Weird and cool video, but at least Charlotte Gainsbourg doesn't cut off her clitoris with a pair of scissors in this one.

There's one image I'll never be able to get out of my head.

"As above, so below".
As many of you already know, if you look at the patterns found in nature, they are repetitive, in both grand scale and small. These birds form the same chaotic patterns that gaseous clouds of dust form out in space, albeit the birds are much more sped up. Or maybe they exhibit the same behavior as super-heated plasma.

Another example, I was eating a picnic once and had a sandwich with poppy seeds all over the bun. By the time I had finished, there was a large number of poppy seeds that had fallen off onto my white paper plate. I noticed that they had fallen into such a pattern, black seeds on white paper plate, that if you had inverted the colors, you would have had the random cascades and invariable strings that stars form in the night sky. With each shake of the plate, I was able to recreate random, chaotic strings of seeds, which continued to look like an inverted picture of the heavens.

This is also why I believe the universe will not end with a "Big Crunch", and also will not conceivably keep expanding forever. Just like any explosion found in nature, it is always the "fireball" expanding into space that is already there. I believe that on a very simple scale, our universe is just an explosion, rapidly expanding and thinning out into an already existing medium (dark matter?). We won't collapse, and we won't keep expanding. We'll just eventually thin out and cool down enough that the universe will filter out into the background. One could ponder the question, "What is beyond the edge of the universe?" but it could very well be a fruitless question. There has always been something on the other side of the hill, ocean, sky, solar system. Who says that has to stop when we reach the edge of our universe? What is beyond the medium we are expanding into?

Anyway, cool birds.

>> ^cybrbeast:
Why did the technology die with him? Surely more could be built?


One person with extraordinary vision, coupled with technological know-how, engineering brilliance and the ability to get his hands dirty and plain-and-simple build what he imagines is a rare thing.

In the case of the Britten bike, this is a partial list of what made his bike special:

1) Partial girder-link front suspension with adjustable anti-dive properties.
-fork-type suspensions compress under braking and extend during acceleration, changing the geometry and handling characteristics of the machine quite drastically during the different driving modes. Britten's suspension design allowed him to control pretty much all variables of suspension geometry under changing load, making the bike behave however the rider wished.
- The rear suspension, while perhaps not as revolutionary, was a beautiful piece. It was essentially a carbon-fibre banana swing-arm with a linkage to the adjustable shock/spring assembly. If you look at the bike you'll see that there's no spring/shock assembly near the rear suspension, rather note the spring/shock assembly directly behind the front wheel- this is for the rear suspension! The front shock assembly is hidden in the front suspension linkage and cowling.

2) The engine itself was a stressed-member.
-While certainly not unheard of, Britten took the concept to an extreme, essentially eliminating the frame from the motorcycle. The front and rear suspensions essentially bolted directly to the engine, thus saving many kilos over contemporary designs. Take a look at any current MotoGP or Superbike- most use the engine as a partial stressed-member, but they all have frame members linking the engine, steering heads and seat-assemblies. Britten really only had a vestigial sub-frame for the rider's seat.

3) Well-controlled aerodynamics and fully-ducted cooling system
-Britten paid close attention to airflow over, around and through his bike. Look how cleanly the rider's body tucks into the bodywork. He paid close attention to details, notice how clean the entire assembly is- no exposed wiring, nothing dangling into the airflow, that incredibly sleek rear swing-arm and rear tire hugger. This keeps the airflow smooth and un-disturbed. Motorcycles aren't terribly aerodynamic machines in the first place, but a wise man once said God is in the details.
-The engine itself is a water cooled design, but where's the radiator? It's in a fully-sealed duct directly beneath the rider's seat. High-pressure air is inlet from the front of the bike, through the radiator and is exhausted into the low pressure area beneath the rider and above/ahead of the rear wheel. Greater cooling equals higher power potential.

