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The Science of G Force
In this pod Wired writer Joshua Davis learns more about G-Froces by not only talking to a NASA's chief G-force researcher but also getting into a RebBull AirRace plane and pulling some Gs of his own. In this pod Wired writer Joshua Davis learns more about G-Froces by not only talking to a NASA's chief G-force researcher but als... more
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The amazing pictures of an artist dangling horizontally out of a skyscraper
Dangling horizontally out of a skyscraper, this hovering figure looks set to fall to his doom.
But this 'jumper' hasn't just lost it all on a game of chance - this is performance art with a difference.
Chinese artist Li Wei has produced an unsettling series of self-portraits involving his face reflected in mirrors in public places, and photographs of himself crashing into walls and sidewalks.
His work is a mixture of performance art and photography that creates illusions of a sometimes dangerous reality.
Creating hair-raising performances to convey his continual sense of lost gravity, Wei has taken his work all over the world from Italy, Spain, Korea and the USA.
"My work and artistic experience are characterised by a unique specificity and particularity," says the 37-year-old artist from Beijing.
"My artistic language is universal and deals with themes about contemporary politics and society using symbols understood by everyone in every part of the world.
"I am fascinated by the unstable and dangerous sides of art and I hope my works reflect these aspects.
Wei's photos, which sell up to $8,000 (£4,200), depict him free falling from tall buildings-pictures that resemble the famous photograph of the French artist Yves Kline hurtling out a window.
"My favourite pieces are the 'Mirror' and the 'Li Wei falls...' series," he says.
"I began my career in the late 1990s, and is most like my Mirror 2000 series, which includes over 40 site-specific performance pieces.
"Using a large mirror, three feet square, with a hole in the centre large enough to accommodate my head and neck, I place my head through the hole and "project" my image onto various historical and urban environments.
"The philosophy that emerges from my work shows the independence of the spiritual values of Chinese artists and the internal peace of a culture."
The artist loves the reaction that his work evokes from people who pass it on the street.
He said: "The first reaction is astonishment. Some people think they are full of sense of humour. They are curious about how I did this.
"Sometimes I am in real danger - I have to hang myself high with steel wires and people do get a little worried for me - but I am fine."
Li Wei sees his art as both a mission to set the scene for the perfect photograph and a perfect performance.
"Each photograph lies with a performance", he said.
"For me, how to express myself and the process is more important. I don't care much about if that's performance or photography."
And he has no intention of letting up with his work and is aiming to go as high as possible.
Li said: "I'll continue creating works in high places.
"I incorporated gravity as one of my main elements. My work and artistic experience are characterised by a unique specificity and particularity.
"My artistic language is universal and deals with themes about contemporary politics and society using symbols understood by everyone in every part of the world.
"Li Wei falls to..' which has led my work to be recognised as the perfect metaphor for the Chinese conquest of the world.
"In these, my body crashes like a meteorite in different contexts." Dangling horizontally out of a skyscraper, this hovering figure looks set to fall to his doom. ... more -
Boeing develops anti-gravity propulsion
Boeing, the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer, has admitted it is working on experimental anti-gravity projects that could overturn a century of conventional aerospace propulsion technology if the science underpinning them can be engineered into hardware. Boeing, the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer, has admitted it is working on experimental anti-gravity projects that could overtur... more
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LED floor lamp is powered by gravity
"A Virginia Tech student has created an LED floor lamp that is powered by gravity, using a weight slide similar to the concept of a grandfather clock. The lamp puts out the equivalent of a 40-Watt bulb, and lasts four hours per cycle. The mechanism is expected to last 200 years.
Clay Moulton of Springfield, Va., who received his Master of Science in Architecture with a concentration in industrial design from the College of Architecture and Urban Studies in 2007, created the lamp as a part of this master’s thesis. The LED lamp, named Gravia, has just won second place in the Greener Gadgets Design Competition as part of the Greener Gadgets Conference in New York City.
Concept illustrations of Gravia depict an acrylic column a little over four feet high. The entire column glows when activated. The electricity is generated by the slow fall of a mass that spins a rotor. The resulting energy powers 10 high-output LEDs that fire into the acrylic lens, creating a diffuse light. The operation is silent and the housing is elegant and cord free – completely independent of electrical infrastructure.
The light output will be 600-800 lumens – roughly equal to a 40 watt incandescent bulb. Each drop of the gravity mechanism runs the light over a period of four hours.
To "turn on" the lamp, the user moves weights from the bottom to the top of the lamp. An hour-glass like mechanism is turned over and the weights are placed in the mass sled near the top of the lamp. The sled begins its gently glide back down and, within a few seconds, the LEDs come on and light the lamp, Moulton said. “It’s more complicated than flipping a switch but can be an acceptable, even enjoyable routine, like winding a beautiful clock or making good coffee,” he said.
Moulton estimates that Gravia’s mechanisms will last more than 200 years, if used eight hours a day, 365 days a year. “The LEDs, which are generally considered long-life devices, become short-life components in comparison to the drive mechanisms,” he said." "A Virginia Tech student has created an LED floor lamp that is powered by gravity, using a weight slide similar to the concept of... more -
NASA offers $5000 a month for you to lie in bed
Need a break from the working, walking, and standing required by the demanding and stressful life you lead?
Well, pack your bags for Houston because NASA wants to pay you $17,000 to stay in bed for 90 straight days.
The bed-rest experiment, to take place in the Human Test Subject Facility of Johnson Space Center, is designed to allow scientists to study some of the effects of microgravity on the human body. Need a break from the working, walking, and standing required by the demanding and stressful life you lead? ... more -
Black holes reveal more secrets
Scientists say they have unlocked some of the secrets behind black holes, the gravitational fields known for sucking up light and stars from the Universe. In a report in the journal Nature, US researchers say they have worked out how black holes emit jet streams of particles at close to light speed. The University of Boston team say the streams originate in the magnetic field near the edge of the black hole. They say it is within this region that the jets are accelerated and focused.
Despite the fact that it is probable that a black hole lurks at the centre of our Milky Way galaxy, astronomers still know very little about these celestial monsters which vacuum up almost everything in their path, even light. Professor Alan Marscher of the University of Boston and his colleagues claim they have delved deeper than ever into their heart.
Using almost every type of telescope known to humankind, Prof Marscher believes he has worked out where and how the jets - or blazars - are formed. Using an array of 10 powerful radio telescopes, aimed at the galaxy BL Lacertae, the researchers studied a black hole just as it was sending forth a blazar jet. Scientists say they have unlocked some of the secrets behind black holes, the gravitational fields known for sucking up light and star... more -
Horizon: What on Earth is Wrong With Gravity?
"Aired: Tuesday 29th January 2008 on BBC2 Particle physicist and ex D:Ream keyboardist Dr. Brian Cox believes that the answer to the meaning of the universe lies in gravity. On a road trip across the USA, Brian fires lasers at the moon in Texas and goes wild in the desert in Arizona. He encounters the bending of space and time at a maximum security military base and tries to detect ripples in our reality in the swamps of Louisiana." "Aired: Tuesday 29th January 2008 on BBC2 Particle physicist and ex D:Ream keyboardist Dr. Brian Cox believes that the answer to ... more
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Einstein: Gravity
The Greatest Relativity Show! Gravity explained by Einstein and Barbie.
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Water bubbles in zero gravity
This is right up Danny's alley, I'm surprised he hadn't posted this yet.-H
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Current TV UK // Raw Intel // Hawking-Space-Walking
fake-space walk from Hawkings.
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Gravity
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Gravity
