Solar ejections fall back to the surface, reined in by the sun's powerful gravity. Since the material is ionized (i.e., charged), it follows the sun's magnetic field lines, like iron filings in a kid's toy. Awesome. See Bad Astronomy for a more detailed explanation.
Showing posts with label Awesome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Awesome. Show all posts
Friday, April 20, 2012
Solar ejections falling back to the sun
Solar ejections fall back to the surface, reined in by the sun's powerful gravity. Since the material is ionized (i.e., charged), it follows the sun's magnetic field lines, like iron filings in a kid's toy. Awesome. See Bad Astronomy for a more detailed explanation.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
A new kind of astronomy
In the general theory of relativity, Einstein postulated that big gravitational disturbances - like two orbiting neutron stars or the destruction of a planet - would generate gravitational waves, propagating outward like ripples on a pond. This isn't a totally crazy idea: lots of things work this way, such as light, sound, and ripples on a pond. What's intriguing about this idea is that if gravity works by warping space, it will generate waves that can be measured, and those measurements can tell us interesting things about the massive objects creating the waves. Since all of astronomy thus far has been based on electromagnetic waves (things like light, x-rays, radio waves, and gamma radiation), discovering gravitational waves and learning to interpret their physical properties will constitute a new kind of astronomy. And these guys think they can do it. Awesome.
How does it work?
Researchers use two long tunnels set at right angles to one another. They split a laser beam in two, sending one beam down each of the two tunnels where they bounce off of mirrors and return to the starting point. Since the two tunnels are exactly the same length, the two beams recombine where they started out.
But if the contraption is hit by a gravitational wave, ONE OF THE TUNNELS WILL SHRINK BY HALF AN ANGSTROM. First of all, SHRINKING TUNNELS. Second of all, half an angstrom is really really tiny. Not as tiny as the article says, but we're talking atomic level tiny here. And these guys are trying to measure it.
To give you an idea of how sensitive that is:
"The coast is more than 100km away but we can see the effect of the waves pounding on the North Sea shore on our instruments very clearly," said Lück. "Fortunately it is a highly rhythmical signal that is easy to remove from the output of our machines."
Cool.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Cool quotation about embodied cognition
From Michael Spivey's 2004 book, The Continuity of Mind:
"Indulge me while I recount a little anecdote that epitomizes, for me, the intimate role that the body plays in cognition. One day, I spent much of the morning and afternoon mulling over in my head different versions of a few sentences for a manuscript I was working on. I was somewhat frustrated with trying to find the right wording. Later, while sitting in the audience for a visiting speaker's lecture, the phrasing for those sentences suddenly fell into place. I quickly grabbed a pen and the back of an envelope, and scribbled them down just legibly enough that as long as I transcribed them onto my computer within 24 hours, I could probably decipher the chicken scratchings. Then, a brief, inexplicable, unidentifiable motoric urge came over me. For about half a second, I felt a dire need to carry out some unspecified motor movement that would safely preserve these precious sentences that I had finally, after several hours, found a way to arrange that was likable. Then the feeling was gone. I folded the envelope, tucked it in my pocket, and then continued to ignore the visiting speaker's words while my mind uncontrollably wandered to try to explore what that weird urge had been. By running some kind of mental inventory of my body, asking what limbs had wanted to move, I gradually localized it to my left arm. i am right-handed, so this seemed slightly odd. Then I felt the remnants of the motoric urge continue to localize themselves further, down my arm to my left hand. I wiggled those fingers, and two of them seemed to want to wiggle more than the others. My thumb and middle finger seemed somehow potentiated for action. But why? Then it hit me: My thumb and middle finger had wanted to press the Command and S keys on my keyboard to save those prized sentences! My left thumb and middle finger had participated in my powerful desire to preserve those much-pondered phrasings. That, for me, is the embodiment of cognition."
