Nontitled

Launching Our Dreams, a retrospective of NASA’s 30 year...

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 22:32:04 +0100

Launching Our Dreams, a retrospective of NASA’s 30 year Shuttle project. Watched this live yesterday on NASA TV, an incredible compilation of the space shuttle’s amazing history.

1000 seconds from 2009’s live Longplayer performance at...

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 02:58:36 +0100

1000 seconds from 2009’s live Longplayer performance at the Roundhouse in London.

What you don't know about Nikola Tesla

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:37:38 +0000

Despite being incredibly popular during his day, now Tesla remains largely overlooked among lists of the greatest inventors and scientists of the modern era. Thomas Edison gets all the glory for discovering the lightbulb, but it was his one-time assistant and life-long arch-nemesis, Nikola Tesla, who made the breakthroughs in alternating-current technology that allowed for people to cheaply use electricity to power appliances and lighting in their homes.

They constantly fought about whether to use alternating or direct-currents (their bitter blood feud resulted in both men being snubbed by the Nobel Prize committee), but ultimately Tesla was the one who delivered the fatal kick-to-the-crotch that ended the battle – at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, his AC generators illuminated the entire experience, marking the first time that an event of that magnitude had ever taken place under the glow of artificial light.

Today, all homes and applicances run on Tesla’s AC current.

Not bad for a mad scientist, huh? Read the full article about Tesla on Badass Of The Week.

Sarah Palin, doing what she does best

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 03:01:00 +0000

… Presenting the sports news. Here’s a vid of Palin from KTUU-TV in 1988:

Welcome to 2010, by the way.

Thought Google was just a search engine?

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Think again… Google also carries a good chunk of the world’s Internet traffic through transit arrangements (it’s one of the reasons why running YouTube costs them so little)… And this is what it looks like when something goes wonky at their end:

American politics aren't black and white...

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:47:16 +0100

… They’re blue and red apparently, according to InformationIsBeautiful:

And you thought you were dedicated to your work?

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:45:00 +0100

Dan Hanna’s spent the past 17 years (and counting) taking a photo of himself. He’s already collated a great deal of the photos into a video (available on YouTube), and he’s not done yet.

Go take a look at his explanation of his camera rig (no, not kidding) and surf around to other related projects. Surprising how many people do the same thing, but Dan’s certainly taken it one step beyond with a rig and spending the best part of 20 years compiling the shots… I considered starting something similar but I just didn’t have the tenacity to keep doing it after a couple of days. Would you?

Space Telescopes aren't just for Space, you know

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 01:21:22 +0100

A recently released image from NASA, documenting the incredibly savage wildfires rampaging through the LA region of Southern California. Examine the full-resolution version and read more on the NASA web site.

If Man walked on the Moon today...

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 04:03:32 +0100

Via Noumisphere

I spy, with my little eye...

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 04:33:51 +0100

The inside of Richard Winchell’s right eye, taken in December 2005.

I love thinking about the intricacies of our own bodies. For example, did you know that the skin covering our bodies is actually composed of three layers (the epidermis, the dermis and the subcutaneous layer) - and in each minute of each day, we lose between 30,000 to 40,000 flakes of dead skin cells, equating to about 4 kilograms every year? KidsHealth has the skinny. (And I’ll get my coat for that last joke.)

While we’re talking about skin, let’s dive down to the molecular level… What holds our skin’s molecules together? Skin, like most of the human body, is composed of oxygen & carbon molecules plus nitrogen-based compounds. But what holds all of this together? Amongst other things, a protein called Laminin, which bonds everything together, adheres cells to each other and is generally ‘the glue of the human body.’ But what dictates Laminin’s subunit composition (or literally, what holds it together), and how did the particular polypeptide chains come to find themselves in harmony with each other producing this wonderful protein?

And all this, just from studying one of the fingers on one of my hands for five minutes earlier today. The human being is one truly amazing machine, and there’s so much going on - even at a sub-atomic level - that we just don’t appreciate because we can’t see it happening, although if it didn’t we would quite literally cease to be.

