-Amalgamated-

A Blend of Thoughts and Things

[house-under-a-rock]

Blackout Boulder Brawl at MetroNorth Climbing Center in Newburyport, Massachusetts

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A.P.J. Abdul Kalam - ‘Life’s Pursuit’

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Bird on the ‘draw

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THE FUNDAMENTAL ETHIC IS BEAUTY I.   Everything in the Universe comes into being via Symmetry Breaking. II.  Objects with greater symmetry have less complexity and contain less information. The introduction of dynamics (movement) and chaos causes complexity to grow, creating new form and “breaking” the original symmetry.  Therefore, existence has a directional aspect as well as a natural propensity to balance asymmetries. III. Our existence, which includes all social and physical order, is inextricably connected to the Universe and hence, the creative process of Symmetry Breaking. We continuously increase our information as we make sense of the world, thereby adding complexity and the subsequent quest and desire for balance. IV. Humans interact in a direct, though limited manner with the Universe, but through our engagement we alter and shape actual existence. V.  In this engagement, we discover relationships between things – harmonies, ratios, and symmetries – some more pleasing or beautiful than others.  While beauty may be in the “eye of the beholder,” the ability to perceive these distinctions reveals a built-in, natural capability which indicates that beauty has a deeper connection to the wider Universe beyond mere taste or opinion. VI.  Beauty is not limited to aesthetics but encompasses all of life.  From mathematical equations, to the way machines function, to human relationships we intuitively understand and sense beauty in all human engagements and involvements. VII. The concept of beauty contains both a process (subjective) as well as the result of that process (objective) and is the aspect of human experience that most closely reflects and communicates Symmetry and Symmetry Breaking.  We should therefore consider beauty as the fundamental motive of existence. VIII. Every subjective action (mental and physical) will become part of objective reality coalescing to create our history which interacts with the emerging future.   The potential for us to create a beautiful existence is not only within our abilities – it is our reason for being. -Bradley Robinson

(via zenatelier)

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[zenpencils]

DESIDERATA by Max Ehrmann

[zerostatereflex]

What is the mass of the Central Black Hole of the Phoenix Cluster?

Here’s a nice animation to blow your mind.

20 BILLION of our SUNS.

[itsokaytobesmart]

That’s heavy, dude.

[onabicyclefortwo]

Yosemite was magical this weekend. They had gotten around eight inches of snow on Friday night and the weather on Saturday was foggy and cold – according to the ranger it was a really special and unique time to be in the park because it rarely looks like it did. 

I understand why John Muir loved this place so much and fought so hard to protect it. Even full of tourists with selfie sticks, I can’t even begin to describe the sense of peace and calm I felt standing in the middle of the meadows just…watching, and listening, and being. I’ve been away from it for a little more than twenty four hours, and I’m already itching to go back.

[efrobinson]

[efrobinson]

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[scienceisbeauty]

The photograph I’d like to share is a brilliant example of sonoluminescence.  I’ve called this the dancing sulfuric acid bubble and is an example of nonlinear acoustics creating nanosecond flashes of blackbody light emanating from an 8,000K microplasma.  A bubble of xenon gas trapped inside concentrated sulfuric acid undergoes a roller-coaster of growth and collapse from the action of a resonant acoustic field.  An objective (left) focuses a high-intensity laser pulse into the fist-sized quartz resonator and seeds a bubble, which is then pulled into the center of the sphere.  The long camera exposure results in a swirling mass of light that traces the bubble’s path within the fluid.  Although the light appears continuous, this photograph represents >100,000 individual flashes of light!

I had the pleasure of studying this system a few years ago as a part of my PhD studies at UCLA, and am still awed by its beauty.  You can find sonoluminescence and many more interesting phenomenon at:

http://acoustics-research.physics.ucla.edu

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Thanks so much, very very cool!!

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ISAAC ASIMOV ‘A lifetime of learning’

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