orangetree : grove

Constellation Quilt
by Emily Fischer

Touch the stars and celebrate your place in the universe with a handmade quilt of the constellations by Haptic Lab. (Kickstarter)

IMPULSIVE SYNCHRONISATION A filmic sound installation by Aura Satz

Aura Satz premieres a new film and sound installation that centres on the invention of ‘frequency hopping’, patented in 1941 by Hollywood star Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil.

The ‘Secret Communication System’ enabled radio-controlled guidance of torpedoes by synchronising frequency changes in transmitter and receiver, thus avoiding enemy detection. It drew on Antheil’s failed attempt to synchronise 16 pianolas in his 1924 avant-garde masterpiece Ballet Mécanique and has since become the basis for today’s spread-spectrum technology, widely used in wireless telephone and wi-fi technology.

Satz references these technologies to explore visual, musical and data notation, as well as its encryption, synchronization, and decipherment. Southbank Center

Hummingbird

A fresh take on music notation — easier to learn, faster to read, and simpler for even the trickiest music.

Scientists at Zhejiang University in China have developed an ultra-light material known as carbon aerogel. The scientists behind it claim it is the lightest material ever manufactured.

It is so light, that a slender grass known as Setaria can easily bear its weight without bending. Although the material is in a solid state, it contains many internal pores filled with air - explaining its minimal density. The research is described in the journal Advanced Materials. BBC

Distance To Mars!?

The 10,000 year clock.

There is a Clock ringing deep inside a mountain. It is a huge Clock, hundreds of feet tall, designed to tick for 10,000 years.

The kid who rode freight trains to the heart of America.

Mike Brodie was 18 when he started riding the railroad. He came back after five years with a vivid photographic record of a teen subculture living a perilous life on the tracks

Zoo Portraits by Yago Partal.

Korean artist Seung Mo Park uses wire to create fantastically detailed portraits

Forecast a new global weather service, with Time machine. You can visit the site on your iPhone and save the link as an app.

Daniel Weil redesigns the chess set.

The coffee queue at London Waterloo. (shot on iPhone 4s)

Christo.

The Big Air Package

Google Glass.

Wingsuit madness!

Steadicam progress. “The career of Paul Thomas Anderson in five shots”.

Citrus Peel as Firestarter

Kick-start a fire with citrus peels. Leave orange or lemon peels on the counter for several days to dry out. Then use the pretty pieces as kindling in your fire pit or bonfire for a fragrant flame starter. Real Simple

At the V&A. (shot on iPhone 4s)