Mars Curiosity Rover (mark your calendar for Aug 5)

Mars Curiosity Rover (mark your calendar for Aug 5)

Posted by on Jul 19, 2012 in Journal | No Comments

The landing process for this craft is going to be wild. It’s supposedly the result of systematic engineering decisions chosen to mitigate risk, but it reeks of insanity all over. Aug 5th is on my calendar and it should be on yours too! Watch the JPL’s animation of the landing sequence below:

And as excited as I am for this mission, it does bring up a peeve of mine. I know we’re all curious about water and the origins of life, but honestly, for every five spacecraft that we send with reasonable scientific queries, we should be sending one or two strictly out of aesthetic curiosity and to pursue our thirst for awe. We’ve sent a bunch of probes and landers to Mars, yet, as far as I know, Voyager 2 (from the 80’s) is the only craft to have gone anywhere near Neptune or Uranus.

NASA, the Curiosity probe looks awesome, but next time can we send something to Io or Triton?

(Infographic below by Space.com and links to their excellent article describing landing process)

Curiosity Rover Landing Infographic from Space.com

Beacon Hill Food Forest

Beacon Hill Food Forest

Posted by on Feb 28, 2012 in Journal | One Comment

The longer I live in a city, the more upset I get about unhealthy spaces. Why do we voluntarily immerse ourselves in a toxic environment full of concrete and garbage? Tragically, it seems like those on the margins get hit hardest by pollution, gentrification, and “progress” in general.

In contrast, I’m very encouraged by the upcoming Beacon Hill Food Forest. It is designed to transform seven acres of Jefferson Park into a community garden. The project is a collaboration between an NGO, the neighborhood, and the city government. Here’s the official statement:

“Our goal is to design, plant and grow an edible urban forest garden that inspires our community to gather together, grow our own food and rehabilitate our local ecosystem.”

The plan is to break soil this summer and continue growing until seven acres are covered. I’m excited! Learn more on the Beacon Food Forest site or their Facebook page.

Phase 1 - to be developed this year

Phase 1 - to be developed this year

Phase 2 - seven acres over several years

Phase 2 - seven acres over several years

MRI of Fruit – this is awesome

Posted by on Jul 21, 2010 in Journal | No Comments

Right now I’m in the middle of preparing my Thesis Show and shooting a ton of weddings. I’m excited about everything I’m doing, but it’s way more than I’ve juggled before! There’s always time for distractions, though–these MRI cross-sections of fruit (from the “Inside Insides” blog) are way too awesome not to share.


Vertical Pineapple cross sections

Go to the Inside Insides blog to view more imagery. If you like this, you should check out Nick Veasey’s X-Ray Photos.

A few awesome things…

Posted by on Apr 21, 2010 in Journal | No Comments

Hi Friends, While I’m working on pulling together a few posts from my recent thesis work, I thought I’d share a few awesome things I’ve run into recently. Enjoy!

SFINA: Time Stoppers
The first part of this video is the same “bullet time” technique that was pioneered in 1999 for The Matrix. It gets especially interesting toward the end when the participants mix this technique with long-exposure light painting.

Sfina:13. Timestopers from SFINA on Vimeo.

TinEye
Upload an image, then see where it lives on the web. This tool has totally revolutionized my ability to legitimately investigate orphaned imagery that captures my interest. If you’re interested, also check out “Google Goggles.”
http://www.tineye.com


Beetle Cam

Ever wondered what a lion looks like from the perspective of a small rodent who’s about to be consumed?
http://www.petapixel.com/2010/04/20/beetlecam-shoots-african-wildlife-up-close/


New Stop Motion of Solar Flares

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8635207.stm

Galileo
A beautiful animated 2D short. Gorgeous, slightly disturbing.

Galileo from Ghislain Avrillon on Vimeo.

Hope in a changing world?

Posted by on Jan 16, 2010 in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Over Christmas break I stumbled across something that restored a sense of creative hope I haven’t felt in a long time.

My hometown Bellingham occupies a special place in the hearts of myself and many others. Of course it is far from perfect, but it still functions as sort of sanctuary for hold-out hippies, outdoor adventurers, writers, recluses, musicians, local business, co-ops, gardeners, artists, and the like. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to grow up.

Recently, however, it seems that any change tends to be bad news. Out of control residential development has replaced the howls of coyotes below my parents home, truly awesome playgrounds have been torn down by new safety codes, the BNSF railway continues to own most of our state coastline, access points to rivers and trails regularly get sealed off, businesses gentrify or are replaced by national chains, and suburban retirement destinations stamp over local wild places. These changes seem to threaten the very identity that makes a place like Bellingham extraordinary. Is it melodramatic to describe this process as a sort of self-inflicted cultural genocide?

Please join me for a short photo story. As you read, you might consider some of the questions that this adventure provoked me to re-ask:

  • Is the tragedy of the commons without exception? Is it possible to share materially without being completely taken advantage of?
  • As a society, are we a curse on the land? Is it possible for our actions to have a neutral or positive visual and environmental impact?
  • On a more general level, is our built infrastructure destroying the substance that keeps our hearts alive?
  • Can we do anything worthwhile in the public domain without getting shut down?
  • In a context of deep sadness, can we still experience playfulness and wonder?

What do you think? I’d love to hear everyone’s $0.02 in the comments.

Open post and read more…

Soft Robotics taking interesting steps

Posted by on Nov 6, 2009 in Uncategorized | One Comment

Sorry for the bad pun (and forgive the enthusiastic background music). This is incredible.

This process seems similar to non-newtonian substance called Oobleck (word coined by Dr. Suess in Bartholomew and the Oobleck). Wikipedia has more info. The image below is from an Oobleck experiment in an art class that Liz and I taught last summer.

Oobleck experiment from an art class Liz and I taught last summer.

Note: video originally posted with article here

Gravitational Currents

Posted by on Sep 18, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments

The post title is actually completely non-conceptual. I was just reading an article on a project mapping tube-shaped corridors in space where there is a strong gravitational pull in a specific direction …the effect of which is like a consistent trade wind or ocean current pulling you toward your destination.

gravity_corridor

Here’s the (slightly more) technical description:
http://www.physorg.com/news172302860.html

And a more readable one:
http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-amp-space/article/2009-09/scientists-map-out-gravitational-space-highways

Also… if you haven’t seen any of the new Hubble images since the sensor was replaced, they are spectacular. Note that since NASA is a government org, these images are all in the public domain and are accessible in uber-high resolution to download for free (think 20×30″ digital photo prints). Link here.

new_hubble