Lego Recreates Year 2011 From UC Davis to Royal Wedding
When The Guardian began posting pictures of a giant Lego Christmas tree being erected in London’s St. Pancras Station, the newspaper’s Flickr account inspired users to create 3D Lego pictures of 2011, giving “the year’s news” through a series of submissions done entirely in Lego blocks.
Encompassing everything from the pie-ing of Rubert Murdoch to Obama and his national security team in the war room, from the topical and silly to the powerful and transcendent, these artists created not just scenes but occasionally entire worlds within their Lego creations.
Prince William and Kate Middleton kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace following their royal wedding at Westminster Abbey. (allyhook/Twitter) Continue reading »
It’s Ginkgo Time
Pedestrians stroll under yellow ginkgo trees in Tokyo, Japan. Local residents came out to admire some 150 ginkgo trees displaying their yellow colors along the tree-lined street on a warm winter day. (AFP)
HP Brand Re-Design by Moving Brands
Moving Brands partnered with HP as their lead agency to set a creative vision for the HP brand. The vision was to transform the world’s biggest technology company into the world’s most powerful brand. HP would become the blueprint of a moving brand, built for a moving world. Continue reading »
Photo of the Day: The Lights of Dubai
The Dubai Mall, the Address Dubai Mall hotel, and Dubai fountain are seen at night in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai and its state-owned non-financial companies have $101.5 billion of outstanding debt and may need further financial support to meet those obligations, Moody’s said. (Gabriela Maj/Bloomberg) Click image to zoom.
Backstage: Selena Gomez Promo Photo Shoots for Gomez Fragnance
Selena Gomez may not have her perfume out yet, but she has been working on the photo shoot for her print ads. And while it is not planned for release until next year, Selena is asking for help again to pick the final scent. As she puts it, she wants a fragrance name that sounds like something sweet and romantic, and that’s why they are holding a contest for a fan to fly out to NYC to help with the fragrance. Continue reading »
When Bacon Meets Skyrim
“at first, me and 2 friends wanted to cook for some people to celebrate our birthday. but due to a lack of time we decided to reduce it to the 3 of us and cook something epic-meal-time-like. then someone threw in the word skyrim… that´s pretty much it.” Continue reading »
Private Companies have Liftoff
A look at the work of private space companies that will attempt to fill the hole left by the end of NASA’s shuttle program.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft after its return from orbit. (Mike Altenhofen / SpaceX) Continue reading »
A Look into the Minds, or Rather, Desks, of Washington Art Notables
Photographer E. Brady Robinson photographs the desks of art notables in Washington. The assorted objects and clutter, or lack thereof, speak volumes about the desks’ owners.
Photographer E. Brady Robinson sits at one of the two desks in her apartment. Robinson decided to take pictures of desks while wandering around the offices of the Cultural Development Corporation, which hired her to take staff photos for an annual report. (Bill O’Leary / The Washington Post) Continue reading »
The Tattoo Erasers
Some who are inked have regrets. That’s where lasers come in. New technology is making the removal process easier, and more commonplace.
Ken Saler, a 61-year-old, semi-retired real estate maverick, has reinvented himself. His Advanced Laser Tattoo Removal office in the District has a steady stream of customers, all trying to dial back their everlasting tributes. Dozens of similar tattoo-removal businesses are opening across the country. (Matt McClain / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST) Continue reading »
GroundBot
Mobile surveillance robots are supposed to cut costs. But if they keep getting into trouble and need help, they can prove to be expensive. GroundBot is unlike any other mobile robot on the market – it was originally designed to explore other planets. In other words, the nearest helping hand would have been millions of miles away. GroundBot moves through mud, sand and snow without getting stuck. The spherical design is simplicity itself. With its large circumference, GroundBot takes all kinds of terrain in its stride. And yet its appearance is friendly and unthreatening. Continue reading »
Inside Amazon’s Very Hot Warehouse
Amazon.com did not create the notion of buying things online, but it has done more than any other retailer to move the experience into the mainstream. It has exceeded its customers’ expectations so often it must constantly struggle to top itself. “At first people were incredulous that the mouse on their computer was connected to their doorbell,” the Amazon executive Russell Grandinetti said recently. “Now they say: ‘It’s been 12 hours. Where’s my stuff?’ ”
All that stuff doesn’t magically fly to your house, even if the goal is to have it seem that way. Continue reading »
Wow! Santa Hat Brownies!
A festive dessert to get everyone into the spirit of the holidays. It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!
Pollution in China
Beijing authorities cancelled hundreds of flights and shut highways as thick smog descended on the Chinese capital on December 4 and 5, reducing visibility at one of the world’s busiest airports. Air quality in Beijing reached “hazardous” levels on December 5, according to the US embassy, which conducts its own measurements, while China’s state Xinhua news agency said pollution was likely to reach “dangerous” levels.
