I was recently working with one of my children to help them understand prime numbers, and discovered the concept of prime links (aka prime knots). I had no idea what these were at the time. Quite simply, prime links are comprised of geometrically closed loops that cannot be created by a smaller number of geometrically closed loops. They are the geometric equivalent of prime numbers.
Borromean rings consist of three rings linked in such a way that the removal of any one link...
Brooks Stevens
BSI’s designers and engineers are nuts. For fun, they instituted a design challenge to test their ability to solve simple problems in creative ways. The first competition challenged our employees to defy gravity and slow a ½” hex nut as it fell from an 18’ drop. Everyone was provided with the same (limited) materials. The first-prize winner employed biomimicry of a maple seed and a potential “enhanced flick”.
Joe Knutson
3D printing has come a long way in recent years – with low cost on-demand printing services like Shapeways available to everyone, DIY open source printer kits going for $600 (or even less), and steady progress in the professional sector, it’s easy to forget what it was like before we could just send a file out and have a unique physical part within hours. The kinds of things that this enables are really pretty remarkable, and they extend well beyond the realm of typical product design...