1950-60s America

Vivian Maier was a French immigrant who became an American nanny.  Her photos of 1950-60s America are stunning, not least for their honesty.  I highly recommend taking a look through the blog-gallery of her work.

Do they "wow" you?

War Horse Puppets

Amazingly life-like puppets.  The first time I saw a clip of the production I couldn't quite work out whether I was looking at a real horse or not.

Do they "wow" you?

McDonalds Advert

Taking a headache tablet before going to bed is a strategy that could reduce the hangover that generally follows a night of drinking. This advert suggests that eating a McDonalds' burger could have a similar effect.  Because a Big Mac is "more than just a burger".  I think it's a beautiful image (and therefore very clever). 

Does it "wow" you?

Source

Vibro-wind

Turbines are expensive to build, noisy, big, and they kill birds. Perhaps these pad panels would be better suited to generating electricity from the wind.

The wind panels are the brainchild of Francis Moon, a professor of mechanical engineering at Cornell University. He created a panel of 25 pads that oscillate in the wind, much the way leaves vibrate when a gust of air sifts through a tree. The pads attach to piezoelectric materials that produce electricity from each vibration.




Artist Jack Featherstone

These paintings by Jack Featherstone were painted on pieces of bark.  The photos look like puddled paintings on the wall, but I suspect seeing the paintings themselves is very different.  Either way, the painted worlds look like they live within the shapes of the bark.  Why do most artists paint within straight lines?

Do the paintings wow you?


Photos

Vanity hat stand ...for motorcyclists?

This hat stand by Romanian designer Elena Matyas was created from parts of Triumph Motorcycles (specifically side mirrors and the front wheel hub) as part of a collaboration between Triumph Motorcycles and the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design.  More designs from the collaboration, including a corkscrew, record player and coffee table, can be found here.

Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Data Release 8)

Even if you're not particularly interested in astronomy, make some time to have a look at the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's latest release. This 17second video gives a taste of the detail of the picture they've compiled of the universe around us. And it's available to the public (point and click jpg: SkyServer Navigate).

The great purple blob is a map made up of all the objects on the picture (stars, planets, you name it), the ribbons are a steams of pictures taken by the observatory.