Il Buddha dei Leoni

Il Buddha siede su un trono sorretto da tre leoni, che poggia a sua volta su un piedistallo fiancheggiato da due  devoti monaci. La veste monastica dalle pieghe accuratamente disegnate e priva di cintura rivela il corpo ben modellato. Il lembo dello scialle scende dalla spalla sinistra terminando in un doppia “coda di pesce”.

Il leone in questa iconografia evoca  il suo ruggito (simhanada) ossia la voce del Buddha che penetra lo spazio divulgando la Dottrina.

Museo Arte Orientale, Torino

Planets heated by dark matter

Audacious notion of the week: planets heated by dark matter - March 30, 2011
"It’s dark outside, permanently. The sun twinkles in the distance barely bigger than other stars. But the ground is warm, and oceans are teaming with life. That’s the scenario envisioned by Dan Hooper and Jason Steffen of Fermi National Laboratory in Batavia Illinois, who released a preprint yesterday about the possibility of dark matter heating planets that are otherwise too far from their host stars to be habitable."

More Nature.com

According to Dan Hooper and Jason Steffen, they " have calculated the capture rate of dark matter particles in Earth-like and super-Earth planets, and determined the resulting surface temperature of those planets that would result from dark matter annihilations. While planets in the local region of our galaxy receive only a negligible quantity of energy from dark matter annihilations," the authors" find that planets in dwarf spheroidal galaxies and in the innermost volume of the Milky Way could plausibly accumulate and annihilate enough dark matter to heat their surfaces to temperatures capable of sustaining liquid water, even in the absence of energy from starlight or other standard sources. Although" they "expect ecologically relevant quantities of energy to be released through dark matter annihilations only within the interiors of planets that reside in very special environments (such as near the Galactic Center, or near the center of a dwarf spheroidal galaxy), and only in the case of dark matter models which feature large elastic scattering cross sections with nuclei (near the current upper limits)," the authors "expect that within such models planets will exist which derive enough heat from dark matter to almost indefi nitely sustain surface temperatures suffi cient to yield liquid water. Even in the absence of starlight, such planets could plausibly contain life. And, given their extremely long lifetimes, such planets may prove to be the ultimate bastion of life in our universe."

Tevatron claims glimpse of particles beyond standard model

Tevatron claims possible glimpse of particles beyond the standard model - April 06, 2011
"Just as the Tevatron, the proton-antiproton collider at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, enters its final months of operations, possible signals of new physics are emerging. First came a report from the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) experiment of a puzzling asymmetry in the way top quarks decay into lighter particles. Now the same experiment is reporting on the possible observation of particles beyond the standard model in collisions that produce a W boson – a particle of the weak nuclear force. Spokesmen for the experiment say the signal may be due to random fluctuations, but that it’s nonetheless causing some excitement. “Either what we thought we knew about this process is wrong or there’s a totally new effect,” says Giovanni Punzi, CDF co-spokesman."

More Nature.com

Chankillo - 2 - Peru

Image obtained after processing Google Maps

The Thirteen Towers of Chankillo are built north to south along a ridge of a low hill, regularly spaced. To the east and west investigators found two observation points, to observe the rising and setting positions of the Sun over the year. This suggests that some activities of the ancient civilization were regulated by a solar calendar. The towers had been known to travelers for centuries, but the astronomical function of the towers was discovered in 2007 by Iván Ghezzi and Clive Ruggle. 

Read more Wiki

Chankillo - 1 - Peru

Chankillo

Image obtained after processing Google Maps

Chankillo is an ancient monumental complex in the Peruvian coastal desert, in the Ancash Department of Peru. The ruins include the hilltop Chankillo fort, the nearby Thirteen Towers solar observatory, and residential and gathering areas. The Thirteen Towers are believed to have been a solar observatory built in the 4th century BC. As of 2008, the culture that produced Chankillo is unnamed.

More wiki

Einstein secret

James Dacey (physicsworld) is blogging on a new iconic image of Einstein, creation of Spanish artist Juan Osbourne. It is a game to find some hidden numbers.

