Space weather is associated with solar flares and solar wind that can affect our planet’s ionosphere. This specific part of our atmosphere is a layer of charged particles, which has an impact on long-distance radio communications, and orbits of some satellites. In addition, the layer can create fluctuations in the electromagnetic field that can wreak havoc with electronics in space and down to the ground.
We’re familiar with piñatas-- the bright and colorful sculptures made from paper used in celebrations. However, piñatas can now be used to tackle different world issues today. Take, for example, Giovanni Valderas’ work. The artist uses colorful sad-face piñatas in order to comment on the gentrification and the displacement of Latinx communities.
Hyperallergic dives deep into the craft and politics behind the bright artform. Read their full piece here.
The Order of Attorneys of Brazil (OAB) found a stray cat near their building. Instead of shooing the poor kitten away, they decided to ‘hire’ the animal as a ‘watchcat.’
The people at the Brazilian Bar Association fell in love with the cat and dubbed him Dr Leon, O Advogato. He is now the OAB’s official watchman and is in charge of welcoming newcomers and those who are visiting the office.
This gorgeous image of Malui, a female western lowland gorilla walking through a cloud of butterflies with a serene look on her face won the top prize of the Nature Conservancy Photo Contest 2021. Don't miss the rest of the winning photos 📷!
Keempossible: Self-taught master baker paints roll cakes with designs inspired by pop culture (don't miss the one with the Giant Robot Doll from Squid Game!)
When Gustave Eiffel erected his eponymous tower in Paris, the deal was that it would be the cornerstone of the 1889 Exposition Universelle, and then remain for twenty years. Yet 132 years later, the tower is still there. Finagling longevity for his creation required a bit of cunning on Eiffel's part. To make the tower useful enough to avoid demolition, he made it a radio tower. Or rather, a "wireless telegraph" tower, harnessing the new communication technology that was at first limited to the military. To make the military staff more unobtrusive, a bunker was dug beneath the tower to house the radio operations. The radio transmissions were experimental at first, but later proved to be quite important.
During World War I, its bunker took on an even more important role as a potential escape route with a complex underground network and secret tunnels. The Iron Lady’s communication infrastructure proved especially useful when French forces jammed German communications, a significant factor in winning the First Battle of the Marne. The French military were also able to decrypt enemy messages; notably, an intercepted communiqué between Germany and Spain led to the arrest of exotic dancer and spy Mata Hari.
The bunker beneath the Eiffel Tower is still there, no longer a secret, although it's not open to the public. Read the history of this facility and see what it looks like now at Messy Nessy Chic.
What's the scariest movie you ever saw? If a particular horror film keeps coming back to keep you awake at night, part of the reason may be its spooky setting. Many horror films rely on someone visiting a new and unknown place that turns out to be haunted or maybe occupied by a killer lunatic. And those places are out there, somewhere, because that's where they filmed the movie. You might even want to visit someday, maybe to relive the thrill, or maybe to reassure yourself that it's not like the movie. You can still go to the gas station featured in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (and eat barbecue), tour the lighthouse from The Fog, or climb the stairs where the priest and the demon battled it out in The Exorcist. Check out eleven iconic horror film locations and make your plans for a pilgrimage with the help of Atlas Obscura.
The Civil War consumed all of President Lincoln's time in the White House. He presided over the battle campaigns, of course, but he also worked outside the military on several fronts to bolster the Union. These schemes ranged from boosting morale on the home front to enticing southern states to leave the Confederacy with a bit of a bribe. This came in the form of the Land Grant College Act, in which the federal government pledged help to establish higher education across the country- but only in states that stayed loyal to the Union.
There was also the continued construction of the US Capitol Building. There was the Emancipation Proclamation, telegraphing the stakes of the war to the enslaved people of the rebellious states. Then Lincoln resurrected the forgotten holiday of Thanksgiving, designed to build unity and a sense of purpose. In 1863, there were actually two days of Thanksgiving.
Another of Lincoln's non-battlefield accomplishments was the Lieber Code, written by Francis Lieber. This military code set the standard for how to run an army that became an inspiration worldwide, and no doubt contributed to the relative cohesiveness and sense of moral superiority of the Union army that helped to win the war. Read about all these programs that, along with the fighting, took up Abraham Lincoln's time and last full measure of devotion at Military History Now.
