Tilt-shift photography transforms the everyday world into a global miniature village. Through the use of a tilt-shift lens to distort the focus, a shallow depth of field is simulated in the captured scene. The series of tilt shift images above are from across the globe. Links to the original images (along with additional photographs) can be found here.

The Sandpit, a tilt shift, time lapse, film was created by Sam O’Hare from more than 35,000 pictures taken during a single New York week in August. O’Hare manipulated the photos, making the massive buildings, cranes and ships in the city look miniature.

Another beautiful tilt shift film “You’ve got to love London” features 7,757 photographs taken over a few days in the city. A high res version of the video can be found here, with further work from the artist, Alex Silver, here.

“It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.”  - Barack Obama

“Anyone who sits on top of the largest hydrogen-oxygen fueled system in the world; knowing they’re going to light the bottom—and doesn’t get a little worried—does not fully understand the situation.”  - John Young, Space shuttle test pilot.

“Some say that we should stop exploring space, that the cost in human lives is too great. But Columbia’s crew would not have wanted that. We are a curious species, always wanting to know what is over the next hill, around the next corner, on the next island. And we have been that way for thousands of years.”   - Stuart Atkinson, 2003.

“All of a sudden, space isn’t friendly. All of a sudden, it’s a place where people can die. . . . Many more people are going to die. But we can’t explore space if the requirement is that there be no casualties; we can’t do anything if the requirement is that there be no casualties.”  - Isaac Asimov, 1988.

“I had long been mystified by how it was that I’d been so bored by science in school and yet science to me seems inherently fascinating.”   - Bill Bryson

“We go about our daily lives understanding almost nothing of the world. We give little thought to the machinery that generates the sunlight that makes life possible, to the gravity that glues us to an Earth that would otherwise send us spinning off into space, or to the atoms of which we are made and on whose stability we fundamentally depend. Except for children (who don’t know enough not to ask the important questions), few of us spend much time wondering why nature is the way it is; where the cosmos came from, or whether it was always here; if time will one day flow backward and effects precede causes; or whether there are ultimate limits to what humans can know.”  - Carl Sagan (From an introduction to “A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking)

“We’ve arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for awhile, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces.” – Carl Sagan

Tagged: adventure, Earth, fear, hope, life, Sagan, school, space, today ]]> http://ifnobodyspeaks.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/moving-beyond-fear-quote/feed/ 0 If Nobody Speaks http://ifnobodyspeaks.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/slow-motion/ http://ifnobodyspeaks.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/slow-motion/#comments Tue, 18 May 2010 21:50:37 +0000 If Nobody Speaks http://ifnobodyspeaks.wordpress.com/?p=425 Read more]]> Slow motion video has a way of making most things (that move) fascinating – cupcakes are no exception.

By vast increasing the number of frames recorded each second, slow motion film captures fleeting events in stunning detail, allowing us to see things in different ways. The video below shows the initial forty seconds of footage from the Apollo 11 launch. The thrust, heat and sheer power generated by the Saturn V engines is staggering.

The video below explores the strange behaviour of a drop of water when filmed at 2000 frames per second. The effect is caused by a thin film of air separating water molecules in the drop and the larger body of liquid.

Finally, the last slow motion video, shot at 1000 frames per second, shows dogs jumping for treats. It’s actually an advertisement for Pedigree, but it’s interesting to see all the details our eyes (or rather our brains) ordinarily miss.

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place  where all things  are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our  founders is alive in our time; who  still questions the power of our  democracy, tonight is  your answer.

It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches  in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three  hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives,  because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice  could be that difference.

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and  Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight,  disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world  that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we  are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many  to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put  their hands on the arc of  history and bend it once more toward the  hope of a better day. It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because  of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment,  change has come to  America.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old. She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can.

The potato, sound and lightning tests were all conducted while actual web pages loaded (albeit using a super fast 15Mbps internet connection). If Nobody Speaks feels this is an excellent example of intelligent, witty advertising.

For further information visit the Google Chrome blog, or view the “making of…” video.

Little existing physical, social or political infostructure created a challenge for aid agencies on the ground – which areas need the most assistance, how do you get there, where are people trapped, which roads are blocked? All this information is vitally important, but sadly in many developing countries there is a lack of good current mapping data particularly after a disaster.