Play the game at
http://www.juanosborne.com/2010/01/playing-with-einstein/

Created by Juan Osborne (under this Creative Commons License)

This is an image from a beautiful collection

http://www.juanosborne.com/

The hunt for the elusive Higgs

"Physicists at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are confident that they can find the Higgs boson by the end of 2012, when the machine will be shut down temporarily...The most sought after particle in particle physics – the Higgs boson – is believed to endow all other particles with mass. It is also the last undiscovered component of particle physicists' great theoretical framework – the Standard Model. After decades searching for the Higgs in particle collisions at CERN, and at Fermilab in the US, researchers at the LHC believe they may finally have the elusive particle within their grasp."

The hunt for the elusive Higgs - physicsworld.com

Thin film has 'astonishing' ability to rotate light

"Physicists in Austria and Germany have taken the Faraday effect to a new extreme by rotating the polarization of light by 45° by passing it through an extremely thin film. This "giant Faraday effect" could someday be used to create optical transistors that switch light or to improve terahertz imaging systems."
Thin film has 'astonishing' ability to rotate light - physicsworld.com

The teacher appears

But lo! the teacher Jizô appears,
All gently he comes, and says to the weeping infants:
"Be not afraid, dears! be never fearful!
Poor little souls, your lives were brief indeed!
Too soon you were forced to make the weary journey to the Meido,
The long journey to the region of the dead!
Trust to me! I am your father and mother in the Meido,
Father of all children in the region of the dead."
And he folds the skirt of his shining robe about them;
So graciously takes he pity on the infants.
To those who cannot walk he stretches forth his strong shakujô,
And he pets the little ones, caresses them, takes them to his loving bosom.
So graciously he takes pity on the infants.
Namo Jizo Bosatsu!

The Legend of the Humming of the Sai-no-Kawara,
by Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo)

Jizo - matrix of the earth

Jizo was a bodhisattva (bosatsu in Japanese), a man who achieved enlightenment but forsaked nirvana to help others find paradise. He was worshiped  as the protector of those in distress, of children, of mothers in childbirth, and of travelers.  Worship of the bodhisattva Jizo began in the eighth century with the importation of esoteric Buddhist practices from China. Jizo, whose name means "matrix of the earth," was revered as one of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas of the esoteric sect. Jizo and his counterpart, Kakuzo ("matrix of the void"), represent the union of the physical and metaphysical realms.
The Jizo figure is defined by his clothing, by the objects he holds, and by his physical attributes. His head is shaven, and he is dressed in monk's robes, a simple rectangle of cloth (kesa) tied in front over a longer skirt. In his left hand, Jizo holds a wish-granting jewel; he would have held a shakujo (jingle-staff) in his right. The shakujo was used to alert insects and small animals of his approach, so that he would not accidentally harm them. Jizo's idealized face and head-the perfectly proportioned features, third eye, elongated ears, and folds of skin at the neck-also show attributes of an enlightened being.
adapted from http://www.lacma.org/japaneseart/sculpture/jizo.htm

Jizo Bosatsu

Il bodhisattva Jizo
Legno laccato e dipinto
Giappone, fine del periodo Muromachi, XV-XVI sec.

Jizo Bosatsu, il bodhisattva Jizo, è venerato in Giappone come colui che interviene a trarre i fedeli dagli inferni in cui possono essere caduti. Nell’iconografia del Buddhismo giapponese è ritratto nelle vesti di un monaco dalla testa rasata, munito del bastone del pellegrino e del “gioiello che esaudisce tutti i desideri”. L’assenza di corona e ornamenti è compensata dall’eleganza regale del manto e della tunica decorati con ricami dorati di ispirazione cinese e centro-asiatica. La statua faceva parte della collezione del barone Wilhelm von Bode.

Buddha assiso

Buddha assiso - Gandhara

Le figure sono ricavate all’interno di un arco. L’arco poggia su due lesene con capitelli che richiamano le foglie di acanto dei capitelli corinzi. Sui capitelli sono collocati due grifoni dalle code fiammeggianti. Il Buddha è assiso, la gamba sinistra piegata a terra e il ginocchio destro sollevato su cui poggia il gomito destro. La mano destra mancante era sostegno al volto inclinato in atteggiamento pensoso. Al disopra della spalla destra del Buddha si scorge la figura di Vajrapani che impugna il simbolo del fulmine di Indra. Il fregio alla base del pannello presenta scene dalla vita di Shakyamuni e la sua figura emaciata dalle pratiche ascetiche intraprese prima dell’Illuminazione.

