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Earth's most-innovative little critter continues to surprise and delight the people of Toronto with its undeniably adorable (albeit sometimes inconvenient) urban antics.

A raccoon who clearly gives no effs about what you think found a new spot to nap at Ryerson University on Wednesday: on top of a sign that's on top of a door that leads into a theatre, gym and learning space.

Due to the animal's presence, the school was forced to close off Kerr Hall North, Ryerson Theatre, and the Recreation and Athletics Centre's swimming pool area.

Someone must have been tired after their workout 🤔🤔🤔 ‼️ Kerr Hall North / Ryerson Theatre area / RAC swimming pool area will be closed off until friendo here is safely escorted out of the premises 🐾 pic.twitter.com/ESEnzGWIPP

— Ryerson Recreation (@RURecreation) May 9, 2018

Ryerson University Recreation wrote on Twitter around 9:30 a.m. that it was closing off the area for safety reasons — presumably referring to the safety of both humans and the raccoon.

It wasn't until around noon that RU Recreation announced the raccoon's safe removal from the premises.

"Update: our raccoon friend is gone and the RAC back turnstile is good to use again," wrote the recreation centre on Twitter. "For now."

No word on where the woodland creature was taken, but he did appear to be enjoying that makeshift sign hammock — and if I know raccoons (which I do), he'll be back.

William Leathers, 17, was one of three undergraduate trumpeters accepted this year to Juilliard, the prestigious arts school in New York City. But his tuition as an international student works out to over $90,000 per year — a cost he and his family can’t afford.

These interesting pictures, taken by photographer Harf Zimmermann, revolve around Hufelandstraße, a bustling neighborhood street in the heart of communist East Germany. The neighborhood was an anomaly in the increasingly drab Soviet-administered city. Buildings boasted proud facades and balconies, linden trees lined the broad sidewalks, and an unusual number of privately-owned shops remained in business. […]

The post These pictures capture the vibrant residents of a single East Berlin street, 1986-1987 appeared first on Rare Historical Photos.

The people of Toronto have opened their hearts and wallets en masse this week following a horrific van attack that killed 10 people and injured 15 others near Yonge and Finch on Monday.

At least four of those who were killed during the incident, which saw someone drive a white rental van directly into pedestrians, have now been identified, along with 13 of the injured (five of which remain in critical condition).

People all over the world are reeling as stories of these innocent victims come to light, and many are looking for ways to help their family members cope with the unthinkable.

Mayor John Tory announced on Tuesday night that the city had created its own fundraising campaign in partnership with local charities to support those most affected by the tragedy.

In less than two days, over $700,000 had been donated to the #TorontoStrongFund alone.

The most recent numbers available from the Toronto Strong campaign show that $702,673 had been raised for victims of the van attack by Thursday morning.

Several GoFundMe campaigns related to the attack and its victims have also been established by local well-wishers.

Just a handful of those campaigns had raised more than $470,000 together as of Thursday afternoon — and that's in addition to money raised through the City of Toronto's fundraiser.

A GoFundMe campaign called Toronto Van Attack Victims Funds, run by the Mississauga-based Muslim community empowerment organization DawaNet, has pulled in nearly $182,000 from more than 3,000 people over the past two days.

Another account was launched just yesterday in memory of Renuka Amarasinghe, a single mother who was killed during Monday's attack and leaves behind a 7-year-old son named Diyon.

That campaign, organized by Scarborough's Lotus Youth Council, has already raised over $225,000 for young Diyon's education and care.

Thousands of people have donated money for the care and education of young Diyon Amarasinghe, who lost his mother in Monday's attack. Screenshot by Lauren O'Neil.

Over $15,000 has been raised similarly to help with funeral and other final costs for Anne Marie D'Amico, who lost her life on Monday. 

Injured victims Amaresh Tesfamariam and Amir Kiumarsi have also been pledged roughly $13,000 and $17,000, respectively, through GoFundMe.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. Toronto, like the rest of Canada, is generous and kind. For the most part.

Alek Menassian, 25, of Richmond Hill, was charged Tuesday morning with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder in connection with the incident. He remains in police custody.

