LABORATORY SERIES. No.03. Skunk Works hanger in Palmdale, CA. Founded by Kelly Johnson in 1943 under the motto “quick, quiet, quality,” Skunk Works is the official alias for Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Program (ADP). The secret research-cum-development facility developed a working model that granted small teams space to work in undisclosed locations, with relative autonomy from corporate bureaucracy and standard procedures. The rules of engagement are outlined by Kelly in “14 Rules and Practices.” Today, the term Skunk Works has become synonymous with the “space of innovation” coopted by corporate tech giants. Photo: Wikipedia.
LABORATORY SERIES. No.06. The Scatalog by Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg & James King, with the University of Cambridge iGEM Team, 2009. Imagine that in 2039, you can go to the supermarket and buy a simple probiotic yoghurt for cheap, personalized disease monitoring. The yoghurt drink contains E. chromi bacteria, which establish a colony in your gut. They monitor for chemicals signals that indicate the presence of a wide range of diseases. When they detect a disease, they start start generating the corresponding color pigment, producing an easily visible output, to prompt you to see your doctor. Photo Courtesy of Åsa Johannesson.
