NASA has released a new image taken by its Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, showing the cloud-like remnants of an exploded star dubbed the “Hand of God.” In a statement, astronomer Hongjun An said “We don’t know if the hand shape is an optical illusion” or if the star material actually makes the shape of a hand. Either way, the pulsar is pretty incredible:
A fashion mannequin has an implicit message: this form is beautiful. If your own body doesn’t look like that form—not even remotely—then you may not feel that way about yourself.
The Swiss charity Pro Infirmis helps people with disabilities. To remind them that they are beautiful, too, they commissioned mannequins modelled on the bodies of four people with disabilities. The video below shows the process. Craftsmen measured the bodies of the models, then reshaped mannequins to fit those specifications.
After finishing construction, Pro Infirmis placed those mannequins, now dressed in fashionable clothing, in a storefront in Zurich. Watch the responses of the models and passersby.
Although London is famous for its foggy weather, you wouldn’t know it based on this stunning time-lapsevideo of the city’s sunny days and shimmering nights
Paul Richardson, the photographer behind the above clip, writes that it took 18,000 photographs to create a rough cut of his time-lapse video, according to a description on Vimeo:
“Whenever I visit London, I’m always surprised by the true 24/7 nature of the city; it really is a place that never sleeps. That was exactly what I wanted to capture, the ‘hustle and bustle’ of everyday life.”
When you think about the children’s modeling clay brand Play-Doh, a social commentary of 2013 is not top of the list of things I would expect. The brand has released this 2013 Year in Review, re-creating some of the year’s most memorable moments with the play-doh. From the birth of Prince George, the Royal Baby to Twitter’s IPO, the list is surprisingly diverse for a brand that markets to 5-7 year olds.
Selfies have become the big thing in 2013. But on Christmas Eve, they literally went out of this world, as astronaut Mike Hopkins, a flight engineer on NASA’s Expedition 38, took this selfie, during the second of two spacewalks on the International Space Station. The image was posted on NASA’s website.
While any selfie from space is clearly a legendary feat, Hopkins gets bonus points for being photobombed by none other than planet Earth.
I’ve enjoyed over the last few months dipping in and out of London, You’re Beautiful: An Artist’s Year by David Gentleman. For a number of years I’ve had a love affair with London – the vibrancy and diversity of the city.
This little book (approx. A5 size), contains 400 pages of on-the-spot sketches and more polished studio works rather than the usual book of photographs of the city. The watercolours bring something different to the many familiar views covering a large range of the city over one calendar year showing the seasons and weather that London experiences.
It is clear from this book just how much Gentleman loves London and this book will be enjoyed by anyone who shares his love of this great city.
Mike Gray first posed for a picture with Santa as a baby in 1980. His younger brother Martin joined in 1984. Every year since then, the two brothers have posed for a Christmas picture with Santa Claus -even as adults, at which time they started putting their own children into the picture as well. You can see all 34 photos together at imgur. They’ll keep this up and one day find they are older than Santa Claus!