Exhibition image of Yayoi Kusama’s Flower Obsession 2017 on display in NGV Triennial at NGV International 2017. Photo: Eugene Hyland

Famed Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama (previously) is known for her color explosions, light matrices, and proclivity towards covering many of her works in a dazzling layer of dots. In one of her most interactive installations, the artist hands her interest in dot making over to the visitor. The Obliteration Room invites guests to “obliterate” a domestic interior by placing colorful stickers onto the walls, furniture, and floors.

For her recent commission for the inaugural National Gallery of Victoria Triennial, the artist transformed this concept to include a flower motif. For Flower Obsession (2017) guests were given artificial gerbera daisies and flower stickers to place on any surface of their choosing, completely covering the faux-apartment by the end of the triennial’s four-month run. This floral theme taps into the beginning of the artist’s art-making, referencing a memory from her early childhood.

“One day, after gazing at a pattern of red flowers on the tablecloth, I looked up to see that the ceiling, the windows, and the columns seemed to be plastered with the same red floral pattern,” Kusama explains in a press release for the triennial. “I saw the entire room, my entire body, and the entire universe covered with red flowers, and in that instant my soul was obliterated … This was not an illusion but reality itself.”

The NGV Triennial closed late last week. You can view more documentation from the inaugural exhibition, including this massive installation of hyperrealistic human skulls by Ron Mueck, on the National Gallery of Victoria’s website.

Exhibition image of Yayoi Kusama’s Flower Obsession 2017 on display in NGV Triennial at NGV International 2017. Photo: Eugene Hyland

Exhibition image of Yayoi Kusama’s Flower Obsession 2017 on display in NGV Triennial at NGV International 2017. Photo: Eugene Hyland

Crowds enjoy Yayoi Kusama’s Flower obsession 2017 on display at NGV Triennial 2017. Photo: Sam Wong

Exhibition image of Yayoi Kusama’s Flower Obsession 2017 on display in NGV Triennial at NGV International 2017. Photo: Eugene Hyland

Exhibition image of Yayoi Kusama’s Flower Obsession 2017 on display in NGV Triennial at NGV International 2017. Photo: Eugene Hyland

Exhibition image of Yayoi Kusama’s Flower Obsession 2017 on display in NGV Triennial at NGV International 2017. Photo: Eugene Hyland

Statistics: Posted by urbanchamp — Apr 20th, 2018 2:10 pm

TTC crews continue installing the automatic train control signal system (ATC) on its Line 1 Yonge - University subway this weekend. To allow crews to complete this work, the TTC is closing the University branch of the line between St Clair West and Union stations Saturday, April 21 and Sunday, April 22.

Line 1 trains operate only between Finch and Union stations and between Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and St Clair West stations.

Express shuttle buses replace subway service — but only between St Clair West and Spadina stations. The buses operate on streets near or parallel to the subway line, stopping only on Spadina Road at Dupont Street, near Dupont Station. Buses don’t operate south of Bloor Street.

Wheel-Trans vehicles are available during the closure for passengers who use wheelchairs, scooters or other mobility devices or who require more accessible service. Ask any TTC employee for Wheel-Trans service.

As alternatives to the closed part of the line, the TTC encourages passengers to consider boarding:

• trains operating along Line 2 Bloor-Danforth;
• trains operating along the Yonge branch of Line 1 Yonge - University;
• north-south buses operating along the 6 Bay route; and
• east-west streetcars operating along the 501 Queen, 504 King, 505 Dundas, 506 Carlton,512 St Clair and 514 Cherry routes.

St Clair West, Spadina, St George and Union stations are open for passengers to buy fares or connect to buses and streetcars. Dupont, Museum, Queen’s Park, St Patrick, Osgoode and St Andrew stations are closed.

According to a TTC news release, “When ATC is fully implemented in 2020, it will provide a more modern and reliable signal system that will allow for an increase in the number of trains operating on Line 1. While the TTC does most subway maintenance at the conclusion of service each night, it continues to require weekend closures to complete ATC and state-of-good-repair work. One weekend of work during a closure is equivalent to about five weeks of nightly work.”

