This micro_ BLOG is about dust and everything related. (Like dust it consists of small bits and pieces)
It is updated weekly and started in March 2011.
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July 2011
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Dust News
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In the news: a giant dust storm in Phoenix on the 6th of July.
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My favourite phrase is to say "It is so dusty here". But finally I know it is true. The earth got twice as dusty in the last hundred years.
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The European attempt to reduce the amount of fine dust in traffic seems to have failed. In this news article it is explained that the total amount (weight) of fine dust is reduced. However this accounts only for the larger pieces within the fine dust, the amount of harmful super small particles in the air seem to be the same. The European regulations regarded specific the super ultra fine dust particles because these are harmful for the health of people.
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June 2011
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Pollen
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´Lilium martagon´ and its pollen. No comment needed.
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Dust in the air
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Charles Darwin collected dust that he found on the `Beagle`. He was amazed to find this dust in the middle of the ocean. Samples of this 200 year old Darwin´s dust remained and resulted in a research about the origin of this dust, and what consequence it has on planetary microbial ecology. Microbes (bacteria and fungi for example) get attached to the dust particles and are able to travel long distances from the Sahara to the Amazon. This research gives an understanding in intercontinental spread of micro-organisms on land and in the oceans. (Micro- Macro)
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Last week I was in London, great weather, lots of sun and no rain. However it was so dry
that the water level of the river Thames was so low that boats were lying in dusty sand.
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The drought that Northern Europe is facing is caused obviously because of the lack of rain, but also because of the huge amount of evaporation due to higher temperatures, more sun-shine and a clear sky. (KNMI)The last few years measurements show that there is a reduction of fine dust in the air, this is creating the clear sky´s. This reduction of fine dust in the air is probably caused by sharper regulations regarding fine dust. The global effect of fine dust in air is still uncertain.
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Global dimming is the effect of the reduction of the
intensity of the sun, probably caused by small particles in the atmosphere. Fine dust attracts water and these small droplets (forming clouds) reflect sunlight and therefore create a cooling effect on earth. The effect of global dimming became obvious for example at 9/11 when air traffic was grounded (reduction of fine particles in the air caused by kerosene) and it got a few degrees warmer worldwide.
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The effect of cloud forming due to dust becomes obvious at new-year, when a lot of fire work is lighted and creating a lot of dust and smoke. For instance two years ago in Rotterdam it became so foggy, that the firework was not visible any more.
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A week after the Icelandic volcano erupted, there was a big eruption of a volcano in Chile! Causing so much ash, it fell like snow. Also causing major air traffic issues.
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May 2011
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Dust-news
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New studies on hart diseases show that fine dust (created by traffic, industry etc.) is a risk factor in causing hart failure.
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In May there was a open day at the ´DAF´ factory. I enjoyed combination of the micro (industrial waste) and macro (trucks). And to see the amount of waste for the production of an axle, by milling it into the right shape it creates 30kg of small iron particles.
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Volcano
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Ironically a year after the eruption of the Icelandic volcano in 2010, air traffic is again disturbed by volcanic ash of another Icelandic volcano at the moment I fly again to London! This time due to the eruption of Grímsvötn.
A macro effect by the micro element, volcanic dust.
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'Due to volcanic ashes there will be no flights from all London airports', April 2010 I heard this in the London subway. After arrangements for getting to ´the continent´ in an other way, I went to a park and enjoyed the blue sky without the regular plane-stripes, and was amazed by the global economic effect that volcanic dust could have. I started a research on volcanic dust. In short one amazing example;
1816 Was the 'year without summer', due to an eruption of an Indonesian volcano. This resulted not only in snow in the summer in Europe, but in food shortage and global famine. Volcanic ashes caused a global change of the climate.
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It also resulted into the invention of the bicycle, and beautiful orange sunsets (painted by JMW Turner).
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Pompeii
A few years ago I went to Pompeii. It amazed me that the city was conserved so well because of the ash. To see the 1930 years old remains of a dog
with even the details of it´s fur is amazing! And to be able to look at the paintings in Pompeii that are equally old, and still see the colours. Ash as a refined conservation method.
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Micro Parts
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As a Pirate I'm intrigued by the ocean.