"Indulge me while I recount a little anecdote that epitomizes, for me, the intimate role that the body plays in cognition. One day, I spent much of the morning and afternoon mulling over in my head different versions of a few sentences for a manuscript I was working on. I was somewhat frustrated with trying to find the right wording. Later, while sitting in the audience for a visiting speaker's lecture, the phrasing for those sentences suddenly fell into place. I quickly grabbed a pen and the back of an envelope, and scribbled them down just legibly enough that as long as I transcribed them onto my computer within 24 hours, I could probably decipher the chicken scratchings. Then, a brief, inexplicable, unidentifiable motoric urge came over me. For about half a second, I felt a dire need to carry out some unspecified motor movement that would safely preserve these precious sentences that I had finally, after several hours, found a way to arrange that was likable. Then the feeling was gone. I folded the envelope, tucked it in my pocket, and then continued to ignore the visiting speaker's words while my mind uncontrollably wandered to try to explore what that weird urge had been. By running some kind of mental inventory of my body, asking what limbs had wanted to move, I gradually localized it to my left arm. i am right-handed, so this seemed slightly odd. Then I felt the remnants of the motoric urge continue to localize themselves further, down my arm to my left hand. I wiggled those fingers, and two of them seemed to want to wiggle more than the others. My thumb and middle finger seemed somehow potentiated for action. But why? Then it hit me: My thumb and middle finger had wanted to press the Command and S keys on my keyboard to save those prized sentences! My left thumb and middle finger had participated in my powerful desire to preserve those much-pondered phrasings. That, for me, is the embodiment of cognition."
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
YES A THOUSAND TIMES YES
http://imgur.com/1rzgs
There is too much awesome in this picture to be absorbed at once by my feeble brain.
There is too much awesome in this picture to be absorbed at once by my feeble brain.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Ahhhhhh
http://noquedanblogs.com/arte/the-art-of-clean-up-el-arte-de-ordenar/
...that feels better (for the obsessive-compulsive in all of us)
...that feels better (for the obsessive-compulsive in all of us)
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Human echolocation
I know, that's what I said. WHAT?
But apparently it's real. There are documented cases of blind people using echolocation, much like dolphins and bats would, to navigate their worlds. These people make clicking sounds with their mouths, and are able to decode the sound of the reverberations to determine the spatial locations of objects. Interestingly, they seem to be using the visually oriented parts of the brain to accomplish this distinctly auditory feat.
Here's a journal article on the subject.
But apparently it's real. There are documented cases of blind people using echolocation, much like dolphins and bats would, to navigate their worlds. These people make clicking sounds with their mouths, and are able to decode the sound of the reverberations to determine the spatial locations of objects. Interestingly, they seem to be using the visually oriented parts of the brain to accomplish this distinctly auditory feat.
Here's a journal article on the subject.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Anthony Kiedes shoots down gLee
Anthony Kiedis, frontman for Red Hot Chili Peppers, is refusing to let Glee sterilize RHCP songs with their antiseptic pantomime of real art. Kiedis says "It just seems emotionally displaced".
Integrity.
Integrity.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
When real life is so awesome, it looks fake
A rocket breaks the sound barrier in a cloud of ice crystals. Fast-forward to 1:50 if you're impatient.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Read this article in his voice
Morgan Freeman opposes the idea of Black History Month. He "notes there is no 'white history month', and says the only way to get rid of racism is to 'stop talking about it'"
He also flies planes, if that wasn't cool enough.
He also flies planes, if that wasn't cool enough.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Cognitive neuroscience and the wrong perspective
The position of cognitive neuroscience today is to watch this video and conclude that the school of fish has a mechanism for drawing circles around sharks.
Saying that the brain has evolved a mechanism for performing some particular cognitive function is missing the same point: such functions emerge from the interactions of millions of tiny interacting elements. These functions persist, phylogenetically speaking, because they serve an adaptive purpose. Cognitive neuroscience has fallen into the bad habit of starting with macroscopic function and seeking the mechanism, when we should be starting with the microscopic mechanisms and seeing what they can do on a global scale.
Edit: I just read about what John Dewey (1894) called the psychologist's fallacy: "to confuse the standpoint of the observer and explainer with that of the fact observed". Couldn't have said it better myself.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Donald Trump's surprisingly good idea
Even if it is a touch idealistic, I'm now going to pay attention to the man. As always, I respect stones.
