James Cameron wants to build a better solar panel. The Canadian director who brought us Aliens, Avatar, and Titanic has previously used photovoltaics to power his sets. He’s now hoping to drive adoption of the technology with his latest creation (shown above). Developed in collaboration with Jackson, Tenn.–based solar firm Sonnen Systems, the 28.5-foot-diameter panel sits atop a 33-foot pole and tracks the sun as it travels across the sky—much like the sunflower it is meant to emulate. “The idea was to unify form and function with this life-affirming image that anyone looking at it would instantly get,” Cameron told Gizmodo. Prototypes are currently installed at the nonprofit Muse School in Malibu, Calif. [Gizmodo]
#longread: How Providence, R.I.–based design collective Pneuhaus built its Buckminster Fuller–inspired inflatable Ball Dome. [Vice]
A. Zahner Company
Los Angeles–based designer Jonathan Olivares created a
cast-aluminum bench (shown above) for Zahner using the metal fabricator’s Web-based ShopFloor software. Designers can now use the platform to create a bench of their own, customizing its
curvature, length, and color. [Zahner]
Researchers in Sweden are developing a cellulose-based extrusion material with which to 3D print building materials and someday, they hope, entire structures. [Phys.org]
Local search app Foursquare’s top data scientist explains (below) how the company uses the information it collects to better understand cities, and their inhabitants. [Case]