The Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D by Matt Might is something i enjoyed finding the other day, it is an attempt to explain what a Ph.D is using simple graphics. Although i am "merely" aiming for a masters i could relate to how my knowledge is represented. I am aiming for the horizon though. I am not discounting working on a Ph.D one day but first things first...
It is almost March and that means results month. Hopefully i should find out if i have passed A825 by mid-March and have some guidance as to where i should be going with my dissertation.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Rebuilding the Titanic?
Forget raising the Titanic Australian mining entrepreneur Clive Palmer wants to build a life-size replica of the doomed ocean liner (personally i find building ships to 1:700 scale more manageable than 1:1). Although the ship will be built with an eye for detail with the same style of furnishings as the original and will not have TVs or free WiFi the ship will have some modern refinements such as air conditioning and sufficient life boats!
It looks like the ship is intended to be more a floating theme park rather than an ocean liner built to a retro style. Passengers will be able to dress up in period clothing and party like its 1912. The ship will retain the three separate classes of the original (and classes will not be able to mix) though there could be an option to sample life in all 3 classes. Palmer is hoping the ship, which could begin construction this year, will be ready to recreate the ill-fated Atlantic cruise of Titanic 1.0 in 2016. Hopefully avoiding ice bergs...
Photo from Flickr Commons (State Library of Queensland)
It looks like the ship is intended to be more a floating theme park rather than an ocean liner built to a retro style. Passengers will be able to dress up in period clothing and party like its 1912. The ship will retain the three separate classes of the original (and classes will not be able to mix) though there could be an option to sample life in all 3 classes. Palmer is hoping the ship, which could begin construction this year, will be ready to recreate the ill-fated Atlantic cruise of Titanic 1.0 in 2016. Hopefully avoiding ice bergs...
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
HMS Caroline
Missed this earlier in the month but HMS Caroline, the last survivor from the Battle of Jutland, has been given a grant of £1 million from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) for urgent repairs. The cruiser was finally decommissioned in 2011 following decades as a training ship in Belfast (the ship's home since 1924) and static drill ship but its condition has deteriorated and the future of the ship was in question.
The funds will make the ship water and air tight and will remove dangerous materials like asbestos. The next stage is to transform the Caroline into a floating museum, hopefully for the centenary of Jutland in 2016. The Telegraph have a nice photo gallery.
The funds will make the ship water and air tight and will remove dangerous materials like asbestos. The next stage is to transform the Caroline into a floating museum, hopefully for the centenary of Jutland in 2016. The Telegraph have a nice photo gallery.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Saving endangered photographs
Conserving historic photographs is a very complicated business because of the variety of methods used in early photography, and the science itself is a fairly recent development. This fascinating article traces the history of photo conservation and the complications involved. Research into photo conservation was spurred in the 1990s by the explosion in value of historic and artistic photos and the discovery of some frauds.
What astounded me was that there have been over 150 different photographic processes developed in the 187 years since Joseph Niépce first took a photograph of the view from his window. The article lists some of these including processes i've heard of like daguerreotypes and also others i hadn't like ambrotypes and kallitypes!
Photo from Flickr Commons, British Officer from Sir William Dixson's collection of ambrotype portraits, ca. 1857-1858, possibly by Thomas Glaister (State Library of New South Wales)
What astounded me was that there have been over 150 different photographic processes developed in the 187 years since Joseph Niépce first took a photograph of the view from his window. The article lists some of these including processes i've heard of like daguerreotypes and also others i hadn't like ambrotypes and kallitypes!
Monday, February 25, 2013
Mauritia
I've always found ancient continents and super-continents fascinating. Now scientists have found evidence of a now lost micro-continent called Mauritia which existed between 2000 and 86 million years ago. Mauritia was located between India and Madagascar but fragmented when India broke away and headed up towards its eventual collision with Asia.
Grains of sand off beaches in Mauritius were analysed (nice place to do some research) which were found to contain ancient minerals. Zirconium, a mineral commonly found in continental crust, were found in the sand and have been dated between 1,970 to 600 million years old.
Grains of sand off beaches in Mauritius were analysed (nice place to do some research) which were found to contain ancient minerals. Zirconium, a mineral commonly found in continental crust, were found in the sand and have been dated between 1,970 to 600 million years old.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Return to 110 Format photography
A few years ago i bought a Kodak Instamatic off Ebay and took a number of photos in the venerable 110 film format. Then i dropped the camera in the mud at Plantbrook Nature Reserve and it went a bit funny. For a few years i got sidetracked but earlier this year i decided to finish the film off in that original camera (which i was unsure still worked or not) and also buy a second Instamatic and try some new film (made by Lomography no less).
And i got the results back yesterday and some of the photos are really pretty interesting. Both cameras work fine so i will continue to use both in future. The Lomo film was Lomography Lobster Redscale 110 which gives everything a reddy tinge, it also adds a period feel to photos such as the one of Shakespeare's birthplace below, which looks like it might have been taken in the 19th century but infact was was taken in January 2013! I have a black and white Lomo film too ready for use.
And i got the results back yesterday and some of the photos are really pretty interesting. Both cameras work fine so i will continue to use both in future. The Lomo film was Lomography Lobster Redscale 110 which gives everything a reddy tinge, it also adds a period feel to photos such as the one of Shakespeare's birthplace below, which looks like it might have been taken in the 19th century but infact was was taken in January 2013! I have a black and white Lomo film too ready for use.
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