Archive for May 5th, 2007
Fossils in Ancient Greek Art.
In a detailed review of The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times by Adrienne Mayor, Afarensis discusses Mayor’s analysis of this Corinthian krater (560-540 B.C.) with its menacing, if somewhat undernourished, monster:
The figures, like on most Greek vases and such, are fully fleshed out
and well done, but note the monster emerging from the cave. Note the
skeletal appearance – including sclerotic eye rings, the jaw
articulation and the broken premaxilla. The skull itself is probably chimerical – that is composed of traits of several species. For example, the sclerotic eye rings appear only in dinosaurs and birds, not mammals, yet other features of the skull are mammalian. From there Mayor surveys archaeological discoveries of fossil bones. For example, Schliemann found a fossil in his Troy excavations. The fossil was in a layer dating to around the 13th century B.C. and has since been located (due to Mayor’s work) at the British Museum. Other examples are the large distal femur fragment found at the temple of Hera on Samos and the Nichoria distal femur fragment found in the acropolis of an ancient town in Messenia.
Comment (3)
Permalink
Please share:  email
this 
|
| Neatorama Shop » Science T-Shirts (Geektastic!) | |
 |
|
| I Survived the Large Hadron Collider | See more Science
T-Shirts » 
|
Anna Atkins's Cyanotypes.
Anna Atkins (1799-1871) was a marine botanist and photographer who produced a collection of cyanotypes called Photographs of British Algae: cyanotype impressions. This image, titled Cystoseira granulata, is part of the New York Public Library collection called Ocean Flowers: Anna Atkins’s Cyanotypes of British Algae. Essentially, these are blueprints of sea vegetation, as the museum website explains:
Through her father, scientist John George Children (1777-1852) whose Royal Society circle included [Sir John] Herschel [the inventor of blueprinting]and William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877), Atkins was aware of the group’s experiments with photography. Talbot’s "photogenic drawing" technique involved placing a flat object against a light-sensitized sheet of paper (sometimes pressed beneath a sheet of glass to prevent movement and ensure a sharp image) and exposing it to sunlight until the area around the object began to darken. Herschel devised a chemical method to halt the darkening and "fix" Talbot’s silver-salt image – the basis for all photography until the digital era. Hershel experimented with other light-sensitive metal compounds in addition to silver, and in 1842 discovered that colorless, water-soluble iron salts, when exposed to sunlight, form the compound known as Prussian Blue; unexposed areas remain unaffected and the salt rinses away in plain water, leaving a blue ‘negative’ image. Inexpensive and easy to use, the blueprinting process, or cyanotype, is familiar today as an artists’ medium as well as a popular children’s pastime. Atkins used Talbot’s "photogenic drawing" method, arranging her specimens on sheets of glass for easier handling for repeat exposures, and adopted Herschel’s blueprinting process, to generate the multiple copies of specimen plates comprising Photographs of British Algae. She also used this same method to produce title pages and contents lists instead of having them conventionally typeset.
|
Comment (0)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Octopia.
Francesca Myman, who you know from the wonderful Poulpe Pulps (pulp fiction and comic covers involving octopi) and The Bejeweled Octopus, has started a blog called Octopia that reports on art involving the octopus. The example pictured is Creeps from the Deep by Elizabeth McGrath. Link
|
Comment (0)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
How to vacuum the cat.
This cat has been deaf from birth, but he is not alone in sitting still for a vacuum. Here are three other videos of the same technique. Your results may vary. Push play or go to YouTube. -via Videosift
|
Comment (6)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Baby Parrot.
See 33 pictures of a baby parrot, from freshly hatched to his (or her) achieving a full set of feathers. Link -via Reddit
|
Comment (2)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
| Neatorama Shop » Toy & Games » Action Figures | ||
 |
 |
|
See more Action
Figures » |
||
The History of the OK Button.
Why do our computers ask us if something is OK? And how did it get to be that way? The answers to these and other fascinating questions you would never think to ask are at History of the Button. Link -via the Presurfer
|
Comment (1)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
The Animated Bayeux Tapestry.
David Newton made this clever animation of portions of the Bayeux Tapestry {wiki}. The video ranges from the appearence of Halley’s Comet to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Push play or go to YouTube. -via Cynical-C
|
Comment (3)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Drinking Games of Yore.
Drinking games are nothing new. Ancient Rome, Greece, and the Middle Ages all had their ways of making fun of drunk people by making them drunker. Link
|
Comment (5)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Lapses in Light.
Ollie Larkin created Lapses in Light, a pretty time-lapse video that begins with the rotation of the stars. Warning: 37MB file, impossible for dialup. Link -via b3ta
Update from Ollie Larkin: there is also a 6mb and a 17mb version on my site and a youtube version
thanks for looking and enjoy
|
Comment (2)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
Show me the money!
I’m accustomed to receiving unsolicited emails from lawyers, generals and other important people in West Africa seeking help moving large amounts of cash out of their countries, but this is the first time they’ve actually included a photograph – and a link to their Shutterfly page.
Dear Friend,
I am Abdul Faye {ESQ} a solicitor, financial adviser/Attorney to Mr. James Cole, who lived in Senegal. On 14th of Feb 1997, my client was involved in a car accident Along Place Independence Road, Senegal, All
occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives. Since then I have been trying to locate any of his relative or Next of Kin, but to no avail, After all unsuccessful attempts to locate any of his relatives, I decided to contact you to assist in repatriating the money
left behind by my client before they get confiscated by the security company where this huge deposit($21million), was fixed. I want you to send me your full name, address, private telephone/fax number for easy communication and more details will be furnish to you.
Color me convinced!
|
Comment (9)
Permalink
Please share: email
this
|
| Neatorama Shop » Ashleigh Brilliant T-Shirts | |
 |
|
| I May Not Be Totally Perfect ... | See more Ashleigh
Brilliant T-Shirts »
|
-
Your purchase helps support the blog - Thank you!