4) The motor
- 999cc 60 degree V-Twin, belt-driven DOHC design, twin injectors per cylinder, sophisticated electronic ignition, hand-made carbon fibre velocity stacks, wet sump. The motor was designed to breathe hard, pumping out torque and horsepower (166 hp @ 11800 rpm- not sure about the torque figures), and run cool and reliably under racing conditions. Nothing here that any other manufacturer couldn't have figured out on their own, but Britten had the insight and the will to make the best motor in the world at the time. The 60 degree configuration was, I assume chosen for packaging reasons. Normally this configuration would have bad primary balance characteristics, but Britten engineered his to such tight tolerances that the engine ran smoothly right up to redline (12500 rpm) without using a balance shaft.
I'll also point out here that Britten wasn't above using someone else's part if it was better than he could make himself- the gearbox was from a Suzuki superbike, and the cylinder liners and voltage regulator (both of which failed at the Daytona race in '92- the latter costing Britten the win) were from Ducati.

5) Carbon Fibre
- While Carbon Fibre had been around for 2 decades or so at this point, nobody had used it so extensively. Britten used the material for bodywork, wheels, engine parts, suspension girders and the rear swing-arm. There is still no other bike, not even the current Ducati Desmosedici MotoGP bike, that uses so much of this exotic material. The stuff then, as it is now, was hugely expensive and challenging to engineer for different applications. Britten made everything himself, in his garage, figuring it out as he went. This kept the total weight of the bike to a hugely impressive 138 kg.

Keep in mind that he did all of the above in 1991 and 1992, with the help of several neighbors and one part-time machinist, in his backyard shed! He made the bodywork by hand, using a wire frame and hot melt glue, crafting the wind-cheating shape and cooling ducting purely by eye. He cast the aluminum engine parts himself, heat-treating them in his wife's pottery kiln, and cooling the heat-treated parts with water from his swimming pool!

Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki... any one of these manufactures could today reproduce and expand on what Britten accomplished almost single-handedly. None of them will- there's too much at stake for them. It's far safer to stick with the tried-and-true, making small evolutionary changes over the years. A true visionary achiever (to coin a term) like Britten comes along only every once in a great while.

I suppose that this is what was really lost when John Britten died... vision, engineering acuity, hands-on knowledge, and pure will. Touched with a little craziness.

In reply to this comment by cybrbeast:
Why did the technology die with him? Surely more could be built?

>> ^cybrbeast:
Why did the technology die with him? Surely more could be built?


One person with extraordinary vision, coupled with technological know-how, engineering brilliance and the ability to get his hands dirty and plain-and-simple build what he imagines is a rare thing.

In the case of the Britten bike, this is a partial list of what made his bike special:

1) Partial girder-link front suspension with adjustable anti-dive properties.
-fork-type suspensions compress under braking and extend during acceleration, changing the geometry and handling characteristics of the machine quite drastically during the different driving modes. Britten's suspension design allowed him to control pretty much all variables of suspension geometry under changing load, making the bike behave however the rider wished.
- The rear suspension, while perhaps not as revolutionary, was a beautiful piece. It was essentially a carbon-fibre banana swing-arm with a linkage to the adjustable shock/spring assembly. If you look at the bike you'll see that there's no spring/shock assembly near the rear suspension, rather note the spring/shock assembly directly behind the front wheel- this is for the rear suspension! The front shock assembly is hidden in the front suspension linkage and cowling.

2) The engine itself was a stressed-member.
-While certainly not unheard of, Britten took the concept to an extreme, essentially eliminating the frame from the motorcycle. The front and rear suspensions essentially bolted directly to the engine, thus saving many kilos over contemporary designs. Take a look at any current MotoGP or Superbike- most use the engine as a partial stressed-member, but they all have frame members linking the engine, steering heads and seat-assemblies. Britten really only had a vestigial sub-frame for the rider's seat.

3) Well-controlled aerodynamics and fully-ducted cooling system
-Britten paid close attention to airflow over, around and through his bike. Look how cleanly the rider's body tucks into the bodywork. He paid close attention to details, notice how clean the entire assembly is- no exposed wiring, nothing dangling into the airflow, that incredibly sleek rear swing-arm and rear tire hugger. This keeps the airflow smooth and un-disturbed. Motorcycles aren't terribly aerodynamic machines in the first place, but a wise man once said God is in the details.
-The engine itself is a water cooled design, but where's the radiator? It's in a fully-sealed duct directly beneath the rider's seat. High-pressure air is inlet from the front of the bike, through the radiator and is exhausted into the low pressure area beneath the rider and above/ahead of the rear wheel. Greater cooling equals higher power potential.

