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POPSSEXY (Totaly hot naked picture of a Mono-monostatic object: perfect geometric equilibrium) Now that I have your attention, allow me to introduce the Gomboc! It's an object of absolutely perfect geometric equilbrium. There is only one position in which it can rest, and it will always return to the exact same posture, because the balance of its proportions all pull it to a single incredibly narrow center of gravity. And, it is TOTALLY NAKED! I mean, just check out the curves on this one! How did we get this Gombloc? Well, there were a few Russian mathematicians sitting around (probably stoned) who thought it would be cool. So they just sat down and did the math "for a few years" and then tested thousands of pebles (once again, STONED!) until they just decided to make one themselves. I am so not worthy!
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POPSThe Exanding Mathematical Universe of Spidrons A field of triangles crumples and twists into a wavy crystalline sea. A crystal ball sprouts spiraling, labyrinthine passages. Faceted bricks stack snugly into a tidy, compact structure. Underlying each of these objects is a remarkable geometric shape made up of a sequence of triangles—a spiral polygon that resembles a seahorse's tail. The result is beautiful to behold.
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POPSFractal Food: Self-Similarity on the Supermarket Shelf This great article on computational self-similarity in nature provided the author with an excuse to take a series of spectacular close-up photos of the incredible Romanesco broccoli plant. Fractals never looked so delicious! (Click pictures for high-resolution images.) Nearly exact self-similar fractal forms occur do in nature, but I'd never seen such a beautiful and perfect example until, some time after moving to Switzerland, I came across a chou Romanesco like the one above in a grocery store. This is so visually stunning an object that on first encounter it's hard to imagine you're looking at a garden vegetable rather than an alien artefact created with molecular nanotechnology. But of course, then you realise that vegetables are created with molecular nanotechnology, albeit the product of earthly evolution, not extraterrestrial engineering.
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POPSSaint Orlan: ultimate body art "If lipstick is an impression only for the Object, do feminists dream of the withering away of that second skin of make-up? But if it also carries a woman's potential for impressing/painting on the Object, the lover's lips or collar, what then? Will a feminist ever write a Milneresque tract:'On Not Being Able to Not Paint One's Lips':" -Kalu Singh
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POPSThe Origins of Music An absolutely enlightening recorded lecture on why music affects us the way it does & how it is conveyed. I don't think I've ever read an article on the origins of music more fascinating than this. I guarantee you will not be disappointed in taking the time to read this short lecture by Rudolf Steiner. I'm a musician/singer/songwriter & through my life a question I've often been asked is, "Where do you get your ideas?" If you've asked this question too, please read this lecture. If you find it resonates with you'll know what to do next & "That's what it's all about!"
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POPSThe "MacGuffin" as a plot device (this is tomorrow's word of the day) The MacGuffin (the term was popularized by Hitchcock) is the vaguely-defined object that all the characters in a thriller are trying to get -- you know, the mysterious briefcase, or the cache of jewels, or whatever. Adapted by Slavoj Zizek into his Lacanian theory of jouissance (the "objet petit a" is the MacGuffin). The first word of the day was "interpellation."
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POPSFirst lamp with OLEDs Organic Light Emitting Diode or OLED is a new technology with some very special properties, useful for application in TVs and in lighting. German designer Ingo Maurer and his lighting company launcred this week the first OLED lamp, available in his studio in Manhattan.
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