This is the last time this year that the TTC plans to close this section of the line. It previously closed this part of the subway system Saturday February 3 and Sunday, February 4 and Saturday, March 10 and Sunday, March 11.

crossconnectmag:

These are the Most Incredible Photos Shot by NASA’s Cassini Probe

The Cassini space probe has captured its fair share of eye-popping photos since launching in 1997 and arriving in Saturn’s orbit in 2004.
Here’s a collection of some of Cassini’s most remarkable photographs. Many of them were compiled by Reddit user I_Say_I_Say, and others were featured here before or obtained from NASA’s website: You can find a massive collection of Cassini’s photos in the mission gallery on NASA’s website.Thanks Petapixel

1.A massive storm stretching across the surface of the planet. 2.Saturn’s gradation and rings. 3.Three of Saturn’s moons (Titan, Mimas, and Rhea) captured in a single photo. 4.Saturn casting a shadow on its rings. 5.Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus. 6.Saturn, its rings, and its moon Dione. 7. Earth seen as a pale blue dot under Saturn’s rings. 8.Saturn’s moon Rhea hovering in front of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. 9.Saturn casting its shadow on its rings. 10.Saturn and its moon Titan

Like our new Art on Facebook              Posted by Andrew

Vans Canada has released an adorable kids collection with many cute designs such as unicorns, mermaids, bunnies, dolphins and glitters. They range in price from $40 to $60 and will be sure to put a smile on your child!

Vans offers free shipping on all orders.

Click here to shop at Vans Canada.

Why the heck are Pitbull and Sylvester Stallone speaking about bitcoin in Toronto?

It's a question that transit riders have been asking themselves and each other since February, when ads for a "Real Estate Wealth Expo" started popping up in subway trains.

This year’s Real Estate Wealth Expo adds Bitcoin, Sylvester Stallone, and A-Rod.

I’m not sure what these guys know about Toronto’s real estate market or Bitcoin. pic.twitter.com/nROLwJvEOi

— Sean Marshall (@Sean_YYZ) March 4, 2018

The event, featuring Sly, Mr. Worldwide, baseball player Alex Rodriguez and some reality TV personalities, finally went down at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Saturday – and the answer to "why" is still a bit unclear.

The answer to "what," however, has been shared in great detail via Twitter, and it's just as weird as you might expect.

Sylvester Stallone enters to fireworks and confetti, then opens with an anecdote about being mutilated by a hospital intern at birth. pic.twitter.com/tSO8NXOqOl

— Sean Craig (@sdbcraig) April 7, 2018

A lot of people went to the expo this weekend to glean investment tips, rub shoulders with Hollywood's (and Miami's) finest, or simply because they were curious.

Freelance journalist Sean Craig was one of many in the crowd to document what they were seeing, but his live-tweeting was particularly colourful.

After explaining to us the economies of scale in selling cocaine, Pitbull tells us that we will always have obstacles in life and business.

— Sean Craig (@sdbcraig) April 7, 2018

More than 1,100 people have now upvoted a Reddit post linking to his thread from the Pitbull and Stallone speeches, calling it everything from "the funniest s--t I read all year" to "more amazing than I could have possibly imagined."

"When I first saw the posters I didn't know what... to think of it," wrote one commenter.

"I thought it must be some kind of joke since an investment conference where Pitbull is one of the featured speakers seemed too stupid to be real."

Lol now I’m at a Pitbull concert happening inside a convention centre with people trying to sell real estate get rich quick schemes. pic.twitter.com/i5afMXWhWv

— Sean Craig (@sdbcraig) April 7, 2018

It was real alright, and it was spectacular (at least in the comedic sense.)

I have my ThunderStix ready.
Are you ready?

A renowned real estate investor and bitcoin master is next, Sylvester Stallone. pic.twitter.com/bcaeiHRil9

— Kerry K. Taylor (@squawkfox) April 7, 2018

Real estate blogger Kerry K. Taylor similarly live-tweeted the event in all of its absurdity, writing after Pitbull's speech that "the Real Estate Wealth and Bitcoin Expo just turned into a MuchMusic video dance party."

Are we in a real estate bubble?

Don’t stop the party. pic.twitter.com/00DZKNpu4b

— Kerry K. Taylor (@squawkfox) April 7, 2018

Attendees seemed to genuinely enjoy the event, though it remains to be seen if Pitbull's advice and dancing will help them get rich off.

Either way, they all got a free concert and wise takeaways like "the letters in 'listen' spell silent."

