On April 12th, 1861, 150 years ago today, the first battle of the US Civil War was fought at Ft. Sumter, in Charleston, South Carolina. Southern states had been seceding from the union for months, but the US still maintained coastal forts.
During the four months leading up to Lincoln's Inauguration, the seceding states, one after another, seized federal forts, arsenals, and customs houses within their borders.
There was little to oppose the breakaway forces, a caretaker and a guard or two comprising many of the garrisons. Most of the 16,000 or so regular Army soldiers had been posted to the western frontier to protect settlers against the perceived threat from American Indians.
On March 4, 1861, Lincoln was inaugurated, promising the seceding states that he would use force only "to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places" belonging to the federal government.
The stage was set for the inevitable showdown.
National Geographic takes a look back with a rundown of what actually happened on April 12th at Ft. Sumter, and how those actions sent the nation into four years of war and cost more than 600,000 men their lives. Link
Artist Celina Saubidet creates "Osseus Jewelry," with designs based on bones, like this silver-plated skeletal hand necklace. Yes, it's full-size and was inspired by a real skeleton. She also has rings and cufflinks that resemble bones at her Etsy store Link -via Bioephemera
On April 12th, 1961, 50 years ago today, Yuri Gagarin {wiki} became the first human to go into space. Today is also the premiere of a full-length movie First Orbit.
In a unique collaboration with the European Space Agency, and the Expedition 26/27 crew of the International Space Station, we have created a new film of what Gagarin first witnessed fifty years ago.
By matching the orbital path of the Space Station, as closely as possible, to that of Gagarin's Vostok 1 spaceship and filming the same vistas of the Earth through the new giant cupola window, astronaut Paolo Nespoli, and documentary film maker Christopher Riley, have captured a new digital high definition view of the Earth below, half a century after Gagarin first witnessed it.
Weaving these new views together with historic, recordings of Gagarin from the time, (subtitled in Englsih) and an original score by composer Philip Sheppard, we have created a spellbinding film to share with people around the world on this historic anniversary.
You can watch the entire movie (99 minutes) at the website. Link
Places all over have different ways of celebrating the end of winter and the return of warm weather every year. What could be more fun than a spring-cleaning holiday that includes a water fight? That's what's happening in Thailand during Songkran.
On April 12th, old or useless items are thrown out of houses and burned to avoid bad luck, and on the 13th offerings are made to statues of Buddha at the local wat. The Buddha statues are then washed with perfumed water, and Buddhas from important wats are paraded through the streets where the crowds throw more water on them. The water-fight begins in earnest after this, with people dousing each other with buckets and super-soakers on the street.
See videos of Songkran and other spring celebrations at AnyTrip. http://blog.anytrip.com/six-odd-but-awesome-spring-celebrations-around-the-world/ -via Dark Roasted Blend
Alex Crawford and Austin Nelson get their pictures taken by a Rube Goldberg contraption that includes dominoes! They constructed it for a Multimedia Installation class project. -via Boing Boing
The German site Zeit Online posted a map in which you can compare the evacuation around Japan's Fukushima power plant to the populations around nuclear plants in the US and Canada. You can adjust the area of evacuation with a slider. Zoom in on a red dot, and see the stats. For example, 37,513 people live within 18 miles of the Callaway (Missouri) pressurized-water reactor nuclear plant, shown in this screenshot. The same type of evacuation would affect over a million people near the Indian Point plant in New York. However, Japan is beginning to evacuate some areas beyond the 30km (18 mile) radius. Link -via Metafilter
Hong Kong actor Law Lok-lam works for broadcasting company TVB, so he is assured to find other roles after five of his characters were killed off -all in one 24 hour period!
His character met a bloody end during a fight in the martial arts drama Grace Under Fire, and he vomited blood before expiring in Fate to Fate, the Sunday Morning Post reported.
In Relic of an Emissary, Law played the Ming emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, who died after an illness.
In two other shows, Police Station No. 7 and comedy Virtues of Harmony, the actor did not die on screen but his death was discussed, the paper said.
A company spokesman said the timing of the dramatic deaths were a coincidence. Law said he doesn't mind, but it bothered his daughter. Link -via Arbroath
The following is an article from the science humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research.
Note how the bottom of the Grand Canyon (in this rare view) is darker than at the top, giving an idea of how solar radiation attenuates the deeper one goes into the canyon. (Image credit: Wikipedia user chensiyuan)
By Earle E. Spamer American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
For a long time now, people visiting the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River have been told it is about 12 to 18 miles wide and “more than” a mile deep, convinced that its majestic views are due to the incessant powers of erosion. New analyses now indicate that the canyon is far larger than imagined. It can never be accurately measured and may unexpectedly hold the answers to long-held geological and environmental mysteries.
