I will be returning to Burning Man this year, to once again frolic among the Burning Nerds! And, although I am not a professional scientist of any sort, I figured the art theme of my own bike should be something related to one of my favorite science subjects: Evolutionary Biology! And, I am inviting others to help me design it.
The following is the initial plan for my "Bike of Clades". Any feedback would be appreciated:
The Wheels: Inside both wheels, I will have most of the Hillis Plot depicted, perhaps through sheets of laminated paper between sections of spokes. I say "most" because one section will be deliberately left off: Some point down the lineage going towards primates will replaced with a line extending outside of the circle, indicating that it is "to be continued" in the rest of the bike.
I am not sure if the wheels will be lit, yet, or not. But, I will probably employ a graphic designer to help me with the printed design.
The Body: Most of the primate clade will be depicted as a tree diagram made of el wire (light-up electric wire), attached to the body of the bike, on both sides. Perhaps it will be programmed, with an Arduino-based sequencer, in some neat pattern. At the ends of the el wire lines will be small depictions of some of the animals, with their own synchronized lights. All primate groups, but humans, will be represented, on this part of the bike.
The el wire sequences could be random or nonsensical. But, if anyone could think of some interesting pattern that makes scientific sense, that would be nice.
The "Antenna": On the back of the bike, I will have an antenna-like protrusion decorated to depict Homo sapiens (one of my most favorite species!), and species closely related to them; though the largest piece of it will probably resemble the Burning Nerds logo (The Man with glasses on), on top.
I hope to keep the top of the antenna lit up when the bike is otherwise shutdown, to help identify my bike when it is parked. The antenna will probably not be otherwise functional.
Emergency Back-Up Decorations: I will also have a string or two of plain, battery-powered lights wrapped around the bike frame, similar to what I had last time I went to Burning Man; just in case the above system fails or proves inadequate for lighting the bike, for some reason.
The Helmet: (Yes, I will be wearing a helmet. Safety third!) Although the bike is all about the clades, I would like the helmet to depict something a little different: The evolution of human consciousness! Perhaps I will apply custom-printed stickers to it that somehow depict the three stages of neural mapping described by Antonio Damasio in his "Self Comes to Mind" book, with more help from a graphics designer. But, I don't even know exactly how I will do that, yet.
I can light up various parts of it, and even make it a bit interactive, with a small-scale electronics system. I already have a TinyDuino, with a tiny accelerometer shield and some proto-shields for sticking other things into it. Perhaps I can incorporate those things in some way.
Things to Keep in Mind:
1. Portability: I will NOT be flying a pre-decorated bike to the location. I reserved a used Burner Bike to purchase in Reno, and will apply the decorations to it on the first morning of Burning Man. Therefore, the decorations for the bike need to be flexible, as opposed to precision-fitted. And, they need to be portable.
I can practice-decorate the bike I have at home, first. But, I can't assume everything will be exactly the same size on the Burner one.
This does NOT apply to the helmet. The helmet can be pre-decorated, and flown in with me.
2. Ruggedness: There will almost certainly be dust storms in the harsh desert landscape. There might also be rain. And, there is also the distinct possibility of the bike taking a tumble. (Hence the helmet!) Everything should be able to survive all of that, and possibly worse!
3. Power conservation: I was tempted to do something more elaborate, such as attaching some flat-screen panels depicting evolutionary algorithms, generating virtual life forms in real-time, eating each other, and what-not; powered by a Raspberry Pi or something. But, that would require lugging around more, heavier power systems, and waiting longer to recharge batteries from sources that might be limited due to being in the middle of a freaking desert! Not that this prevents other people from being power hogs with their art design. I just don't feel like doing that this year. Maybe next time...
4. Budget is not much of a concern. Although I am starting the plan with a relatively low-budget, I can inject a more funding if I think there is good value to be had out of it, as long as it meets the other requirements above. So, don't be afraid to suggest ideas that might be pricey.
5. Remember, this is meant to be more art than science-lesson. I would like everything to be largely scientifically accurate. But, it does not necessarily need to be strictly so.
Bonus Feature: To go along with this theme, I might give out custom-made temporary tattoos as gifts, depicting the Hillis Plot, and perhaps a phrase or two, such as "I Love Evolution", and/or "I'm All About the Clades! (No phenetics.)", etc. The same graphic designer for the wheels and helmet can help me with this.
