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5-kilowatt industrial laser with a pistol grip

Industrial laser with pistol grip

By Kelsey D. Atherton from popularscience.com: Sometimes, a fancy new cutting tool just needs that special human touch. TWI, a British company with a long history of welding innovation, recently added a pistol grip to a 5-kilowatt industrial cutting tool. Scary as the idea of a handheld laser cutting tool is, the machine was originally attached to […]

Stamp of Approval: A Paper Snippet and the Spanish Inquisition

Approbatio

By Erik Kwakkel (@erik_kwakkel) from medievalfragments: This blog entry focuses on a book fragment I encountered in Leiden University Library earlier this week while studying twelfth-century material with my research team. As discussed in an earlier blog, after the invention of printing many handwritten books from the medieval period were cut up to be recycled […]

Deadly lake turns animals into statues

Calcified bird

(Images: Nick Brandt) According to Dante, the Styx is not just a river but a vast, deathly swamp filling the entire fifth circle of hell. Perhaps the staff of New Scientist will see it when our time comes but, until then, Lake Natron in northern Tanzania does a pretty good job of illustrating Dante’s vision. […]

‘Made in space!’ Astronaut sews dinosaur toy from space station scraps

There is a dinosaur on board the International Space Station where there wasn’t one before. NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, who since May has been working as a flight engineer as a member of the orbiting outpost’s resident crew, revealed the toy dinosaur floating on the space station on September 26. “Made in space!” Nyberg, an […]

Waffling: How FEMA determines how bad a disaster is

Waffle House

From nowiknow.com: When disaster strikes, swift and decisive actions are typically required. Waffling — as in equivocating – is probably not a good idea. But waffles, the food?  In the United States, they are a leading indicator as to how bad a disaster is. Just ask Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) head W. Craig Fugate. On May […]

The Top-Secret, Female Computers of World War II

Top Secret Rosies DVD cover

From aauw.org (The American Association of University Women): LeAnn Erickson (far right) visits the World War II memorial with some of the women featured in her documentary. When it comes to history, it is unfortunately often only the dominant voice that writes the narrative and dictates what is worth memorializing. That’s why it’s especially exciting […]

‘The Writer’ Automaton: an 18th-century programmable computer?

Closeup of automaton's hands

Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721-1790) was a Swiss-born watchmaker of the late eighteenth century. He lived in Paris, London, and Geneva, where he designed and built animated dolls, or automata, to help his firm sell watches and mechanical birds. Some consider these devices to be the oldest examples of the computer. From the UK BBC program Mechanical […]

Carpet designer threatens cosplayers with legal action

Cosplayers dressed in fabric that matches carpet

By Gavia Baker-Whitelaw from dailydot.com: Sometimes, dressing as your favorite superhero or cartoon character just isn’t enough. So at Internet culture convention DragonCon, cosplay often crosses the line into in-joke absurdity. Like dressing up as a rug. One of this year’s highlights was a pair of intrepid cosplayers who dressed up as the memorably psychedelic […]

A Skyscraper That Can Disappear Using High-Tech Camouflage

South Korea camouflaged skyscraper

By Kyle VanHemert from wired.com: Next >> View all Image: GDS Architects South Korea recently granted construction permits for the Infinity Tower, a proposed skyscraper that can disappear with the push of a button. If you’re one of those people who usually think new skyscrapers are ostentatious eyesores, the Infinity Tower, a 1,500-foot entertainment complex […]

How to Recognize the Artists of Paintings

Titian

By flickerdart on Imgur: Titian If the images have a dark background and everyone has tortured expressions on their faces, it’s Titian. Peter Paul Rubens If everyone in the paintings has enormous asses, then it’s Rubens. Amerighi da Caravaggio If all the men look like cow-eyed curly-haired women, it’s Caravaggio. Pieter Bruegel If the paintings […]

How to Make a Tea Cozy with Hedgehog-in-a-Teacup Fabric

Teapot, tea cozy and teacup

A fun project for the tea-lovers among us. Also a great gift. This pattern fits a 4-6 cup teapot but you can scale it up or down as desired. What you’ll need: Fabric (Note: ordering this particular fabric takes up to two weeks, so plan ahead!) Downloadable pattern Light yellow thread (or light blue if […]

Medieval Bling: Skeletons Encrusted in Jewels and Gold

St. Albertus skull

From hyperallergic.com: St. Valerius in Weyarn (all images copyright Paul Koudounaries and courtesy Thames & Hudson) In a forthcoming book titled Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures & Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs, Los Angeles photographer Paul Koudounaris brings before his lens bejeweled skeletons long-lost in the catacombs of Rome. The remains were first unearthed in 1578, when […]

Vintage Crime Scene Photos Superimposed on Modern NY Streets (Warning: Graphic)

New York street overlay photo

By Chris Knight from fstoppers.com: Photographer and historian Marc Hermann has done a beautiful job pulling historic crime scene photos from the New York Daily News archive to blend them with photographs of the same locations today. For those who live in New York now, it may be easy to forget just how rough the […]

An Incredible New Guinness Ad Breaks The Industry Stereotype

Man in wheelchair (from ad)

