a visual collective outlet of inspiration
this burly man surely earns his keeps, his hand all wrapped up, shoulder in a sling, sleeves rolled up… all this to tie up some little pussy cat. by xy
earth related
SILK PAVILION – by mediated matter group
silk pavilion explores the relationship between digital and biological fabrication on product and architectural scales.
the primary structure was created of 26 polygonal panels made of silk threads laid down by a CNC (computer-numerically controlled) machine. inspired by the silkworm’s ability to generate a 3D cocoon out of a single multi-property silk thread (1km in length), the overall geometry of the pavilion was created using an algorithm that assigns a single continuous thread across patches providing various degrees of density.
overall density variation was informed by the silkworm itself deployed as a biological “printer” in the creation of a secondary structure. a swarm of 6,500 silkworms was positioned at the bottom rim of the scaffold spinning flat non-woven silk patches as they locally reinforced the gaps across CNC-deposited silk fibers. following their pupation stage the silkworms were removed. resulting moths can produce 1.5 million eggs with the potential of constructing up to 250 additional pavilions.
affected by spatial and environmental conditions including geometrical density as well as variation in natural light and heat, the silkworms were found to migrate to darker and denser areas. desired light effects informed variations in material organization across the surface area of the structure. a season-specific sun path diagram mapping solar trajectories in space dictated the location, size and density of apertures within the structure in order to lock-in rays of natural light entering the pavilion from south and east elevations. the central oculus is located against the east elevation and may be used as a sun-clock.
parallel basic research explored the use of silkworms as entities that can “compute” material organization based on external performance criteria. specifically, we explored the formation of non-woven fiber structures generated by the silkworms as a computational schema for determining shape and material optimization of fiber-based surface structures.
research and design by the mediated matter research group at the MIT media lab in collaboration with prof. fiorenzo omenetto (TUFTS university) and dr. james weaver (WYSS institute, harvard university). mediated matter researchers include markus kayser, jared laucks, carlos david Gonzalez uribe, jorge duro-royo and neri oxman (director). by bw
cuba libre
great one from reporters without borders. there is a US edition coming out soon. by dd
from the pacific oblivion
daily rainbow. by kl
Yakety Yak
yaks are my favorite creatures. i could talk to them all night. by dd
manhattanhenge
twice a year, our omnipotent star, the good ol’ setting sun aligns with the east/west streets of new york city’s grid. the origin of the word manhattanhenge, popularly dispersed by the enigmatic astrophysicist neil degrasse tyson, comes from stonehenge (their silhouettes and reactions are parallel). this event occurs annually during the end of may and july 12th and 13th. in 2013, it occured in half-sun form on may 28th and full sun form on may 29th around 8:15PM respectively. if you missed this beautiful cosmological event, you will have another chance to witness it in july (the 12th and 13th) around 8:20PM. how appropriate for science week… by hk
The mighty Oryx
the east african oryx, or AKA beisa antelope, in manhattan. when alive, they are able to store water by raising their body temperatures to avoid perspiration. no deodorant needed. they are quite beautiful and i wanted to have this taxidermy, but its sad as its listed as a threatened species. by xy
Canadian Astronaut tweets from space: what a space oddity
this clip has only been seen by 12 million people, and i wasn’t one of them until now, but i love it. i wish i was there, up there, if not then under the sea… canadian astronaut, chris hadfield, was up there and he has been tweeting everything from how to make a sandwich in space to pictures of earth from strait of dover to london-town. this is his farewell piece on his way back to earth, a cover of bowie’s space oddity in zero g. i wonder what i would have done if i was up there… probably a version of planet claire with pp! by dd
BOSTON MARATHON 1938
how horrible we all are, on all sides. humanity is a disgrace.
it makes me think of madame de stael’s quote about “the more i see of man, the more i like dogs” and i hate dogs… but we did save a mouse today. freed him from the trap and fed him crumbs and water, then released him in the park. thanks to wn. but then again, there’s always gandhi who pokes his bald head out and says “you must not lose faith is humanity” little late for that, “humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty”. by dd
what galaxy are you from?
if you know anything about galaxies, you know that they are groupings of stars that number in the hundreds of billions, and that’s just one galaxy. the hubble space telescope (HST) site estimates there are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe. the most famous (around here that is, on earth) is the milky way galaxy. that’s “kinda” where we’re from. the simple point is that the earth is “part” of the milky way, even though if we see it in the sky it looks like we are observing it from the outside. do you know why that is? because we’re at the very edge of our galaxy. the milky way is a spiral galaxy type, spinning out from the center, so it has arms… sort of like an octopus. the center came first and later it spun. so we, on its edge, are its youngest offspring.
our solar system is just 4.6 billion years old. when our galaxy is 13.7 billion years old.
now do you still think for nine billion years nothing intelligent was born elsewhere in the hundreds of billions of stars in our one galaxy… or maybe in the hundreds of billions of other galaxies (each containing hundreds of billions of stars)? so the chance that we’re alone is near null. in other words, there is a higher probability that life exists out there than it doesn’t. we should be shocked to learn that we’re alone, not the other way around. wow, suddenly scientology makes more sense than christianity (not that i believe in either, i’d run away from any joint that asked me ‘have faith and not question’). well, a few hundred years ago man though the world was flat, just 80 years ago man believed our galaxy was all that there was. even worse they thought our father lived up there in the clouds…. now wait a minute maybe he does. god was just a misunderstood alien, and he lived up there but not in the clouds but in the stars! o.k. i’m going to bed. by dd
ecuador’s rafael correa: an interesting man
rafael correa secures a third term as the president of ecuador. with a phd in economics, educated in belgium and the united states, the man is clearly no dummy and a welcomed soul in a line of externally backed generals who have ruled most of the third world. since 2007, his administration has succeeded in reducing the high levels of poverty, indigence, and unemployment in ecuador. he ordered an increase in the percentage of petroleum revenues spent on social programs for the ecuadorian poor and challenged the foreign oil interests in his country. he said, “many of the existing oil contracts are a true entrapment for the country. of every 5 barrels of oil that the multinationals produce, they leave only 1 for the state and take 4… that is absolutely unacceptable. we’re going to revise and renegotiate the contracts” and he did. critics charged correa with running a campaign against the independence of the media, and if the media there is anything like the media here, sponsored by big business, there was never any independence to begin with, so not many tears shed there. in 2012 an independent survey found that he has 80% of approval rate among ecuadorians, significantly the highest rate in the americas, but a very low rating amongst key foreign governments. to enhance that, he has recently upset the UK and US by supporting wikileaks leader, julian assange, and offering him political asylum, granted inside the embassy in london. the irony of this all is that pinochet, a south american dictator supported by the US and UK, remained in london and died in london in 2006 despite his indictment in 1998, for human rights violations committed in chile, never to face trial. the U.S. provided material support to the military regime of pinochet after his coup and the assassination on september 11, 1973 of its democratically elected president, salvador allende, although criticizing it in public… i suppose, hypocrisy clearly has never had any shame? by xy
meteor shower over ural mountain: russia
the above is not related to the recent ural meteor, but just as a reference in size. it is nearly 1 mile across, 2.4 miles in circumference and more than 550 feet deep. this crater in arizona was created 50,000 years ago long before humans inhabited the area, and was surely a site to see. it is now designated as a national natural wonder. the land is privately owned.
spectacular! and this wasn’t even the biggest one for russia. there was always the mystery of tunguska. to this day no one knows if that was a meteor or some secret russian nuclear test? by xy
