Daily Archives: August 26, 2011

One More Thing to Deal With

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OK, an earthquake, a hurricane and now a frikkin’ supernova.

Berkeley Scientists Discover an “Instant Cosmic Classic” Supernova

At a mere 21 million light-years from Earth, a relatively small distance by astronomical standards, the supernova is still getting brighter, and might even be visible with good binoculars in ten days’ time, appearing brighter than any other supernova of its type in the last 30 years.

“The best time to see this exploding star will be just after evening twilight in the Northern hemisphere in a week or so,” said Oxford’s Sullivan. “You’ll need dark skies and a good pair of binoculars, although a small telescope would be even better.”

Go, Big Money!

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Big Money Project, Giant Coin Makes Stuff Look Tiny In Tilt-Shift Photos

Lars Marcus and Theo Tveterås of Skrekkøgle, an independent design studio in Norway, crafted a 20:1 heavily lacquered wood replica of the Euro 50-cent coin to use in their Big Money Project. The project creates the illusion that the coin is actually small and the objects around it, such as a sports car and a dumpster, are actually tiny using tilt-shift photography effects.

Mine is only 3″ but it’s what you can do with it that counts. Or so I’m told.

Set Condition Plaid

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As if this week weren’t eventful enough, we now have Irene bearing down on us. People at work who know what they are doing have been battening down the hatches or whatever the shore equivalent is, and I’ve been staying out of their way. Hannah got us wet but not much else (as far as I recall) in 2008 and Isabel knocked out power when she visited in 2003 (24 hours or so for me, longer for others) and came ashore as a cat 1, so this may be more of a problem. Just a heads up that I might submerge and go silent this weekend, if such circumstances are thrust upon me. I’ll have battery power for my iPod and flashlights and sandwich fixins, plus some books to read in case the power and/or internet are interrupted.