RobiNZ CAD Blog

Scanning the LHC

Fascinating look at the CERN, European Organisation for Nuclear Research, LHC facility captured by laser scanners: Inside CERN - lidarnews.com “The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is situated 100 meters below ground at CERN and is considered the biggest single machine on the planet. It is also the location of one of the most important scientific achievements of this century, the Higgs boson.“ Read more →

Radiolab Live: Amazing

This is off topic for the CAD Blog but if you have any interest in science and/or art you must see: Radiolab Live: Apocalyptical and Amazing - RobiNZ Personal Blog Read more →

A new look for RobiNZ CAD Blog, a very natural glow!

A few weeks ago I mentioned I was considering a redesign for the blog. At the time I made a few tweaks as realised a new ‘look’ would take more time than I had to spare. A few months ago I was one of many who helped crowd fund a “Evolution in Action” science project. The aim is serious, studying bacterial genetic evolution to help combat disease, but one of the fun rewards provided a new blog logo and inspired the theme. Siouxsie Wiles is a microbiologist, bioluminescence enthusiast (with very pink hair!) and “Infectious Thoughts” science blogger who heads... Read more →

StarTalk Podcast and CAD, Computer Aided Dimensions?

Not sure how I missed it but I’ve been busy catching up with the awesome StarTalk podcast back catalogue. It is where, to quote their own tagline: “Science, pop culture & comedy collide on StarTalk w/ astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, comic co-hosts, celebrities & scientists.” It earns this CAD blog mention thanks to a funny moment in “StarTalk: Live at the Bell House, Part 2”. It’s a live show featuring Neil, co-host Eugene Mirman and guests Alan Alda, Kristen Schaal and Scott Adsit. At about 0:21:00 the discussion is about Non-Euclidean Geometry and at 0:22:20 there... Read more →

Meet the ancestors - 3D Fossil Exploration in a Virtual Laboratory

At Autodesk University 2011 Shaan Hurley introduced me to a representation of a very distant ancestor. It was a 3D fossil skull scan (perched on his shoulder in the photo right) assembled from cardboard contours created with 123D Make. A few years ago I submitted my DNA to the National Geographic Genographic Project. The results (below) showed that my ancestral DNA left Africa about 60,000 years ago migrating across continents to the U.K. & Western Europe. From there a much more recent migration resulted in me being Kiwi born. It’s interesting to think how much, and in some ways how... Read more →

How much for an 8KB file?

Our Retail Design application subscriptions are actually funded from an IT budget. Its owner just happened to be near my desk as I was dealing with the 2011 license file today. It’s amazing that writing quite a large cheque results in the delivery in a few lines of text in an 8KB lic file. Of course, those few lines of magic numbers unlock gigabytes of complex software but the key is just one precious little file. Recently Dr Karl, who does a brilliant science Q&A on Triple J, was asked if a digital music player got heavier as you added... Read more →

The Physics of the "I" in BIM

What is a Building Information Model? My interpretation is simply an information model of a building. It’s not a technology, it’s not a way of working, it’s the expression of a building as data. To th... Read more →

Microsoft Research WorldWide Telescope, breathtaking!

This is what made Robert Scoble cry and Buzz Bruggeman, CEO of ActiveWords, called "the best thing he’s seen in years from Microsoft" a couple of weeks ago. Science educator Roy Gould and Microsoft's Curtis Wong introduce the Worldwide Telescope at TED: From: The Worldwide Telescope - www.worldwidetelescope.org/ "The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) is a rich visualization environment that functions as a virtual telescope, bringing together imagery from the best ground and space telescopes in the world for a seamless, guided exploration of the universe" Read more →

3D, isn't always as it seems...

Sadly magician, illusionist, thinker Jerry Andrus died recently . He was a master of illusions which use perspective to fool the mind. About 1 minute into this one look for a city model that defies gr... Read more →

IBM & Nanotech

IBM are manipulating atoms aiming to get a thousand times current storage densities. Imagine your server, on your ipod… IBM Nanotech Breakthroughs Point To Tech's Future Building Blocks: Scientif... Read more →