La Luna de Metropoli Magazine covers by Ricardo Martinez
H. R. Giger’s artwork appreciation post
(Source: kodakumi, via zombieboyshareshisthoughts)
German Broadsword Of Exceptionally Large Proportions
- Dated: circa 1640
- Size: 130 x 26 cm / 51 x 10 inches
With broad double-edged blade, fullered over half its length and with latten filled running wolf mark on one side, and latten filled numerals on the other. The steel hilt comprising re-curved quillons and large asymmetrical oval side rings filled with pierced plates, large globular pommel with prominent button and with wire-bound grip.
Source: Peter Finer
kapāla, (Sanskrit: “skull”), Tibetan thod pa, cup made of a human skull, frequently offered by worshipers to the fierce Tantric deities of Hindu India and Buddhist Tibet. In Tibet the skull cup is displayed on the Buddhist altar and is used in ritual to offer to the ferocious dharmapāla (“defender of the faith”) divinities either wine, which symbolizes blood, or dough cakes, which are shaped to resemble human eyes, ears, and tongues. The skull cup is often a handsomely worked object and rests on a triangular pedestal representing a sacrificial fire with skulls. The cup is mounted in metal, usually heavily embossed silver or gilt bronze, and topped with a lid shaped like half a skull, with a vajra- (“thunderbolt-”) shaped handle.
Source: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/311715/kapala
The Cardiff Giant, a gigantic ten-foot tall stone man, emerged out of the ground and into American life on October 16, 1869, when he was discovered by some workers digging a well behind the barn of William C. “Stub” Newell in Cardiff, New York. Word of his presence quickly spread, and soon thousands of people were making the journey out to Stub Newell’s farm to see the colossus. Even when Newell began charging fifty cents a head to have a look at it, people still kept coming.
It was actually the creation of an enterprising New York tobacconist named George Hull. The idea of burying a stone giant in the ground occurred to him after he got into an argument with a Methodist Reverend about whether the Bible should be taken literally. Hull, an atheist, didn’t think it should. But the Reverend disagreed. The Reverend insisted that even the passage where it says ‘there were giants in the earth in those days’ should be read as a literal fact. According to Hull, after this discussion he immediately “thought of making a stone, and passing it off as a petrified man.” He figured he could not only use the fake giant to poke fun at Biblical literalists, but also make some money.
The Cardiff Giant was so successful at making money that P.T. Barnum (father of the Fejee Mermaid) had his own giant sculpted, a fake of a fake.The New York Historical Association bought the giant for $30,000 and brought it to Cooperstown, where it now resides at the Farmers Museum.
Leather Lounge Chair 1104 by Pastoe
Constructed of a thin stainless steel frame with a saddle leather hide stretched over it, the Leather Lounge Chair moulds itself to the body of the user over time. Its side profile is almost graphic in that the front view shows the armrest on one side extending as a wing from the seat.
site: Pastoe
(Source: furfin)
WWI facial prosthesis.
The remains of martyred saints, as photographed by Toby de Silva.
Gimmel ring. 1600-50, Europe. Gold enamel set with diamond and semi precious stone. The hand mechanism twists to unlock and the ring collapses into three interlocking bands.
(the opposite of Albinism)
Gorgeous.
But that snake… holy crap it’s beautiful.
They’re all so gorgeous wowow.
(via piranhapettingzoo)
Powerhouse Solar Cell Inspired by Leaf Biomimicry
A team of scientists headed up by Princeton University has achieved a whopping 47 percent increase in electricity generation from flexible plastic solar cells, simply by texturing the surface to mimic the wrinkles of a typical leaf.
Full Story: Cleantechnica
via emergentfutures:
1) Biomimicry is amazing. I love that human design is now recognizing that it has so much to learn from natural design. Especially when it can replace eco-questionable solutions with much more eco-friendly solutions - such as simply creating wrinkles on a surface as opposed to something like nano-sprays with unknown side-effects.
2) As the article notes, solar is getting very, very close to the 10-15% efficiency needed to make it competitive with traditional energy sources. And with the various solar innovations coming out, I expect we’ll hit that goal soon… and then surpass it by quite a bit. But of course, this requires research and funding. *cough*fund_science*cough*
(via thatisfuckingkawaii)