Something to ponder over on your lunchbreak. :)

40 Years, 101 Muppets

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:23:04 +0100

Which Muppet was your favourite? I always loved Kermit the Frog and Oscar the Grouch, although a special place in my happy memories section is reserved for The Count. I can still be found impersonating him every so often.

The National Post’s also compiled an interactive guide to all of the Muppets, and you can find it on their web site at http://www.nationalpost.com/arts/muppets/index.html. It’s just too large to fit in here! Go waste five/ten minutes and reminisce about your childhood :)

Stephen Fry explaining the pointlessness of major media covering MPs' expenses

Thu, 14 May 2009 07:16:00 +0100

Stephen Fry is one of those people who you have to respect for his ability to eloquently convey a point of view - and aside from the fact he is often entirely correct, you also have to admire his wordsmith abilities. Recently the erudite individual was questioned on the subject of MPs’ expenses (currently whipping major UK media outlets into a frenzy), and he concisely explains just why the issue of expenses is really not that important whatsoever in the grander scheme of things.

This is essential viewing for anybody who’s frustrated and annoyed with the current situation where media outlets are continuing to blanket the nation with a surfeit of coverage on the topic.

(Apologies to those outside of the UK if the video doesn’t play; this is due to rights restrictions the BBC imposes on its video streams and I can’t do anything about it.)

Bad Credit never looked so good...

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:20:49 +0100

… Or more rather, Jonathan Jarvis’ explanation of bad credit. For those who are still struggling with the finer points of the current credit crunch, this video will prove invaluable (and blackly entertaining all at once). A recommended watch.

(PS: watch this in HD if your computer and Internet connection is up to it, it’s well worth it!)

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

The Short and Simple Story of the Credit Crisis.
Crisisofcredit.com

Pause for thought: some quick facts

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 18:44:22 +0100

As described in the recent “Did You Know 3.0“…

Years it took to reach a market audience of 50 million…
Radio: 38 years
TV: 13 years
Internet: 4 years
iPod: 3 years
Facebook: 2 years

The number of Internet devices existing in…
1984: 1,000
1992: 1,000,000
2008: 1,000,000,000

Four exabytes (4x10^19) of unique information will be generated this year - more than the previous 5,000 years.

In 5 minutes, almost 700,000 songs are estimated to have been illegally downloaded.

I’m a little sceptical of the last statistic, but all of the rest (along with the others from the video) are fairly striking to think about.

Hear that ringing in your ears? You're not the only one...

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 02:43:00 +0000

Everybody has their own problems, and some people, who you might not immediately expect to suffer, do indeed have their own issues to deal with on a daily basis.

A breakdown of the inner ear.

“It was like listening to the hiss of a TV that’s not tuned to a channel. I thought I’d go deaf or nuts. “I thought of killing myself.” Shatner eventually underwent tinnitus refraining therapy, which helped him retrain his brain to ignore the buzzing. “Now the condition doesn’t affect me.”

That quote is from an interview in the Globe magazine with Star Trek icon William Shatner, who apparently once contemplated suicide because his hearing problems were driving him mad. Shatner’s permanent hearing damage was apparently as a result of an explosion on the set of Star Trek, and it used to keep him awake at night - he started fearing he’d never shake the noise. ‘Shatner isn’t the only star to have suffered from tinnitus - The Who’s Pete Townshend, Barbra Streisand and fellow Star Trek veteran Leonard Nimoy have also fought the hearing condition.’ I’m sure that Francis Rossi from the Quo also suffers from this, as does Phil Collins (in a big way) and all the surviving members of bands such as Pink Floyd and the Moody Blues! But hopefully Shatner’s quote should serve as a reminder that you have a lifetime of permanent damage inflicted upon you in a split second, not just through years of listening to loud music. I have tinnitus caused by someone smacking the side of my head and forcing air into my inner ear; if it can happen to me it can happen to pretty much anybody. So, although you may forget about them while they’re working fine, be grateful for the small things like perfect hearing or sight - because they tend not to grow back once damaged. :)

If you’re curious as to what tinnitus can sound like (because it takes many forms), you can listen to a synthesis of tinnitus here: http://www.hearingconservation.org/docs/tinnitusSimulation.mp3. I can confirm that that audio clip does mimic my tinnitus fairly well, but the ringing is more high-pitched in my own ear.