Guys, if you saw those strange subway ads in #Toronto for the Wealth Expo - you know, the one with noted wealth managers Pitbull, A-Rod, and Sylvester Stallone - check this thread out. It's both the strangest thing ever, and exactly as you'd expect. https://t.co/8e79nZePPp

— Fuller, go easy on the Pepsi! (@TaylorRBlake) April 8, 2018

The rest of us got some good laughs and a lot of retweets.

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Elusive Spanish artist Pejac (previously) travels the world creating street interventions, often integrating natural elements into man-made structures through a combination of stenciling and trompe l’oeil painting. His most recent projects have brought him to New York City for the first time, where he has created two arboreal artworks in Bushwick and Chinatown.

Pejac formed Fossil, in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood, using a brick-sized stencil to spray paint carefully placed shadows on a brick wall. This illusion of bricks sinking back and surging forward  creates a pixelated tree. Chinatown’s Inner Strength is fully hand-painted, depicting a cherry blossom branch growing out of a security gate and surrounding by flying swallows. Pejac, who often addresses humanity’s fraught relationship to the natural world, describes his newest artworks to Colossal:

Taking a sturdy structure and familiar urban element as a base, Fossil is proposing a hypothetical fatal future in which the only memory of nature is the fossilized appearance of a tree on a brick wall. Opposing the first work, Inner Strength is an empowering piece portraying another hypothetical future in which nature breaks the barriers imposed by the hand of man, recovering the lost ground along the way.

In addition to his outdoor work, Pejac occasionally creates editioned prints using a variety of techniques ranging from lithography to screenprinting. You can follow the artist’s travels on Instagram and Facebook. For those in New York, Fossil is located at 27 Scott Avenue in Brooklyn, and Inner Strength can be found at 2 Henry Street in Manhattan.

TMX Group, the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange, has announced it’s launching a cryptocurrency brokerage platform. The service will be offered through its Shorcan Digital Currency Network subsidiary and focused on bitcoin and ethereum. The project will be implemented in partnership with the local fintech startup Paycase Financial Corp.

Also read: Israeli Crypto Companies Banned From Stock Exchange Indices

Trading Bitcoin and Ethereum

The owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange, TMX Group Ltd., will offer its customers the opportunity to buy and sell two of the most popular cryptocurrencies – bitcoin and ethereum. That will be accomplished through the launch of its Shorcan Digital Currency Network subsidiary. Support will expand if clients demand additional cryptocurrencies.

The TSE owner also announced the brokerage service would be made available through partnership with Paycase Financial Corp. The Toronto-based fintech startup specializes in decentralized financial services and operates a mobile-based remittance platform.

“As the first ever public crypto brokerage desk by an exchange, this deal represents the true institutionalization of cryptocurrencies as an asset class,” said Paycase CEO Joseph Weinberg. He went on to describe the project as building “the first major bridge between the crypto world and the traditional financial markets”.

TMX says the brokerage is a significant step in the execution of its digital strategy. According to John Lee, Managing Director of Enterprise Innovation & Product Development, the company is looking for new ways to address the needs of its clients in both traditional and non-traditional markets.

The Group’s management hopes that Shorcan DCN will allow to establish links between TMX and the cryptocurrency space. Shorcan is expected to debut in the second quarter of this year. “We are excited to enter into this agreement with Paycase, an industry leader with an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit”, said the subsidiary’s President Peter Conroy, quoted in a TMX press release.

Tapping Into Billion Dollar Market

The partnership with the payments provider Paycase will create cryptocurrency benchmarks based on consolidated data from the world’s leading crypto exchanges. The initial goal is to cover 2 to 5 percent of the global “over the counter” market, currently estimated at $4 – 9 billion worth of cryptocurrency, Conroy explained. Banking services will be provided by one of Canada’s largest banks – Bank of Montreal.

Toronto headquartered TMX Group operates cash and derivative markets, as well as clearing houses for multiple asset classes through its subsidiaries across North America. It also controls the Montréal Exchange, the Canadian Depository for Securities and the Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation. TMX Group companies provide listing markets, trading markets, clearing facilities and other financial services.

In February, the Canadian Stock Exchange announced plans to launch a blockchain platform for clearing sales of tokens qualified as securities. Cryptocurrencies were also referred to as securities in its listings. CSE offered companies the opportunity to issue traditional shares and debt securities as “security token offerings”, which could be sold to investors.

