Moon River: bizzar

Flying

Wed, 28 Jun 2006 10:42:25 GMT

How can this man fly like that without wings or a glider? An amazing video!

The memepool direct us to some answers: The short answer is "the ground effect", but the more you look into it, the more complicated it gets.

MIND EXPANDER

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 12:42:53 GMT

People who meditate grow bigger brains than those who don't. Researchers at Harvard, Yale, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found the first evidence that meditation can alter the physical structure of our brains. Brain scans they conducted reveal that experienced meditators boasted increased thickness in parts of the brain that deal with attention and processing sensory input. via

Back in the 60's people had some strange-wired-bizzar inovations in order to achive it:

Total delirium was achieved with the Mind Expanders, some kind of blowdryer seat for two that featured an electronic display of light and sound, which was intended to induce a trance-like state similar to that reached through mind-bending drugs or a shamanic ritual.

MIND EXPANDER Vienna 1967

The seat shell fixes two persons in a certain position. The lower seat allows one person to sit with their legs slightly open. The thigh of their right leg rests against a step forming the transition to a second seat area that is higher by the thickness of a thigh.
A helmet-like balloon that is connected with the seat can be tilted over the heads of the two people seated. Their heads thus are enclosed a narrow cylindrical space that is covered by a glass-clear plastic dome above which a transparent balloon hovers. A series of lines and stamped-out shapes made of reflective foil are placed on both the dome and the surface of the balloon in such a way that, depending on whether you concentrate on the level closer or further away from you, the elements constantly overlay each other to form new patterns.

via we-make-money-not-art

Gnomon

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 08:49:38 GMT

this is an image of the eclipsed sun disc as projected onto the floors of various Catholic cathedrals in Italy. They were all taken during a total eclipse on the 11th of August, 1999.

Cathedral San Giorgio in Modica, Sicily

The light is passing through a gnomon in the form of a hole in the roof of the cathedral which during the course of the day traces an arc across its floor. As the seasons change the position of this arc changes and passes through specific points marked on a meridian. These points represent specific times of the year such as the Vernal Equinox, an important date because Easter is calculated as the first Sunday following the full moon that follows the equinox.

The interesting aspect here is that on normal days a circle is projected on the floor and it would be easy to assume that the shape of this circle was determined by the shape of the hole in the roof. But in fact the hole is so small that it actually acts like a pinhole lens and what is projected onto the floor is really an inverted image of the sun itself. The cathedral is working like a giant pinhole camera.

via laputanlogic

Flower Power

Sat, 06 May 2006 17:39:11 GMT

Marie-Josee Noel | Flower Power

Jennifer Lawton | Angel Trumpet – Monet's Garden

Moon-milk

Fri, 14 Apr 2006 09:24:32 GMT

“Moon-milk was very thick, like a kind of cream cheese. It formed in the crevices between one scale and the next, through the fermentation of various bodies and substances of terrestrial origin which had flown up from the prairies and forests and lakes, as the Moon sailed over them. It was composed chiefly of vegetal juices, tadpoles, bitumen, lentils, honey, starch crystals, sturgeon eggs, molds, pollens, gelatinous matter, worms, resins, pepper, mineral salts, combustion residue. You had only to dip the spoon under the scales that covered the Moon’s scabby terrain, and you brought it out filled with that precious muck.” Italo Calvino (via)

moon-milk exists not only on fictional stories, seems we have it in Australia as well....

photo via

Moonmilk is a white, cheese-like substance found inside caves. It is similar to other deposits, but its unique quality is that it does not harden or turn to stone. Analysis of the material has revealed a variety minerals.

Hypotheses about the origin of moonmilk are mixed. Some scientists think it is a bacterial action rather than a chemical one. It was originally (c. 16th century) thought to be created by "moon rays."

Khunrath Alchemy

Sun, 12 Feb 2006 21:10:14 GMT

There is something complete, solid tranquil, divine, magnificent in the sphere, the circle shape, such as the MOON, and the old Eastern Mandalas, and so on, and so forth, that never seems to stop amazing me and giving me a sensation of beatitude...

via

Who is Benjamin Stove?

Sat, 04 Feb 2006 09:50:41 GMT

Iowa farmer Benjamin Stove abandons his family farm in 1988, leaving behind this mysterious painting. Who is this man, and what does this painting mean?

end of mystery ? or is it a fictional journal by not so bad imaginative mind, i'm not sure at all...