Fooling Some of the People
In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt was the first to recognize generally that there was a problem with the Grand Canyon. Speaking near the canyon rim, he urged Americans to “keep it as it is.” He foresaw an endangered canyon, one that without our intervention would deliver a dwindled heritage to the “children’s children” of his audience. His plea, though widely repeated, went unheeded for decades.
Twenty years ago I devised a plan to place the Grand Canyon in stasis, until such time that the problem of erosion can be remedied. The Final Report1 called for filling the canyon with styrofoam packing material, or “piffles”—some 291 quadrillion of them, to be precise. This plan was also promoted by Grand Canyon National Park.2 I was interviewed a number of times for newspapers and radio to explain myself, and Internet features have taken up the cause.3 A few years later, my Further Final Report4 revealed that the plan had failed because, by mistake, biodegradable piffles had been used—at least, that was the conclusion. This was not correct.
The follow-up report went on to recommend that to safeguard an unprotected canyon, we should ensure that it not be visited at all, nor written about, nor photographed. I argued that all available superlatives have been overextended, and that the number of photons removed from the national park in tourist’s cameras have reached alarming numbers, greatly reducing the amount available for appreciation by our own children’s children. It would be pointless for most of us to visit the canyon anyway. It has been pre-appreciated for us, professionally, by celebrated writers, poets, singers, painters, photographers and filmmakers; our amateur efforts would be lacklustrously insufficient, depreciating further the superlatives and photons.
Still later I postulated that the Grand Canyon may be a fake.5 Had we been all along deceived about the identity or location of the canyon? Hundreds of other places around the world— and on other worlds—claim to be a (or the) Grand Canyon.6 I charged readers to campaign, vigorously, to have the “one true Grand Canyon” designated as the Official Grand Canyon. Apparently, our representatives in Congress and the editors of the world’s great newspapers have thought otherwise, ignoring the pleas of constituents and readers.
Straight Down to China
Now there is conclusive evidence to show that the Grand Canyon is not a fake. Rather, we have deluded ourselves into believing that it is disappearing due to erosion, when in fact it is far more immense than supposed. We have accumulated the evidence for a century and more, but have failed to recognize its significance.
Are you looking for an fun gift for your favorite wine lover? Check out the Splash! Wine Bottle Stopper from the NeatoShop! It's a little gift that's sure to make a big impact.
No geeky Easter is complete without a sugary sci-fi diorama made from Peeps! i09 has got you covered - check out their gallery (from the Washington Post's annual Peep Show): Link
Love Doritos? Then you'll get a kick out of this: 102 Doritos flavors from around the world as compiled by Now That's Nifty blog. My favorite is the "Sausage and Beer" Doritos: Link
Talk about 8-bitboxing: Sebastian Bender created this clever music video called Game Boy Music, by "playing" various parts of the handheld gaming console.
If we were to prevent a Malthusian catastrophe, we'd better figure out a way to boost crop yield to keep feeding the planet's growing population. Gertjan Meeuws and other bioengineers of PlantLab have found an answer: a greenhouse where every aspect of the growing condition is controlled, where climate (or even the Sun) is not a factor at all.
In their research station, strawberries, yellow peppers, basil and banana plants take on an eerie pink glow under red and blue bulbs of Light-Emitting Diodes, or LEDs. Water trickles into the pans when needed and all excess is recycled, and the temperature is kept constant. Lights go on and off, simulating day and night, but according to the rhythm of the plant — which may be better at shorter cycles than 24 hours — rather than the rotation of the Earth. [...]
Sunlight is not only unnecessary but can be harmful, says Meeuws. Plants need only specific wavelengths of light to grow, but in nature they must adapt to the full range of light as a matter of survival. When light and other natural elements are manipulated, the plants become more efficient, using less energy to grow.
"Nature is good, but too much nature is killing," said Meeuws, standing in a steaming cubicle amid racks of what he called "happy plants."
Delfina Delettrez created this chic Skeletor Belt that looks like Death has got you by the waist. If the style doesn't kill you, then perhaps the $4,000 price tag will! Link
Sarah Gallejo knows a winner when she sees one. This young girl was chosen out of the audience at Disneyland's Jedi Academy to participate in a stage show. She went off script and, rather than fighting Darth Vader, joined him.