What does everyone think, so far? Any ideas or feedback, from any of you fine folks, would be greatly appreciated!
The following is the initial plan for my "Bike of Clades". Any feedback would be appreciated:
The Wheels: Inside both wheels, I will have most of the Hillis Plot depicted, perhaps through sheets of laminated paper between sections of spokes. I say "most" because one section will be deliberately left off: Some point down the lineage going towards primates will replaced with a line extending outside of the circle, indicating that it is "to be continued" in the rest of the bike.
I am not sure if the wheels will be lit, yet, or not. But, I will probably employ a graphic designer to help me with the printed design.
The Body: Most of the primate clade will be depicted as a tree diagram made of el wire (light-up electric wire), attached to the body of the bike, on both sides. Perhaps it will be programmed, with an Arduino-based sequencer, in some neat pattern. At the ends of the el wire lines will be small depictions of some of the animals, with their own synchronized lights. All primate groups, but humans, will be represented, on this part of the bike.
The el wire sequences could be random or nonsensical. But, if anyone could think of some interesting pattern that makes scientific sense, that would be nice.
The "Antenna": On the back of the bike, I will have an antenna-like protrusion decorated to depict Homo sapiens (one of my most favorite species!), and species closely related to them; though the largest piece of it will probably resemble the Burning Nerds logo (The Man with glasses on), on top.
I hope to keep the top of the antenna lit up when the bike is otherwise shutdown, to help identify my bike when it is parked. The antenna will probably not be otherwise functional.
Emergency Back-Up Decorations: I will also have a string or two of plain, battery-powered lights wrapped around the bike frame, similar to what I had last time I went to Burning Man; just in case the above system fails or proves inadequate for lighting the bike, for some reason.
The Helmet: (Yes, I will be wearing a helmet. Safety third!) Although the bike is all about the clades, I would like the helmet to depict something a little different: The evolution of human consciousness! Perhaps I will apply custom-printed stickers to it that somehow depict the three stages of neural mapping described by Antonio Damasio in his "Self Comes to Mind" book, with more help from a graphics designer. But, I don't even know exactly how I will do that, yet.
I can light up various parts of it, and even make it a bit interactive, with a small-scale electronics system. I already have a TinyDuino, with a tiny accelerometer shield and some proto-shields for sticking other things into it. Perhaps I can incorporate those things in some way.
Things to Keep in Mind:
1. Portability: I will NOT be flying a pre-decorated bike to the location. I reserved a used Burner Bike to purchase in Reno, and will apply the decorations to it on the first morning of Burning Man. Therefore, the decorations for the bike need to be flexible, as opposed to precision-fitted. And, they need to be portable.
I can practice-decorate the bike I have at home, first. But, I can't assume everything will be exactly the same size on the Burner one.
This does NOT apply to the helmet. The helmet can be pre-decorated, and flown in with me.
2. Ruggedness: There will almost certainly be dust storms in the harsh desert landscape. There might also be rain. And, there is also the distinct possibility of the bike taking a tumble. (Hence the helmet!) Everything should be able to survive all of that, and possibly worse!
3. Power conservation: I was tempted to do something more elaborate, such as attaching some flat-screen panels depicting evolutionary algorithms, generating virtual life forms in real-time, eating each other, and what-not; powered by a Raspberry Pi or something. But, that would require lugging around more, heavier power systems, and waiting longer to recharge batteries from sources that might be limited due to being in the middle of a freaking desert! Not that this prevents other people from being power hogs with their art design. I just don't feel like doing that this year. Maybe next time...
4. Budget is not much of a concern. Although I am starting the plan with a relatively low-budget, I can inject a more funding if I think there is good value to be had out of it, as long as it meets the other requirements above. So, don't be afraid to suggest ideas that might be pricey.
5. Remember, this is meant to be more art than science-lesson. I would like everything to be largely scientifically accurate. But, it does not necessarily need to be strictly so.
Bonus Feature: To go along with this theme, I might give out custom-made temporary tattoos as gifts, depicting the Hillis Plot, and perhaps a phrase or two, such as "I Love Evolution", and/or "I'm All About the Clades! (No phenetics.)", etc. The same graphic designer for the wheels and helmet can help me with this.
What does everyone think, so far? Any ideas or feedback, from any of you fine folks, would be greatly appreciated!
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1LzJRHt
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire