The galaxy is a galleryAstronomy as art | |||
It's all out there
All the images you already know (plus those you didn't) already exist out there.
Somewhere in the galaxy. If you only knew where to look... Minor order in major chaos
Our galaxy offers at least 100.000.000.000 stars, and that is a quite large pile of points. The point of view
One sum is the total number of stars in the galaxy. |
Mona Lisa is out there...
To find a specific view or image we 'only' need to sort the galaxy,
which is not easily done but nevertheless perfectly possible.
So if you know how Mona Lisa looks like, you can find her again, out there somewhere.
If you only knew where... This isn't monkey business
I know this may remind you of the old joke:
a group of monkeys typing random characters will eventually write everything Shakespeare ever wrote.
But in this case we don't have to wait for the monkeys; they have already done their job (and got their bananas)... New kind of star images
The pictures, I'm suggesting, are not the traditional kind. The old images only offer a dozen stars, or less. Thus our imagination has to add the remaining 99%. This new kind of images may offer thousands of stars, like a sparkling photo... |
Stars in the night sky
How many stars can be seen from earth? About 3000.
However, that is only if viewing conditions are optimal: no clouds and no light pollution.
Inside a major city stars may be completely invisible, drowned by our own artificial light... Stars in our galaxy
The number of stars in a galaxy may vary, from a few millions to hundreds of billions.
Our own galaxy, Milky Way, contains a hundred thousand million stars. Cirka 0.1 trillion.
Number of stars: 0.1 trillion. Other astronomical numbers
We have more cells in our bodies than there are stars in our galaxy.
We also have more cells in our bodies than galaxies in the entire universe.
Finally, we have more atoms in our bodies than there are stars in the Universe..! | |
GalaxyZooHelp classify a million galaxies
Welcome to GalaxyZoo , the project which harnesses the power of the internet - and your brain - to classify a million galaxies. By taking part, you'll not only be contributing to scientific research, but you'll view parts of the Universe that literally no-one has ever seen before and get a sense of the glorious diversity of galaxies that pepper the sky. |
Unstable atmospheric circulationA story by Valentin D. Ivanov
The check-in area smelled of polluted rain and human sweat.
"Good afternoon, sir. Where are you flying today?" The airline girl smiled at me.
"Hello." I passed my ticket over the counter. |
Flying treesTree graphics by Mads Dam
Nano ArtA new kind of images
NanoArt is a new art form where micro or nanosculptures created by artists or scientists through chemical or/and physical processes are visualized with powerful research tools like Scanning Electron Microscopes. Mono-chromatic electron microscope scans are processed further using different artistic techniques to create pieces of art to be showcased for general public. Read more...  |
The galaxy is a galleryAstronomy as art
It's all out there: All the images you already know (plus those you didn't) already exist out there.
Somewhere in the galaxy. If you only knew where to look... |
This is not a blogWelcome to the chromosphere
The English mathematician John Wallis (1616-1703) was a friend of Isaac Newton. According to his diary, Newton once bragged to Wallis about his little dog Diamond. All immortals will be |
Irene and the PhantomA story by George Malinov
The reception room of the United Phantoms Company with its classic office furniture was a cozy place; a delicate odor filled the air, reminiscent of something half way between the smell of a pine forest and fresh hay. For a moment Irene even closed her eyes, moved deeply by the scent.
“Unbelievable," she said. "I have never felt anything like this."
The compliment made the consultant of United Phantoms blush because the fragrance was actually his idea. He expected it would make people relax and ease the psychological pressure they felt when they came here to order phantoms. Irene didn’t look is if she experienced any particular stress. She had already visited the office of United Phantoms several times and as a result the details of the offer were more or less settled. Her husband, Mr. Govatz, had provided the company with all the necessary data and now she had only to ascertain some final points.
Read more... The Most Terrible BeastA story by Khristo Poshtakov
It was a regular bar, one of those found near null terminals or spaceports in any point of the intelligent universe. Nickeled holders for the consumption of various gas mixtures occupied the counter, their sterilized inhaling mouthpieces sticking out from the consumption sockets. Any patron of the place would be thoroughly familiar with the selection of cocktails; nevertheless their numbers were engraved in a dozen galactic languages. Four members of humankind were sitting on the comfortable stools in front of the counter. Three of them already knew one another, and the fourth one had just joined their company. They had been drawn together by their common need to kill some spare time between flights.
Read more... How Much Is Two Plus Two?A story by Khristo Poshtakov
Once the non-time effect was over, Ditt Raskin sleepily opened his eyes and was greeted by the greenish-blue disc of the planet filling two thirds of the main monitor. The sight made him think he had scored a hit this time.
"Land on it, Tim," he commanded the ship AI.
"But tell me first, how much is two plus two?" The Glow of the RiverAtanas P. Slavov, Bulgaria
Denn Sirr felt quite odd when he first stepped on the dark-red flagstones. A living body seemed to breathe under his feet. The flags were hard and rough, true, yet they were giving off heat – not the warmth of the sun, another. It seemed to belong to the red stone, just like the silent road stretching among the trees.
"What wonder this?" Denn Sirr muttered and crouched to examine the flag. A sudden conviction smote him that this was old, really old... The Matrix 4: ResolutionsAtanas P. Slavov, Bulgaria
It's not even blackness around. Black is a color,
and the total absence of light is beyond that ...
beyond blindness... Whose thoughts are these? Mine? But I should be dead ... which evidently I'm not...
Or - this is what death's like? Hovering in the absolute boundlessness of the nothingness, reasoning like a living man? The Last StoryAleksander Karapantschev, Bulgaria
On 29 September 1849, a tired lean man with a battered suitcase traveled on the Baltimore boat. His appearance was glum and at the same time brilliant. He had a finely chiseled lordly head and an almond-colored face; the lines of his eyebrows, perfect in his youth, had been distorted by trials, disparate from his thirsts; and his eyes - violet-blue, radiant - gazed somewhat absently, enshrouded in eternal sorrow. Occasionally, he would tighten his elegant scarf, touch his forehead, and then his hands would uncertainly disappear into the pockets of the creased frock-coat.
He was watching the morning bustle presently. Behind his back, the deck lived its usual chaotic life. Whistling, inky smoke wreaths mixed with a painfully hissing vapor... Thrid & ShiftPoul Pinn, England
With muted breath flesh in rags flash eyes acutely aware. Flesh and rags pull closer, their hope-lessness uncomfortably bare. Paladins scan these tramps and hags, catch gleams of intelligence in the eyes of the decimated faces behind the filthy hanging hair. Feeling uneasy they move on, leaving the huddled damned behind as they enter a crumbling labyrinth smelling of every foul odour imaginable, and a few far removed from the imagination. With a rapid studiousness born of disciplined training they cautiously inspect a flux of ill-lit alleys that rush at them from all directions.
Dark unformed shapes move swiftly across penumbral edges, fending off dull glows draining from rectangular yellow lights hanging watchful from stunted stalks of stone... Cold as HellMichael C. Heffernan, Canada
John Drover woke and the world was red. The emergency lights had gone on and it looked as if the place had been painted in blood. After a valium and two cocktails he'd fallen asleep for hours. He knew because the plane had landed. Rubbing his eyes he looked up and down the rows of seats. They were all empty. Oxygen masks dangled down from above like snakes. Up at the front the seatbelt indicator flashed at regular intervals. Blinds were drawn down over all of the windows. It was cold, too. He could see his breath form in thick plumes out in front of him. Goose flesh covered his arms. His teeth began to chatter like Morse code.
"Hello," John called out. There was nothing. The air was still and quite... Incredible storyKhristo Poshtakov, Bulgaria
It was growing dark. The last hikers hurried along the narrow path down the steep mountain slope toward the bus terminal which was perched at a curve of the mountain road near to the parking lot. Their silhouettes rushed behind the loose curtain of the tree trunks but Vasco's indifferent stare only registered their movement, without actually paying attention to them. He was lying stretched out on the grass of "his" meadow, overwhelmed by his own past which made him the most solitary man in the Universe.
Stars appeared on the dark sky one after the other, winced at him compassionately and seemed to whisper to him... Moreaugarins crusadeOvidiu Bufnila, Romania
Ibhib the Gunner of Longville stormed me up from my den.
He had scored about the catacombs of Beauburg for the best part of a week. He wanted to know my whereabouts so he had inquired left and right. He made then a spectacle of himself and came to blows with a couple of batmen. He did them in; he did, and drank their blood. The fickle bastard! Then he took his time walking along the banks of the underground river and had a fling with the swarthy broad Brunhilde... The exterminatorAleksandar Žiljak, Croatia
Space port, rainy night. Lukas listens to the raindrops as they drum against the roof, pour into the gutter and gurgle, watering the Aldebaran vines coiling around the hotel in the firm embrace that is probably the only thing holding it from collapsing. The vestibule is becalmed in semi-darkness. Sleeping lantern-fungi, rooted all over the ceiling and walls, hardly smoulder.
