Hello, my friends, and have I got an interesting piñata of links for you. Let’s crack this thing open and enjoy all the treats!
First up is an interview with award-winning underwater photographer Christian Vizl who has been inspired by the ocean since boyhood. “Born in Mexico City, his career spans more than thirty years and in that time he’s earned an international reputation for his artistic documentation of life underwater. In particular, he’s recognized for his powerful black and white underwater photographs, which harness light and shadow to reveal different aspects of marine life.”
Interview: Underwater Photographer Spends Over 30 Years Documenting Marine Life in Black and White
This piece is a wonderful article but honestly you would do well to simply scroll through these masterfully shot images that are extraordinary. The article states: “In his new book Silent Kingdom, published by Earth Aware Editions, Vizl shares his vision of the underwater world. Schools of fish, sea lions, jellyfish, and manatees all get equal treatment in the book. Vizl manages to capture the elegance of life below sea level by using his keen eye for symmetry and composition.”
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This next bit is so very NSFW but is such a surprise—well, at least to me—that you might want to bookmark this and read it later.
The gist is this: PornHub is gettin’ busy. Busy with environmental activism, that is!
“A few months after endeavoring to save the bees, the adult video site is now looking at polluted beaches. For the latter cause, it filmed what it calls “The Dirtiest Porn Ever,” starring popular amateur couple LeoLulu. For every view of the video, Pornhub will make a donation to Ocean Polymers, which is working to find a sustainable solution to the removal and processing of ocean waste.”
Did you get that? “For every view of the video, Pornhub will make a donation to Ocean Polymers…”
So it’s quite clear that porn has always goosed technology forward throughout civilization’s timeline. It’s pretty cool that it might be responsible for some positive environmental steps, too.
Video included, obvs.
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Physics PhD student Anita Chandran’s tender tale of an AI-human relationship took home the top prize at the 2019 RSCU Science Challenge.” Here’s the story and an interview with Chandran—
Imperial physicist weaves science and art in prize-winning story
“Chandran’s short story (Nothing But) Art centres on the romantic relationship between an AI named Keni and a human artist named Chal as Keni confronts what it means to be creative and to be human.”
[Writing is] a very different process and that allows me to reflect on science and why I’m doing it, thinking in a broader context.
—Anita Chandran
A very cool addition to this piece is a soundcloud audio clip of Chandran’s winning story: “(Nothing But) Art”.
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Well this is some big anthropological news. “The face of the oldest known Australopithecus species — a relative of the famous “Lucy” — is no longer a mystery.”
New Fossil Reveals Face of Oldest Known ‘Lucy’ Relative
“For the first time, paleontologists have discovered a near-complete skull of Australopithecus anamensis. The fossil, a bony visage with a protruding jaw and large canine teeth, dates back 3.8 million years, indicating that A. anamensisprobably overlapped with Lucy’s species, Australopithecus afarensis, for at least 100,000 years.”
[A bang o’ the timpani Zarathustra-style to Billy Flynn for this find.]
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“Great Women Artists celebrates the centuries-long lineage of artistic brilliance amongst artists who happen to be female. Featuring a vast array of aesthetics and movements spanning 500 years, included artists range from Nina Chanel Abney and Eva Hesse to Shoplifter and Sofonisba Anguissola. The 464-page book from Phaidon is the largest compilation of female artists ever published, with 450 illustrations of 400 artists from more than 50 countries.”
You can see a few page spreads and find the pre-order info at:
400 Artists, 54 Countries, 500 Years: ‘Great Women Artists’ is the Largest Collection of Female Artists Ever Published
I think that the title of the book and its graphic representation is the most concise and elegant way to communicate the point of the book. I give it a solid A+.
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This next piece is a horizontally moving pictorial.
Chris Wenzel wanted his tattoos to live forever. Before he died, he found a way.
That’s all I’ll say about that except for this: his beloved wife Cheryl made it happen. This is a story of love that is poignant, surprising, fascinating, beautiful and, I’m not going to candy-coat it—MACABRE AF. Enjoy!
[P.S. HOW are there still people who don’t view tattoos as art?]
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Laughing Squid posted How a Solar Day Differs From a Standard Calendar Day
Here’s the Minute Physics video:
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