Gladly, the coffin had a sturdy lid – and a silver lining.

Taiwanese Tseng Lien-Fa Survives 60 Hours In Rough Seas Without Being Able To Swim.

 

NON TUTTE LE BARE VENGONO PER NUOCERE.

Il taiwanese Tseng Lien-Fa sopravvive in mare per 60 ore senza saper nuotare, tenuto a galla dal coperchio di un feretro che chissà come si trovava proprio da quelle parti. L’aveva travolto un’onda anomala mentre cercava di pescare anguille vicino alla spiaggia. Non è il suo mestiere, lo faceva per arrotondare visto che tra poco la fidanzata scodella un bambino. Auguri di buona vita a tutti e tre!

 

They’re not ova, but qualify as such.

TwistedSifter

 

Earlier this month, photographer Angela Kelly and her 7-year-old son decided to venture outdoors amidst freezing temperatures to blow some bubbles.

After finding a soap bubble recipe online that consisted of dish soap, karo syrup and water; the mother and son braved the elements to see what would happen. The results were a breathtaking series of close-ups that showed the frozen soap bubbles in various states.

Not only did each bubble freeze with their own unique pattern but they also deflated and collapsed in spectacular fashion. The series, which can be seen in its entirety on Facebook (here and here), has spread online in recent weeks.

The images are now available as prints and calendars on Kelly’s Etsy Store. To see more beautiful photography from Angela, be sure to check her out at the online profiles below.

[Komo News via Bored Panda]

 

ANGELA…

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Generating monsters is reason’s elated dream.

For the record: The Sleep of Reason Produces  Monsters is a famous painting by Francisco Goya. The sentence has become an oft-used paean to logic and awareness, which is not bad. Needless to say, paralogical thrills and unconscious fun are necessary and welcome too.

22 Words | Thrift store monsters — Adding fantastical creatures to second-hand art.

Thomas in the Sky with Pen & Inks

 

Sky Art: Thomas Lamadieu Illustrates in the Sky Between Buildings | Colossal.

Mining mines for humankind – this is intelligent design.

 

An inexpensive, wind-powered device that roams the Afghan countryside, triggers a few of the ten million unexploded land mines still buried and scattered everywhere, then maps them through a simple GPS connection. Currently exhibited at MoMA, deservingly so. Kudos, Massoud Hassani.

That Mine Detonator At MoMA? Just Think Sculpture. – Forbes.

Heavy makes Light. Seeing is believing (in it) – and possibly helping it happen.

When the sky goes black, the picture turns bleak for over 1,5 billion people who live mainly in developing countries. Having no access to public electricity, they have to settle for expensive, unhealthy fuels such as kerosene. The price to pay is heavy, both personally and environmentally. Solar panels are, for the moment, not yet viable in terms of costs and skills required to install and maintain them. That’s why this amazing invention strikes me as pure genius. Lift it – in 3 seconds – and it will light up its surroundings for 30 minutes. In the very words of its developers:

GravityLight is a revolutionary new approach to storing energy and creating illumination. It takes only 3 seconds to lift the weight which powers GravityLight, creating 30 minutes of light on its descent. For free.

Following the initial inspiration of using gravity, and years of perspiration, we have refined the design and it is now ready for production. We need your help to fund the tooling, manufacture and distribution of at least 1000 gravity powered lights. We will gift them to villagers in both Africa and India to use regularly. The follow-up research will tell us how well the lights met their needs, and enable us to refine the design for a more efficient MK2 version. Once we have proved the design, we will be looking to link with NGOs and partners to distribute it as widely as possible. When mass produced the target cost for this light is less than $5.

Enlightened are those who will contribute to this endeavor.

via  GravityLight: lighting for developing countries. | Indiegogo.

Don’t take “ill” for an answer.

Sue Austin, an artist from the core.

A power chair simply makes her self-empowering choices visible. And her new, fresh, amazing narratives heal the implicit bigotry that plagues and paralyzes most bodies – especially those labeled ‘normal’ yet deeply challenged when it comes to many activities children relish, such as singing, dancing, running, hugging… The limitations that were in the eye of the beholder only vanish with each swirl she takes.

Kudos and thanks.

Sue Austin, un’artista fin nel midollo.

La sua sedia a rotelle (potenziata) rende visibili le scelte interiori con cui lei si è riconosciuta un’identità dotata di nuovi poteri, a dispetto della percezione altrui che la vedeva sminuita e ridotta. Dice ‘Ho dovuto inventare di sana pianta le mie narrative’. L’ha fatto per tutti noi, perché osiamo incarnare i nostri sogni di libertà corporea, ovunque e comunque noi siamo.

Chapeau.

TED Blog | Much more of Sue Austin’s incredible wheelchair art.

Sweet day-after-solstice, everybody!

So it seems we have survived a busload of gloom-and-doom prophecies. We’re in for a little celebration, aren’t we? This piece of news comes in handy: sugar molecules (glycolaldehyde, to be more precise) have been spotted quite close to a sun-like star. I’d be happy with a strong mojito and a mild tan…

E’ il momento di un brindisi alla facciaccia dei catastrofisti del solstizio (e astronomi della domenica). Molecole di zucchero – glicoaldeide per la precisione – sono state trovate nello spazio interstellare, non troppo distanti da una stella simile al nostro Sole.  Per me un mojito bello tosto e giust’un filo di abbronzatura, grazie!

Sugar Molecules Discovered Around Sun-Like Star | Search for Life & Alien Planets | Space.com.

How to please – and placebise – oneself.

So now there’s some physiological evidence to the old adage: God helps those who help themselves. The placebo effect has been regarded in ways as diverse as “A magical mystical self healing tool” and “A treacherous trick from some crackpot’s pot”. This piece of research sheds some light on the psychological traits that allow the effect to take place – and there’s some lightness indeed.

 

Neuroscientist Jon-Kar Zubieta of the University of Michigan

 

 “… found that people with certain personality traits—specifically, those who scored high on resiliency, altruism, and straightforwardness, and low on measures of “angry hostility”—were more likely to experience a placebo-induced painkilling response. Importantly, such individuals also had decreased cortisol levels and greater activation of endogenous opioid receptors in brain regions associated with reward.”

 

While Tor Wager, a neuroscientist at the University of Boulder, Colorado (not involved in the study), comments:

 

“Studies like this are giving us a new set of candidate personality measures that can predict for placebo analgesia, and they’re mostly positive traits,” said Wager. “So placebo responders are being cast in a much more positive light, personality-wise, than they were a few decades ago, when they were thought to be hysterical and neurotic. ”

Personality Predicts Placebo Effect | The Scientist Magazine®.

Deeds are the stuff daydreams are made of.

Neuroscience: Idle minds : Nature News & Comment.