Do you think TMX’s announcement represents a positive development in regards to mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Bitcoin News is growing fast. To reach our global audience, send us a news tip or submit a press release. Let’s work together to help inform the citizens of Earth (and beyond) about this new, important and amazing information network that is Bitcoin.

The post Toronto Stock Exchange Operator Launches Crypto Brokerage appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Russian artist and theater critic Masha Ivashintsova (1942-2000) lived a secret life as a photographer, taking over 30,000 photographs in her lifetime without ever showing a soul. It wasn’t until years after her death in 2000 that her daughter Asya Ivashintsova-Melkumyan stumbled upon her vast collection of negatives while cleaning out the attic. The photographs showcase an astounding look into the inner world of Ivashintsova, while also providing a glimpse of everyday life in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) from the 1960-1999.

Ivashintosova was heavily engaged in the city’s underground poetry and photography movement, yet never showed anyone her images, poetry, or personal writing during her lifetime. Ivashintsova-Melkumyan shares a quote from one of her mother’s diary entries that hints at the reasoning behind her hidden artistic life, “I loved without memory: is that not an epigraph to the book, which does not exist? I never had a memory for myself, but always for others.”

“I see my mother as a genius,” explains Ivashintsova-Melkumyan, “but she never saw herself as one—and never let anybody else see her for what she really was.”

Some have referred to Ivashintsova as the Russian Vivian Maier, an American photographer and caregiver whose extensive collection of negatives was discovered in Chicago after her death in 2009. A group of close family friends are working to scan the entirety of Ivashintsova’s life’s work. You can view more of her recently discovered images on this website and Instagram specifically created to share her legacy. (via PetaPixel)

It looks like the good people at Sidewalk Labs are trying to familiarize themselves with Toronto before building their own "futuristic mini-city" inside of it.

Good for them, I say! And even better for us.

This open-source, open-data, "Old Toronto" version of Google Maps
(OldTO, as they're calling it) is absolutely incredible.

Released today by the Alphabet-owned Sidewalk Labs, OldTO maps more than 30,000 historic photographs from the City of Toronto Archives onto our current street network.

This means that anyone can search and explore images of the city's history, based on its geography, thanks to the power of geocoding.

It's easy to use, totally free and very, very dangerous to the productivity of office workers.

"As we think about the kinds of digital tools that help people develop, navigate, and maintain neighbourhoods and cities, the ability to organize information geographically and by time comes up again and again as a critical requirement," reads a blog post from Sidewalk Labs explaining the project.

"Old Toronto relies on some of the same technologies that can support a future neighborhood, and as we continue to build new prototypes, we will use them to explore the digital infrastructure needed for more substantial applications."

Right now, clicking on a photo will show any information contained in the description of the archival holding, such as the date, title, condition and copyright restrictions. 

The photos sourced for this project were taken all over the GTA, well beyond the 12-acre section of Toronto's eastern waterfront that Sidewalk Labs will be moving into.

Here is Lady Eaton and some friends at a garden party in King City circa 1930, for instance.

Here's a "coal & coke" shop near Woodbine Avenue and Gerard Street East in 1938.

And here are the (seemingly reluctant) first place winners of the "Danforth Baby Show" near Pape and Cosburn in August of 1930.

Engineers say they're exploring additional features to add to the tool, including an aerial button that will "enable people to see how the city has changed from a bird's-eye view."

They're also releasing the data in JSON format and encouraging software developers to go nuts and create their own features.

"We suspect there are many creative uses of this data that we haven’t thought of, and people will only come up with them when the data is easily available," reads the post.

Thrilled to release #OldTO today, a tool that maps 30,000+ historic photographs from the City of Toronto Archives' incredible collection. We hope it helps Torontonians discover things about their city’s past they never knew. Check it out! https://t.co/EOGINlWFMd @TorontoComms

— Sidewalk Labs (@sidewalklabs) March 20, 2018

"We're also in the process of preparing OldTO for release as an open-source tool, so local urban-tech enthusiasts or civic hackers can build on top of it."

Over time, the company plans to add even more images from both the city archives and other sources.

The blog post notes that the city archive alone holds more than 1.7 million photographs dating all the way back to 1856.