Via Reddit: http://articles.cnn.com/1999-11-09/politics/trump.rich_1_donald-trump-trump-said-trump-trump-said-the?_s=PM:ALLPOLITICS
"It is a winwin for the American people, an idea no conventional politician would have the guts to put forward" - DT
Via Reddit: http://articles.cnn.com/1999-11-09/politics/trump.rich_1_donald-trump-trump-said-trump-trump-said-the?_s=PM:ALLPOLITICS
"It is a winwin for the American people, an idea no conventional politician would have the guts to put forward" - DT
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Clever Conceptual Photo Manipulations That Tell a Story
This is a reblog.... not my work and not my writing! - JHD
Clever Conceptual Photo Manipulations That Tell a Story: "
Conceptual photo manipulations are all about depicting an idea, message, or story that a digital artist wants to convey to their viewers. In a conceptual photo manipulation the idea is the primary motive for the piece, not the materials, tools, or techniques that were used during its creation. These works are truly inspirational and tell a story through the characters, landscape, emotions, or through political or social commentary. In this collection you will find a mixed bag of clever conceptual photo manipulations, some of which include a bit of fantasy, surrealism, or humor.
E-mail and texting have made communication instantaneous and easy. But a hand-written letter has a personal touch to it. There is something about ink and paper that an email will simply never replace. This print advertisement for the Australia Post successfully conveys that message.
An excellent example depicting the metaphorical concept of liquid fire. It shows how fire would look if it was made of water.
This print advertisement by Olympus has a great concept and visual. It uses the frozen ice to symbolize that the action has been frozen in time by the camera.
This amusing print advertisement cleverly uses Photoshop to convey its USP.
Have you ever been so tired while reading that you felt the words are falling from the book? Here is a cool visual example of the same.
Creating My Own World in an impressive artistic concept. The ink represents the fluidity of imagination and creativity through which the artist creates fish, birds, butterflies and the world of his own. It has beautiful color, texture and a poetic touch.
It’s hard not to like this cool coffee mug. It is made from the lens of a camera that has been fashioned into a mug. I think the image is the Photoshopped prototype (of the initial concept) of Canon mugs.
The King has an interesting and thought provoking concept drawing parallel between king and pawn. The artist philosophically states that when the game is over, the king and the pawn go into the same box.
Skinbonsai is a well executed but creepy photo manipulation of bonsai created from body parts.
Poor grapes are looking really scared! This fantastic photo manipulation is humorous and heartwarming at the same time. The attention to the detail is mindboggling and the concept is skillfully executed.
Go Your Own Road has a great concept. It advises you to follow your heart.
It would be cool if you could shake hands with your friend in another country without a long journey or jetlag. International Handshake is an awesome example of an Out of Bounds photo manipulation concept.
This advertisement for Polident Denture Care uses fruit as an object of focus. It shows fruits like apple, pear, sugarcane each with unexpectedly soft interiors. Here it refers to the softness of kiwi fruit when you bite an apple wearing their dentures.
Human emotions are complex. Love is the best/worst feeling to ever have, it can be so diverse at times that you can never be sure that you know all. Though I wonder if you could learn all about love or intricacies of human feelings from books. Simplicity, colors and subject of this photo manipulation is eye-catching.
What would you call them? Eggheads? And are you ready to eat them! It has the wonderful humorous concept. The expression on each of the face and eyes can surely make you laugh.
Choose Your Face has a novel concept and the attention to the details is beyond words, it almost looks real.
This print advertisement for Toyo tires cleverly uses octopus to go with their slogan "Griping Performance".
Sometimes you might have the wrong perception about yourself and that might stress you out. This is a great example that shows how you can use perfectly ordinary objects to make a powerful message.
A fascinating photo manipulation where the woman’s flowing hairs are shown as horses. The peace and calmness on woman’s face and the running wild horses on the other hand symbolizes the constant thought process going on in our mind. Although outwardly we might seem to be calm and relaxed. A very original idea..
An unusual concept showing hands morphed into a mouth and ear. It depicts that everyone wants an ear to voice their opinion.
Lion Show is a print advertisement for Zoo Safari. It has an outstanding concept backed by wonderfully executed visuals to match its slogan "blend in".
An excellent photo manipulation of an artist hand drawing himself.
This is an amazing idea personifying the milk into spirit.
A similar concept as the one shown above but with the positive message. In this print advertisement the milk is personified to symbolize that it helps to support your heart and body.
This powerful Public Interest advertisement campaign successfully illustrates how verbal abuse can be just as horrific as physical violence. It raises awareness of issue of vicious domestic verbal abuse.