4) The motor
- 999cc 60 degree V-Twin, belt-driven DOHC design, twin injectors per cylinder, sophisticated electronic ignition, hand-made carbon fibre velocity stacks, wet sump. The motor was designed to breathe hard, pumping out torque and horsepower (166 hp @ 11800 rpm- not sure about the torque figures), and run cool and reliably under racing conditions. Nothing here that any other manufacturer couldn't have figured out on their own, but Britten had the insight and the will to make the best motor in the world at the time. The 60 degree configuration was, I assume chosen for packaging reasons. Normally this configuration would have bad primary balance characteristics, but Britten engineered his to such tight tolerances that the engine ran smoothly right up to redline (12500 rpm) without using a balance shaft.
I'll also point out here that Britten wasn't above using someone else's part if it was better than he could make himself- the gearbox was from a Suzuki superbike, and the cylinder liners and voltage regulator (both of which failed at the Daytona race in '92- the latter costing Britten the win) were from Ducati.

5) Carbon Fibre
- While Carbon Fibre had been around for 2 decades or so at this point, nobody had used it so extensively. Britten used the material for bodywork, wheels, engine parts, suspension girders and the rear swing-arm. There is still no other bike, not even the current Ducati Desmosedici MotoGP bike, that uses so much of this exotic material. The stuff then, as it is now, was hugely expensive and challenging to engineer for different applications. Britten made everything himself, in his garage, figuring it out as he went. This kept the total weight of the bike to a hugely impressive 138 kg.

Keep in mind that he did all of the above in 1991 and 1992, with the help of several neighbors and one part-time machinist, in his backyard shed! He made the bodywork by hand, using a wire frame and hot melt glue, crafting the wind-cheating shape and cooling ducting purely by eye. He cast the aluminum engine parts himself, heat-treating them in his wife's pottery kiln, and cooling the heat-treated parts with water from his swimming pool!

Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki... any one of these manufactures could today reproduce and expand on what Britten accomplished almost single-handedly. None of them will- there's too much at stake for them. It's far safer to stick with the tried-and-true, making small evolutionary changes over the years. A true visionary achiever (to coin a term) like Britten comes along only every once in a great while.

I suppose that this is what was really lost when John Britten died... vision, engineering acuity, hands-on knowledge, and pure will. Touched with a little craziness.

Construction of *wheels... wow, this is madness and cool at the same time. Do people still do this? The *British offer madness of the best kind.

It's also possible to achieve this effect by heating and cooling tap water many times. Nuke it for 2 minutes, let it cool, repeat three times.

Also, I've read reports of this happening with tap water in a brand new, super-clean mug. Apparently if the interior is smooth enough the boil won't begin because there aren't enough micro-bubbles.

So -this- is what Dyson was spamming me about. They sent a link to some BS video clip of people going "what is that?" and "Cool!" All with not a word or view of the object itself. Apparently they plan to unveil it Oct 15th. Personally, I can't stand these "buzz" type ad campaigns.

Given the wondrousness of my Dyson vacuum, I'm willing to wager that they've got some really creative process here...they -are- masters of vortexes, after all. I'd also guess that it's going to be hella expensive.

The point is that the words on the page were scientific based facts.

Noooooo - the only scientific evidence is that Earth has climate cycles of warming and cooling and that the Earth is currently in a warming cycle. There is no 'scientific evidence' that human activity is causing any of that cycle to take place either positively or negatively. There is more C02 in the atmosphere, but there is no evidence that the C02 is what 'caused' the warming. There is compelling evidence that C02 is an aftereffect of the cycle, not an indicator of it. And historically, there have been periods of time in earth's history when there was far more C02 in the atmosphere. It did not cause 'harm'. The periods of more C02 and warmth have been times when the Earth was the most lush and had the greatest biodiversity. There is no evidence that human C02 emissions have caused the current warm blip. All that exists is inference, and vague correlations which any statistician would call either negligible or non-existent. The AMG movement is political - not scientific - but they need scientists to hype the masses so they pay them massive amounts of money to ignore evidence, make hasty generalizations, and sensational claims. Follow the money, man. Follow the money. This is one of the biggest scams in all of History since indulgences.