Google's turned another one of its Experiments into a standalone app: augmented reality doodling tool Just a Line hit the Play Store today. Based on Jonas Jongejan's ARCore Drawing experiment, the app lets you make AR drawings in 3D space around you, and frankly, it's pretty stinkin' neat.

There's really not a whole lot to the app: drawing with your finger on your phone's screen, you're able to scrawl white lines in the air that realistically stay in place as you move around them—it's sort of like the Pixel's AR stickers with just a dash of Tilt Brush.

Doodle in the air with Google's new AR experiment, Just a Line [APK Download] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

princesscheeto:

Sorry, I cannot hear you, I’m kinda busy.

Photographer Reuben Wu creates images that reveal an alien splendor in natural and manmade landscapes across the globe. Previously he has explored the brilliant blue rivers of molten sulfur in Indonesian volcanoes, and photographed the thousands of glistening mirrors that compose Nevada’s SolarReserve. For his ongoing series Lux Noctis, the Chicago-based photographer utilizes modified drones as aerial light sources, illuminating obscure landscapes in a way that makes each appear new and unexplored.

Recently Wu has evolved his process of working with the drones to form light paths above topographical peaks in the mountainous terrain. “I see it as a kind of ‘zero trace’ version of land art where the environment remains untouched by the artist, and at the same time is presented in a sublime way which speaks to 19th century Romantic painting and science and fictional imagery,” said Wu to Colossal.

The light from his GPS-enabled drones create a halo effect around some of the presented cliffs and crests when photographed using a long exposure. An elegant circle of light traces the flight of the drone, leaving a mark only perceptible in the resulting photograph. You can see more of Wu’s landscape photography on his Instagram and Facebook. (via Faith is Torment)

Statistics: Posted by HunkaHunkaBurningLove — Feb 26th, 2018 4:52 pm

A post shared by James Nolan Gandy (@gandyworks) on Feb 7, 2018 at 6:34pm PST

Artist and metalworker James Nolan Gandy creates elaborate drawing machines that easily put your childhood spirograph to shame. The machines are engineered from relatively simple mechanisms that when combined, produce mind-boggling shapes and interconnected moiré patterns.

Although the gears and pulleys are crafted in a way to make some of the work on their own, Gandy has not yet manufactured a system to lift the pen at specific intervals. Therefore many of his works are collaborative studies, equally created from the talents of man and machine. Some of my favorites are those created with a high contrast between paper and ink, such as the brilliant blue form seen in his drawing below.

You can view more of Gandy’s drawing machines in action on his Instagram. (via The Awesomer)

A post shared by James Nolan Gandy (@gandyworks) on Jan 13, 2018 at 7:46pm PST

A post shared by James Nolan Gandy (@gandyworks) on Nov 30, 2017 at 10:17pm PST

Image © David Nadlinger / Oxford University

You might need your glasses for this one. Quantum physicist David Nadlinger from the University of Oxford managed to capture an image that would have been impossible only a few years ago: a single atom suspended in an electric field viewable by the naked eye. The amazing shot titled “Single Atom in an Ion Trap” recently won the overall prize in the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) science photo and imaging contest. You can see the atom in the shot above, the tiny speck at the very center.

To be clear, the photo doesn’t capture just the atom, but rather light emitted from it while in an excited state. From the EPSRC:

‘Single Atom in an Ion Trap’, by David Nadlinger, from the University of Oxford, shows the atom held by the fields emanating from the metal electrodes surrounding it. The distance between the small needle tips is about two millimetres.

When illuminated by a laser of the right blue-violet colour the atom absorbs and re-emits light particles sufficiently quickly for an ordinary camera to capture it in a long exposure photograph. The winning picture was taken through a window of the ultra-high vacuum chamber that houses the ion trap.

Laser-cooled atomic ions provide a pristine platform for exploring and harnessing the unique properties of quantum physics. They can serve as extremely accurate clocks and sensors or, as explored by the UK Networked Quantum Information Technologies Hub, as building blocks for future quantum computers, which could tackle problems that stymie even today’s largest supercomputers.

“The idea of being able to see a single atom with the naked eye had struck me as a wonderfully direct and visceral bridge between the minuscule quantum world and our macroscopic reality,” shared Nadlinger. “A back-of-the-envelope calculation showed the numbers to be on my side, and when I set off to the lab with camera and tripods one quiet Sunday afternoon, I was rewarded with this particular picture of a small, pale blue dot.”

