Microalgae play an important role for life on earth. Capable of performing photosynthesis, these amazing organisms produce about half of the atmospheric oxygen while simultaneously using carbon dioxide to grow photoautotrophically. They also leave behind an energy-dense and nutrient-rich material that’s an untapped renewable resource for humans. To shed light on this missed opportunity, architect Jacob Douenias and industrial designer Ethan Frier created an installation called Living Things, which uses furniture to cultivate a symbiotic environment between people and these microorganisms.
The piece, which was displayed at the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh, featured three stations—a living room, dining room, and kitchen—that each used the microalgae in a different way. The green, eerily-glowing glass vessels had photobioreactors inside of them, which provided heat, light, agitation, air supply, nutrient, and waste control to the living algae inside.
The entire system was connected through ½ mile of wiring and plumbing that supported the main network located in the kitchen. Here, each of the 9 orbs could be adjusted individually, controlled by the 3D-printed knobs built into the table. These handles allowed the algae to be harvested once it became dense enough to supply energy to the installation. Through this unconventional set up, Douenias and Frier hoped to highlight a lesser known, sustainable form of power and show it’s capable of powering our homes.
Every Tuesday is Art Tuesday here at Adafruit! Today we celebrate artists and makers from around the world who are designing innovative and creative works using technology, science, electronics and more. You can start your own career as an artist today with Adafruit’s conductive paints, art-related electronics kits, LEDs, wearables, 3D printers and more! Make your most imaginative designs come to life with our helpful tutorials from the Adafruit Learning System. And don’t forget to check in every Art Tuesday for more artistic inspiration here on the Adafruit Blog!
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: CircuitPython Comes to the ESP32-P4, Emulating Arm on RISC-V, and Much More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
Every Tuesday is Art Tuesday here at Adafruit! Today we celebrate artists and makers from around the world who are designing innovative and creative works using technology, science, electronics and more. You can start your own career as an artist today with Adafruit’s conductive paints, art-related electronics kits, LEDs, wearables, 3D printers and more! Make your most imaginative designs come to life with our helpful tutorials from the Adafruit Learning System. And don’t forget to check in every Art Tuesday for more artistic inspiration here on the Adafruit Blog!
