entspannt und achtsam (11. 846)

Labelled an imbecile and cretin during his lifetime, though the latter with some charity in the sense of a pious, holy fool, for his weak constitution and shy, withdrawn and compliant behaviour, Swiss artist assistance and apprentice Gottfried Mind really came into his own following the death of his master Sigmund Henderberger of Berne known for his sentimental pastoral scenes. Mind accidentally discovered his precocious virtuosity for the faithful feline study, usually drawn from memory with exacting detail, eventually earning him the reputation as the Katzen-Raffael—or the Raphael of Cats. Click through for more of the artist’s portfolio at the link above.

bulldozer exhibition (11. 845)

With the only officially sanctioned style of art for the USSR and satellites since the 1930s being that, like in the pictured mural from Dresden’s Kulturpalast Der Weg der Roten Fahne, of Soviet Realism—depicting idealised views of the state—all other movements of forms of expression were pushed underground. The unofficial showing which would become known as the titular event of non-conformist (see also), avant garde artists held on this day in 1974 in Moscow’s Bitsa Park was dispersed by a large police force that destroyed the paintings with earth-moving equipment and water cannons. The artists were arrested and visitors at the exhibit, including journalists and foreign diplomats, were attacked and fled. Extensive media coverage in the West of the incident embarrassed the government, who later relented and allowed, under controlled conditions, subsequent shows, regarded as an important turning point in freedom of expression. All the artworks were destroyed but a typical composition would have been like this abstract contribution from Lydia Masterkova, who left the Soviet Union for France after this event.

synchronoptica

 

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica)

eight years ago: the Singularity and Point Omegá, reimagining Star Wars, the sugar lobby, GOP caring about women’s health plus more on augmented reality

 

ten years ago: the CIA’s stay-behinds

 

eleven years ago: too big to fail plus brilliant posters for Star Trek: TOS episodes

 

twelve years ago: attacks on US diplomatic missions plus more on international banking reporting obligations

pyri (11. 844)

A wildfire detection device made of wax and charcoal, taking its inspiration from the botanical function of pyriscence (a type of serotiny which is triggered by an environmental factor like the seasons, weather conditions, moisture or in this case fire) wherein seeds are only released once their protective resin is melted away in a forest fire has won a UK James Dyson scholarship for further development of the prototype. Like the natural process to reseed the woods, the outer shell of the pine-cone shaped alarm is liquified and activates a radio beacon that alerts local authorities, the electronic components also made of organic materials to avoid leaving foreign objects in the environment and to forego the need of mining more raw materials of components. As compared to established methods of monitoring which rely on drone patrols, satellites and sensors Pyri offers a passive solution that can be widely deployed at low costs and requires no maintenance after distribution. More from Dezeen at the link up top.

karaoke nights (11. 843)

Children’s author and musician Michael Hearst, expanding on a project to teach his young son about music from the 1980s, began recording his own cover versions of the classics and enlisting help from melodic friends from The Magnetic Fields, They Might Be Giants, creative commons session artist Jonathan Coulton and many others. There’s some new orchestration with a diverse range of unconventional instruments like the theremin, accordion and daxophone (a kind of friction-based idiophon, like a musical band saw) and is releasing a song a week for the next eighty weeks with the first batch recorded, ’Til Tuesday’s “Voices Carry,” Gap Band’s “You Dropped a Bomb on Me,” “In My Room” by Yazoo, “Don’t Dream It’s Over” from Crowded House and The Cure’s “Lovecats.” Watch the whole discography unfold at the promotional video below.

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 synchronoptica 

one year ago: storms and floods in Greece and Turkey (with synchronoptica) plus the US congress ousts the Speaker of the House

seven years ago: faking a driverless car plus the lost and found of Paris

 

eight years ago: hen fever, a fossil hoax plus crossing the uncanny valley

 

ten years ago: #otd in PfRC history plus Roman imperial succession

 

eleven years ago: Bavaria votes

per scientiam tempestates prædicere (11. 842)

Coinciding with Cloud Appreciation Day (see also), the Met Office, the national weather and climate service, introduces a new unofficial mascot called Christopher Cumulonimbus as a series of stickers and sharable animations to express not only the forecast but also the moods it might leave you in.  These certainly might countenance a reaction to weather.

occult v cult (11. 841)

As a corollary newly minted of Arthur C Clarke’s third adage though the coinage that’s been with us the longest, any sufficiently advanced feminism is indis-tinguishable from witchcraft, a pastor who infamously was among the first evangelics championing Trump as a messianic figure who would deliver America from is wayward ways through Christian nationalism has accused his opponent of deploying actual weirding powers in their first and last meeting on the debate stage—citing supernaturally empowered deception, manipulation and domination, also, less spectacularly but also equally unfounded, accusing the moderators of bias and colluding with the Harris campaign—but also witchcraft. She’s the kind of girl you read about in Newsweek magazine.

to honour achievements that make people laugh and then make them think (11. 840)

The laureates of the Ig Noble Prize (see previously) have been announced in a competition organised by the scientific humorist society Annals of Improbable Research since 1991 and hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who arrange the ceremony with awards in ten categories, celebrating the best in unusual or seemingly trivial studies, presented by their Noble-winning counterparts. The botany prize was awarded to a team of researchers that found that the leaves of the parasitic chameleon vine (Boquila trifoliolata) will imitate an artificial host plant in order to blend in. Building on the effects of the placebo and the nocebo, the award for medicine went to an experiment demonstrating that fake drugs with painful side effects can be more effective than real treatments with none, and as has been widely reported, the prize in demographics was awarded for research that helped debunk some of the mystique of the so called Blue Zones, areas famous for having supercentenarians, also excel in bad record keeping.

star hustler (11. 839)

Via the always engrossing Web Curios, we discover this lovely calendar, almanac called Nights on Earth by Phil Mosby that gives one a preview of what astronomical wonders one might behold in the upcoming evenings, assuming clear skies and minimal light pollution, triangulated for one’s location. It strikes just the right balance of coming-attractions without being overwhelming in terms of information and telemetry, and we especially liked the timetables of the various twilights and offer to suggest an event.