Coastal landslide caught on film
via Boing Boing by Jason Weisberger
When a large crack rang through the air, followed by a rumble, Robert and Chris Wills knew to grab their cameras and start shooting. Chris, a geologist, and his son Robert knew they were in for the show of a life time.
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
In 1779, Ned Ludd broke into a house and destroyed knitting machines. It was a ridiculous stand against technology, but not without merit... more
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1950 - 1975 : Dynamic Duos
via Retronaut by James Golff
Friendships beyond the reach of the paparazzi!
Of the six photos shown here I managed to identify eight of the 12 people without too much difficulty! See how well you can do.
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Fireworks In Reverse
via How-To Geek by Jason Fitzpatrick
Fireworks are beautiful and eye catching in and of themselves, but when the video is reversed it’s down right mesmerizing – enormous explosions collapse into nothingness.
Courtesy of Julian Tay, the above video is the New Year’s Eve fireworks over Melbourne, Australia in reverse and mixed with a relaxing back beat.
[via Neatorama]
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
J.M. Coetzee has spawned an army of apologists, explicators, imitators. He leads them on like a Pied Piper, dropping theory-laden crumbs in his path... more
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How space radiation hurts astronauts
via Boing Boing by Maggie Koerth-Baker
NASA image of the Crab Nebula, a remnant of a supernova.
Scientists think that Galactic Cosmic Radiation comes from places like this.
Space is full of radiation. It’s impossible to escape. Imagine standing in the middle of a dust storm, with bits of gravel constantly swirling around you, whizzing by, pinging against your skin. That’s what radiation is like in space. The problem is that, unlike a pebble or a speck of dirt, ionizing radiation doesn’t bounce off human flesh. It goes right through, like a cannonball through the side of the building, leaving damage behind.
Last week, researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center published a study that suggests long exposures to galactic cosmic radiation – like the kind astronauts might experience on a trip to Mars – could increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Continue reading
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The Master of Middle-Earth and Oxford’s influence
via Pages & Proofs by Richard Davies
To celebrate JRR Tolkien’s birthday on 3 January, the BBC** looks at the origins of The Hobbit and asks how much of an influence Oxford was on the author. Of course, Oxford was where Tolkien studied and taught, and wrote the book.
“[I remember] the actual flashpoint,” Tolkien told the BBC in March 1968 about his idea for The Hobbit. “I can still see the corner in my house in 20 Northmoor Road where it happened. I’d got an enormous pile of exam papers there and was marking school examinations in the summer time, which was very laborious, and unfortunately also boring.”
“I remember picking up a paper and nearly gave it an extra mark, or extra five marks actually, because one page on this particular paper was left blank. Glorious! Nothing to read. So I scribbled on it, I can’t think why, ’In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit‘.”
**The original link in the AbeBooks blog post goes to a 404 so I thought it just might be to the the actual BBC programme from 1968. Lo and behold!!
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Arthur Schlesinger Jr. depicted Kennedy as firm but careful during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Here’s a characterization of Schlesinger: deceptive... more
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Eye of the furnace: Hubble captures close-up of spiral galaxy NGC 1097
via Boing Boing by Rob Beschizza
From NASA’s Image of the Day blog: “This face-on galaxy, lying 45 million light-years away from Earth in the southern constellation of Fornax (The Furnace), is particularly attractive for astronomers. NGC 1097 is a Seyfert galaxy. Lurking at the very center of the galaxy, a supermassive black hole 100 million times the mass of our sun is gradually sucking in the matter around it. The area immediately around the black hole shines powerfully with radiation coming from the material falling in.”
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At Seventeen: 1901
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
Circa 1901
“Pere Marquette transfer boat 17”
These steamers were operated on various Great Lakes waterways by the Pere Marquette railroad.
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