Things & Stuff

The Third & The Seventh

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 13:13:01 GMT

The Third & The Seventh

[Reposted from lfittl]

Noah and the Whale - The First Days Of Spring

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 13:10:51 GMT

http://www.last.fm/music/Noah+and+the+Whale/_/The+First+Days+Of+Spring

[Reposted from lfittl]

"A school board in the US state of Mississippi has cancelled a high school pro..."

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 12:45:20 GMT

"A school board in the US state of Mississippi has cancelled a high school prom after a female student asked to attend with her girlfriend."

–BBC News - US school cancels prom 'over lesbian date'

" Invisibility cloak created in 3-..."

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:47:25 GMT

Invisibility cloak created in 3-D

By Victoria Gill
Science reporter, BBC News

The "nanostructure" of tiny rods bends light around a bump in the gold surface

Scientists have created the first device to render an object invisible in three dimensions.

The "cloak", described in the journal Science, hid an object from detection using light of wavelengths close to those that are visible to humans.

Previous devices have been able to hide objects from light travelling in only one direction; viewed from any other angle, the object would remain visible.

This is a very early but significant step towards true invisibility cloaks.

Tolga Ergin, a scientist from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany led the study.

We put the carpet cloak on top of that bump and it bends the light so that the distortions disappear

Tolga Ergin
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

He told BBC News that his team's cloak was based on the concept that you can "transform space" with a material.

He and his colleagues designed a photonic metamaterial, which influenced the behaviour of light rays.

"You can think of any transformation that you would like to have, and tailor your material to mimic this," he explained.

The basis of the design is known as a "carpet cloak". This was first proposed by Professor Sir John Pendry from Imperial College London, who also took part in this study.

"He proposed the theoretical design of having an object hidden under a bump and making the bump disappear," said Mr Ergin.

"It's like a carpet mirror," he continued. "If you hide an object under it, there is a bump, so you see a distortion in the reflected image.

"We put the carpet cloak on top of that bump and it bends the light so that the distortions disappear.

"You have the impression that the mirror you're looking at is flat."

Bending light

The trick is to change the speed and direction in which light travels through the material - that is, to change the material's refractive index.

The researchers achieved by this using a polymer crystal made up of very tiny rods. "By changing the thickness of the rods, you can change the ratio of air to polymer," explained Dr Ergin.

"Since the refractive index of air is about one and the refractive index of the polymer is about 1.52," he explained, "in principle, we can get any refractive index between those two numbers," he said.

By tailoring the refractive index of the surface of the bump, the scientists rendered it invisible to a wide range of light wavelengths slightly longer than those that we can see.

We won't have a body-sized invisibility cloak tomorrow but this has demonstrated a remarkable proof of principle

Professor Ortwin Hess
University of Surrey

As a result, under this light, the reflective surface appeared to be flat.

A similar effect has been achieved previously in two dimensions - changing the refractive index of a piece of silicon by drilling tiny holes in its surface.

But, these holes can only be drilled in one direction.

"So if you at look at the thing from [any other] angles, you immediately see it," said Mr Ergin.

In this case, the team used a technique called laser writing to create their 3-D cloak. This uses a very finely focused laser, to "write" into a light-sensitive material.

"Wherever you put the focus spot into the material, it will harden," explained Dr Ergin. "It's a similar process to photography - when you develop it, whatever hasn't been exposed to the laser will be washed away."

Third dimension

The carpet cloak was originally designed to work in two dimensions. But when Dr Ergin and his colleagues calculated how the rays of light would travel through an object, they realised that they could use their technique to build a structure that would work in three dimensions.

In this case, the researchers use the device to cloak a bump one micrometre (one thousandth of a millimetre) high.

"But in theory there are no limits [to the size of the object you could hide], said Dr Ergin. "You could blow this up and hide a house.

Crystal structures influence the speed and direction of light rays

"But it took us three hours to make this structure, so if you wanted to make it even one millimetre in size you would have to wait a very long time."

Professor Ortwin Hess from the University of Surrey in the UK said that this study was a "huge step forward".

"The really remarkable aspect is the demonstration of invisibility in three dimensions."

One of the major challenges that remains in the design of cloaking devices is hiding objects from wavelengths of light that are visible to humans.

"Photonic crystals usually work because the constitutive elements are not visible to the wavelength by which one observes them," Professor Hess explained.

"So if you look at the desk in front of you, you don't see the individual atoms because they are so small. You just see whole structure - the wood or the plastic."

This means that cloaking devices for visible light would have to be made up of much smaller rods. So for this technique, the laser beam would have to be made even smaller.

Currently, the rods can be made as small as 200 nanometres. To hide a bump from visible light would require rods as small as 10 nanometres.

And, as Mr Ergin explained, there is a limit to how small a point light can be focused down to.

"You could say, 'why not just make [the rods] smaller?' but it's not that easy to scale these structures down. Fabrication techniques have their limits," he said.

But Professor Hess said that this was a great achievement and these photonic materials could be used in the development of lenses and in light storage and optical circuitry.

He added: "We won't have a body-sized invisibility cloak tomorrow but this has demonstrated a remarkable proof of principle."

–BBC News - Invisibility cloak created in 3-D

Wonkette : Nice Wealthy Ohio Teabagger Will Pay For Man’s Parkinson’s! (UGH)

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:08:40 GMT

Wonkette : Nice Wealthy Ohio Teabagger Will Pay For Man’s Parkinson’s! (UGH)

(Image)

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:59:03 GMT

[Reposted from bradbury via immotec]

"The most important thing we've learned,So far as children are concerned,Is ne..."

