September 27, 2010 The Nokia N8 has been used in the making of the world’s smallest stop motion character animation. Certified by the Book of Guinness World Records, the animation was created by Aardman Animation. In an ambitious project, they combined the might of the Nokia N8's image capture ability with the concept behind Professor Fletcher’s invention of the CellScope. Shooting only four seconds of footage per day, the team worked to produce the movie. Rather than create a model for the lead character which could be manipulated, the team instead created 50 versions of “Dot,” as she is named. Each Dot model started life as a sketch on paper which was then turned into a 3D render before being printed on a 3D printer. The models were then attached to a metal rod before being painted – the artist involved in painting basically couldn’t speak or breath as he applied his brushstrokes to the 9mm high models of Dot. Fletcher’s invention of the Cellscope enables doctors in remote places to take pictures of blood samples with a mobile phone camera before sending them off for analysis. It is currently being tested in Uganda and has proven successful at helping to detect Malaria. Whilst the concept worked for Aardman, they had to come up with their own
Michelle LongoAsst. Managing Editor
Striving Toward Secondary GoalsLate last month, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich stunned most everyone when he declared his promise that "by the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon." While I don’t fault Gingrich for dreaming and trying to set high standards and goals, I can’t help but think of the enormous amount of known and unknown variables that significantly deter this accomplishment...continue
