from our rivers.

To date, the Bubble Barrier has been proven to catch on average 86% of plastic waste. Several Bubble Barriers have been installed in The Netherlands, including in the Westerdok, one of Amsterdam’s famous canals. Each month, Bubble Barrier Amsterdam stops an average of 8, 000 pieces of plastic waste from leaving the canal and entering the North Sea. Two new Bubble Barriers will soon be implemented in Germany and Portugal. The team now hopes to scale the technology to reach polluted rivers worldwide.

Another compelling finalist is in the Fix Our Climate category, an Oman-based company known as 44.01. The founder and Carbon General, Talal Hasan, discovered a way to eliminate carbon by turning it into rock, removing it from the atmosphere safely, efficiently, and permanently.

Talal Hasan, founder of 44.01.

“The answers to the problems our planet faces can often be found in the natural world,” said Hasan. “At 44.01, we found a natural process that removes carbon and we’ve accelerated it. We believe this process is replicable globally and can play a key role in helping our planet to heal. Thank you to The Earthshot Prize, for recognising our work.”

In addition to their eligibility for the £1 million prize, all finalists will receive tailored support and resources from the Earthshot Prize Global Alliance members, which is an unprecedented network of private sector businesses from around the world who are committed to healing our planet. The list is lengthy and varied, spanning from Greenpeace to Walmart.

“I am so excited to celebrate these 15 Finalists and see the 5 Winners of The Earthshot Prize announced in Boston – the hometown of President John F. Kennedy, who shared The Earthshot Prize’s belief that seemingly impossible goals are within reach if we only harness the limitless power of innovation, human ingenuity, and urgent optimism,” said Prince William.

The Earthshot Prize awards ceremony will take place on Friday, December 2 at the MGM Music Hall in Boston. It will air around the world on BBC in the UK, PBS in the United States and Multichoice across Africa. The show will also be available globally on YouTube. It will premiere on Sunday, December 4.

For more information about The Earthshot Prize 2022 Finalists, please visit www.earthshotprize.org .

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