Smithsonite from Mexico
Landscape Revisited
The ability for people to go into space has opened many doors in terms of exploration and knowledge of the universe, yet it has also given us a chance to look at our Earth from a different perspective.
Col. Chris Hadfield is a Canadian astronaut, currently onboard the International Space Station, who takes pictures of the Earth while on his mission in space. It is a new style of landscape photography. Previously, our only options in terms of ‘landscape’ photography were to take a picture of the Earth, on Earth, or capture the vast expanse of space via astrophotography.
Now, we can take into account the scale of the Earth; how massive desserts are, how tiny cities are. We can see both natural beauty and industrial devastation. His images are reflections of the various societies in this world, and its history. Like all great photographs, they tell stories, either about lost civilizations, daily routines or environmental changes.
Though not everyone can just get into a spaceship and take pictures all day, what Col. Chris Hadfield is doing, is opening doors for future artists, scientists, and explorers, to see the different ways in which we can capture our surroundings, through photography.
A vivid turquoise blue Chrysocolla exterior has been partially polished to reveal an amazing interior of velvety concentric bands of darker and lighter green chatoyant Malachite. Origin: Congo
Opal from 2013 Tucson Gem & Mineral Show (by The Secret Life of Color)
SoapRocks - because if you couldn’t find a reason to shower now you do!
I must wash my bod with these!
“
The understanding, like the eye, whilst it makes us see and perceive all other things, takes no notice of itself: and it requires art and pains to set it at a distance and make it its own object….
If by this inquiry into the nature of the understanding, I can discover the powers thereof; how far they reach; to what things they are in any degree proportionate; and where they fail us, I suppose it may be of use to prevail with the busy mind of man to be more cautious in meddling with things exceeding its comprehension; to stop when it is at the utmost extent of its tether; and to sit down in a quiet ignorance of those things which, upon examination, are found to be beyond the reach of our capacities.
”–
John Locke (Essay Concerning Human Understanding)
Fluorite from Illinois
Peering into Permanent Darkness
During a lunar month, the side of the Moon facing Earth is alternatingly bathed in light and shadow. It’s a cycle we are all used to, the lunar disk waxing and waning between full and new.
However, there are parts of the Moon, buried deep in craters near the poles, that have not seen the light of the Sun in hundreds of millions of years (perhaps even longer). These simulated images show the various tools that the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter uses to peer into these dark regions, looking for rare chemicals in some of the coldest places in the solar system.
Check out more at NBC News and watch a full animation at NASA’s visualization studio.
Matterhorn calling.