It is almost two o'clock and the hotel finally sunk into silence. Even the Baglins in the room 131 quieted down, the merry band with their beer and frantic songs. Their ship landed three days ago and, as far as Lukas heard, they plan to stay for at least three more days... |
Galactic planktonSpace graphic
Image and Communication in the Complexity EraEssay by Ovidiu Bufnila, image counselor
The deprivation of huge naval forces found in the bloody, tragic and impressive clenching announces an imperial structure. The difference is prepared. The imperial divers are dipping their harpoon in the Barbarians' blood. But aren't the Barbarians charming beings in the volutes of the world's hidden plan? Aren't they revealing themselves in the rain that came from beyond the visible horizon, modeling new gods? Aren't the Barbarians the ones who understand the truth of the pinky clouds better than the obsolescent savants that don't see the metaphysics in its splendor, only the clumsy piling of some water drops.
Read more... Order and chaosLiving image by Mads Dam
If you see a pattern moving right or left, up or down - it's an illusion.
If you see a pattern starting ordered and gradually becoming chaotic,
this is also an illusion. In fact, the pattern itself is an illusion... Mahlers mirror4 Variations of Jørgen Elbangs painting
Exospheres
Disturbing the atmosphere Pulse
Video: Mads. Sound: Mikkes remix Thunder dripping
Video: Mads Dam. Sound: Nature In the silence of the forest
Video: Mads Dam. Sound: Nature Colour spaceJourney into the image The floorViewed as a piece of modern art The invisible manGoes for a walk... Tunnel Sequence
Photos by Lars Mikkes Copenhagen skies Atmospheric sights by Mads dam |
The galaxy is a galleryAstronomy as art
It's all out there: All the images you already know (plus those you didn't) already exist out there.
Somewhere in the galaxy. If you only knew where to look... Today's youthPhilosophy speaks out
"Today's young people love luxury. They have bad manners, scorn authority, have no respect for their elders and gossip when they should be working. Young people don't stand up any more when older people enter the room. They contradict their parents, swagger around in society, gobble up all the sweets on the table, cross their legs and tyrannize their teachers." - Who said this...? Mary Shelleys dreamThe Birth of Frankenstein
I saw - with shut eyes, but acute mental vision - I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion... Dream gallery
Visions around the world
Boat of everything Global linksAround the world
Argentina Australia Belgium Bulgaria Canada China Croatia Denmark England Europe France Germany India Ireland Israel Italy Japan Lithuania New Zealand Norway North America Poland Portugal Romania Russia Serbia Scandinavia Scotland Singapore Sweden Switzerland South America Spain Ghosts of honourAnd living spirits
January
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december PhantazmMagazine of parallel worlds
|
We have met the enemyDan Simmons Interview
We have met the enemy and they are us: Walls began rotting away, and the main character - the reader - realized that everything he had believed about his world was made up - a concensual hallucination. I love the early phrase of Gibson, when he was just creating the concept of cyberspace, while the web was actually being woven in the physical world, the electronic world. He talked about the cyberspace as being a concensual hallucination, and that is truly what it is, even now, when the majority doesnt have VR individually, and computers are crude, like watching television in 1937, on a black and white three inch screen... |
Danish Science FictionIntroduction by H.H. Løyche
As a modernistic literary offspring, the history of science fiction hardly dates back more than a century. You may define the beginning as early as Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein (1818) or as late as Hugo Gernsback's introduction of the word scientifiction (1926). But long before our tradition, the satire counted a number of untimedly, fantastic ideas. Ignorant of his future collegues, Lucian of Samosata (app. 120-180 AD) send people to the Moon, and Voltaire (1694-1778) let aliens from outer space pay us a visit... |
The development of science fiction and fantasy in BulgariaKhristo D. Poshtakov
The first book of science-fiction to appear in Bulgaria was published in 1880. It was Jules Verne’s Around the world in 80 days. Twenty five years later most books of this author had been published, as those of Herbert G. Wells, Andre Lory, Mora Yokay, Edward Belamy, Jonatan Swift, Paolo Montegazi and other writers of the style. Somewhat later were Publisher fantasy Works by Jack London and Edgar Allan Poe.
The first Bulgarian story of science-fiction has been written in 1899 by Ivan Vazov and its title was “The last day of XXth century”. In this story one describes a trip of the Bulgarian king through the city of Sofia (Bulgarian capital city) which, in the future, has arrived at an “enormous” population: 350 000 habitants! Sofia has developed much and shows buildings and beautiful palaces, paved streets and beautiful gardens. Conversations at a distance from the king’s palace are carried through a “phonograph”, cars move driven by steam machines. The only realized prediction of the author was the return of monarchy, as the royalist party has won the 2001 elections and the Bulgarian king Simeon, exiled in Spain since 1948 (he is cousin of the Spanish king Juan Carlos) came back to take the Prime Minister office... |
Science fiction in RomaniaSFera Online: english section
Marian Taralunga: Hi friends, we have opened a new corner on our website - the english section.
Most of you know that few years back we used to run a brother website called "Imagikon". At that time, we had an important number of contributors from all over the world. |