Oh god fucking dammit. That music blew my ears off. I really want to downvote because of the music, but the video is actually pretty interesting and cool.

>> ^videosiftbannedme:
"Awake. Shake dreams from your hair my pretty child, my sweet one. Choose the day and choose the sign of your day; the day's divinity. First thing you see.
A vast radiant beach and cooled jeweled moon. Couples, naked, race down by it's quiet side. And we laugh like soft, mad children, snug in the wooly, cotton brains of infancy.
The music and voices are all around us."


He truly was an avant-garde poet.


Well I suspect he is largely regarded as a decent poet, backed up by music that was in harmony with his lyrics.

Great sift OP.

From ages of 10 to about 16 I did about 3-4 8.5hr trips a year to a family property: the music that made the trip most bearable at 3am was the doors.

"Awake. Shake dreams from your hair my pretty child, my sweet one. Choose the day and choose the sign of your day; the day's divinity. First thing you see.

A vast radiant beach and cooled jeweled moon. Couples, naked, race down by it's quiet side. And we laugh like soft, mad children, snug in the wooly, cotton brains of infancy.
The music and voices are all around us."




He truly was an avant-garde poet.

A nice change of pace, as I'm tired of seeing the headline "Record Cold Temperatures in _________" on Drudge Report over and over again.

Fortunately the socialists have an answer for the billions of years of endless global warming and cooling cycles of the earth: raise taxes.

>> ^demon_ix:
^ mentality:
One man's colossal waste of time is another man's work of art. The point here wasn't to create cool CGI effects that every kid with AfterEffects can replicate. It wasn't to do something quick and to impress people on VS. It wasn't to get it done fast and move to the next project...
This is a guy with a hobby that made something fun and cool with it. He obviously enjoyed making it, and THAT was the point.
Go tell Usain Bolt he can get to the finish faster in a car, please.


Look, I'm not saying what he achieved isn't art, or it's not cool. I'm saying it's a colossal waste of time because he didn't do anything unique to stop motion animation, and didn't make best use of his time.

Usain Bolt did something unique that you can't replicate with a car: break the record for human running speed. Terrible analogy. It looks like you're the one who's missing the point here.

Again: He could have designed his animation better, to fully show an understanding of the advantages that stop motion animation offers, and in the process do everything you said he accomplished: having fun with a hobby AND produce something truly cool and unique with it.

Sure he had fun making it, but by not achieving something more it's pointless masturbation.

In reply to this comment by demon_ix:
^ mentality:
One man's colossal waste of time is another man's work of art. The point here wasn't to create cool CGI effects that every kid with AfterEffects can replicate. It wasn't to do something quick and to impress people on VS. It wasn't to get it done fast and move to the next project...

This is a guy with a hobby that made something fun and cool with it. He obviously enjoyed making it, and THAT was the point.

Go tell Usain Bolt he can get to the finish faster in a car, please.

Look, I'm not saying what he achieved isn't art, or it's not cool. I'm saying it's a colossal waste of time because he didn't do anything unique to stop motion animation, and didn't make best use of his time.

Usain Bolt did something unique that you can't replicate with a car: break the record for human running speed. Terrible analogy. It looks like you're the one who's missing the point here.

Again: He could have designed his animation better, to fully show an understanding of the advantages that stop motion animation offers, and in the process do everything you said he accomplished: having fun with a hobby AND produce something truly cool and unique with it.

Sure he had fun making it, but by not achieving something more it's pointless masturbation.

^ mentality:
One man's colossal waste of time is another man's work of art. The point here wasn't to create cool CGI effects that every kid with AfterEffects can replicate. It wasn't to do something quick and to impress people on VS. It wasn't to get it done fast and move to the next project...

This is a guy with a hobby that made something fun and cool with it. He obviously enjoyed making it, and THAT was the point.

Go tell Usain Bolt he can get to the finish faster in a car, please.