This is just another reason why innovative people rock my socks.
"Fab Lab"- It just sounds wonderful already, doesn't it?
Fab Lab Definition:
A Fab Lab (fabrication laboratory) is a small-scale workshop with the aim to make "Almost Anything".
While Fab Labs have yet to compete w/ mass production and its associated economies of scale in fabricating widely distributed products, they have already shown the potential to empower individuals to create smart devices for themselves. These devices can be tailored to local or personal needs in ways that are not practical or economical using mass production.
The projects they are working on at the Innovation Center range from social experiments to energy issues: Working on a local geothermal heat pump system, preparing instrumentation for scientific projects such as puffin colony measurements, building an interactive model of the part of the town that went under the lava flow, and assisting local individuals and companies with product development and so on.
So in short- This is yet another innovation center built to facilitate and nuture ideas that will help access the use of Iceland's geothermal energy, develops technology that will aid in the preservation of natural resources, and protective efforts for the incredible wildlife that inhabits the surrounding areas.
The FAB LAB is located in Vestmannaeyjar. Vestmannaeyjar is an archipelago (a sea or stretch of water containing many islands) of roughly 15 islands and numerous crags (a steep or rugged cliff or rock face) off the south coast of Iceland, and is home to 4000 people, about 4 million Puffins, and 500 sheep. WHAT?~!
Again! That's :
4,000 PEOPLE
4 Million Puffins!
I grew up on a small dairy farm in Upstate New York. My childhood friends were 40 cats (meow) , 58 cows (moo), 2 pigs (oink), a goat (nayy), and my two sisters (?). Much like Vestmannaeyjar the animals far outnumbered the humans. And I wonder if that attributes to a sensitivity that focuses on the health and safety of species other than your own?
I would like to go here and meet the Innovation Center crew. I want you (yes you with your sleepy computer eyes) whose reading this right now to join us on this discovery. More to come ....
