Welcome to Vol. 8 No. 2 of Design Science News, the e-bulletin of the Buckminster Fuller Institute
Design Science News brings you news from around the world related to humanity's option for success and comprehensive design solutions. It also features updates from BFI and periodic special offers for our members.
BFI UPDATE
LAST DAY OF OUR PLEDGE DRIVE AND WE'RE AT 90%! CAN YOU HELP PUT US OVER THE TOP?
From BFI co-founder Jaime Snyder:
"Having just returned from New York for BFI's annual Board of Directors meeting inspired and renewed, I am so excited to see that we are 90% of the way to our $60,000 Annual Membership Drive goal. Now, on the last day of our drive, it looks like we are poised to succeed! The support and participation of our network feels like real wind in our sails - and such a great way to start the new year. Thank you!
In 1983 I co-founded BFI for one simple reason - because we were entering what Bucky Fuller called earthian's critical moment and the design science approach he pioneered felt like an essential ingredient to assist 100% of humanity in making it through the dramatic challenges we face; I invite your support in continuing to fulfill this mission."
Click here to make a contribution today!
Your contribution, no matter the size, will help put us over the top. Join BFI as a member and you will be included in our first ever Design Science Innovator Directory (BFI's first annual directory of our membership). If you join us at the Associate level ($100) you will receive the directory free as our thank-you gift.
And, in case that isn't enough incentive to become a member TODAY, enroll or renew your membership at the $100 Associate level and we will send you a beautiful stamp cancellation card featuring the limited edition Buckminster Fuller stamp released by the U.S. Postal Service (no longer commercially available). *Note: Associate level members who have already enrolled for 2007 will also receive this gift.
Click here to make a contribution today!
2007 DESIGN SCIENCE LAB ANNOUNCED!
The 2007 Design Science Lab will take place in New York City at the United Nations and United Nations International School from Friday June 22nd to Friday June 29th.
The DSL is a rigorous, hands-on training in the problem solving methodology pioneered by Fuller called Design Science. Participants engage in a whole systems and anticipatory approach to develop strategies to solve global and local problems that are based on innovation and thrive on transparency. The 2007 DSL will again be facilitated by Medard Gabel of BigPictureSmallWorld.
To receive program updates and an application or if you have any questions, please send an email to dsl (at) bfi.org.
NEW SALES IN OUR ONLINE STORE!
We're offering three of our favorite store items at discounted prices this month.
SALE $15.95 Buckminster Fuller's Critical Path is the collection and distillation of some of Fuller's most radical and innovative ideas from an alternative history of human evolution to floating, autonomous cities. An inspirational look at a Fuller's life and work.
SALE $34.95 Buckminster Fuller: Thinking Out Loud is a 1996 film by Kirk Simon and Karen Goodman that aired on the PBS series American Masters. The filmmakers combed through the Fuller archives to produce this fantastic retrospective.
SALE $14.95 Written in 1938, 4D Timelock introduces the concept of an autonomous housing unit, later called the Dymaxion House.
Click here to visit our online store
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
"Design science is more than the application of engineering and technology. It is more than a plan or a design. Design science means the total responsibility and capability for development, production, and distribution - of not just a product - but a total service system on a worldwide basis."
— R. Buckminster Fuller, cited in Ed Applewhite's Synergetics Dictionary, Jan. 15th, 1974
TRENDS & PERSPECTIVES
"Hot rocks" could power millions of U.S. homes, study says
A comprehensive new MIT-led study of the potential for geothermal energy within the United States has found that mining the huge amounts of heat that reside as stored thermal energy in the Earth's hard rock crust could supply a substantial portion of the electricity the United States will need in the future, probably at competitive prices and with minimal environmental impact.
An 18-member panel led by MIT prepared the 400-plus page study, titled "The Future of Geothermal Energy" (PDF, 14.1 MB). Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, it is the first study in some 30 years to take a new look at geothermal, an energy resource that has been largely ignored.
The goal of the study was to assess the feasibility, potential environmental impacts and economic viability of using enhanced geothermal system (EGS) technology to greatly increase the fraction of the U.S. geothermal resource that could be recovered commercially. (Source: MIT)
Buckyballs used as "passkey" into cancer cells
Scientists at Rice University and pediatric specialists at Baylor College of Medicine have discovered a new way to use Rice's famed buckyball nanoparticles as passkeys that allows drugs to enter cancer cells.
The research appears in the Jan. 21 issue of the journal Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry.
All living cells defend themselves by walling off the outside world. Cell walls, or membranes, form a protective cocoon around the cell's inner machinery and its DNA blueprints.
"Drugs are far more effective if they're delivered through the membrane, directly into the cell," said lead researcher Andrew Barron. "Viruses, which are often toxic, long ago developed ways of sneaking through cell walls. While we're mimicking some techniques used by viruses, we're using non-toxic pieces of protein, and we're incorporating buckyballs as a passkey." (Source: Science Daily)
Programs let homes produce green power
When the sun shines bright on their home in New York's Hudson Valley, John and Anna Bagnall live out a homeowner's fantasy. Their electricity meter runs backward.
Solar panels on their barn roof can often provide enough for all their electricity needs. Sometimes - and this is the best part - their solar setup actually pushes power back into the system. The Bagnalls "net meter," a state-sanctioned setup that allows homeowners to adopt renewable energy without taking the more radical step of disconnecting from their local electric utility, Central Hudson Gas & Electric.
Net metering essentially allows people to become mini-power producers. Programs vary state to state, but they are typically coupled with financial incentives that make it easier to invest thousands of dollars for photovoltaic panels, windmills or fuel cells. Since sun and wind are intermittent, customers still rely on the grid for steady service. The meter runs backward when more energy is produced than a customer consumes. (Source: Red Orbit)
RESOURCES
"Lab plans to make its ideas a reality" - an article about the Asheville, NC Design Science Lab
This article in the Asheville Citizen-Times details the post-Lab work of some 2006 DSL participants. Look for more updates in the future about the work of these participants and others. Congratulations to all of you for your great achievements!
Asheville Citizen Times
Could buckyball nanotubes carry us into space?
This video segment from the fantastic PBS series NOVAScienceNow details recent breakthroughs in nanotechnology utilizing buckyball "nanotubes" and the possibility of using these unique structures to realize the dream of Arthur C. Clarke and others of creating a "space elevator" as an alternative to shuttles in our exploration of outer space.
Watch the segment on pbs.org
Our expanded view
Starting in 2007, we'll be seeing a lot more of the Earth from space. The Chinese are launching their first lunar satellite this year, with the US, India, and Japan following in 2008. The missions will investigate the moon for possible future human landings, but we'll still take the opportunity to send back new images of Earth against the infinite black.
Postcards from low-Earth orbit will come soon too, if Richard Branson and others finally succeed in breaking down the price barriers that have kept all but the wealthiest handful of civilians grounded. As plans proceed for a manned return to the Moon and eventual voyages to Mars, the sight of Earth—relayed by our reconnaissance craft and astronauts, both professional and fare-paying—will be more widely experienced than ever.
SEED Magazine
Have you come across interesting Design Science news articles, resources, or events?
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