By Aaron Taube from businessinsider.com.au: Beer commercials are generally pretty juvenile. For the most part, they depict men as unfeeling doofuses who only want to hook up with hot women and watch sports without being bothered by their wives. But a poignant new ad from Guinness flips the switch by presenting a group of athletic, […]

Breaking Brick Stereotypes: LEGO Unveils a Female Scientist

LEGO female scientist

By Maia Weinstock from scientificamerican.com: It’s 11:47 am on the Sunday before Labor Day, and I’m staking out a LEGO store inside a Byzantine shopping mall on the outskirts of Boston. I am here with a coterie of children and parents, the lot of us waiting impatiently while three LEGO associates in black shirts and […]

The Design Style of Classic Paperback Novels Used to Promote the Benefits of a Library Card

Library card benefits sample cover

From the Pinal County, Arizona Library District: September is National Library Card Sign-Up Month. Created by the American Library Association, this month is intended to raise awareness of the benefits of libraries and library cards. In order to celebrate the numerous perks of library cards to communities and individuals, the Pinal County Library District has […]

Mysterious paper sculptures carved from books

Book sculpture

From thisiscentralstation.com:  Those of you who don’t keep up with Edinburgh’s literary world through Twitter may have missed the recent spate of mysterious paper sculptures appearing around the city. [Nicola’s note: This post is from 2011 but the story is still wonderful.] One day in March, staff at the Scottish Poetry Library came across a […]

Nobody Knows What Built These Weird Little Web Structures

Web structure

From wired.com: Something in the Peruvian Amazon is making weird, intricate structures that resemble white picket fences surrounding an Isengard-like spire. No one has any idea who the mysterious craftsbug (fungus? spider?) is, or what the structure is even used for, excepting the fence part, which almost makes sense. Nobody, not even the scientists. We […]

The Color of Fire: How Palette Choice Impacts Maps of Yosemite’s Rim Fire

Rim Fire progression map

By Betsy Mason from wired.com: Last week we posted a map of the Rim fire’s progression into Yosemite National Park from Inciweb. That map (see below) uses random, qualitative colors to represent the area burned by the fire each day. The result is colorful, and as the headline says, frightening. The wild colors make the fire […]

Smart syringe turns bright red to warn of prior use

ABC Syringe

From CNET.com: The ABC Syringe is embedded with ink that turns color when exposed to air as a way to warn caregivers that the syringe has been used. The tech adds just 1 percent to the retail price, according to UK inventor David Swann. (Credit: Index Awards) First, the bad news: As much as 40 […]

Secret Fore-Edge Paintings Revealed in Early 19th Century Books at the University of Iowa

Fore-edge illustration

From thisiscolossal.com: Autumn by Robert Mudie / Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa A few days ago Colleen Theisen, who helps with outreach and instruction at the Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa, shared an amazing gif she made that demonstrates something called fore-edge painting on the […]

Why honey is the only food that doesn’t go bad

Honeycomb

From io9.com: Honey is magic. Besides its delicious taste, it’s pretty much the only food that does not spoil while in an edible state. But why, exactly, doesn’t honey go bad? Honey has a lot of pretty incredible properties. It’s been used and investigated for medicinal properties for a long time, especially as a treatment […]

Artist Creates Body Designs with Her Sensitive Skin Disorder

From mymodernmet.com: For artist Ariana Page Russell, a light scratch on her body turns into swollen, reddish, raised skin. This allergic reaction is due to a medical condition known as dermatographia. Rather than shying away from her affliction and seeking to conceal it, Russell exposes her skin disorder in a visually arresting way for her […]

Inspiring and Intense Soviet Space Propaganda Posters

Soviet rocket poster

From io9.com: The twentieth century Soviet space program will always be remembered as one of the greatest in the world. And these posters reveal that it also came with one of the world’s most beautifully-designed propaganda campaigns, too. Above: Homeland, your mission is accomplished! Science and Communism Are Inseparable, 1959 (via LiveAuctioneers) Praise to the […]

Incredible paintings of sci-fi suburbia will make you wish you were Swedish

Simon Stalenhag painting

By Dante D’Orazio from theverge.com: Welcome to rural Sweden, sometime in the late ’80s. Citizens go about their mundane lives and children explore the countryside. But something isn’t quite right. Robots and hovercrafts are commonplace, and decaying science facilities sprout from the harsh Scandinavian landscape. There’s even a rumor circulating that dinosaurs have returned from […]

This 1,600-Year-Old Goblet Shows that the Romans Were Nanotechnology Pioneers

Lycurgus Cup

Researchers have finally found out why the jade-green cup appears red when lit from behind By Zeeya Merali from smithsonianmag.com: The colorful secret of a 1,600-year-old Roman chalice at the British Museum is the key to a super­sensitive new technology that might help diagnose human disease or pinpoint biohazards at security checkpoints. The glass chalice, […]

A Photo Album for My Cousin Arthur

Arthur in 1957 - 1 year old

My beloved aunt Anna Grace passed away several years ago, but before she died I promised I’d look out for her son Arthur, who has some trouble making his way in the world. He lives in Menlo Park, CA, just an hour away from San Francisco, so my husband Richard and I visit him, help […]

