Stunning New Photos of Mars..

If it’s quiet solitude and beauty you seek, there is no better place than the surface of Mars. Mars has earned its moniker as the red planet, but the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) can transform the subtle differences of soils into a rainbow of colours.


For 10 years, HiRISE has recorded gorgeous – and scientifically valuable – images of Mars. Its photos are so detailed that scientists can examine the planet’s features at the scale of just a few feet, including the recent crash site of Europe’s Schiaparelli Mars lander.
We combed through 2,054 of the camera’s latest pictures, released in August, September, and October, to bring you some of the best – and hopefully help you temporarily escape Earth.


NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
A large chasm:

NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Some dark, rust-colored dunes in Russell Crater:

NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
NASA might land its next nuclear-powered Mars 2020 rover mission here.


NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
The black splotch is where the European Space Agency’s Schiaparelli Mars lander crashed. The white specks, pointed out with arrows, are pieces of the lander.


NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona; Business Insider
Zebra skin. Just kidding, this is a dune field that’s speckled with oval-shaped mineral deposits:

THE BIBLIO‑MAT

A mechanical celebration of serendipity. It was created to help you find the book you didn’t know you were looking for.




The BIBLIO-MAT is a random book vending machine designed and built by Craig Small for The Monkey’s Paw, an idiosyncratic antiquarian bookshop in Toronto. BIBLIO-MAT books, which vary widely in size and subject matter, cost two dollars. The machine was conceived as an artful alternative to the ubiquitous and often ignored discount sidewalk bin. When a customer puts coins into it, the BIBLIO-MAT dramatically whirrs and vibrates as the machine is set in motion. The ring of an antique telephone bell enhances the thrill when the customer’s mystery book is delivered with a satisfying clunk into the receptacle below.


World's Oldest Calendar [via Nina Reznick]


The world’s oldest calendar has been found in a field in Scotland, and could date back to 8,000 BC.


Archaeologists believe they have discovered the world's oldest lunar "calendar" in an Aberdeenshire field.

Excavations of a field at Crathes Castle found a series of 12 pits which appear to mimic the phases of the moon and track lunar months.

A team led by the University of Birmingham suggests the ancient monument was created by hunter-gatherers about 10,000 years ago.

The pit alignment, at Warren Field, was first excavated in 2004.

The experts who analysed the pits said they may have contained a wooden post.

The Mesolithic "calendar" is thousands of years older than previous known formal time-measuring monuments created in Mesopotamia.

The analysis has been published in the journal, Internet Archaeology.

The pit alignment also aligns on the Midwinter sunrise to provided the hunter-gatherers with an annual "astronomic correction" in order to better follow the passage of time and changing seasons.



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Field of Vision :Oscar nominated short documentary


Field of Vision - A Night at the Garden from Field of Vision on Vimeo.

Footage from the 1939 nazi rally in MSQ.  80 years later It might be many more than 20,000. If Steve Bannon et al have their way, it will be.