David Lidsky's Blog, page 4692

What's Strong, Sustainable, and Headed to a Museum Near You? Bamboo!

Bamboo has become a darling of the sustainable design world for its sturdy, fast-growing timber that can be found everywhere from cutting boards to hardwood floors. Who knew it had such an artsy side, too? This summer the flexible poles are popping up in two major museum installations on either coast.

At LACMA in Los Angeles, a large bamboo structure has taken shape on the museum's campus as part of the show EATLACMA, a year-long exploration of food, culture, and politics curated by the...

Chef Gras Shows the Tools of His Trade: The Kitchen Lab

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Photographs by Tim Klein

Chef Laurent Gras's Chicago restaurant, L20, turns two this month. He invited us into his kitchen for a look at the unorthodox tools he uses to create his elegant seafood-based cuisine.

1. SHAVE-ICE MACHINE

Gras uses his industrial-grade gadget for dishes such as shaved tuna, which he serves seasoned with only a touch of salt atop his version of tuna tartare. "It's extremely light and cold," he says. "It doesn't taste frozen -- it just melts in your mouth." Similar...

Hirsute Angel Offers Road Safety Reminders, Swiss Style

Switzerland, that gnomic country full of gold, cheese, and cuckoo clocks (although we all know now Orson Welles was wrong on that last note) is a curious mix of the hi- and low-tech--and guess which camp this traffic-calming initiative is parked in. The dude you see on the asphalt is the Road Angel, and he's part of an anti-speeding campaign in the state of Fribourg--although my first thought was that it was an innovative marketing campaign for a new washing detergent.

The Road Angel (middle...

10 International Furniture Designers You Should Know

On the eve of ICFF, it seemed like prime time to shed some light upon some young designers from abroad. Stefanie Gelinas of the new site Sleek Identity picks 10 up-and-comers who should be on your radar.

"Jurassic Park" Creator Michael Crichton's Art Collection Sets Record, Nets $93.3 Million

Yesterday's sale of author Michael Crichton's art collection netted a whopping $93.3 million, setting a new record for a Jasper Johns artwork (as we predicted on Monday). The writer, who died last year and was a longtime friend of Johns, had bought the iconic "Flag, 1960-1966" from the artist almost 40 years ago. Auctioneer Christie's International brought the gavel down on the Stars and Stripes artwork for $28.6 million, busting the previous record for a painting by Johns by over $11...

Dean Kamen: "Can A Team Lead Themselves?"

In today's installment of 30 Second MBA, Segway inventor Dean Kamen talks about how to spur teamwork.

Get your 30 Second MBA.

Inside a Gamer Geek's Quest to Infect Masses with Zombie Blood

Alienware Area-51 tower? Check. Triple high-def flat-screen monitors? Check. Wireless dual-action game controller? Check. Left 4 Dead? Check. Zombie Blood?

Check.

Harcos Labs, the creators of a slew of gaming-inspired drinks like Mana Potion and Nuclear Powder, did not come up with a monsterous green goo beverage to market a movie or a new line of high def TVs, as we speculated earlier. They are tapping into the thirsty nerd market with a new style of energy drinks. Zombie Blood hopes...

Bespoke: New York's Museum of Art and Design Features Handmade Bikes

Through mid-August, one of the galleries at the Museum of Arts and Design is being given over to the bike nerds--and specifically, two of the biggest bike nerds in the world: Michael Maharam, best-known as the owner of Maharam textiles who's a fool for collecting bikes, and Sacha White, who runs Vanilla Cycles. The two organized "Bespoke: The Handbuilt Bicycle," an exhibition featuring six of the most famous bike-builders in the world. In all, 21 bikes are on display in the show. Here's a...

GM Bringing a Hydrogen Infrastructure to Hawaii

Is it just us, or has interest in hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles intensified lately? We've seen SunHydro's infrastructure plan, Toyota's $50,000 hydrogen sedan, and now GM's plan to bring a hydrogen infrastructure pilot to Oahu, Hawaii in 2015. GM is working with gas energy provider The Gas Company to make hydrogen available to local fueling stations--possibly for less than the cost of gasoline.

TGC already generates hydrogen along with synthetic natural gas and delivers it in a...

Philips' New Green 12-Watt LED Bulbs Could Replace 425 Million 60-Watt Energy Hogs

Philips has just unveiled what it's calling the "world's first LED replacement for [the:] most common household bulb," taking aim at the aging, inefficient 60W gizmo that's been lighting our homes since forever. This is the future of lighting, people.

Philips lifted the veil--or perhaps, pulled back the shutter--on its new EnduraLED effort at the Lightfair International tradeshow, but it'll be a few months until it's piling onto shelves in consumer hardware stores. In fact, it'll arrive right...