Enter OpenStreetMap and an impromptu global community of concerned, but geographically remote, virtual volunteers who collaborated to produce the most authoritative map of Haiti in existence within hours of the earthquake occurring. This is the story of OpenStreetMap – Project Haiti.

Click to view slideshow.

The above images show ‘before and after’ shots of the Haitian OpenStreetMap (further images can be seen here). A brilliant video which captures the transformation has also been produced.

All the projects featured in this post use OpenStreetMap, a free source of geographical data generated by the public.

A stunning visualisation of northern European flights resuming after grounding due to volcanic ash. Due to varying ash density and national governments across Europe, the first flights can be seen on the 18th, by the 20th all airspace is open.

Finally, a video of OpenStreetMap global edits and the above video of london edits are also worth a look.

Click to view slideshow.

Tagged: Earth, Egypt, Hammersmith, ISS, london, NASA, New York, space ]]> http://ifnobodyspeaks.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/the-art-of-science/feed/ 1 If Nobody Speaks http://ifnobodyspeaks.wordpress.com/2010/04/20/bbc-infographic-money/ http://ifnobodyspeaks.wordpress.com/2010/04/20/bbc-infographic-money/#comments Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:32:20 +0000 If Nobody Speaks http://ifnobodyspeaks.wordpress.com/?p=306 Read more]]> The British Broadcasting Corporation (the largest broadcasting organisation in the world) must offer services which justify a public subscription, but it must not be so brilliant that it stifles competition. “If anyone had more than, say, three good ideas in a week, they would have to be fired, in case they made someone at ITV2 or Google feel sad.”

“Of course, the problem is that, as a public service provider, the BBC isn’t a simple profit-or-loss machine, like its commercial rivals. It is – and has been, since 1922 – an idea; a fabulous, ludicrous, inspired idea. The bizarre thing is, even the people who think they hate the BBC, and see it as a Marxist fleshpot presided over by an unholy triumvirate of pouffes, perverts and Paxman, don’t want it to disappear. They still love Radio 3, and Attenborough, and Dickens adaptations. Whatever our politics or interests, the BBC is as much a part of being British as drizzle, toast and “Sorry”. As a nation, we’d be devastated if the BBC finally did become a commercial channel and started plying its trade in seedy back streets.”

“The BBC does any number of stupid, offensive or annoying things in any given year. It does, after all, employ Vernon Kaye. And that long-haired git on Coast. But when it comes to the continuing existence of the licence fee, we do all need to think for a minute, and then just shuuuuuuuut uuuuuuup.

The BBC can’t be made into a bland, cringeing, apologising rebuttal unit. The whole point of the BBC is that it’s a fabulous mad aunt, who lives in a dilapidated cottage in the middle of the metropolis surrounded by books, bassoons and children. And that if you go in the kitchen to put the kettle on, an emeritus professor of microbioecology will strike up a conversation about the pivotal nature of wheat mutation in 20,000BC, and be so engaging that you end up opening a couple of bottles of claret and staying for dinner. It’s 38p a day for the Olympics, the Shipping Forecast, Doctor Who, The Thick of It, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Life On Mars, Terry Wogan’s breakfast show, and the most recognised and trusted website in the world. If you’d rather spend that on a first-class stamp, to complain about it to your MP, you’re mad.”

BBC spending is shown in this BBC-o-Gram infographic created by David McCandless for the Guardian Datablog. Visit Information is Beautiful for more extraordinary infographics. Quotes taken from Caitlin Moran’s Times article.

Scientists and explorers have spent much of the last 123  years attempting to reclaim that land, with the exploration  of Space dramatically increasing the speed of reclamation.

In 1972, at a distance of roughly 28,000 miles (45,000 km)  from Earth, the crew of Apollo 17 took one of the most  famous photographs ever – The Blue Marble.

This photograph has been used to show the sheer fragility of  life on Earth. James Irwin, the eighth man to walk on the  moon, had this to say of the Earth,

“As we got further and  further away, it diminished in size.  Finally it shrank to the  size of a marble, the most beautiful  you can imagine. That  beautiful, warm, living object looked  so fragile, so delicate,  that if you touched it with a finger it  would crumble and fall  apart. Seeing this has to change a  man.”

In 2002, using data from the Terra satellite, NASA released an updated version of the Blue Marble, producing the most detailed true-colour image of the Earth’s surface ever taken. The photographs featured four months of observations of land surface, coastal oceans, sea ice and clouds stitched into a seamless mosaic of our planet.