Museo Arte Orientale, Torino 

Le sorgenti del Nilo

Nerone promosse nel 62, o 67 d.C., una spedizione per scoprire le fonti del Nilo. Fu comandata da due legionari, che risalirono il Nilo verso l'Africa equatoriale partendo da Meroe, vicino a Karthoum, l'attuale capitale del Sudan.
More wiki

Leonardo's dream

"A research team at Festo has developed SmartBird, a biomechatronic bird that can take off, fly and land autonomously. Festo claims that SmartBird flies, glides and moves through the air like its counterpart in nature — the herring gull — with no additional drive mechanism."

Guardate il filmato al sito:

Festo's biomechatronic bird flies and lands autonomously | News | The Engineer

Superconductivity from nowhere

"In just over a week scientists will celebrate the centenary of superconductivity: the discovery, in 1911, that some materials cooled towards absolute zero allow electric charge to flow without resistance. But now one physicist believes superconductivity can appear when there is no material at all. According to Maxim Chernodub ... superconductivity can appear – provided there is a very strong magnetic field – in the vacuum of empty space. If Chernodub is correct, the phenomenon could explain the origin of the extensive magnetic-field patterns seen in the cosmos."

Superconductivity from nowhere - physicsworld.com

The candy floss of rocks

"The earliest rocks in the solar system, from which the terrestrial planets were born, were more like candy floss than hard rock, according to a new analysis carried out by a team including researchers in the UK and Australia. This is the first geological evidence to support the idea that the first solid material in the solar system was extremely porous before it was subsequently compacted into larger bodies, which become the planets we know today."

Earth grew from 'candy floss' rocks - physicsworld.com

Physicists put a new twist on graphene

"Physicists in the US and UK have worked out why different samples of multilayer graphene can have very different electronic properties. The answer, according to the team, lies in the relative rotation between layers and the discovery could lead to a new way of controlling the electronic properties of the material."
Physicists put a new twist on graphene - physicsworld.com

Europa, Ganymede, Callisto

PIA01656: Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto: Surface comparison at high spatial resolution, NASA, JPL
"These images show a comparison of the surfaces of the three icy Galilean satellites, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, scaled to a common resolution of 150 meters per picture element (pixel). Despite the similar distance of 0.8 billion kilometers to the sun, their surfaces show dramatic differences."Catalog Page for PIA01656

Undergraduates build power system for moon orbiter

Final-year engineering undergraduates from Warwick University are building the power system for a micro-satellite that will orbit the moon in 2014.Undergraduates build power system for moon orbiter | News | The Engineer

Ethanol made from corn

ENERGY, Ethanol Blamed for Record Food Prices
A more flexible policy could ease the impact of ethanol mandates on worldwide markets.
"Earlier this month, the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization reported that global food prices had risen for eight consecutive months, reaching the highest levels since the agency started tracking prices in 1990. The prices are high in large part because of steadily growing worldwide demand for food, and because of natural disasters that have hurt harvests, but they're also affected by government policies."

More http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/37019/?p1=A2

CubeSat

From Wiki
A CubeSat is a type of miniaturized satellite for space research that usually has a volume of exactly one liter (10 cm cube). Beginning in 1999, California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) and Stanford University developed the CubeSat specifications to help universities worldwide to perform space science and exploration. The majority of development comes from academia, however several companies have built CubeSats, including large-satellite-maker Boeing.

The effect of space weather

The first experiment to investigate the effects of plasmasphere disturbances on satellite communications will be launched aboard the UK Space Agency’s maiden CubeSat mission.
Team explores effect of space weather on communications | News | The Engineer

Instrument able to detect individual nanoparticles

The device detects the tiny particles, suspended in fluid, as they flow one by one through the instrument at rates estimated to be as high as half a million particles per second.
Instrument is able to detect individual nanoparticles | News | The Engineer

Tamon-Ten

Tamon-Ten
Legno scolpito e policromia
Giappone, inizi del periodo Edo, XVII sec.
Museo Arte Orientale

Tamon-Ten, guardiano del Nord, è il capo dei Re Celesti che sono preposti ai quattro punti cardinali e abitano il Monte Meru come protettori del Mondo e della Legge buddhista. A partire dal IX secolo divenne oggetto di un culto popolare in Giappone che lo rese quasi indipendente dagli altri tre Re Guardiani. Fu venerato in particolare come dio della prosperità. Ha il volto di un guerriero, è rivestito da una armatura  e siede su rocce stilizzate che simbolizzano il Monte Meru.