For the Re-Frame design competition I focused on the 'Plastic Soup'. A gyre in the ocean filled with plastic, a huge problem that triggered my visual imagination. The images are horrible but yet beautiful , and intriguing as well because the problem of the 'plastic soup' will get a global impact when the particles of the plastic get smaller and smaller, into micro-parts that will integrate into our food chain.
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Crumbs
Even the smallest residue-parts within a production process can have economic value.
For
example the waffle ("stroopwafel) was created in 1810 by a baker in Gouda, he used all his left-over breadcrumbs and made a new crispy cook out of it. This became a huge success and he made a lot of money with these little left-over crumbs.
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Surface
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Pearls are created due to sand, but glass is made out of microscopic quartz sand. (An interesting design project about 3D printing and desert sand)
The ´Venus Flower Basket´ consists of glassy fibres. This glass sponge is an Asian wedding-gift, because it houses shrimp (male and female). But it´s nano structures create a super strong/stiff material. And is a big inspiration for material research development in glass and optical fibre.
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A pearl is produced by an oyster (or any other shelled mollusc) that was irritated by a microscopic object. Sometimes being annoyed can be the start of producing (designing) beautiful things.
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Today my plant got unannounced Micro-visitors. A family of lice, and the foamy home of a spittlebug. A good idea to have a house made with some spit and air.
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A micro animal that makes beautiful surfaces is the ermine moth. (Almost like lace) Two years ago I was walking to the DIY shop in Rotterdam. And saw all trees and cars with a silk layer on them, this was done by the ermine moth. It looked like a silver fairytale landscape. Micro animal with macro effect. In 2011 it seems there is another plague of this moth coming up.
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There is something about textiles. Produced thread by thread by thread, whether it is knitting or weaving or felted (crafted or industrial) it is about combining lots and lots of micro-parts. Dust is shapeless, and is about colour and surface, the same two and a half D (in between 2D and 3D) qualities as textile has. Coincidence is that in Dutch the word textile is the same as the word for dust, ´stof=stof´.
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April 2011
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Dust-news
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The design I made with Thijs Ewalts for an attached building is now build. We created Building-Dust!
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Transport
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Powdered milk, Cup a soup, Space Food, Coffee, Powdered Sugar, Powdered Spices, Food in powder form, easy and cheap to transport. Now in progress: to use this principle to design maybe a chair....
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Butterfly effect, is a chaos theory where one small micro change can result in large differences (macro).
The butterfly flapping it´s wing could result in a hurricane.
In a way this theory could apply on the ´year without summer´ as well. One volcano eruption with volcanic ashes had a huge global impact.
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Material Scarcity
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With a raw material scarcity coming up, micro-parts (and left-over materials) become economically valuable as well. It pays up to extract minerals from hard to reach locations. New development for example is extracting minerals from the deep ocean.
Or re-using materials by upgrading them for new products and creating a garbage free
cycle, like the interesting solution Cradle to Cradle.(Or in my case I like to use the term from ´dust to dust´.)
Who knows maybe buying a garbage dump will turn out to be a good investment for the future!
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´Colour Blocking´(bright vivid plastic colours) is a trend. I hear forecasters say this is because of optimism in the economy, however I don´t see this (the economic and political situation is still not so positive and people feel the economic cuts). But the trend of ´Colour Blocking´ is capturing our time, where Cradle to Cradle becomes more influential. This philosophy is about ´upcycling materials instead of ´dowcycling´, this means that materials/colours can stay pure in base and not fade into eco-greys, but remain bright and vivid in colour.
(Last week I bought a bright yellow recycled plastic bag at H&M.)
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Politics
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The dirty Thirties.
This is a period in the thirties in the 20th century, during the Great Depression. Due to high food prices all land was cultivated. This gave the result of intense agriculture, and overgrazing in combination with drought and caused a lot of dust storms. This intensified the economic crisis.
The government assigned many photographers to document the dust bowl, and
created a vivid artistic movement. The period of the ´Dirty Thirties´ remind me of the present.
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Smog and the city
The government in Athens found a solution for their fine-dust problem (smog) caused by too much traffic. On even days only cars with even number plates are allowed to drive, and on odd-even days only cars with odd-even number plates. Resulting in family´s owning two cars.
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China is dealing with smog and dust in many controversial ways (where there is movement, growth, building activities there is dust), nevertheless the oxygen bar is a huge success.
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Stealing rain.
