Ideas of Space

staceythinx: Darkened Cities by Thierry Cohen imagines the...

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 15:36:21 +0800

Darkened Cities by Thierry Cohen imagines the starry skies we’d see in urban areas if we turned off all the lights.

About the project:

Before these pictures can exist, the sky from one place has to be superimposed upon cityscape from another. It is impossible to see this detail in the night sky above a city. Atmospheric and light pollution combine to make looking into the urban sky like looking past bright headlights while driving.

By travelling to places free from light pollution but situated on precisely the same latitude as his cities, Cohen obtains skies which, as the world rotates about its axis, are the very ones visible above the cities a few hours earlier or later. To find the right level of atmospheric clarity, Cohen has to go into the wild places of the earth, the Atacama, the Mojave, the western Sahara.

As more and more of the world’s population becomes urban, and as we lose our connection with the natural world, so it becomes plain that damage is caused by light pollution. There may be connections to certain cancers, and there are psychological burdens of permanent day. The ‘city that never sleeps’ is made up of millions of individuals breaking natural cycles of work and repose. Lose sight of the sky, and you become a rat in a lab.

Cohen hasn’t simply shown us the skies that we’re missing. His cities look dead under the fireworks display above No lights in the windows, no tracers of traffic. They are (in fact) photographed in daylight, when lights shine out less brightly. In urban mythology the city teems with energy and illumines everything around it. Cohen’s pictures are crafted to say the opposite. These are cold cities, cut off from the seemingly infinite energies above.

Photo

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 15:35:42 +0800

explore-blog: Sentient beings like you’ve never seen them...

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 15:26:22 +0800

explore-blog:

Sentient beings like you’ve never seen them before.

"Avoid adjectives of scale. Dandelion broth instead of duck soup. Don’t even think you’ve seen a..."

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 15:17:47 +0800

“Avoid adjectives of scale.
Dandelion broth instead of duck soup.
Don’t even think you’ve seen a meadow, ever.
The minor adjustments in our equations
still indicate the universe is insane,
when it laughs a silk dress comes out its mouth
but we never put it on. Put it on.
Cry often and while asleep.
If it’s raw, forge it in fire.
That’s not a mountain, that’s crumble.
If it’s fire, swallow.
The heart of a scarecrow isn’t geometrical.
That’s not a diamond, it’s salt.
That’s not the sky but it’s not your fault.
My dragon may be your neurotoxin.
Your electrocardiogram may be my fortune cookie.
Once an angel has made an annunciation,
it’s impossible to tell him he has the wrong address.
Moonlight has its own befuddlements.
The rest of us can wear the wolf mask if we want
or look like reflections wandered off.
Eventually armor, eventually sunk.
You wanted love and expected what?
A parachute? Morphine? A gold sticker star?
The moment you were born—
you have to trust others because you weren’t there.
Ditto death.
The strongest gift I was ever given
was made of twigs.
It didn’t matter which way it broke.”

- Dean Young, Handy Guide

sciencesoup: Making Stars on Earth Nuclear fusion is the...

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 15:14:12 +0800

sciencesoup:

Making Stars on Earth

Nuclear fusion is the reason our sun shines. It’s the process by which two atomic nuclei fuse into one, heavier nuclei—and the process by which stars produce energy. The heart of our Sun is a vast powerhouse, where the nuclear fusion of two hydrogen atoms into one helium atom radiates huge amounts of energy. Earth’s current nuclear reactors use nuclear fission, which produces energy by splitting one atom into two. This process creates harmful radioactive waste, but nuclear fusion is cleaner, safer, and more efficient. If we could effectively build our own star here on Earth—our own celestial power plant—we would have access to unlimited clean energy, but although decades of research has created glimpses of fusion reactions such as the JET (Joint European Torus) experimental fusion reactor pictured above, we have yet to learn how to usefully harness this energy. But what we’ve managed to create so far is still amazing. In Brian Cox’s words: “Scientists have learned how to create and hold star matter—a cocktail of gases heated to 100 million degrees. For a moment, a little piece of the sun springs into life on the Earth.”

(Image Credit: Wonders of the Universe)

efedra: Fana Tesfagiorgis backstage before Splendid Isolation...

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:53:48 +0800

efedra:

Fana Tesfagiorgis backstage before Splendid Isolation II from Alvin Ailey Dance Theater

Photo by Elizabeth Washington

Photo

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:49:57 +0800

Storyboards for Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:49:01 +0800

Storyboards for Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.

"It is the phenomenon sometimes called “alienation from the self.” In its advanced stages, we no..."

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:44:26 +0800

“It is the phenomenon sometimes called “alienation from the self.” In its advanced stages, we no longer answer the telephone, because someone might want something; that we could say no without drowning in self-reproach is an idea alien to this game. Every encounter demands too much, tears the nerves, drains the will, and the specter of something as small as an unanswered letter arouses such disproportionate guilt that answering it becomes out of the question. To assign unanswered letters their proper weight, to free us from the expectations of others, to give back to ourselves - there lies the great, the singular power of self-respect. Without it, one eventually discovers the final turn of the screw: one runs away to find oneself, and finds no one at home.”