Airplanes queue to take off while shrouded in smog at Beijing International Airport on December 5, 2011. Beijing authorities cancelled hundreds of flights and shut highways as thick smog descended on the Chinese capital on December 4 and 5, reducing visibility at one of the world’s busiest airports. Air quality in Beijing reached “hazardous” levels on December 5, according to the US embassy, which conducts its own measurements, while China’s state Xinhua news agency said pollution was likely to reach “dangerous” levels. (LIU JIN/AFP/Getty Images) Continue reading »
tck tck tck Global Campaign for Climate Action
Thousands of South African youths form a giant lion head on a beach in Durban, to call for urgent action on climate change, on the sidelines of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. The event was in partnership with international artist John Quigley and supported by the “tck tck tck Global Campaign for Climate Action.” (AFP/ Greenpeace / Shayne Robinson)
Still in Steel
A member of the pro-Kremlin youth movement Stal wearing a Darth Vader mask participates in a rally in downtown Moscow. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday he’s satisfied with the performance of his party in Russia’s parliamentary election even though it lost a significant number of seats. (AP)
Cannafest 2011: International Hemp Fair in the Czech Republic
The biggest international hemp fair in the Czech Republic was held at the end of November. Cannafest introduces the best products from the field of hemp industry, starts with seeds, continues with growing technologies and ends with the final products as for example cosmetics, textiles or building materials.
Cannafest is the best way for companies from this field of interest to strengthen their positions on the Czech market, develop contacts for professionals and public but also for example to reach easier the “Eastern countries” as Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine and others as Cannafest is going to advertise totally in more then ten countries to attract as many professionals and visitors as possible. Continue reading »
From ‘Full Beards’ to ’99 Percent Beards’, Competition gets Hairy in New York
Judges Justin “Count Justidian,” left, and John Reardon, second left, inspect Kevin Cuomey’s moustache during the Second Annual Beard and Moustache Competition on Dec. 3, in Brooklyn, N.Y. Cuomey traveled from North Carolina to compete in the “Styled Mustache” category. (Claire Schneider / AP) Continue reading »
Fantastic Chromatic Typewriter
This is modified 1937 Underwood Standard typewriter, created by artist Tyree Callahan. This is fantastic – type as you draw! Please, let Tyree to win, vote for him, – just read his Facebook for details. Continue reading »
Nano Hummingbird
Named one of the “50 Best Inventions of 2011” by TIME Magazine.
AeroVironment is developing the Nano Air Vehicle (NAV) under a DARPA sponsored research contract to develop a new class of air vehicle systems capable of indoor and outdoor operation. Employing biological mimicry at an extremely small scale, this unconventional aircraft could someday provide new reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities in urban environments. Continue reading »
Madagascar’s Monster
An image from Japan’s ALOS satellite shows the estuary of the Betsiboka River, the largest river in Madagascar, flowing into Bombetoka Bay, which then opens into the Madagascar Channel. The picture was taken on Sept. 17, 2010, by the satellite’s Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer (AVNIR-2).
Art of Science 2011 Gallery
The Art of Science exhibition explores the interplay between science and art. These practices both involve the pursuit of those moments of discovery when what you perceive suddenly becomes more than the sum of its parts. Each piece in this exhibition is, in its own way, a record of such a moment.
This is the fifth Art of Science competition hosted by Princeton University. The 2011 competition drew 168 submissions from 20 departments. The exhibit includes work by undergraduates, faculty, research staff, graduate students, and alumni.
The 56 works chosen for the 2011 Art of Science exhibition represent this year’s theme of “intelligent design” which we interpret in the broadest sense. These extraordinary images are not art for art’s sake. Rather, they were produced during the course of scientific research. Entries were chosen for their aesthetic excellence as well as scientific or technical interest.
The magnetic field of the Earth has reversed its polarity several hundred times during the past 160 million years. Polarity reversals are known to be strongly irregular and chaotic, and the reversal durations are relatively short (typically a few thousand years) compared with the constant polarity intervals between reversals.
This image shows a simple deterministic model illustrating the geomagnetic reversals. The model is based on the non-linear interaction between two magnetic modes (dipole and quadrupole) and one velocity component of the Earth’s core flow, and the image shows typical trajectories in the 3D phase space. The corresponding strange attractor reproduces irregular reversals between two symmetrical states. (Christophe Gissinger / Dept. of Astrophysical Sciences/ Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory) Continue reading »
Protest Mural
Protesters take snapshots of a mural picturing people with eye patches symbolizing protesters wounded in clashes with security forces near Tahrir Square in Cairo. (AP)
Dancing in the Streets: Vintage Movie Musicals Posters
Film producer Mike Kaplan has been an avid collector of posters of movie musicals for years. As an exhibition of his favourites goes on display in New York, he offers a guide to the cream of his collection.
Three Audrey Hepburns in a black leotard, Fred Astaire with straw hat and cane, all dancing within four adjoining circles, plus a full colour Hepburn portrait, keep this Belgian poster for the delicious Funny Face in motion. Style in the movies was never better achieved than in Stanley Donen’s toast to romance and fashion. Continue reading »
Flying Over the Frozen Waters
A lorry and cars travel on a road over the ice-covered Vistula river near the village of Kiezmark. Photographer Kacper Kowalski took this image from a paraglider (Kacper Kowalski/Panos)
Skateboard Fashion on the Catwalk and High Street
Since the 1950s, skateboarding has been synonymous with surf culture, slacker kids and an anti-mainstream culture. Fast forward to 2011 and the baggy jeans, sneakers and caps that have become the skateboarder’s uniform have made their way to the catwalk.
From Martine Rose’s Spring Summer 2012 collection, her seventh season. This collection featured a collaboration with Icon Brand. Continue reading »
