Icon’s 50^th anniversary issue had 50 leading designers, architects, and thinkers expound upon design.

“…Once in the tubes, it’s a quick dash for the burritos across San Francisco Bay. Propelled by powerful bursts of compressed air, the burritos speed along the same tunnel as the BART commuter train, whose passengers remain oblivious to the hundreds of delicious cylinders whizzing along overhead. Within twelve minutes, even the remotest burrito has arrived at its final destination, the Alameda Transfer Station, where it will be prepared for its transcontinental journey.

Ever since Isaac Newton first described the laws of gravity in 1687, scientists have known that the quickest route between two points is along a straight line through the Earth’s interior. Through the magic of gravity, any object dropped into such a “chord tunnel” at one end will emerge exactly 42 minutes later at the other end, no matter the distance…” Full Slice

“…What I saw was Clearview, the typeface that is poised to replace Highway Gothic, the standard that has been used on signs across the country for more than a half-century. Looking at a sign in Clearview after reading one in Highway Gothic is like putting on a new pair of reading glasses: there’s a sudden lightness, a noticeable crispness to the letters.

The Federal Highway Administration granted Clearview interim approval in 2004, meaning that individual states are free to begin using it in all their road signs. More than 20 states have already adopted the typeface…” Full Slice

“… an international team has discovered that under the right conditions, particles of inorganic dust can become organised into helical structures. These structures can then interact with each other in ways that are usually associated with organic compounds…particles in a plasma can undergo self-organization as electronic charges become separated and the plasma becomes polarized. This effect results in microscopic strands of solid particles that twist into corkscrew shapes, or helical structures. These helical strands are themselves electronically charged and are attracted to each other…not only do these helical strands interact in a counterintuitive way in which like can attract like, but they also undergo changes that are normally associated with biological molecules, such as DNA and proteins…” Full Slice

I propose that Buckycentric folk design triangular computer screens with triangular pixels. Display of data would not be rows of text, but trees, symbolic rather than linquistic. Mentat training would be employed so that the users could quickly come up to speed with the interface, and triad, rather than pair, programming would be applied.

I want there to be a character named Bewas Gowent. Being of four stems but two meanings, Bewas, whacked out by the act of existing, nevertheless is of the most common and memorable class. English mentation, obviously, drives Gowent’s consciousness.

“… The Darwin fish, a spoof of the fish-shaped Christian symbol, first set foot on dry land in the 1980s as an emblem of atheism. Much like finches flitting from island to island, the Darwin fish quickly spread from leaflets and flyers to t-shirts, bumper stickers and ultimately its most famous format, car plaques. To say the fish has evolved since its inception is an understatement. Today, the pantheon of pisces ranges from the religious to the punny to the downright geeky…” Full Slice

“Giant aquatic creatures from the deep, snaking robots made from watches and one man submarines were among many other things never before seen on the catwalk, that stunned the audience in Florence, Italy last week as Diesel presented their show for the Spring Summer 2008 collection. The ‘liquid space’ concept for the collection was radically brought to life during the 17 minute show…” Full Slice [yes, this is a post of something already noted]

“Powered by Sun SPOT chips, Blubber Bots are able to sense movement and react to light, sound and heat. The smart little blimps are equipped with blinking LEDS and cell phone vibrators which enable them to interact with other blimps…” Full Slice