Sunday, 2 February 2014
boreal, austral
catagories: ๐ก️, ๐, ๐งณ, ๐ข, environment, networking and blogging
Saturday, 1 February 2014
continuum or billions and billions
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson will be hosting an updated version of the television programme Cosmos: A Personal Journey, Carl Sagan's seminal series on astronomy and space exploration, with the support of another fan and curator, animator Seth MacFarlane, whom has endowed the US Library of Congress with a collection of lectures, papers and correspondence from the renowned scientist and his wife (Kottle shares an interesting artefact and more news about the upcoming show—I received a letter from the late Dr. Sagan in response to a physics question I posed, as well), Ann Druyan, who selected the musical compositions etched into the golden records carried by the Voyager space probes. The series will be called Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey and will be produced for the National Geographic Channel and syndicated by the Fox Network.
sistine candles or in the room, the women come and go, talking of michelangelo
In exchange, the group had exclusive rights to reproducing high-quality images of the interior and documented each stage of the restoration work. Their rights have since expired but the ban—more or less, still remains in effect. It is really a sight to behold in person, as Goethe said after visiting in 1797, “Without having seen the Sistine Chapel one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving.” No photographs can do it justice and if you must take mementos, please tread lightly.
god didn't make the little green apples
Who knew that fruit trees could be so apparently dangerous? One of the most poisonous trees in the world—I am not sure what others are in this category—is native to Florida and the Bahamas and other parts of the Caribbean and are called Manchineel—from the epithet that early Spanish explorers gave to their poison fruit manzanita de le muerte, little apples of death.
Friday, 31 January 2014
shฤngxiร o or march of time
In China and various other countries adhering to the same lunar calendar, this day marks the beginning of the Year of the Horse, specifically of the wood horse, one of the five classical elements of the Wลญ Xรญng (alchemic) tradition in combination with one of the twelve earthly branches, the animals of the Chinese zodiac, and each iteration occurs every sixty years—plus either a yin or yang year, depending on the reckoning, whether odd or even. An ancient folk story holds that years and their traits were
established when the Jade Emperor called a meeting of the principals
of the animal kingdom together and said that the procession of the
years, the march of time would be named in honour of the delegates
arrival and there are various fables that describe that race. Wood is associated with strength but also flexibility, gregariousness and expansion, and the Horse signals extrovertedness and charisma but perhaps also impatience, superficiality and economic troubles.
catagories: ๐, holidays and observances, lifestyle, ⓦ