This is really a sad love story. It is amazing how you can tell a story with just one object. The old and faded effect gives it an interesting feel. The idea of using fruit to make something that seems so simple and yet universally recognizable is very clever.
A delightful and detailed imagination of city built from a cigarette’s ashes.
Another witty and brilliant piece of conceptual photo manipulation. It says something so philosophical in such a minimal and simple way.
Time Goes By has creative concept of depicting fleeting time.
A public interest advertisement by FEMA for Disaster Management and taking timely actions to reduce the effects of disaster. The concept is very clear and the brick typography is exceptional.
The Monster In The Mirror symbolizes the hidden fear within us. The beautiful girl and the pastel colors makes the artwork more attractive.
This is how a tongue would look if it had a life of it’s own. A creepy and funny concept that can make you chuckle.
An excellent campaign for the Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung with visuals depicting political figures and characters. The general idea is that the newspaper digs down through the layers to bring the news and the image accurately brings forth the concept.
An amazing Photoshop work showing woman dressed in fire and solidified lava. The concept is beautifully executed with great attention to details like the clouds, the lava, the debris etc. The color scheme and the firey glow which reflects on the model’s body makes it an outstanding piece of work.
A great piece depicting the harmful health effects of smoking cigarettes and tobacco. It is simple and powerful which makes the message very clear.
An amazing poster illustrating plastic surgery and botox that goes behind a beautiful model’s face.
"
Clever Conceptual Photo Manipulations That Tell a Story: "
Conceptual photo manipulations are all about depicting an idea, message, or story that a digital artist wants to convey to their viewers. In a conceptual photo manipulation the idea is the primary motive for the piece, not the materials, tools, or techniques that were used during its creation. These works are truly inspirational and tell a story through the characters, landscape, emotions, or through political or social commentary. In this collection you will find a mixed bag of clever conceptual photo manipulations, some of which include a bit of fantasy, surrealism, or humor.
Australia Post: Hug
E-mail and texting have made communication instantaneous and easy. But a hand-written letter has a personal touch to it. There is something about ink and paper that an email will simply never replace. This print advertisement for the Australia Post successfully conveys that message.
Liquid Fire
An excellent example depicting the metaphorical concept of liquid fire. It shows how fire would look if it was made of water.
Olympus: Eagle
This print advertisement by Olympus has a great concept and visual. It uses the frozen ice to symbolize that the action has been frozen in time by the camera.
Wakes You up With Every Bite
This amusing print advertisement cleverly uses Photoshop to convey its USP.
Falling Letters
Have you ever been so tired while reading that you felt the words are falling from the book? Here is a cool visual example of the same.
Creating My Own World
Creating My Own World in an impressive artistic concept. The ink represents the fluidity of imagination and creativity through which the artist creates fish, birds, butterflies and the world of his own. It has beautiful color, texture and a poetic touch.
Lens Coffee Mug
It’s hard not to like this cool coffee mug. It is made from the lens of a camera that has been fashioned into a mug. I think the image is the Photoshopped prototype (of the initial concept) of Canon mugs.
The King
The King has an interesting and thought provoking concept drawing parallel between king and pawn. The artist philosophically states that when the game is over, the king and the pawn go into the same box.
Skinbonsai
Skinbonsai is a well executed but creepy photo manipulation of bonsai created from body parts.
Help
Poor grapes are looking really scared! This fantastic photo manipulation is humorous and heartwarming at the same time. The attention to the detail is mindboggling and the concept is skillfully executed.
Go Your Own Road
Go Your Own Road has a great concept. It advises you to follow your heart.
International Handshake
It would be cool if you could shake hands with your friend in another country without a long journey or jetlag. International Handshake is an awesome example of an Out of Bounds photo manipulation concept.
Apple or Kiwifruit
This advertisement for Polident Denture Care uses fruit as an object of focus. It shows fruits like apple, pear, sugarcane each with unexpectedly soft interiors. Here it refers to the softness of kiwi fruit when you bite an apple wearing their dentures.
Love is a Learning Process
Human emotions are complex. Love is the best/worst feeling to ever have, it can be so diverse at times that you can never be sure that you know all. Though I wonder if you could learn all about love or intricacies of human feelings from books. Simplicity, colors and subject of this photo manipulation is eye-catching.
