The Art of Ofey: Richard Feynman’s Little-Known Sketches & Drawings
“I wanted to convey an emotion I have about the beauty of the world…this feeling about the glories of the universe.” Just like Sylvia Plath and Queen Victoria, Nobel-winning physicist Richard Feynman —champion of scientific culture, graphic novel hero, crusader for integrity, holder of the key to science, adviser of future generations,bongo player — was a surprisingly gifted semi-secret artist. He started drawing at the … Read more
Science, Storytelling, and “Gut Churn”: Jad Abumrad on the Secrets of Creative Success
On diving head-first into the unknown. Since 2004, Radiolab has been sparking a singular kind of magic at the intersection of science and storytelling, redefining not only public radio but also the “role of scientific culture in modern society,” to borrow Richard Feynman’s words. In this fantastic talk from The 99% Conference, Radiolab mastermind and MacArthur genius Jad Abumrad takes us behind the scenes … Read more
Klimt’s Scientific Influence
Go to LinkPop-upView Separately While I was reading about the influence of golden-age Vienna on modern medicine and painters like Gustav Klimt, I discovered that Klimt’s trademark patterns (the “blobs” and orbs you see above, from Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I) were influenced by early studies of cells under the microscope. Carl von Rokitansky founded the Second … Read more
Life Under the Microscope
I love when things remind me of The Powers of Ten and surprise me -exceeding my own expectations for what I believe to exist or what I have seen so far within a familiar realm. Enjoy the 24 pictures below: In its ninth year now, the Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition has once more brought together some of … Read more
Masters of disguise
I’ll be the first to say that I had a hard time spotting some of these, but what could start a Saturday off better than a little game? Photos via Wall to Watch
Floral X-Rays
Ever since discovering Iori Tomita’s work, I’ve been a sucker for X-rayed photographs of anything. Singapore-based photographer Brendan Fitzpatrick made this colourful X-ray photographs of flowers with the help of a radiography lab in Singapore. Via Wall to Watch
Why Movies Like Oscar-Winning ‘Undefeated’ Make Grown Men (and Women) Cry
The newly minted Oscar winner for best documentary, Undefeated, has left many critics gushing—with praise, but also tears. The true-life sports tale follows a struggling high school football team in a poor area of Memphis, Tennessee, whose fortunes begin to turn under the guidance of a devoted and determined coach. The emotional story has reduced folks … Read more
Thinking Outside The Box, With Our Bodies And Our Brains
A route to freer thinking? Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda stroll outdoors for a photo-op at the 2011 APEC summit in Hawaii. Most of us have probably felt the rightness of a decision in our bodies as much as we have … Read more
Brain Scans Predict Subjective Beauty
When we find something aesthetically pleasing, the sensory areas of the brain light up, and the more beautiful we find, say, a piece of art, the greater the brain activity in certain regions, a new study shows. By further investigating the connection between humans’ subjective preferences and brain activity, scientists will someday be able to pinpoint … Read more
DNA Robot Kills Cancer Cells: Device identifies target then releases deadly payload
I’m not sure why robots are in the air of late, but I found this veeeery interesting. By Alla Katsnelson of Nature magazine DNA origami, a technique for making structures from DNA, may be more than just a cool design concept. It can also be used to build devices that can seek out and destroy living cells. … Read more
