Radiolab

atlasobscura: odditiesoflife: The Amazing Underwater Forest of...

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:22:31 -0400

odditiesoflife:

The Amazing Underwater Forest of Lake Kaindy

What makes Lake Kaindy truly remarkable is that it contains an underwater forest. Visible on the lakes surface are the tall, dried-out tops of submerged Spruce trees that rise above the water’s surface like the masts of sunken ships. They are the only sign of the amazing frozen forest below the water’s surface.

The water is so cold (even in summer the temperature does not exceed 6 degrees) that the pine needles remain on the trees, even after a hundred years of being submerged. During the winter, the lake freezes and becomes a popular spot for ice diving.

The lake is 400 meters long and is located in Kazakhstan’s portion of the Tian Shan Mountains, about 129 km from the city of Almaty. The lake was created after an earthquake in 1911 triggered a large landslide blocking the gorge and forming a natural dam.

Even more on Kaindy Lake…

Holy crap.

Watch these 32 metronomes sync up, then let Robert Krulwich tell...

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:45:23 -0400

Watch these 32 metronomes sync up, then let Robert Krulwich tell you all about it.

"I pined away to a weak, helpless condition, with my teeth all loose, and my upper and lower gums..."

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:04:00 -0400

“I pined away to a weak, helpless condition, with my teeth all loose, and my upper and lower gums swelled and clotted together like a jelly, and they bled to that degree, that I was obliged to lie with my mouth hanging over the side of my hammock, to let the blood run out…”

- Watch out for scurvy, kids.

This particular description of scurvy is stolen from Nicholas Johnson’s Big Dead Place: Inside the Strange & Menacing World of Antarctica, a fantastic book you should all read immediately.

Many wonderful cicada illustrations from A Monograph of Oriental...

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:47:24 -0400

Many wonderful cicada illustrations from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadidae, 1889-1892

(via Scientific Illustration)

David Adey (via)

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:39:00 -0400

David Adey

(via)

transitmaps: Historical Map: Moscow Metro, 1980 Here’s a...

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:19:59 -0400

transitmaps:

Historical Map: Moscow Metro, 1980

Here’s a beautiful map of the Moscow Metro from 1980 that’s unlike anything else I’ve ever seen. I don’t think it’s an official map, as it looks quite different to other Moscow maps of the same vintage. The archive I found the map in also lists it as “Source Unknown”. It appears to have been printed on the flyleaf of a pocket-sized book, bound to the book’s front cover on the left half, with the fold just to the right of the vertical Orange Line of the map.

Have we been there? No.

What we like: One of the most unique-looking transit maps I’ve ever seen. It looks more like a map of the solar system, with Jupiter-sized interchange stations within the orbit of the Ring Line, smaller satellites (outlying stations) trailing along in their wake. Despite the unusual form, and the renowned complexity of the Moscow system, this still has a nice sense of clarity, simplicity and order to it - this map is still very usable.

What we don’t like: Some absolutely terrible registration on the printing (which appears to be all spot colours - nine different colours in total!). Some fairly crude-looking linework, which may be poor draftsmanship or the result of the printing.

Our rating: Totally unique, but still a very usable map. Four stars.

(Source: Lebedev Studio’s historical archives of Moscow Metro maps)

Love this.

A peek behind the scenes at Radiolab. If you’ve been...

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:49:00 -0400

A peek behind the scenes at Radiolab.

If you’ve been thinking about donating to the show, now is a great time to do it: we have a matching grant, which means, basically, your donation counts for twice as many bucks. Here’s where you can donate and make us very happy radio producers.

Portraits of New York’s Rooftop Pigeon Guys, by Zina...

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:09:00 -0400

Portraits of New York’s Rooftop Pigeon Guys, by Zina Saunders

Each portrait comes with a short interview:

“Then we got eight milk crates, and we put them inside our room, and when we’d let the birds out, we’d open the window and the birds would fly over our beds out the window. My mother let us do that!”

Saunders also has portraits of NYC cricket players, circle drummers, bike messengers and many others.

likeafieldmouse: Francis Alys - Fabiola (2008) “The story of...

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:52:06 -0400

likeafieldmouse:

Francis Alys - Fabiola (2008)

“The story of St. Fabiola, a 4th-century Roman aristocrat from the Fabia family who is supposed to have been an early Mother Teresa, became popular in the late 19th century, and an 1885 portrait of her by a French academician (which is now lost) has since been endlessly copied around the world.