You can follow more of his discoveries—large and small—on Twitter. (via PetaPixel)

After a rocky week with messy morning commutes on both Tuesday and Wednesday, the TTC will have its first scheduled weekend subway closure of the year.

There will be no subway service on Line 1 between St. Clair West and Union stations on February 3 and 4 due to signal upgrades. 

Shuttle buses will operate between St. Clair West and Spadina stations, stopping at Dupont Station only. Take note, there will be no shuttle bus service south of Bloor Street as passengers are recommended to use the Yonge side of the Line 1.

Regular scheduled service will resume on Monday morning, assuming that there there are no more cracked rails to deal with. The next scheduled closure will halt weekend service on Line 1 between Lawrence and St. Clair stations on February 10 and 11 due to track work.

Athens-based motion graphics and visual designer Dimitris Ladopoulos uses a series of algorithms to subdivide his favorite works of art, breaking down the color compositions of centuries old paintings in the 3D animation software Houdini. With this process, Ladopoulos digitally observes the palette of Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn‘s Portrait of Johannes Wtenbogaert, in addition to examining the thousands of specific shades used to compose Rembrandt Peale‘s portrait of his daughter Rosalba.

The two digital compositions provide a contemporary view of historical paintings, showcasing how each might be analyzed as a designed object rather than a painted work. You can see more of Ladopoulos’s projects, like this earlier experiment with algorithm-based geometric patterns, on the designer’s website and Behance.

Another new set from the Wonderful Bill Domonkos

Animated vintage photography ,3d Stereoscopy and filmaking

Bill Domonkos is a filmmaker, GIF maker and stereoscopist. His work has been shown internationally in cinemas, film festivals, galleries and museums.

More unique art:

Instagram || Twitter || Facebook

Posted by Andrew

Long before the age of computerized printing presses and journalists being able to file stories via computer, the process of creating the day’s newspaper was a much more arduous, hand-made process. In September 1942, Office of War Information photographer Marjory Collins paid a visit to the offices of the New York Times, located at the […]

The post Preparing and printing the New York Times, 1942 appeared first on Rare Historical Photos.

Leave it to the stationery-loving Japanese to come up with a new way to enjoy writing notes. The Omoshiro Block (loosely translated as ‘fun block’) utilizes laser-cutting technology to create what is, at first, just a seemingly normal square cube of paper note cards. But as the note cards get used, an object begins to appear. And you’ll have to exhaust the entire deck of cards to fully excavate the hidden object.

Produced by Japanese company Triad, whose main line of business is producing architectural models, the Omoshiro Blocks feature various notable architectural sites in Japan like Kyoto’s Kiyomizudera Temple, Tokyo’s Asakusa Temple and Tokyo Tower. The blocks are composed of over 100 sheets of paper and each sheet is different from the next in the same way that individual moments stack up together to form a memory.

But despite the declining cost of laser-cutting technology, the Omoshiro Blocks are still quite expensive and range from around 4000 yen to 10,000 yen, depending on their size. Getting your hands on one will also be tricky for the time being as they’re currently only available at the Tokyu Hands Osaka location. But you can keep up with updates from the company by following them on Instagram. (Syndicated from Spoon & Tamago)

Warren King began sculpting with cardboard as an attempt to add fantasy to the lives of his children, creatively crafting masks and helmets out of the recyclable material. This slowly evolved into a more time-consuming arts practice as King began focusing less time on costumes, and more time making large sculptures of his own. After a visit to his grandparents’ village in Shaoxing, China, the New York City-based artist felt compelled to more deeply connect with his cultural past. This sparked Grandfather’s Friend, and Arrival Times, a series of life-size cardboard recreations of his ancestors. 

“During my first visit to China about 7 years ago, I visited the village and spoke with residents who actually remembered my grandparents from over 50 years ago,” said King. “It was a pivotal experience for me, one that inspired me to become an artist. Through my work, I am attempting to understand the fragile connections to people and culture, and examine whether those connections, once broken, can be restored.”

King’s cardboard sculptures will be shown in the exhibition Art of Asia at the Peninsula Fine Arts Center from February 2 to March 28, 2018. You can see more of his work on his Instagram and Flickr.