- Joan Didion “On self-respect”

lavalover77: This film.

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:43:05 +0800

lavalover77:

This film.

mygreatdevastator: Momus - I Want You, But I Don’t Need You

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:36:48 +0800

mygreatdevastator:

Momus - I Want You, But I Don’t Need You

I really liked the way Rachel Maddow explained her support for...

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:30:12 +0800

I really liked the way Rachel Maddow explained her support for affirmative action, and I thought it might be useful for some people. (Full Video)

gueule-de-loupviolette: Le Lido, Paris (1950s)

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:28:35 +0800

gueule-de-loupviolette:

Le Lido, Paris (1950s)

"Listen, It does not matter what you say. As a woman, as a woman of color, as a woman of size, as a..."

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:27:18 +0800

“

Listen,

It does not matter what you say. As a woman, as a woman of color, as a woman of size, as a woman with large breasts or no breasts and a lifetime of experience with bucketloads of passion. It does not fucking matter.*

Because unless there is a white guy backing you up, you are an angry bitch. Uppity, spirited, “that girl,” the femanazi, the super-libber, the PC chick, the conspiracy theorist…

I just wish my own experiences were enough. That the experiences of fellow women were enough. But we must always come with backers. We must always have a few men nodding along behind us in the crowd. And at the very least if we’re going to be so bold as to bring up racism or sexism in polite company then we better be willing to quote reputable studies that have been widely recognized by the psychological and sociological communities.

If we lack this armor we are just drama. Dramatic or… wait for it… psycho bitches who think everybody is out to rape them or thinks they must be, “Like, soooo attractive to be hit on so much and totally, probably, like, thinks like a victim.”

This is so dangerous because I believe it teaches us not to trust our own judgments. Sadly, in this world, that can be life or death. When that guy hits on you for the third time at the club we should just get over it. He wasn’t being that creepy. “Oh no, girl, don’t talk to the bouncer about him, that’s just drama. Just have a good time.” I complained anyway but nothing was done.

And hey, when he tries to attack you while leaving the club—which happened to me and a friend in June of this year—the police may ask you why you didn’t complain “more than once” to security. I shit you not.

Because it is never good enough. It’s always a teachable moment from man to woman. So listen up, child, because that’s exactly what you are. At least until a white man comes to back up your claims. But I don’t have to tell you that. You already know. The trick is for this argument not to be dismissed outright by some dude in a Quicksilver t-shirt because the fact is, he has final say on the veracity of our claims.

”

- via PersephoneMagazine

If you’ve never been to California to see its giant redwoods,...

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:26:15 +0800

If you’ve never been to California to see its giant redwoods, you should probably go soon. It might be only a matter of time before they’re all gone. Research released Friday indicates that the world’s oldest trees are dying at an alarming rate. “It is a very, very disturbing trend,” says lead researcher William Laurance of James Cook University. “We are talking about the loss of the biggest living organisms on the planet, of the largest flowering plants on the planet, of organisms that play a key role in regulating and enriching our world.”

The rapid die-off of the world’s oldest trees

theartofanimation: 共

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:22:48 +0800

theartofanimation:

共

"Are we not all of us fanatics? I only say what you of the U.S.A. pretend you do not know...."

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:20:16 +0800

“Are we not all of us fanatics? I only say what you of the U.S.A. pretend you do not know. Attachments are of great seriousness. Choose your temple of fanaticism with great care. What you wish to sing of as tragic love is an attachment not carefully chosen. Die for one person? This is a craziness. Persons change, leave, die, become ill. They leave, lie, go mad, have sickness, betray you, die. Your nation outlives you. A cause outlives you.”

- David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest

likeafieldmouse: Marina Abramovic - Rhythm 10 (1973) “In her...

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:18:01 +0800

likeafieldmouse:

Marina Abramovic - Rhythm 10 (1973)

“In her first performance Abramovic explored elements of ritual and gesture. Making use of twenty knives and two tape recorders, the artist played the Russian game in which rhythmic knife jabs are aimed between the splayed fingers of her hand. Each time she cut herself, she would pick up a new knife from the row of twenty she had set up, and record the operation.

After cutting herself twenty times, she replayed the tape, listened to the sounds, and tried to repeat the same movements, attempting to replicate the mistakes, merging past and present. She set out to explore the physical and mental limitations of the body – the pain and the sounds of the stabbing, the double sounds from the history and from the replication.

With this piece, Abramovic began to consider the state of consciousness of the performer. ‘Once you enter into the performance state you can push your body to do things you absolutely could never normally do.’”

catfoxwolf: Let’s address the fallacy that a capacity for...

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:10:20 +0800

catfoxwolf:

Let’s address the fallacy that a capacity for empathy is a necessary quality in a friend. A narcissist may also be a valuable companion.

silentcuriosity: A father singing to his children. Photograph...

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:09:16 +0800

silentcuriosity:

A father singing to his children. Photograph by Eliot Elisofon. Leslie County, Kentucky, December 1949.