On June 23, 2013 at 11:32 UTC the full moon was not only the closest and largest full moon of the year, it will also be the moon’s closest encounter with Earth for all of 2013. It will not be this close again until August 10, 2014. Astronomers call this sort of close full…
AUSTRALIAN SUNSET FROM SPACE Photograph by NASA The sun is about to set in this scene showing parts of southwestern Australia, which was photographed by one of the Expedition 35 crew members aboard the International Space Station on April 1, 2013. Several of the orbital outpost’s solar array panels are seen in…
Inspired by the geography game GeoGuessr, Alan Taylor, who runs theatlantic.com’s wildly popular In Focus, spent some time recently in Google Maps, finding the edges of their Street View coverage. In the article, Taylor remarks: “I’ve always been drawn to the end of the road, to the edges of where one might be allowed…
Photograph by Danny Choo @ culturejapan.jp The Problem Bicycles are a popular form of transportation in Japan. However, when parked they can take up a lot of public space that could otherwise be used by pedestrian foot traffic, small storefronts, etc. The Solution Rather than take up valuable real estate above ground, store them…
On the edge of the Arctic Circle, where the River Lule meets the Gulf of Bothnia, lies Facebook’s newest data center in Luleå, Sweden. Launched earlier this week, the center is now handling live traffic from around the world. Facebook claims Luleå is likely to be one of the most efficient and sustainable data…
The Cupola is an ESA-built observatory module of the International Space Station (ISS). Its seven windows are used to conduct experiments, dockings and observations of Earth. It was launched aboard Space Shuttle mission STS-130 on 8 February 2010 and attached to the Tranquility (Node 3) module. The Cupola’s 80 cm (31 in) window is…
Chris Hadfield is a Canadian astronaut and the first Canadian to walk in space. On December 21, 2012, the former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot became the first Canadian to command the ISS (Expedition 35). Until his departure on May 12, 2013, Hadfield was incredibly active on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, raising awareness…
At a laboratory at Harvard University, scientists have grown complex self-assembling nano- and microstructures using a solution of chemicals and minerals. Some of the structures are smaller than the width of a human hair and have many potential uses in optics and engineering. Researchers have started with flowers, stems and vases as they were…
Artwork by Tatsuo Horiuchi Believe it or not, the artwork above was made entirely in Microsoft Excel. In fact, you can actually play with the actual Excel documents in this attached zip file. The digital paintings are the work of Tatsuo Horiuchi, a 73-year-old Japanese artist who began experimenting with Excel’s artistic capabilities 13…
Photograph by Dan Phiffer Heather Dewey-Hagborg is an information artist who is interested in exploring art as research and public inquiry. Traversing media ranging from algorithms to DNA, her work seeks to question fundamental assumptions underpinning perceptions of human nature, technology and the environment. In her fascinating series entitled Stranger Visions, Heather collects DNA…