Egg Syntax: 8/26/12

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Men's Journal Magazine - Men's Style, Travel, Fitness and Gear

[I did this same practice, in Texas. It changed my life. I empathize with everything he's saying. -egg]
http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/print-view/the-quiet-hell-of-extreme-meditation-20120821

I love this Map of Physics that turns an entire academic discipline into a fictional country, showing the way different sub-disciplines interact and the concepts that connect seemingly disparate discoveries.

Posted by Frank Jacobs at The Big Think, it dates to 1939. I'm not sure who or what originally made it (maybe one of you know) but it's great.

The map is more than a random representation of the different fields of physics: by displaying them as topographical elements of the same map, it hints at the unified nature of the subject. “Just like two rivers flow together, some of the largest advances in physics came when people realised that two subjects were [like] two sides of the same coin”, writes Jelmer Renema, who sent in this map.

Some examples: “[T]he joining of astronomy and mechanics […] by Kepler, Galileo and Newton (who showed that the movement of the Moon is described by the same laws as [that of] a fallling apple.” At the centre of the map, mechanics and electromagnetism merge. “Electromagnetism [itself is] a fusion between electricity and magnetism, which were joined when it was noted by Oersted that an electric current produces a magnetic field, and when it was noted by Faraday that when a magned is moved around in a wire loop, it creates a current in that loop.”

Read the rest and see some close ups of various corners of the Land of Physics at The Big Think blog

Via Ananyo Bhattacharya

Audrey Kawasaki: exclusive first look at new paintings

Audrey Kawasaki: exclusive first look at new paintings:

As regular BB readers know, we are huge fans of Los Angeles-based painter Audrey Kawasaki. Mark and I both have had original paintings by Audrey hanging in our homes for years and they continue to bring us great joy. Audrey's next solo show, titled "Midnight Reverie," opens September 8 at New York City's Jonathan LeVine Gallery. We are thrilled to present this exclusive sneak preview of these otherworldly new paintings, courtesy of Jonathan Levine Gallery, with thanks to Maléna Seldin. I think this is Audrey's most magnificent work yet.

Here's what Audrey said about the show:

“Some of the pieces have windows, like passage-ways into another world, yet it can also feel like limbo or static—wanting to walk through to the other
side, but not being able to. Others are deep in the make believe, magical,
mystical realm. In these, the black parts represent a void, emptiness or the
unknown, yet they can also be something real and solid, like holes or
shadows.”

More images after the jump, perhaps NSFW...

Amazing images from Google Street View

[These are SERIOUSLY awesome. -egg]

Amazing images from Google Street View:

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Jon Rafman has compiled a breathtaking collection of bizarre, moving, upsetting, and compelling photos culled from Google Street View. His site is called "9-eyes," for the number of cameras on the top of the Google Street View cars. Jon Rafman's "9-eyes" (via Smithsonian)

August 30, 2012

August 30, 2012:

Only 2 more days of Gaymercon Kickstartation!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Man with the world's lowest singing voice

Man with the world's lowest singing voice:

Tim Storms holds the World Record for the lowest note ever sung by a human. He can hit a G-7, or .189 Hz. It's so low you can't even hear it, but it's measurable. I like how Tim's website says "Biography of a Bass Freak." Tim also has the world's widest vocal range for a male. He was profiled this week by NPR's Morning Edition and also CNN. You can also hear Tim perform on the St. Petersburg Chamber Choir's new album, Tranquility: Voices of Deep Calm.