Libya's UNESCO World Heritage Sites

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Libya  are:
Archaeological Site of Cyrene
Archaeological Site of Leptis Magna
Archaeological Site of Sabratha
Rock-Art Sites of Tadrart Acacus
Old Town of Ghadamès
 Libya's UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Settimio Severo

« Sono diventato tutto quel che ho voluto. E mi accorgo che non ne valeva la pena »
questo disse Settimio Severo, a un suo luogotenente, come riporta Wiki.
Lucio Settimio Severo era nato a Leptis Magna, in Libia nel 146. Morì a York nel 211. Da generale divenne imperatore romano, iniziando la dinastia severa. Prima della sua morte, l'impero su estendeva sull'isola britannica fino al vallo di Adriano.

Map of the Roman Empire with the provinces of 210 AD.

Map created by Mandrak, Wikipedia, on public domain.

Shitennō and the four directions

The Shitennō are  protectors of the four directions. They ward off evil, guard the nation, and protect the world from malicious spirits, hence the Japanese term Gose Shitennō 護世四天王, literally “four world-protecting deva kings.” Each represents a direction, season, color, virtue, and element. They originated in India but were later adopted into the Buddhist pantheon in China and Japan. They are venerated as temple guardians and protectors of the nation. In China, statues of the four are often placed near temple entrances, but in Japan, effigies of the four are more commonly placed around the central deity on the main altar. The four are commanded by Taishakuten, Lord of the Center. They are nearly always dressed in armor (yoroi 鎧), looking ferocious (funnusō 忿怒相), and carrying weapons or objects. They are also typically shown standing atop evil spirits (known as Jaki in Japan).
Shitennō iconography is related to the Four Celestial Emblems (dragon, red bird, tiger, turtle) of China, who also guard the four cardinal directions. In Japanese statuary, the Shitennō are almost always portrayed in animated warrior poses rather than static postures of ease or meditation...
Adapted from http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/shitenno.shtml
See also http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/buddhism.shtml

Tenno - Fujiwara Period

Tenno, Uno dei Re Protettori
Legno di cipresso (hinoki), h. 119 cm
Giappone, periodo Fujiwara, XII secolo

Museo Arte Orientale, Torino

Il museo possiede una coppia di statue (Ni-tenno, due tenno) dall’atteggiamento fiero che, calpestando figure mostruose, levano il braccio originariamente dotato di un’arma oggi perduta. Questa coppia è tratta dal gruppo dei Quattro Grandi Re degli Orienti (Shi-tenno) che la cosmologia buddhista colloca ai lati del Monte Meru.
Come protettori, in Giappone gli Shi-tenno furono posti ai quattro angoli intorno all’immagine principale del tempio. Le due statue del MAO sono scolpite nella tecnica ichiboku zukuri in un singolo blocco di legno, salvo le braccia.

Croce Rossa per il Giappone

A seguito del terribile terremoto che ha devastato il Giappone, la Croce Rossa Italiana ha avviato una raccolta fondi in sostegno delle popolazioni colpite dal sisma e dallo tsunami. Per donare 2 euro alla Croce Rossa Italiana "Pro Emergenza Giappone" è possibile inviare un SMS da cellulari TIM, Vodafone, Wind, 3, CoopVoce, Tiscali o da telefono fisso Telecom, Infostrada, Fastweb, Teletu e Tiscali al  numero 45500.
http://www.cri.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/1

Injectable polymer implants stimulate rebuilding of bones

"The need for artificial joint replacements in people with osteoarthritis could soon be bypassed with injectable polymer implants that stimulate rebuilding of bone structures.
The research is being headed by Bristol University’s team of stem cell and tissue engineering experts in collaboration with researchers from Qatar and Canada. Speaking to The Engineer, lead investigator Dr Wael Kafienah of Bristol explained the rationale behind the project."
Injectable polymer implants stimulate rebuilding of bones | News | The Engineer

Tricolore

Via Lagrange - Torino

La bandiera di tre colori sempre è stata la più bella!

