Awesome Pictures Thread

[Sky]

The fact that one of the most important endeavors in human history (space exporation) has to justify itself to politicians makes me fucking aggressively hostile, as well.

As someone who works in a information and literacy institution that constantly has to justify itself to politicians despite unprecedented utilization and years of exemplifying the 'more with less' philosophy the politicians jerk each other off with.

But I digress.

[Samwise]

Here's how the original Pillars of Creation image was edited and composited.

That was a very informative link, and the tl;dr version for all you wot didn't click it is that the colors aren't just made up in Photoshop.  It's more like the contrast has been tweaked so that our eyeballs can better sort out the different wavelengths that the Hubble is picking up.

[rk47]

I drew this for a friend on MS paint cause he said he can't draw trees and he wants to make a living as an artist.



At least he cheered up.

[K9]

http://i.imgur.com/CccbYhb.gifv

Can't seem to link this one directly; but it is awesome

[Trippy]

Impressive.

[Evildrider]

Ya, that is pretty awesome.

[lamaros]

Rks pic or the legs?

[Strazos]

[Ironwood]

The bit on the stairs is really impressive.

How old is that ?

[kaid]

Its sad that one really good thing that has come from the last decade and a half of warfare is some huge breakthroughs in prosthetics.

[Paelos]

Its sad that one really good thing that has come from the last decade and a half of warfare is some huge breakthroughs in prosthetics.

War is one of the best spurs of innovation. It's just history.

[Brennik]

The bit on the stairs is really impressive.

How old is that ?

It's from http://www.channel4.com/programmes/how-to-build-a-bionic-man which apparently aired in February 2013. First time I've seen it.

[Mithas]

He did a TED talk at one point in time also:

https://www.ted.com/talks/hugh_herr_the_new_bionics_that_let_us_run_climb_and_dance

[Tale]

The world if countries were physically sized according to population. View image at full size and zoom in for details.

[lamaros]

Its sad that one really good thing that has come from the last decade and a half of warfare is some huge breakthroughs in prosthetics.

War is one of the best spurs of innovation. It's just history.

I've read the opposite. That leisure is the mother of invention.

Leisured wars, perhaps.

[Paelos]

I don't think warfare causes innovation. I think it provides funding for it in certain industries to really spur the progress of developments, or get them better testing in the field.

[Maven]

Space program is a non-warfare example, unless you want to claim the whole point was death lasers from space. Or a Cold War example.

Problems needing innovative solutions. Almost as if invention was necessary....

[pxib]

Space program is a non-warfare example, unless you want to claim the whole point was death lasers from space. Or a Cold War example.

Remember that the first A is NASA is Aeronautics. They started off with intercontinental ballistic missiles and supersonic planes, also for military use. And for decades, an easy majority of space launches (worldwide) were spy satellites. The manned missions were an expensive (albiet supremely popular) public distraction.

They made so many that the technology advanced faster than their launch schedule. Remember these? Turns out one of them is already getting retrofitted.

Paelos is absolutely right. It's always easy for war to get funding, and funding is what leads to innovation.

[Sky]

Space program is a non-warfare example

wat

[MahrinSkel]

Space program is a non-warfare example, unless you want to claim the whole point was death lasers from space. Or a Cold War example.

Even though it was sold as science and exploration, the core motivation for the space program from the beginning was to develop missile technologies (with a side order of "seizing the high ground", death lasers in space was actually a real goal). The science outside of rocket engines and guidance was a side effect. Sputnik didn't make Washington plotz in their pants because the Russians had thumbed their nose at us, but because if you can put a satellite in orbit you can put a warhead on the other side of the planet.

--Dave

[Nebu]

Science for the sake of science died in the 1950's.  If you want any kind of money to do science now, you damn well better be able to tie it to something that makes money, is in the government's best interest, or both.  NASA is no exception.

[Typhon]

Typhon: Large Hadron Collider, Mr HalfEmpty!
Nebu: That's Dr HalfEmpty to you, I didn't spend 8 years getting my Doctorate to be called Mr

[Tannhauser]

Yeah and IIRC, America decided not to make the HC, they couldn't find the profit stream from it. 

Never mind that many NASA innovations are in common use now.

[pxib]

Yeah and IIRC, America decided not to make the HC, they couldn't find the profit stream from it.

Decided to make it, just decided not to finish it. It was called the Superconducting Super Collider, and would have been larger than CERN. Since this is the Awesome Pictures Thread, here's a bit of its corpse:

[Merusk]

Space program is a non-warfare example, unless you want to claim the whole point was death lasers from space. Or a Cold War example.

Even though it was sold as science and exploration, the core motivation for the space program from the beginning was to develop missile technologies (with a side order of "seizing the high ground", death lasers in space was is actually a real goal).

We've got anti-missile lasers on planes and ships now. Don't think for a moment we're not throwing them on those super-secret satellites as soon as we can too.

[rk47]

[calapine]

Decided to make it, just decided not to finish it. It was called the Superconducting Super Collider, and would have been larger than CERN.

Impressively larger actually.

87 km (Super Collider) vs 27 km (LHC) circumference.

Shame it wasn't seen through.  


Should the VHE-LHC ever be built it will have similar proportions as the Super Collider:

[Sky]

This is why people don't want skateboarders on their property!

[Maven]

They started off with intercontinental ballistic missiles and supersonic planes, also for military use. And for decades, an easy majority of space launches (worldwide) were spy satellites. The manned missions were an expensive (albiet supremely popular) public distraction.

...

Paelos is absolutely right. It's always easy for war to get funding, and funding is what leads to innovation.

I see. I was wrong, thank you for the history.

[Tale]

From Twitter just now. Said to be the Taiwan plane crash that just happened (reports so far suggest no deaths -- I hope this post does not end up looking macabre).



Edit - this is the car seen in the distance.

[Abagadro]

Reports are coming out that there are fatalities although a lot of survivors.  All the reports are saying it crashed after "clipping a bridge." Its clearly in a stall (for whatever reason) and clipping the bridge was just part of the crash.

EDIT: Picture of the car is pretty crazy. Insurance claim: Landed on by airplane.

[Tale]

Here's the video from which the above stills were apparently taken.

[Abagadro]

Looks like an engine power failure. Dropped like a rock.

[Teleku]

Wow, if dude in the Car is ok, he is simultaneously the luckiest and unluckiest man ever.

[Abagadro]

Car guys are apparently ok. It was a taxi and the driver got glass in the face and the passenger whiplash. This is based on watching live youtube coverage in Chinese and translation in the live comments so take with a grain of salt.