Appearing on postcards, posters and religious trinkets, Fabiola has been a beloved subject for countless painters, most of them amateurs. The portrait’s format is almost always the same: Fabiola is seen in profile facing left, her head covered by a rich red veil.

Mr. Alys, who was born in Belgium in 1959 and moved to Mexico City in 1990, began collecting Fabiola paintings—as the genre is called—about 15 years ago, buying them at thrift shops, flea markets and antiques stores primarily in Mexico and Europe. He has previously shown his collection three times, when it was much smaller; the current presentation includes more than 300 works.”

Let NASA mesmerize you with its swirling, psychedelic, Van...

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:13:52 -0400

Let NASA mesmerize you with its swirling, psychedelic, Van Gogh-style ocean current visualization.

(hat tip r/dataisbeautiful, one of my very favorite bits of the internet)

jtotheizzoe: The Earliest Days of NASA Maria Popova, at Brain...

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:38:21 -0400

jtotheizzoe:

The Earliest Days of NASA

Maria Popova, at Brain Pickings, happened upon a treasure trove of early NASA (and its airplane-only predecessor NACA) archive photos. They are really something. From biplanes to the Mercury capsule, pre-1950 aeronautics seemed to live by the motto of “If we build it, then we can go there.” That’s a sentiment we could use a bit more of.

More here.

Yes please!

Believe it or not, this is an advertisement for a funeral home.

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:13:00 -0400

Believe it or not, this is an advertisement for a funeral home.

"It is strange to talk and feel the weight of my lips and tongue!"

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:05:15 -0400

“It is strange to talk and feel the weight of my lips and tongue!”

- Astronaut Chris Hadfield on his return to gravity. If you’re not following him on Twitter, seriously, you’re missing out.

"What’s so interesting about the cicada sounds is, when you just hear it for the first time you..."

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:20:00 -0400

“What’s so interesting about the cicada sounds is, when you just hear it for the first time you just hear white noise—you just hear ssshhhhhhh. Just noise. But when you know what’s going on, you can hear the different parts of the orchestra.”

- David Rothenberg teaches you to hear all the parts of the cicada sex orchestra in our brand-new short.

stufftoblowyourmind: Excellent anatomical quilling art by Sarah...

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:06:53 -0400

stufftoblowyourmind:

Excellent anatomical quilling art by Sarah Yakawonis.

Love this kind of stuff.

"Just as the possibility of doing what you love for a job risks turning that love into a chore, doing..."

Tue, 14 May 2013 17:21:00 -0400

“Just as the possibility of doing what you love for a job risks turning that love into a chore, doing what you love during a difficult time risks illuminating the shortcomings of that thing you love because it cannot solve all—if any—of your problems.”

- Today, a lot of us have been talking about Angelina Jolie’s NY Times editorial. In 2011, Nell Boeschenstein offered a very different take on the strange experience of recovering from preventative double mastectomy.

canadian-space-agency: Col. Chris Hadfield: “Safely home -...

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:30:09 -0400

canadian-space-agency:

Col. Chris Hadfield: “Safely home - back on Earth, happily readapting to the heavy pull of gravity. Wonderful to smell and feel Spring.”

Read about Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield’s return to Earth following historic five-month mission here: http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/media/news_releases/2013/0513.asp

Photo credits: Mikhail Metzel/AFP/Getty Images/Guardian/space-pics/NASA

Just awesome. Just plain awesome.

Emma Kunz. Emma Kunz. Emma Kunz.

Mon, 13 May 2013 16:41:15 -0400

Emma Kunz. Emma Kunz. Emma Kunz.

likeafieldmouse: Jen Stark - Abyss (2011) - Hand-cut paper,...

Mon, 13 May 2013 15:16:47 -0400

likeafieldmouse:

Jen Stark - Abyss (2011) - Hand-cut paper, wood, foamcore, glue and light

natgeofound: A wave of rock shaped by wind and rain towers...

Mon, 13 May 2013 11:10:17 -0400

natgeofound:

A wave of rock shaped by wind and rain towers above a plain in Western Australia, September 1963. Photograph by Robert B. Goodman, National Geographic

Damn.