How 500 Years Of Weird Condiment History Designed The Heinz Ketchup Bottle

Heinz Ketchup sign

From Co.DESIGN: From a 17th-century fish sauce, ketchup evolved into a patent medicine, a carcinogenic health hazard, and eventually, a non-Newtonian fluid. Here’s how ketchup’s rich history is reflected in the design of a bottle of Heinz. What do you think about when you see a glass bottle of Heinz Tomato Ketchup on a table? […]

A collection of playing cards, circa 1470

Playing cards, 1470

From The TYPOLOGIST: collector of collections: Collection of playing cards, circa 1470. Metropolitan Museum collection. The Typologist is Diana Zlatanovski. Museologist at The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston + Photographer at The Typology. This blog is a curation of interesting object and photo typologies I’ve found out in the world. To learn more about me […]

“Hanging by a serif” by John D. Berry

"Hanging By A Serif" book cover

A big shoutout to my friend John D. Berry, whose book Hanging by a serif has just been released. Click on the pages for a closer look.       Hanging by a serif A few words about designing with words Text & design by John D. Berry A small book of epigrams, insights on the […]

The First Antarctic Sunrise After Months of Night is Breathtaking

Antarctica sunrise

From gizmodo.com: The sun just rose in Antarctica. And that’s kind of a big deal since it set back in May. It’s beautiful, sure, but it must also be a huge relief. The photo comes by way of the European Space Agency, and features the Antarctic base Concordia. During that long, –112°F winter, its inhabitants […]

Vanish from the Internet with This One-Stop Website

Justdelete.me screenshot

From wired.com: Even if you’re not Edward Snowden, there are times when excising your social media presence is necessary. Companies usually don’t make it easy, though, often hiding the delete button inside myriad confusing menus and settings. Save some time and bookmark justdelete.me, a new page that collects direct links for killing various accounts dead […]

The Weirdest-Looking Time Machines in All Science Fiction

Time machine from "Time Tunnel"

From io9.com: If you’re going to travel through time, you’ve got to do it in style. Here are some of the most eye-poppingly great time machine designs from pop culture history. The Project Tic-Toc, a secret experimental time machine of the U.S. Army in Time Tunnel (1966-1967) (via Friday87central and xtimeline) The Time Sled from […]

Points: Smart Robotic Street Sign Rotates towards Direction of Content

Points street sign

From infosthetics.com: Points by futuristic product development studio Breakfast is a new kind of street sign that dynamically rotates towards the direction of the real-time content it is showing. The directional street sign consists of 3 separate arms pointing in different directions, each containing a LED display that shows specific text or graphics about a […]

Magical Miniature Worlds by Matthew Albanese

Matthew Albanese diorama

By Kaushik from amusingplanet.com: Matthew Albanese creates small-scale meticulously detailed models of outdoor scenes and landscapes using everyday, simple, mundane materials and transform them into an image through the lens of his camera making them look hyper-realistic. Albanese has used ordinary household items such as spices, cotton, colored paper, ink, steel wool and glasses to […]

Fingers Font Friday – A Handy History of Typography

"The History of Typography" with hands

This charming and informative overview of type from Gutenberg to the computer uses letterforms meticulously cut from red, black and white paper. A pair of hands introduces the type, moves it into place, then whisks it offscreen. Truly a labor of love. [Click for video]

Guillermo del Toro’s Sketchbook

Guillermo del Toro sketch for "Pan's Labyrinth"

Here is a fantastic collection of Guillermo del Toro’s gorgeous concept art that he draws in his sketchbook. It covers every film he’s made since 2001, including his failed adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness. “The Devil’s Backbone” “Blade II” “Hellboy” “Hellboy” “Pan’s Labyrinth” “Pan’s Labyrinth” “Pan’s Labyrinth” “Pan’s Labyrinth” “Pan’s Labyrinth” “Hellboy II” […]

A Lovely English Garden Full of Deadly Poisonous Plants

"The Poison Garden" gates

By Atlas Obscura View The The Alnwick Garden on a map — More on the Alnwick Poison Gardens can be found on Atlas Obscura — Some rights reserved by tölvakonu To enter the poison garden of Alnwick you must fetch a guide to unlock the black iron gates, which are decorated with a white skull and crossbones and […]

How Koilos, a giant monster, ended up on an Ontario island dock

By Alina Seagal from Daily Brew:  Koilos, a 900-kilogram giant sculpture by San Francisco artist Michael Christian. Andrew Cumming photo Until recently, this 900-kilogram giant guarded Toronto’s Distillery District. Koilos sat there without Michael Christian, its creator, even realizing just how many people appreciated his steel monster. “I didn’t realize it was appreciated so much […]

Resurrected protein’s clue to origins of life

Extremophile bacteria

By Simon Redfern from BBC News: The earliest life would have survived at more than 100 C New reconstructions of ancient proteins have provided clues to the habitat and origins of life on Earth. The resurrected protein is thought to have existed almost four billion years ago in single-celled organisms linked to the earliest ancestor […]

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