Long ago, in a mystical land (China), there were heaps of electronics poisoning the Earth. A couple of those circuit boards were shaped into a dragon, and everyone lived happily ever after. [Sparkfun via MAKE]
You know that crappy computer you have been meaning to toss out? Hold on there my friend—the next breakthrough vehicle fuel source could be contained within its valuable circuit boards (although most likely not). Scientists in Romania and Turkey have employed a combination of catalysts, high temperatures and chemical filtration to remove toxic chemicals from old computers an other electronic devices resulting in oils that could be used for fuel or raw materials in other consumer products.
Circuit bending is by no means a new idea. Through the clever short-circuiting of normal electronics, modders have been inventing some pretty incredible sound effects for years (the Speak & Spell is a notable example). But with the rise of Guitar Hero, or more appropriately, Guitar Hero knock-off toys, circuit bending may be experiencing a Renaissance. Preloaded with both music to manipulate and speakers to celebrate the distortion, cheap toy guitars are the canvas. Rocking out with miniature, pink plastic guitars is the art.
Recycling circuit boards for use as everyday, decorative objects is nothing new—but you have to hand it to a guy who takes the concept this far. Although, I doubt that you would be pulling in a lot of tail rollin’ down the street in a circuit-board-covered beater with Thomas Dolby blaring on the radio. [Nerdcore via Dark Roasted Blend via Geek Alerts]
Recycled mobile phone parts are being used alongside circuit boards to make pocket-sized PCs. A team of engineers at Hokuto System is behind the idea, which will be available in Japan before the end of the year, and is known as DVIEW. It won’t, however, be available to consumers. Instead, they will be used in shops as a self-contained point-of-sale display. Specs are below.