Sound Dunes

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 20:50:43 GMT

"Sand dunes in certain parts of the world are notorious for the noises they make," the New Scientist reports, "as sand avalanches down their sides. Some [dunes] emit low powerful booms, others sound like drum rolls or galloping horses, and some are even tuneful. These dune songs have been reported to last for up to 15 minutes and can sound as loud as a low-flying aeroplane."
To test for the causes, properties, and other effects of these sand dune booms, "Stéphane Douady of the French national research agency CNRS and his colleagues shipped sand from Moroccan singing dunes back to his lab to investigate."

A miniature landscape, cut from the whole, DHL'd back to the home lab for testing.
There, Douady's team "found that they could play notes by pushing the sand by hand, or with a metal handle."

The music of the dunes, in other words, was determined entirely by the size, shape, and roughness of the sand grains involved, where excessive smoothness dampened the dunes' sound.

in this interesting article, are mentioned even more fascinating musical events involving EARTH, such as the Earth's 'hum'

Portrait of a 21st Century Ego

Thu, 24 Nov 2005 19:03:38 GMT

The next time you're showing someone around your house and they ask you what that amazing organic-y LED read-out-like canvas is on your wall, you can tell 'em: "That's my self-portrait; my long-chain polymer of nucleotides; my molecule of heredity; ya know: my DNA -- it's a portrait of my freakin' DNA!" Such geeky portraiture is made possible by a company called DNA 11. To invert yourself for all the world to see your sequence, you simply spit into a small capsule the company sends after you've ordered your image and chosen from a number of display colors and canvas sizes. Prices range from US$390 to $940, depending on canvas size. The one shown here is a split-screen, showing two DNA "fingerprints." via

Scout Walker Kama Sutra

Thu, 03 Nov 2005 23:42:49 GMT

This website may not be appropriate viewing material for minors of the planet Earth as it contains images of bipedal robots simulating sexual acts. If you are under the age of 18 it's probably for the best if you don't go any further into this site.

http://www.scoutwalker.com/

via boing boing

Mixed Emotions

Fri, 26 Aug 2005 23:22:24 GMT

UFOs and astronauts:

Sun, 07 Aug 2005 11:26:40 GMT

War of the Worlds interpreted by Steven Spielberg caused me a very realistic vision and feeling of the possibility of real existence of extraterrestrial life. I do hope, the Ones that a really are out there, have other missions and intentions then to exterminate the human race. anyhow, we human, are extremely good at self distraction.

According to the NASA Astronaut Neil Armstrong the Aliens have a base on the Moon and told us in no uncertain terms to get off and stay off the Moon.

According to hitherto unconfirmed reports, both Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin saw UFOs shortly after that historic landing on the Moon in Apollo 11 on 21 July 1969. Some of us remember hearing one of the astronauts refer to a "light" in or on a crater during the television transmission, followed by a request from mission control for further information. Nothing more was heard.

According to a former NASA employee Otto Binder, unnamed radio hams with their own VHF receiving facilities that bypassed NASA's broadcasting outlets picked up the following exchange:

NASA: What's there? Mission Control calling Apollo 11...
Apollo11: These "Babies" are huge, Sir! Enormous! OH MY GOD! You wouldn't believe it! I'm telling you there are other spacecraft out there, Lined up on the far side of the crater edge! They're on the Moon watching us!

A certain professor, who wished to remain anonymous, was engaged in a discussion with Neil Armstrong during a NASA symposium.

Professor: What REALLY happened out there with Apollo 11?
Armstrong: It was incredible, of course we had always known there was a possibility, the fact is, we were warned off!(by the Aliens). There was never any question then of a space station or a moon city.
Professor: How do you mean "warned off"?
Armstrong: I can't go into details, except to say that their ships were far superior to ours both in size and technology - Boy, were they big!...and menacing! No, there is no question of a space station.
Professor: But NASA had other missions after Apollo 11?
Armstrong: Naturally - NASA was committed at that time, and couldn't risk panic on Earth. But it really was a quick scoop and back again.

According to a Dr. Vladimir Azhazha:

"Neil Armstrong relayed the message to Mission Control that two large, mysterious objects were watching them after having landed near the moon module. But this message was never heard by the public -- because NASA censored it."

According to a Dr. Aleksandr Kasantsev, Buzz Aldrin took color movie film of the UFOs from inside the module, and continued filming them after he and Armstrong went outside. Armstrong confirmed that the story was true but refused to go into further detail, beyond admitting that the CIA was behind the cover-up.