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:54:17 GMT

The most important thing we've learned,

So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set --
Or better still, just don't install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we've been,
We've watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone's place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they're hypnotised by it,
Until they're absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don't climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink --
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK -- HE ONLY SEES!
'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say,
'But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!'
We'll answer this by asking you,
'What used the darling ones to do?
'How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?'
Have you forgotten? Don't you know?
We'll say it very loud and slow:
THEY ... USED ... TO ... READ! They'd READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching 'round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it's Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and-
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There's Mr. Rate and Mr. Mole-
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They'll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.
And once they start -- oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen
They'll wonder what they'd ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did."

–Television by Roald Dahl

Top 5 artists this week

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Top 5 artists this week

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 12:00:00 GMT

via GhanaWeb

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:21:31 GMT

via GhanaWeb

Shoe Coffin: Prizes for an imaginative coffin vary between five and six million Cedis (about 500 to 600 US dollars).

Top 5 artists this week

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 12:00:00 GMT

(Image)

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 18:50:26 GMT

[Reposted from vroom via gifluv]

I'm a Woman

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:14:50 GMT

I'm a Woman

[Reposted from Ido via lafuene]

150 friends. Coincidence?

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:35:40 GMT

150 friends. Coincidence?

@vklaus Ahhh yeah ^_^

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:29:29 GMT

[Reposted from VKlaus]

@vklaus Ahhh yeah ^_^

Oh SNAP its @mhariclaire

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:28:54 GMT

Oh SNAP its @mhariclaire

[Reposted from VKlaus]

I think I hear the Amen break!

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:28:24 GMT

I think I hear the Amen break!

[Reposted from comments]

Top 5 artists this week

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:00:00 GMT

(Image)

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:09:48 GMT

[Reposted from kellerabteil]

From a few years back. I believe I was eating smoked eel with some colleague...

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:01:14 GMT

From a few years back. I believe I was eating smoked eel with some colleagues at Matsu in Mile End.

via Old Nintendo NES system and five games sell for $13,105 on eBay Boing Boing

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 15:52:52 GMT

via Old Nintendo NES system and five games sell for $13,105 on eBay Boing Boing

via Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. - Zero-Gravity Beverage Containment Device

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 10:56:03 GMT

via Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. - Zero-Gravity Beverage Containment Device

inothernews:

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 09:56:59 GMT

inothernews:

SNOW STOPPING ME A cyclist sits tall in the saddle during the height of the snowstorm in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo: Kevin Morey / Richmond Times-Dispatch via the San Francisco Chronicle)

[Reposted from ivanzero via hannes]

(Image)

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 09:56:51 GMT

[Reposted from adamh via hannes]

"The ideas-about-reality are mistakenly labeled "reality" and unenlightened pe..."

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 09:56:01 GMT

"The ideas-about-reality are mistakenly labeled "reality" and unenlightened people are forever perplexed by the fact that other people, especially other cultures, see "reality" differently."

–Principia Discordia

[Reposted from silenius via hannes]

(Image)

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 09:55:52 GMT

[Reposted from zi0mek via hannes]

Pihalla

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:35:41 GMT

film

http://www.pihallaelokuva.fi/

The joy of being told, You are not being sold anything.

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:41:00 GMT

[Reposted from amelia via 02mydafsoup-01]

The joy of being told, You are not being sold anything.

(Image)

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:40:10 GMT

[Reposted from amelia via 02mydafsoup-01]

via theWAREHOUSE web comic

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:31:26 GMT

via theWAREHOUSE web comic

Happy Valentine's, Soupers

via English Russia » Building A Metro

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:53:33 GMT

via English Russia » Building A Metro

[Reposted from cygenb0ck]

♺ English Russia » Guarding Odessa

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:52:51 GMT

♺ English Russia » Guarding Odessa

[Reposted from neingeist via hairinmy]

I have silent hiccups.

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:50:46 GMT

I have silent hiccups.

[Reposted from nic0]

(Image)

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:50:44 GMT

[Reposted from charlottinka via lafuene]

(Image)

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:50:32 GMT

[Reposted from stiqe]

Wo das Puma-Logo eigentlich herkommt

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:50:25 GMT

Wo das Puma-Logo eigentlich herkommt

[Reposted from BoySoprano via katjah]

View Larger Map

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:48:46 GMT

[Reposted from hannes via bicycle]

View Larger Map

(Image)

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:39:30 GMT

[Reposted from Technofrikus via Ich-Halt]

(Image)

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:37:53 GMT

[Reposted from amelia]

"Was es nicht alles zu sehen gibt in Metropolis. Zackige Arbeiter, die stumpfs..."

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:33:08 GMT

"Was es nicht alles zu sehen gibt in Metropolis. Zackige Arbeiter, die stumpfsinnig ihrer monotonen Arbeit nachgehen; Maschinenarbeit im Takt; Stalaktiten in den Gärten der Stadt der Reichen; gigantische Spiegelkonstruktionen; die Auferstehung künstlicher Maschinen; handgefertigte Modelle einer modernen Stadt mit Autobahnen und riesiger Skyline; überflutete Arbeitquartiere in unterirdischen Städten; Dekadenz des Bürgertums. Metropolis ist voll von Bilderfetzen, die jede Generation zu immer neuen Interpretationen anregen und genau das macht ihn zu einem Klassiker."

–Berlinale Special : Warum soviel Aufruhr um Metropolis? News - moviepilot

[Reposted from MarthaWilhelmB via JaBB]