Interessante la discussion sul "cotton on".
World Wide Words E-magazine: 16 Apr 2011Il termine "cotonato" lo usamo per i capelli, mentre in Inglese si parla di "big hair"
Monday, April 18, 2011
Dharmacakra
"The Dharmacakra symbol is represented as a chariot wheel (Sanskrit cakram) with eight or more spokes. It is one of the oldest known Buddhist symbols found in Indian art, appearing with the first surviving post-Harappan Indian iconography in the time of the Buddhist king Aśoka. The Dharmacakra has been used by all Buddhist nations as a symbol ever since. In its simplest form, the Dharmacakra is recognized globally as a symbol for Buddhism." According Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharmacakra
Kongo Rikishi come Ercole
"Kongōrikishi are an interesting case of the possible transmission of the image of the Greek hero Heracles to East Asia along the Silk Road. Heracles was used in Greco-Buddhist art to represent Vajrapani, the protector of the Buddha, and his representation was then used in China and Japan to depict the protector gods of Buddhist temples. This transmission is part of the wider Greco-Buddhist syncretic phenomenon, where Buddhism interacted with the Hellenistic culture of Central Asia from the 4th century BC to the 4th century AD.*"
According to Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shukongoshin
According to Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shukongoshin
* "The origin of the image of Vajrapani should be explained. This deity is the protector and guide of the Buddha Sakyamuni. His image was modeled after that of Hercules. (...) The Gandharan Vajrapani was transformed in Central Asia and China and afterwards transmitted to Japan, where it exerted stylistic influences on the wrestler-like statues of the Guardian Deities (Nio)." (Katsumi Tanabe, "Alexander the Great, East-West cultural contacts from Greece to Japan", p23)
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Kongo Rikishi
Kongo Rikishi stante su base rocciosa
legno di cipresso giapponese dipinto, altezza cm 230,5
Giappone, periodo Kamakura, seconda metà XIII secolo
Imponente statua realizzata con pezzi assemblati (yosegi-zukuri). Rappresenta uno dei due guardiani del tempio e della dottrina buddhista posti in coppia ai lati della porta dei monasteri. Ha la bocca chiusa e contratta per esprimere l’esplosivo hum, il terribile mantra delle divinità furiose.
Museo Arte Orientale, Torino
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Raised fields and qochas
The "raised fields" are an ancient agricultural technique, based on the used of earthworks and a system of canals and ponds for water. This technique was used in South America, long before Columbus. Near the Titicaca Lake, it is possible to see using the Google Maps, a huge area marked by the remains of this agricultural system. In fact, some local farmers are still using old raised fields.
Are the following structures I found by means of Google Maps, modern or ancient?
Have they a symbolic meaning?
The "sun wheel"
Comparison 2011-2010
Another "sun wheel"
Two circular and radial structures.
The location of these images is the Chicchapampa, Lake Titicaca.
To see other geoglyphs of Titicaca, use please the label "Geoglyphs".
Friday, April 15, 2011
Moray Inca ruin
Moray, after processing of a Google Maps image
Moray is an archaeological site in Peru approximately 50 km northwest of Cuzco. The site contains unusual Inca ruins, mostly consisting of several enormous terraced circular depressions, the largest of which is about 30 m deep. Wiki reports a very interesting information: the depth and orientation with respect to wind and sun of the depression creates a temperature difference of as much as 15 °C between the top and bottom. According to Wiki "this large temperature difference was possibly used by the Inca to study the effects of different climatic conditions on crops. In other words, Moray was perhaps an Inca agricultural experiment station. As with many other Inca sites, it also has a sophisticated irrigation system."
Andenes as level curves
Andenes as level curves, near Ayacucho, Peru
After processing a Google Maps image.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Stellar vibrations
"Scientists have long known that the atmosphere of the Sun oscillates. In the same way seismologists use earthquakes to model the interior of the Earth, helioseismologists use vibrations observed on the Sun to probe deeper into our star. Oscillations of about 25 other stars have also been studied in the emerging field of asteroseismology. Now, thanks to the Kepler space telescope, a team led by Bill Chaplin, at the University of Birmingham, UK, has increased this figure significantly."
Kepler picks up stellar vibrations - physicsworld.com
Elusive WIMPS
On the XENON collaboration to find WIMPS
WIMP no-show casts a shadow over dark matter - physicsworld.com
Monday, April 11, 2011
SNEWS
When a red giant star collaps on itself a burst of neutrinos is produced. This occurs before that light is emitted in the explosion, The SuperNova Early Warning System (SNEWS) is a network of neutrino detectors designed to give an early warning to astronomers of a supernova event in the Milky Way. The neutrino pulse from supernova 1987A was detected 3 hours before the photons.
The current members of SNEWS are Borexino, Super-Kamiokande, LVD, SNO and IceCube.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova_Early_Warning_System
The current members of SNEWS are Borexino, Super-Kamiokande, LVD, SNO and IceCube.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova_Early_Warning_System
Neutrinos in IceCube
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory (or simply IceCube) is a neutrino telescope constructed at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica. Similar to its predecessor, the Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA), IceCube contains thousands of spherical optical sensors called Digital Optical Modules (DOMs), each with a photomultiplier tube (PMT) and a single board data acquisition computer which sends digital data to the counting house on the surface above the array. More http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IceCube_Neutrino_Observatory
"IceCube, which was completed in December 2010, is a kilometer-cubed array of photodetectors that have been drilled down into the Antarctic ice cap... The IceCube team compared 13 months of their data (collected when the array was half finished) to observations of 117 Gamma-Ray Bursts measured independently over the same time period. Contrary to expectations, no high-energy neutrinos were detected within a half-hour of each GRB. Theorists may need to rethink their models of GRBs, as well as look for other possible sources for the highest energy cosmic rays." This is what Michael Schirber writes in
http://physics.aps.org/synopsis-for/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.141101
"IceCube, which was completed in December 2010, is a kilometer-cubed array of photodetectors that have been drilled down into the Antarctic ice cap... The IceCube team compared 13 months of their data (collected when the array was half finished) to observations of 117 Gamma-Ray Bursts measured independently over the same time period. Contrary to expectations, no high-energy neutrinos were detected within a half-hour of each GRB. Theorists may need to rethink their models of GRBs, as well as look for other possible sources for the highest energy cosmic rays." This is what Michael Schirber writes in
http://physics.aps.org/synopsis-for/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.141101
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