What’s your style of kayaking? Do you like to tumble through rapids? Do you prefer the rigors of the open ocean? Or, like redditor /u/twitch119, do you enjoy quiet, still waters?
The water calls to him in more ways than one. Aside from kayaking, his favorite hobby is painting with watercolors. To combine them, he builtan easel onto his boat. You can read a description of his build process here. The unit, which has a side table attached to the easel, fits around the rim of the cockpit. Paracord keeps it snugly secured. The top can be adjusted to different angles and will even fold flat.
Something really weird happens to Baxter the cat on RamsesThePigeon's security camera. Don't blame me if it gives you the willies. You'll need to watch this more than once to catch all the easter eggs, like the sampler on the wall.
Continue reading to see that scene again. You might learn a little more from this version.
At the almost-900-year-old village church in Sauherad, Norway, you'll find murals that are hundreds of years old. But look closely at one wall, and you'll see that it is covered with tiny devils and demons, crowded together like doodles in a bored student's notebook. This is the demonveggen, or demon wall. The mystery of the demon wall is not in how old it is or who did it, because those things are known. The real question is why.
Experts in historical preservation and restoration are dedicated to bringing history to life accurately. But in 1940, Gerhard Gotaas, a renowned conservator of medieval church art, completely painted over an artwork on one wall of the church in Sauherad and left it with the demons. Locals who knew the church were confused, but bowed to Gotaas' authority and reputation. It was assumed that he found and revealed what had been there for hundreds of years. Then World War II came along and the demons on the wall were ignored due to other priorities. Gotaas continued his work elsewhere with no complaints, and his alterations in Sauherad were only recently discovered. Now, Norwegian cultural heritage laws say Gotaas' demons must remain as a historical artwork of their own, despite the fact that they cover a painting that is 300 years older. Read the story behind the demonveggen at Atlas Obscura.
The article is part of Atlas Obscura's Fright Club series for the month of October.
Meet the EcoPaintJetPro, a paint shop robot that can lay down finishes and designs on a vehicle without the need for covering the automobile. The machine was made by BMW and Duerr, a German engineering firm. According to BMW, “the EcoPaintJet Pro leaves no overspray, saving them time, money, water, and chemicals of cleanup. It's also more efficient, not requiring electrostatic paints, nor that the paints be physically separated as in a traditional paint shop, and it takes less energy to apply two paints at once.”
Keith Haring's "Fiorucci Walls" will be displayed at the New York City Center for a limited time. The mural was commissioned in 1983 by Milan-based designer Elio Fiorucci, who asked Haring to turn his store into a work of art. The artist turned the designer’s 5,000-square foot store into a canvas. A panel of the mural survived in Fiorucci’s storage after the installation came down in 1984.
Can we appreciate and marvel at beautiful photographs without considering the people who made them? Alternatively, can we separate the artist from their art? These two similar questions arose after different cases of horrible people (either with a long-running history of scandals, or they are just a terrible person in general) remaining popular for their artworks, making the populace forget about their ‘sins’ or past bad behaviors.
Fstopper’s Illya Ovchar explores the topic of art and artist separation on prominent photographers in the field. Check the full piece here.
This large artwork is a way for its creator to shed light on plastic pollution. According to Our World In Data, the world had produced 7.8 billion tonnes of plastic by 2015. This means that more than one tonne of plastic is allotted per person. That’s a lot of plastic.
Benjamin Von Wong’sTurn Off the Plastic Tap aims to raise the discussion of plastic pollution creatively. The photographer is known for tackling environmental issues in his work, and this new piece was done in collaboration with the Embassy of Canada in France. Wong, along with like-minded individuals, built a huge three-story-tall tap that looks like it releases plastic.
A relic of Earth’s past can be found in a river ecosystem in the Yucatan Peninsula. Marine ecologist Octavio Aburto-Oropeza and his fellow researchers revealed the existence of a swampy riverbed full of red mangrove trees in a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The scientists state that the riverbed is a time capsule, and has been trapped in time for more than 100,000 years. The mangroves were able to survive and thrive even though it is far from the coastlines, appearing to have existed in isolation. “We hope our results convince the government of Tabasco and Mexico’s environmental administration of the need to protect this ecosystem,” the study team writes.
