ReadyMade and Wired

In September of 2004 Wired published an article about two Irish scientists who had isolated a particular species of bacteria that "detoxif[ied] styrene and return[ed] it ... as a green plastic." This green plastic could then be used as an elastic polymer, which has a wide range of uses such as plastic coating on cardboard.

The article mentioned how the scientists worked their bacteria experiment on a small scale, but hoped to recreate it on a much larger scale, possibly for the use of commerical and industrial businesses. I am unsure if they have been able to achieve this goal since the article was published, four years ago. According to the University College Dublin website, this research is one of their key research interests.

Currently I am planning on making some of my production line with styrene, and I am planning on outsourcing it to a laser cutting service: Ponoko, ("Pinnochio," as a friend just called it). Which brings me to the current issue of ReadyMade. I will bring it to class, so let me know if you want to look at it.

The issue has an article specifically about Ponoko: the background of the company and PhotoMake, the new application it just launched two weeks ago which enables users to submit a picture instead of using graphic design software for laser cutting. This application is supposed to bring the user from cocktail napkin drawing to finished product without so many steps in the middle.

They always find the coolest models for their covers.