If you don’t fancy that kind of noise accompanying you day and night, wear some good earplugs! They needn’t cost the earth.

I looked into the Eye of God, and all I got was this lousy photo

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:03:31 +0000

Well well… More wonderful images from Space once again. This time, it’s NGC 7293, aka the Helix Nebula:

This colour-composite image of the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) was created from images obtained using the the Wide Field Imager (WFI), an astronomical camera attached to the 2.2-metre Max-Planck Society/ESO telescope at the La Silla observatory in Chile. The blue-green glow in the centre of the Helix comes from oxygen atoms shining under effects of the intense ultraviolet radiation of the 120 000 degree Celsius central star and the hot gas. Further out from the star and beyond the ring of knots, the red colour from hydrogen and nitrogen is more prominent. A careful look at the central part of this object reveals not only the knots, but also many remote galaxies seen right through the thinly spread glowing gas.

This image was created from images through blue, green and red filters and the total exposure times were 12 minutes, 9 minutes and 7 minutes respectively.

A factoid for you, courtesy of El Reg: the Helix Nebula first popped up in “a list of new objects compiled by the German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding in 1824”. And while you’re at it, I SERIOUSLY recommend you check out the other images of nebulae the ESO has to offer… Some are truly astonishing.

Audio slideshow: Australian wildfires [BBC]

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:20:00 +0000

The bushfires raging across large areas of south-eastern Australia have destroyed entire towns and devastated local communities. Many people perished in their cars as they tried to drive to safety.

Here - accompanied by some graphic images and the sound of the strong winds that have been fanning the flames - eyewitnesses describe how they escaped, but how others were not so lucky.

View slideshow (requires Flash). (The popup used to play the video makes use of the wonderfully versatile Shadowbox. If for some reason the JS libraries don’t load due to my rubbish web hosting, refresh the page and try again).

Credit: BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7879911.stm

Hokusai's Second Wave, With Wires

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:17:00 +0000

This is a remix of a well-known woodblock print by the Japanese artist Hokusai, the same artist who created the famous series of woodblock prints named Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji. It was remixed by persons unknown quite a few years ago, taking the original, moving it through digital pixelation and into a starkly contrasting wireframe for the right half of the image. It’s a wonderful blend of the old and the new without forgetting the history of the image, and recently the guy(s) at Vorpal made a fairly good quality version available on their web site. Read Vorpal’s blog post about this image for more info, but if you have a good inkjet or laserjet at home, print it off and stick it on the wall opposite your bed - along with a picture of NGC 3324 taken by Hubble (see one of my previous posts)… Really inspiring stuff to look at when you’re feeling a little devoid of creativity or imagination. Found via kiyo, and later, haha.nu.

Bush's Farewall Salute

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 22:26:00 +0000

… Roll on the 44th. Has everybody bought their appropriately ironically intelligent T-shirts yet?

No Ordinary Mugshots

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 05:08:05 +0000

I’d not come across this particular chapter of desegregation prior to tonight, but the bloody and prolonged Freedom Ride protests that eventually helped rise to the American Civil Rights Movement are a moving and fascinating chapter in Western history. I’m British, so we have our own little piece of history (and we rightly celebrate Black History Month every year as a small, ongoing ‘living history’ element of this) - but America was where it really kicked off. It still amazes me that the ruling factions of a country which considered itself to have ostensibly Western values throughout the Civil Rights conflicts of the Twentieth century would allow these horrendous contradictions of human rights to continue. Happily though, this is all in the past now - but lest we forget what others went through to attain equal rights for all. Now all we have to work on is getting the US to drop the Death Penalty…

Staff at the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office discovered arrest logs and photographs from the time of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56) and the Freedom Rides (1961). Selected pages from those volumes have been scanned by ADAH staff and are available [from the below linked page].

See all the gathered mugshots from the Alabama archives at http://www.archives.state.al.us/mugshots/mugshots.html (warning: the images are full-page scans, contained within PDFs).