Eat Me!
What would you call them? Eggheads? And are you ready to eat them! It has the wonderful humorous concept. The expression on each of the face and eyes can surely make you laugh.
Choose Your Face
Choose Your Face has a novel concept and the attention to the details is beyond words, it almost looks real.
Toyo Tires: Octopus
This print advertisement for Toyo tires cleverly uses octopus to go with their slogan "Griping Performance".
Perception
Sometimes you might have the wrong perception about yourself and that might stress you out. This is a great example that shows how you can use perfectly ordinary objects to make a powerful message.
Wild Horses
A fascinating photo manipulation where the woman’s flowing hairs are shown as horses. The peace and calmness on woman’s face and the running wild horses on the other hand symbolizes the constant thought process going on in our mind. Although outwardly we might seem to be calm and relaxed. A very original idea..
Listen
An unusual concept showing hands morphed into a mouth and ear. It depicts that everyone wants an ear to voice their opinion.
Lion show
Lion Show is a print advertisement for Zoo Safari. It has an outstanding concept backed by wonderfully executed visuals to match its slogan "blend in".
Don’t Get Drawn In
An excellent photo manipulation of an artist hand drawing himself.
Spiritual Milk
This is an amazing idea personifying the milk into spirit.
Strength in Every Pour
A similar concept as the one shown above but with the positive message. In this print advertisement the milk is personified to symbolize that it helps to support your heart and body.
Verbal Abuse
This powerful Public Interest advertisement campaign successfully illustrates how verbal abuse can be just as horrific as physical violence. It raises awareness of issue of vicious domestic verbal abuse.
Love Story
This is really a sad love story. It is amazing how you can tell a story with just one object. The old and faded effect gives it an interesting feel. The idea of using fruit to make something that seems so simple and yet universally recognizable is very clever.
Cigar City
A delightful and detailed imagination of city built from a cigarette’s ashes.
Life is Heavy
Another witty and brilliant piece of conceptual photo manipulation. It says something so philosophical in such a minimal and simple way.
Time Goes By
Time Goes By has creative concept of depicting fleeting time.
Reduce the Effects of A Disaster
A public interest advertisement by FEMA for Disaster Management and taking timely actions to reduce the effects of disaster. The concept is very clear and the brick typography is exceptional.
The Monster In The Mirror
The Monster In The Mirror symbolizes the hidden fear within us. The beautiful girl and the pastel colors makes the artwork more attractive.
How does This Make Your Tongue Feel?
This is how a tongue would look if it had a life of it’s own. A creepy and funny concept that can make you chuckle.
The Insight Story
An excellent campaign for the Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung with visuals depicting political figures and characters. The general idea is that the newspaper digs down through the layers to bring the news and the image accurately brings forth the concept.
Elements – Fire
An amazing Photoshop work showing woman dressed in fire and solidified lava. The concept is beautifully executed with great attention to details like the clouds, the lava, the debris etc. The color scheme and the firey glow which reflects on the model’s body makes it an outstanding piece of work.
The Poisoned Smoke
A great piece depicting the harmful health effects of smoking cigarettes and tobacco. It is simple and powerful which makes the message very clear.
Surgeon Changes
An amazing poster illustrating plastic surgery and botox that goes behind a beautiful model’s face.
What More Can I Say
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Pennies in Protest engages in "guerrilla goodness" against a certain evil cult from Kansas
Here is a great article about Pennies in Protest, the best method I've heard of for dealing with Bible-abusing hate-mongerers (this, however is a tempting alternative).
The basic idea is that concerned individuals set up a proxy through which money can be donated to local organizations, such as LGBT advocacy, Jewish charities, etc. - whomever the crazies are targeting. But here's the ruse: donations are made in "dollars per minute of crackpot protests". Get it? The longer they torment the innocent, the more damage they do to their own agenda. It's a Catch-22 that, as far as I can see, they can't escape.
The basic idea is that concerned individuals set up a proxy through which money can be donated to local organizations, such as LGBT advocacy, Jewish charities, etc. - whomever the crazies are targeting. But here's the ruse: donations are made in "dollars per minute of crackpot protests". Get it? The longer they torment the innocent, the more damage they do to their own agenda. It's a Catch-22 that, as far as I can see, they can't escape.
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