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…
OBSERVING MARS IN 1926 Photograph via Smithsonian Institution In this photo from 1926, we see George A. Van Biesbroeck (1880-1974), an astronomer at Yerkes Observatory, observing Mars when it approached close to the Earth that year. Van Biesbroeck is shown using the observatory’s 40 inch refracting telescope, the largest of its kind…
Located on the Dutch side of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin (i.e., Sint Maarten) is the famous Maho Beach. While it has the characteristic white sand and turquoise water of a Caribbean paradise that is not what makes Maho Beach such a popular tourist destination. Rather, it has much to do with the…
Visualization by Ron Miller @ Black Cat Studios What if a celestial body like Jupiter, the biggest planet in our solar system, was as close to the Earth as our moon? Would it fill the night sky? Illustrator and author Ron Miller sought to answer the question using the reference photograph above. It’s important…
Lamborghini Braking at High Speed Photograph by Lamborghini In this perfectly timed photograph we see a Lamborghini braking at high-speed during a night race at the Misano race circuit in Rimini, Italy. The race, which took place last weekend, was the second of the season in Lamborghini’s Blancpain Super Trofeo Series, dubbed…
THE SUN – ONE YEAR, ONE IMAGE Photograph by NASA/GSFC/SDO In the three years since it first provided images of the sun in the spring of 2010, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has had virtually unbroken coverage of the sun’s rise toward solar maximum, the peak of solar activity in its regular 11-year…