Author Archives: Chompsky

The life sized crocheted and knitted figures of Finnish artist Liisa Hietanen – all modelled on friends and neighbours in her hometown of Hämeenkyrö. She sez:

“I meet my models in natural everyday situations. The process of choosing a model is intuitive. The person depicted might be someone I meet in the library, in the locker room of the gym, or walking their dog on the way home. I don’t know most of my models beforehand but as the process goes on I get to know them.”

Once complete, Liisa’s yarny doppelgängers are displayed in the town and have also featured in group exhibitions.

More of her work here.

colossal

Behold: IC 405, aka the Flaming Star Nebula – an apparently fiery region surrounding star AE Aurigae. But what looks like fire is not fire. To wit:

Fire, typically defined as the rapid molecular acquisition of oxygen, happens only when sufficient oxygen is present and is not important in such high-energy, low-oxygen environments such as stars. The material that appears assmoke is mostly interstellar hydrogen, but does contain smoke-like dark filaments of carbon-rich dust grains. The bright star AE Aurigae, visible just to the lower right of the image center, is so hot it glows blue, emitting light so energetic it knocks electrons away from surrounding gas. When a proton recaptures an electron, light is emitted, as seen in the surrounding emission nebula. Featured here, the Flaming Star nebula lies about 1,500 light yearsdistant, spans about 5 light years, and is visible with a small telescope toward the constellation of the Charioteer (Auriga).

(Image: Amir Abolfath (TWAN))

apod

A playful and rather touching documentary by Patrick Waldrop, using mixed media and an extended interview to explore the mutual admiration and friendship that existed between Hungarian immigrant and Simpsons animator Gábor Csupó and musician Frank Zappa, whose posthumous album cover for The Lost Episodes Csupó designed.

shortoftheweek

Behold: the Karlman King – the world’s most expensive SUV.

Stealth bomber styling on the outside, bespoke ultra luxury on the inside with options ranging from retractable screens, ambient lighting and Nespresso machines to ballistic armour plating and whatever you’re having yourself.

Based on a Ford F550 with a V12, 6.8l engine, the top speed is limited to a paltry 140km/h on account of its colossal 5.9 tonne weight.

Yours for a hefty €1.77 million+.

uncrate

Behold: NGC 1333 (in blue) – a reflection nebula at the edge of a large, star-forming molecular cloud in the constellation Perseus, 1000 light years from Earth. To wit:

This striking close-up spans about two full moons on the sky or just over 15 light-years at the estimated distance of NGC 1333. It shows details of the dusty region along with telltale hints of contrasty red emission from Herbig-Haro objects, jets and shocked glowing gas emanating from recently formed stars. In fact, NGC 1333 contains hundreds of stars less than a million years old, most stillhidden from optical telescopes by the pervasive stardust. The chaotic environment may be similar to one in which our own Sun formed over 4.5 billion years ago.

(Image Credit & Copyright: Steve Milne, Barry Wilson – Processing: Steve Milne)

apod