chimera

Inspired by the mythological character that’s half horse and half human, engineers at the Italian Institute of Technology (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, IIT) in Genoa have created Centauro, a strong and durable search and rescue robot capable of clearing debris and breaking through barriers.
With the aim of providing support to human first responders in disaster situations, Centauro is being taught to think for itself and the training will hopefully translate into faster reactions and independent problem-solving. Visit the link above for more information and a video demonstration of Centauro in action.

depth of field

Evoking the photographic aesthetic called bokeh (ボケ, Japanese for blur or haze) Cape Town artist Philip Barlow’s out-of-focus landscape oil paintings of cityscapes are a reflection of perception that outstrips more realistic depictions that ultimate grounds the real in the surreal. Discover more of Barlow’s work at the link above.

bockscar

On this day in 1945, a US Air Force B-29 Bomber dropped the Fat Man nuclear weapon over the city of Nagasaki as the second and last of such an assault in history. Originally the primary target was the city of Kokura but the mission was diverted due to the previous day’s firebombing of the Yahata, which obscured the view for the bombardiers. Although more powerful than Little Boy dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August, local terrain confined the damage from the plutonium bomb to the northern part of the city but thirty-five thousand perished instantly with over sixty-thousand sustaining injuries.

6x6

glou glou: TYWKIWDBI regales us with an overview of new wine terminology

города́-при́зраки: a visually stunning gallery of abandoned places in Russia, via Things Magazine

voluntarily generated pilomotor reflex: studying goosebumps produced at will is a lot more intriguing than it first appears

i’ve got to break free: Freddie Mercury trains with the Royal Ballet in 1979

der phantashische film: German animator Heinz Edelmann, best known for his work on Yellow Submarine, created a psychedelic opening sequence for broadcaster ZDF

south street squidport: as sort of a reverse trap-street, one online mapping service is creating neighbourhoods and districts according to the branding of advertising agencies