(Roughly) Daily

The Baguette Incident (source: foxypar4/flickr, via PopSci)

Pity the poor Large Hadron Collider, the largest and most powerful particle accelerator in the world, built to find the Higgs Boson– the “God Particle.”  It just can’t seem to find its feet.

First, a coolant leak destroyed some of the magnets that guide the energy beam. Then LHC officials postponed the restart of the machine to add additional safety features. Now, a piece of bread droped by a bird on a section of the accelerator has, according to the Register, shut down the whole operation.

The bird dropped some bread on an outdoor section of the gigantic device, eventually leading to significant over heating in parts of the accelerator. The LHC was not operational at the time of the incident, but the spike produced so much heat that had the beam been on, automatic fail-safes would have shut it down.

Was the baguette an accident?  Two scientists have theorized that the LHC is sabotaging itself from the future, to prevent mankind discovering the elusive Higgs Boson particle (link to paper at arXiv.org have sued to shut down the LHC “before it destroys the world.”

More, at PopSci.com.

As we spin the arrow of time, we might recall that first Flying Trapeze act was performed in Paris on this date in 1859 by Jules Leotard (who also designed the garment that bears his name).

Jules Leotard

…  or just don the Happiness Hat– a millinery creation of artist Lauren McCarthy:

“A wearable conditioning device that detects if you’re smiling and provides pain feedback if you’re not. Frowning creates intense pain but a full smile leaves you pain free! The first in a series of Tools for Improved Social Inter-Acting.”

…or we could just console ourselves that (as the BBC reports) feeling grumpy is good for you.

As we bare our teeth, we might note that it was on this date in 1215 that the Fourth Lateran Council was convened, at which (among other things) “transubstantiation” was formally recognized and defined by the Roman Catholic Church; from that point, Catholics have been “required” to receive the Eucharist at the least on Easter.  (The Council had been called– convoked– by Pope Innocent III with the papal bull of April 19, 1213…)

Pope Innocent III

From Darren Rouse’s Digital Photography School, a 90-year-old example of forced perspective photography:

The picture is of 18,000 men preparing for war in a training camp at Camp Dodge, in Iowa.

A few facts about the image:

* Length from base to Shoulder: 150 feet
* Right Arm: 340 feet
* Length of Torch and flame: 1000 feet
* Total Length: 1490 Feet
* Number of men in body and head of figure: 2,000
* Number of men in right arm: 1,200
* Number of men in torch: 2,800
* Number of men in the flame only: 12,000
* Total men: 18,000

(Thanks SC for the pointer)

As we adjust our focal lengths, we might pause to slip a celebratory tickle to Elmo– it was on this date in 1969 that Sesame Street first aired…

The original cast

photo: MFinChina

photo: amasc

For other examples of DVD cover art veritably proclaiming its illegality, visit Crappy Bootleg DVD covers on Flickr.

As we reconsider those bargains, we might search extra hard for an authentic copy of Ninotchka, as it was on this date in 1939 that Greta Garbo’s beautiful Bolshevik made her debut.

The one-sheet

With thanks to reader MK for the lead, a look at the Sand Sculpture at Harrison Hot Springs.  For 19 years, proprietors Karen and Bob Bell hosted the World Championships of Sand Sculpture.  For reasons obscure, there was no competition last year; still, the accomplishments of the 157 artists who worked there are nifty to behold.  Consider, e.g., this piece by Carl Jara:

or this one, by Brett Terry:

More at the Harrisand gallery.

As we brush off our feet, we might recall that on this date in 1519, Hernán Cortés entered Tenochtitlán (roughly where Mexico City stands today).  Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomed him with great ceremony, as might befit a returning god…  little did the Aztec chief know…

Criss-crossed with canals, laced with aqueducts and markets, and set beside a grand lake, with floating gardens, Tenochtitlán was “the Venice of the New World”… or, rather, Venice was the mini-Tenochtitlán of Europe– the Mexican city was much larger and grander than that Italian town.

Indeed, according to early Spanish accounts,  Tenochtitlán was unlike the European cities they knew, but more like the ones they had seen in romantic books, as it was neither crowded nor dirty.  Indeed, Tenochtitlán was larger, more beautiful and more complex than any European city at the time. The population of the lake city was 200,000 – 300,000, at a time when London’s numbered about 40,000 and only 65,000 people lived in Paris.  Tenochtitlán’s craftsmen (for instance, its extraordinary goldsmiths) were a match for those in Europe, and the grandeur of the city’s pyramids rivalled that of the Egyptian “wonders of the world.”

Tenochtitlán