Search Engines for the Human Body

A Search Engine for the Human Body: Microsoft software recognizes organs and other structures in medical images, FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2011, by TOM SIMONITE

"A new search tool developed by researchers at Microsoft indexes medical images of the human body, rather than the Web. On CT scans, it automatically finds organs and other structures, to help doctors navigate in and work with 3-D medical imagery.
CT scans use X-rays to capture many slices through the body that can be combined to create a 3-D representation. This is a powerful tool for diagnosis, but it's far from easy to navigate, says Antonio Criminisi, who leads a group at Microsoft Research Cambridge, U.K., that is attempting to change that. "It is very difficult even for someone very trained to get to the place they need to be to examine the source of a problem," he says."

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/35076/?p1=MstRcnt

150° anniversario dell'Unità d'Italia

Soffermàti sull’arida sponda,
Vòlti i guardi al varcato Ticino,
Tutti assorti nel novo destino,
Certi in cor dell’antica virtù,
Han giurato: Non fia che quest’onda
Scorra più tra due rive straniere;
Non fia loco ove sorgan barriere
Tra l’Italia e l’Italia, mai più!

dall'Ode "Marzo 1821" di Alessandro Manzoni

Buon compleanno, Italia!

Laser-scan system to have a virtual view of Stonehenge

"Experts at English Heritage are using laser scanning and high-resolution digital imaging to create a virtual rendering of Stonehenge that will show it in detail and hopefully reveal new features.
The survey will map the standing and fallen stones of Stonehenge, as well as the top of the horizontal lintels.
Despite the vast amount of archaeological activity and academic study into Stonehenge and its landscape over the centuries, relatively little is known about the lichen-covered surfaces."
Read more: Laser-scan system has virtual view of Stonehenge details | News | The Engineer

Engineers strive to keep Japan's reactors under control | News | The Engineer

Engineers strive to keep Japan's reactors under control | News | The Engineer

Emperor Akihito's Address

Japan's emperor urges victims not to 'abandon hope'
"Japanese Emperor Akihito made an unprecedented televised address to his disaster-stricken nation Wednesday, saying he was "deeply worried" by the crisis at damaged nuclear reactors and urging people to help each other in difficult times."
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42104850/ns/world_news-asiapacific/
"I am deeply hurt by the grievous situation in the affected areas. The number of deceased and missing increases by the day we cannot know how many victims there will be. My hope is that as many people possible are found safe," Akihito said.

Revelations of a golden age

"For roughly 700 years, many of the greatest scientists lived in the Islamic world. The Western narrative, however, has often neglected the contributions of major figures such as the chemist al-Jabir, the mathematician al-Khwarizmi and the medic al-Razi, preferring instead to jump directly from Aristotle, Euclid, Archimedes and Ptolemy to Copernicus and Galileo in reporting scientific development over the ages. Yet the fact is that between the eighth and 15th centuries AD, the scientists of the Islamic world developed original theories in mathematics, astronomy, physics, medicine and engineering – frequently with the help of works translated into Arabic from Greek, Sanskrit, Pahlavi and Syriac sources." by George Gheverghese Joseph, Revelations of a golden age - physicsworld.com
On the book "Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science",  by Jim Al-Khalili

Japan earthquake, nuclear crisis: Japan fears a nuclear disaster after reactor breach - latimes.com

Japan earthquake, nuclear crisis: Japan fears a nuclear disaster after reactor breach - latimes.com

Questi tremendi eventi

Il Papa esprime la sua vicinanza alle popolazioni del Giappone colpite dal terremoto e dallo tsunami. Un telegramma, a firma del segretario di Stato, cardinale Tarcisio Bertone, è stato inviato dal Papa a monsignor Leo Jun Ikenaga, arcivescovo di Osaka e presidente della Conferenza episcopale giapponese. Nel messaggio, Benedetto XVI esprime il proprio cordoglio per le vittime del cataclisma e per le loro famiglie e si dice vicino ai soccorritori.

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/or/or_quo/text.html

Nuremberg Maps - Peru

Part of the Nuremberg Map of 1599, Showing Pincos and the Andes Mountains

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10772/10772-h/10772-h.htm