Stretching the Boundaries

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Il funzionario

Funzionario militare
Dinastia Tang, VIII secolo D.C.
Terracotta rossa, ingobbio bianco, pigmenti e oro
Military official
Tang Dinasty 8th centry A.D.
Red earthenware with white engobe, pigments and gold

Museo Arte Orientale, Torino

Thermal barrier coating could boost efficiency of gas turbines

"A spin-out company from Imperial College London has developed a thermal barrier coating for gas turbine parts that can optically feed back its temperature and ageing status even while the engine is running at full speed.
The main application for the technology is in power-generating gas turbines, where the coating could help to achieve significant efficiency savings.
Ceramic thermal barrier coatings, including yttria-stabilised zirconia, are used for the so-called ‘hot section components’ of gas turbines, such as the blades." Thermal barrier coating could boost efficiency of gas turbines | News | The Engineer

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Poems

Stampe xilografiche, Giappone, Periodo Edo

Museo Arte Orientale, Torino

Crabs use stats

News in Science
Crabs use stats to dodge predators
Monday, 18 April 2011 Anna Salleh
ABC

Fiddler crabs can't see very well so they have to use statistical calculations to distinguish between swooping predators and harmless passing insects, say researchers.

I granchi e la statistica

"I granchi della famiglia Ocypodidae, per via della loro scarsa capacità visiva, sono in grado di calcolare la probabilità che l'oggetto che stanno osservando possa essere un predatore... Gli occhi di questi granchi sono dotati di una bassissima risoluzione, pari a circa un totale di 8.000 pixel per ogni occhio.... A questa risoluzione, un predatore come un uccello è visibile sotto forma di un semplice e insignificante puntino scuro, e non è possibile distinguere se si tratta di un animale innocuo o potenzialmente pericoloso. Per ovviare alla loro ridotta capacità visiva, i granchi hanno quindi elaborato una strategia che consente loro di calcolare la probabilità che uno di questi puntini scuri possa essere un predatore." by Dita di Fulmine
http://www.ditadifulmine.com/2011/04/granchi-usano-statistica-per-rilevare.html

Raised fields in Bolivia

The image shows the "raised fields" near the Titicaca Lake, in Bolivia.

Note the "snake": eye, tongue and teeth.

This image, obtained after processing a Google Maps image, shows the network of waru-warus, that is, of the "raised fields" - earthworks separated by canals - near Tiwanaku. This is an ancient agricultural technique used by Andean people starting from the first millennium BC. Each raised field is approximately 10 meters large and more than one hundred long.

Just lines?

Near the shore of the Titicaca Lake, the raised fields are well preserved.

They are arranged to form symbols, not just parallel lines!

A bird and a lamb? Or other animals?

This image, obtained after processing a Google Maps image, shows some waru-warus, that is, the "raised fields" - earthworks separated by canals. This is an ancient agricultural technique used by Andean people starting from the first millennium BC. Each raised field is approximately 10 meters large and more than one hundred long.

Andenes

Andenes are an ancient method to cultivate the Andean highlands.

Here an image from Google Maps.

Ringed Hills

A beautiful collection of images from Google Maps.
http://www.atlantisbolivia.org/ringedhills.htm
Very interesting the top of the hill with concentric rings!
"Many of the hilltops on the Bolivian altiplano have at some time been surrounded by concentric ringed walls and/or irrigation channels and many of these hilltops in turn seem to have suffered from earthquake damage. Closer study suggests that many hilltops originally had concentric ringed irrigation canals, but in many zones these appear to have been destroyed by earthquakes and later generations have reoccupied the land and built walls alongside the former irrigation ditches."
I have searched the "ringed feature south of volcan Quemado". Here it is after processing.

Another ringed structure

Images obtained by Google Maps

Alpaca

In the "The Continuum encyclopedia of animal symbolism in art", by Hope B. Werness, we can find a very interesting discussion on Alpaca.