The Mysterious Penitentes
First described by Charles Darwin in literature in 1839, penitentes are rare, unique snow formations found at high altitudes above 4,000 meters on the Andes mountains. They are called “penitentes” because the white spikes resemble processions of white-hooded monks. They take the form of tall thin blades of hardened snow, or ice, with the blades pointing towards the general direction of the sun. Penitentes range in size from several centimeters to over 5 meters tall.
They are rare because they only appear in the dry Andes Mountain region on the border of Argentina and Chile. It is believed their formation is due to strong winds. This was Darwin’s explanation and no one has come up with a better one for their existence in over 170 years.
Super Moon
— June 23, 2013
Be sure to look out for the Moon these next few months as it approaches Perigee, because the full moons during these times will appear exceptionally large. The Moon will be at its Perigee, or closest approach, in July 23 and it will reach full moon only a few minutes after it passes this point in its orbit.
These ‘super moons’ not only appear larger because they are physically closer but, combined with a full moon, the mind can play tricks on you to think they are much larger. This phenomena is called the Moon Illusion. Try to catch these full moons as they rise/set because the illusion works when there is an object in the foreground, like a tree, building or mountains.SUPER MOON
yes but will it have an angry face on it
Libertine (UK)
There’s a new mag in town. Libertine Magazine: “For Interested Women”
Founder and editor Debbi Evans explains:
“to redefine the ‘women’s interest’ category. In addition to luxury lifestyle content we cover tech, science and business, and celebrate high achieving maverick women for the contents of their brains, not their beds. There is no fashion or beauty content in issue 1, unless you count a piece on the semiotics of handbags. There’s nothing like it, and we’re really excited (and relieved!) to have finally got it out there.”
I love everything about this.
Nicola Samori (b. 1977). Italian.
Neo-Baroque??
Nicola Samori is fucking incredible. He works out of Italy, and he’s managed to nail the style of the Old Masters: his exhibitions contain everything from beautiful Baroque saints to Flemish still lifes — all painted now, in the modern era, in his studio. And that would be amazing in and of itself, but his work is so much more than simple reproduction. See, once he’s finished with a painting, or once he’s adapted one that’s been previously created, he takes a scalpel to it, a spatula, or a square of sandpaper, and begins to peel it apart. He flays painted skin right off his subjects’ bones.
Sometimes the “destruction” of the images asks the audience to think about what, exactly, the painting communicates when it’s whole. Other times it adds a strange level of corporeality to religious works, or gives portraits a darkly spiritual dimention they never had before.
He’s said in interviews that he views the layers of paint on the canvas as analogous to the muscle and tissue of the human body, and that by wearing it away, he changes the identity of the paintings themselves.
Dark and sometimes chilling as it is, I think his work is genuinely brilliant, and he’s one of my favorite living artists.
(Long story short, here’s his website, go check it out!)
reblogging these again because yes
Nina Katchadourian - Sorted Books
“I suddenly recalled a moment in the university library when, looking for a book, I had turned my head sideways as I walked down the stacks and thought how spectacular it would be if all the titles formed an accidental sentence when read one after the other in a long chain. Standing amidst the bookshelves in Half Moon Bay, my next move was simply to make this imaginary accident real. I spent days shifting and arranging books, composing them so that their titles formed short sentences. The exercise was intimate, like a form of portraiture, and it felt important that the books I selected should function as a cross section of the larger collection.”
I just got chills reading these.
im laughing look at this poor creature
“The Cocktail Chart of Film & Literature” print from Pop Chart Lab lists famous drinks from books and movies, complete with recipes.
Mystery of Prince Rupert’s Drop at 130,000 fps - Smarter Every Day 86 - YouTube
SCIENCE!
For the record this is what you get when you put molten Pewter in cold water;
I don’t know if that less cool or more cool.
(Source: cineraria)
