Fifteen years ago, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched into space aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. Since its deployment on July 23, 1999, Chandra has helped revolutionize our understanding of the universe through its unrivaled X-ray vision. Chandra, one of NASA’s current “Great Observatories,” along with the Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope,…
The Tree of 40 Fruit is an ongoing series of hybridized fruit trees by contemporary artist Sam Van Aken. Each unique Tree of 40 Fruit grows over forty different types of stone fruit including peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, cherries, and almonds. Sculpted through the process of grafting, the Tree of 40 Fruit blossom in…
The human body is a biological marvel. Tasked to protect it is our immune system, which is responsible for detecting and neutralizing a wide variety of agents, known as pathogens, and distinguishing them from our own healthy tissue. 28 years ago, National Geographic Magazine published an article entitled, Our Immune System: The Wars Within.…
Photograph by NASA [Taken 20 July 1969] Earth Rise as Seen From Lunar Surface: This incredible image of the Earth rise was taken during lunar orbit by the Apollo 11 mission crew in July of 1969. The first manned lunar mission, Apollo 11 launched aboard a Saturn V launch vehicle from the Kennedy Space…
The Coolest has been dubbed the cooler for the 21st century. Designed by Ryan Grepper, the Kickstarter project has raised a staggering $5 million with over 25,000 backers and 45 days left in the campaign. The $165, 60-quart cooler comes with a bevy of features including: – Rechargeable 18-volt battery-operated blender built into the…
The winners of the first International Drone Photography Contest, organized by social network Dronestagram, were recently announced. The contest launched 15 May 2014 in partnership with National Geographic and received over 2000 submissions from entrants around the world. The winning authors came from Indonesia, Singapore, Mexico, Bulgaria and France. There were three prizes awarded…
Photograph by Liam McKenna for ZR Hoverboard Franky Zapata, founder of Zapata Racing, recently unveiled his latest invention, the ZR Hoverboard. According to their press kit, the device can soar up to 16 ft (5 meters) above the water and approach speeds of 25 mph (40 km/h). The Hoverboard is a surf board that…
Earlier this year, 3D Systems introduced their ChefJet series of kitchen-ready 3D printers for edibles. The first two printers in the series are the monochrome, countertop ChefJet 3D printer (8x8x6″) and the full-color, larger format ChefJet Pro 3D printer (10x14x8″). Both are expected to be available in the second half of 2014. ChefJet printable…
When people say, “we’ll fix it in post”, they’re referring to visual effects. While many people may use special effects (SFX) and visual effects (VFX) interchangeably, there is a difference. It’s easiest to think of SFX as effects that happen ‘in-camera’ while the VFX magic happens in post-production, after the shoot. Below you will…
THE ULTIMATE ESCORT Photograph by F-16 DEMO TEAM RNLAF Website | Facebook Last week two fighter jets escorted the Netherlands’ first commercial Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. The country’s first Dreamliner was welcomed by two F-16’s from the Royal Netherlands Air Force Demo Team. The plane is owned and operated by Arkefly, the Dutch…