Incredible COLOR photos from 1905-1915!

Emir Seyyid Mir Mohammed Alim Khan, the lat Emir of Bukhara (present-day Uzbekistan) Looking back on old photography is always an interesting adventure.  It's a window into a past life that can otherwise be difficult to imagine.  That being said, there has always been a bit of an "uncanny valley" in black and white photography.   You get a lot of the feeling of the photo,  but without the color it's difficult to immerse yourself in the image.  That's why I was truly mesmerized when I saw this grouping of COLOR photographs posted on PetaPixel dating to around 1905 by Sergey Produkin-Gorsky.   Yes, you heard that right.  Color photos.   These photos were not colorized later, they were taken in color.

The images were produced by taking 3 seperate exposures .  Each one using either a red, green, or blue filter over the lens.   Then those resulting monochrome images were projected through red green and blue filters onto a screen where the images could be printed in their full color glory. The amount of technical skill involved in doing something like this with the limited technology that was available in the early 1900s is absolutely staggering.  Think about the amount of exposure time, and the necessity to make sure nothing in the frame moves throughout the entire production of the image.   Staggeringly good work.

For more information,  please read the full PetaPixel article, and visit the full collection online.

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These new iOS games are amazing time-wasters!

Many of you might know that I used to be quite the avid gamer.  Unfortunately, as adulthood crept on, I had less and less time to invest 60+ hours in a jrpg or the latest first person shooter.   My gaming habits have moved more and more into the casual realm, especially since I started carrying an iPhone back in 2008.  That being said, there is still the occasional times that I get hardcore sucked into one of these casual games.   Even more rare is when it happens twice in one week.   This is one of those weeks.

Smash Hit

This one seems simple enough.  Throw balls at crystals to acquire more balls and throw balls at breakable glass obstacles in your way.  It's the combination of beautiful graphics, zen like gameplay, and the catharsis of breaking tons of glass that keeps bringing me back to this one.  You need to check it out!  It also doesn't hurt that it's currently free.

Bridge Constructor

This one has you putting your brain to the test instead of your reflexes.   Bridge Constructor is exactly what it sounds like.   You construct bridges out of different sorts of materials and your goal is to make sure that they are stable enough for cars and trucks to drive over.   The physics in the game are fantastic!   The pieces of the bridge turn slowly from green to red to indicate the amount of stress they are under, and when they get TOO red... BOOM.   There goes your bridge.    The initial levels are easy enough for you to pick up the concepts quickly, and the challenge ramps up from there.   You will have more than a couple of moments where you will be biting your knuckles as those tiny little cars drive across your rickety bridge.   Not a free app, but more than worth the money.   Check it out!

NASA celebrates Cosmos relaunch with gorgeous photo gallery

Nasa's Goddard Space Telescope

Tonight was the relaunch of the famous science television series Cosmos on Fox.   The original, helmed by Carl Sagan,  was a cultural touchstone that brought the love of astronomy, science, and deep thought to a television landscape that was desperately in need at the time.   Judging from our recent science literacy polls,  it looks like we picked just the right time to bring it back.   Now hosted by Neil Degrasse Tyson, the new Cosmos looks to continue right where its predecessor left off.

To celebrate the relaunch, NASA today released a gallery of absolutely stunning photos from the goddard space telescope.   Take the time to look through these just to appreciate the amount of knowledge and skill it took to produce them.  Enjoy!

NASA GODDARD SPACE TELESCOPE FLICKR STREAM