Cooper Griggs

After witnessing the destruction brought on by hurricanes in Thailand, the Southern U.S. and around the world, Italian sculptor Lorenzo Quinn began creating a series of sculptures titled ‘Force of Nature’. Made from bronze, stainless steel and aluminum, the sculptures, full of life and energy, depict mother nature hurtling planet earth around in circles. The powerful and furious image is meant remind us of the power of nature and what Quinn describes as our “false sense of security” towards it.

“After having seen the ravaged coast of Thailand and the Hurricane that affected the Southern States I decided to create a sculpture dedicated to Mother Nature,” explains Quinn. At any moment in time, nature’s wrath could be awakened, bringing with it sudden destruction. The sculptures, which have been installed all around the world, remind us of this fact. And for Quinn they also harken back to something more ancient and primitive: “This would be reminiscent of the early statues made as peace offerings to the Gods in the hope of quenching their anger.” (via Bored Panda)

Fact Check: Was Shawn Fuller (a man suspected of murdering his two toddler sons) a gun enthusiast?

via http://matthieulavanchy.com/works/etienne-gros

In the early morning hours of June 15, a huge white balloon filled with 6,200 cubic meters of helium slowly ascended into the sky above Huiyu Island Harbour, Quanzhou, China. Attached to it was a 500-meter long ladder coated completely with quick burning fuses and gold fireworks that was then ignighted by artist Cai Guo­-Qiang (previously) who has become known for his ambitious pyrotechnic artworks.

Titled Sky Ladder, the piece burned for approxmiately 2 minutes and 30 seconds above the harbor and was the fourth and final attempt to realize the performance. Guo­-Qiang had earlier attempted Sky Ladder in Bath (1994), Shanghai (2001), and in Los Angeles (2012), to varying degrees of success, but never considered his vision complete until now. He first imagined a ladder of fire as a child and has pursued the idea for 21 years. He shares about this last successful iteration of the event:

Behind Sky Ladder lies a clear childhood dream of mine. Despite all life’s twists and turns, I have always been determined to realize it. My earlier proposals were either more abstract or ceremonial. Sky Ladder today is tender, and touches my heart deeply: it carries affection for my hometown, my relatives and my friends. In contrast to my other attempts, which set the ignition time at dusk, this time the ladder rose toward the morning sun, carrying hope. For me, this not only means a return but also the start of a new journey.

Unfortunately there’s no official video of the performance available yet, but a few shaky cell phone videos have emerged. You can see more images of the performance on the artist’s website. All photos by Lin Yi and Wen-You Cai courtesy Cai Studio. (via Booooooom)

lefthandedtoons:

Brain Cells | Left-Handed Toons

Comic URL: http://www.lefthandedtoons.com/1821/

By Cat DiStasio As the cost of solar energy falls, more and more buildings are being outfitted with photovoltaic systems -- and some even generate more electricity than they use. Structures like that are called "energy positive" and it's a pretty...

micdotcom:

Yeah, this is probably the best Facebook post you’ll read today. It’s also highlighting a problem that literally happens all over the world.

Not all heroes wear capes. [video]

ArtStation - Wolf Pack, by Yuri Shwedoff

Plug-in charging infrastructure like Tesla's Supercharger network are currently helping drive the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), but the UK government is already looking towards a future where charging is also possible on the move. Highways E...

It's not only Chrysler drivers that have to worry about hackers taking control of their cars from afar. UC San Diego researchers have found that you can control features on cars of many makes by exploiting vulnerabilities in cellular-capable dongl...

Fact Check: Did Louis Farrakhan say that “if the federal government will not intercede in our affairs, then we must rise up and kill those who kill us”?

via http://www.tumblr.com/likes

The Wachowski siblings' trippy Netflix series Sense8 may not be everyone's cup of tea, but the show clearly has some fans: as part of a birthday celebration, Netflix has revealed that it's bringing Sense8 back for a second season. While there are...

You probably don't think about thieves when you unlock your car, but Samy Kamkar certainly does. The security researcher known for his droll (and scary) hacks has created a device called "Rolljam" that cracks the wireless entry systems used by car-...

It's been four years since an earthquake and tsunami knocked out the nuclear reactor at Fukushima, causing a meltdown and mass evacuation of the local area. The tragedy eventually saw the shut down of all of the nation's nuclear power plants, with...

Think that Samsung's 2TB solid-state drives are pretty capacious? They're just the start of something bigger. The Korean tech giant has started manufacturing the first 256-gigabit (32GB) 3D vertical flash memory, doubling its previous capacity rec...

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Over the coming months we’ll be releasing the names of our Generator lineup, one at a time. This is the first.

Our house band for the evening will be local street performers Tupper Ware Remix Party.

You might know them from their inception in Halifax, or have seen them on the corner of College and Bathurst.

If you’ve yet to hear about them, then you’re in for a treat. They are a stellar group of musicians, and we’re lucky to get a chance to introduce them to you.

Can’t wait for October.

Join us here:https://www.facebook.com/events/712627588883618/

This autonomous charger is much better than the boring old unit that required collaboration with a human to charge the Tesla.

[via]

Keep your flying cars and robot maids, we are already living in Elon Musk's future. Tesla officially unveiled its automatic charging system today and whaaaaa? When Musk first announced its development last December, he compared it to a "solid metal...

If you live in the States and have been itchin' to get behind the wheel of Audi's new plug-in hybrid, you'll soon be in luck. The A3 e-tron "Sportback" (read: hatchback) will arrive at dealers in the US in October, with prices starting at $37,900 b...

For most of us, visiting the International Space Station is little more than an impossible dream -- but if you know what you're doing, talking to the orbiting laboratory is surprisingly plausible. No, really: just ask Adrian Lane, a Gloucestershire...

The best music often comes from the notes left unplayed, and so it was with the Tesla Motors Q2 earnings call with financial analysts this week. While we heard upbeat news about the Model X delivery schedule – and downbeat news about the comp...

If you have an old, Intel-based computer hanging around, you might want to get rid of it post-haste. Security researcher Chris Domas has discovered a vulnerability in the x86 architecture of Intel processors made between 1997 and 2010 (pre-Sandy Br...

Just because you're aboard the International Space Station doesn't mean you can avoid eating your vegetables. NASA has revealed that its ISS crew will munch on space-grown veggies (specifically, the red romaine lettuce you see above) for the first...