Islands of LA (ILA)

Since 2007 Ari Kletzky has been claiming Los Angeles traffic islands in the name of the community.

This year ILA has hosted daylong activities at intersections that stitch together the criss-crossing neighborhoods of Los Angeles, organizing concerts, tetherball games, picnics, birthday parties and public discussions. They aim to redefine expectations of what an island can be used for (mainly that it can be used for a lot more than traffic signals, poor landscaping and trash). They ask, Why don’t we all meet up in public spaces that are free and open, instead of at expensive bars and restaurants? Why do we hang out on beaches and in parks during the day but not at night?” “Is it legal to assemble on a traffic island?”

They’ve only recently had a run-in with the law, which they documented on the project’s blog.

Solar energy-harvesting party balloons

California’s Cool Earth Solar wants to replace expensive solar cells with larger versions of those crinkly, aluminized balloons you get at hospital gift shops.

Such balloons are made from metal-coated plastic. Cool Earth’s insight was that if you coat only one half of a balloon, leaving the other transparent, the inner surface of the coated half will act as a concave mirror. Put a solar cell at the focus of that mirror and you have an inexpensive solar-energy collector.

Tiny fish developed its own set of dracula fangs

A newly designated species of transparent fish native to a stream in Burma has recently been introduced to my nightmares.