Speaking of smog, a few years ago it was snowing in the area of Rotterdam where I live (the smoggy part of Rotterdam), then I had to go to the other side of the river, and it was raining, just a few hundred meter further. This
phenomena was caused by smog-snow. The water-crystals attach to the dust parts and form snow-crystals. This principle is used in an
attempt to make rain. The biggest cloud seeding machine is as to be expected in China. It creates friction between area´s because the cloud seeding region is accused to steal the rain.
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It is ironic to make rain with dust, because the more dust an area has the less water. Desertification is getting a bigger issue, and is connected to the price of water.
Turkey is building water dams in an attempt to create sustainable energy, however the water of the Tigris and Eufraat can be regulated and they can determine how much water can go to its neighbour countries (they do have oil). Oil for Water?
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March 2011
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Dust in general
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I did a research on industrial dust in 2004 because of sharper regulation regarding safety rules and health regulations in the industry in general (ARBO). This resulted in the series of carpets made with industrial left overs wool-dust. But in an ongoing research on dust as well. Dust as a material, as a surface, as an inspiration for colours. As a guide in a way of designing. With fascinating contradictions between for instance movement (building is dust), and quietness (dust in an empty place), the positive and the negative.
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For instance desert dust is causing soil erosion or increase the spread of disease. Virus spores in the ground are blown into the atmosphere by the storms, and get spread around the globe.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- However a research on desert dust in Australia gave the discovery of the possible benefits. The dust (containing nitrogen and phosphate) was blown into the ocean and fertilized it. Causing a massive growth of plankton, which in it's turn can trap atmospheric carbon. The oceans are the lungs of the world. (about this topic ´Beagle VPRO´)
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Speaking of lungs, silicosis is a lung disease (in Dutch 'duivenmelkerslongen')caused by over-exposure to dust. This has increased with the industrial revolution, however people with animals in particular birds also have this disease. Computers that are placed in the same room as for instance birds tend to crash more often.
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Another dusty animal is the powderpost beetle, that can make wood into dust within no time at all. And is making beautiful patterns.
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Open source
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dust = micro-parts = very very small = easy to transport = global impact
It intrigues me that micro-parts can have a huge global impact. It's nothing more then very small parts of desert dust, volcanic dust, micro-parts of plastic in the ocean etc. It is wide spread by wind or currents. And can fertilize with a global impact.
The resembles might not be too obvious, but I think that open source design is therefore intriguing me as well. The joined knowledge and input of people on a small personal level (dust) done worldwide and spread through internet and it's ´fertile´ global impact. That is why I did the project 'layered' in a Dutch FabLab.
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I often do catering for more then 50 guest (I enjoy cooking, especially when it involves a lot of organisation skills) I have a love for food and therefore I like the gardening as well. To see that one small seed (micro-part) can grow into a big tomato plant amazes me.
The movement of growing local vegetables (urban Farming & Slow Food for example) is interesting for many reasons, but I like the fact that it is a global movement done in a local way (micro-part-level). This creates intuitive knowledge that almost disappeared and emphases ´hands-on´ knowledge. New innovations and inventions (especially in the energy market) will come from local based movements and not from the (conservative) multinationals.
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The HP Garage was the birthplace of Silicon Valley. And created an area full with inventions done in a local Garage´s.There is even a tourism-tour for seeing the famous Garage´s of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and many more.(micro-part-level-inventions)
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Swarm
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Swarm intelligence
Inspired by natural examples, like ant colonies, fish schooling and birds. A theory with various applications based on decentralized intelligence. Micro parts become a collective intelligence.
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Applied in swarm robotics, where microrobotics are programmed to a collective behaviour. Questions rises who is responsible, designer, programmer, or which particular micro-part?
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Decentralization is not only applied in swarm robotics but also in for example ´open source´. In my view it is also a trend that is capturing our time.
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LED throwies
Micro bits of light in urban environments. All small LED´s become beautiful because of the quantity.
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Micro Information
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Because of the macro input of micro information Google seems to have an accuracy in predicting trends. This happened during the influenza epidemic, where Google gave a better idea of the process of the flu then the governments could. Maybe searching `What will happen in 2025?` will give an idea of the future.
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Micro information becomes more and more valuable. TomTom (car navigation system) sold their micro information from their clients to the Dutch police. This information concerned among others speed on specific locations,and was used by the police for specific speed controls.
TomTom is not the only company that is doing this. (One face, two sides.)
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©Annemarie Piscaer; to all images