The rings of Saturn are only about 30 feet (10 meters) thick in most parts of the main rings, other parts however are often up to several kilometers thick. The rings are made of dusty ice, in the form of boulder-sized and smaller chunks that gently collide with each other as they orbit around Saturn. Saturn’s gravitational field constantly disrupts these ice chunks, keeping them spread out and preventing them from combining to form a moon.
Book of the Day - The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
This is delectably told and imaginative, a thought experiment worked its way all the way out. When humans are sent the plans for an interstellar propulsion system, and the governments dither on in their dithering ways, it is the deeply intellectual Jesuits who act. This science fiction, speculative fiction, reframes a great deal of our past in terms of our potential future actions.
Painting Your Walls with Light - Lamps by Calabarte
Polish artist Przemek, also known as Calabarte, transforms African gourds into these lamps that paint your walls with patterns of light.
Hunting Blinds Deep in the German Forest: Photographs by Robert Goetzfried
Here is a new series from our favorite, Robert Götzfried, a series of amazing architectural finds deep in the German forest: hunting blinds.
His entire site is full of amazing photo sets: www.robert-goetzfried.com
Nomads of Mongolia — A film by Brandon Li
Another great film by friend of 5 things, Brandon Li.
Bygone Days of Airplane Glamour
Shots from the 1950s and 60s compiled by AirlineRatings.com, it is a flying experience totally foreign to me. If I could get this sort of experience at the prices I pay today, I'd be all for it.
Quotes for the turning of the year – 2016
“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”
— Zora Neale Hurston
“We need, in love, to practice only this: letting each other go. For holding on comes easily; we do not need to learn it.”
— Rainer Maria Rilke
“All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous unpremeditated act without the benefit of experience.”
— Henry Miller
“Doubt is an uncomfortable condition, but certainty is a ridiculous one.”
— Voltaire
“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.”
— Simone Weil
“For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh
“And the idea of ourselves is our escape from the fact of what we really are.”
— Jiddu Krishnamurti
“The universe is wider than our views of it.”
— Henry David Thoreau
Student says, “I am very discouraged. What should I do?” Master says, “Encourage others.”
— Zen Proverb
“You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.”
— Alan W. Watts
“There is really nothing more to say except why. But since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge in how.”
— Toni Morrison
“Our actions are like ships which we may watch set out to sea, and not know when or with what cargo they will return to port.”
— Iris Murdoch
“Blame it or praise it, there is no denying the wild horse in us.”
— Virginia Woolf
“Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar.”
— Antonio Machado
“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
— W.B. Yeats
“The heart is the chief feature of a functioning mind.”
— Frank Lloyd Wright
“Mistakes are the portals of discovery.”
— James Joyce
“Through pain I've learned to comfort suffering men.”
— Virgil
“Let yourself be gutted. Let it open you. Start here.”
— Cheryl Strayed
“Until we know the assumptions in which we are drenched, we cannot know ourselves.”
— Adrienne Rich
Flemish-style Super Heroes, Storybook & Star Wars Characters
French photographer Sacha Goldberg (the photographer who brought us Mamika) has created this series of characters from the world's superheroes, storybooks and Star Wars and styled them like something from 17th-century Flemish paintings.
Autonomous Machines - Clever Generative Art by Echo Yang
Everyday objects become the artists in this generative art project from Eindhoven artist Echo Yang titled Autonomous Machines.
Gear Guide - Brunch Master Class
Brunch is one of things that the more seriously you take it, the more you get out of it. For your like-minded brunchmeisters, I offer my gear guide for the brunch you've been yearning for.
The List
Stellar Projections on the Inside of Cambridge's 16th Century Cathedral
The high vaults of Cambridge’s 16th-century chapel were painted with the digitally projected work of French artistMiguel Chevalier in real-time, during a recent fundraiser.
Design Ideas - Alphabets
The things we do with letters.
Bolivia's Magical World of Doctors, Spiritual Healers and Medicine Men - Photos by Thomas Rousset and Raphaël Verona
The book ‘Waska Tatay’ from French photographer Thomas Rousset and graphic designer Raphaël Verona is a trippy collection of the doctors, spiritual healers and medicine men they encountered on their travels in Bolivia.
Animal Eyes up Close
Suren Manvelyan has made this outstanding photo series of the close up of Animal Eyes. Creepy, beautiful, amazing.
Drone Catches Whales Visiting a Standup Paddleboarder
Jaimen Hudson became quadriplegic after a motorcycle accident, but can control his drone with his thumbs and shoulder movements and here captures his friend Dave Price paddleboarding with whales off the west coast of Australia.
“It just so happened that he was out at the time, and a few people let me know there were whales on the beach and it all just went from there,” Hudson said in an online interview. “They were really curious and came over to meet [Dave]… Just very inquisitive about him, I don’t think it was really that dangerous at all.”
The { } and — Questions Between an Engaged Couple
“The And” project is an interactive documentary series that films couples and ex-couples having difficult conversations. The project is a collaboration between marketing agency Noise, The Skin Deep and director, Topaz Adizes.
Check out some other couples below or head over to The { } And project.
Atomic Ruin: Gorgeous Hyperlapse of The Abandoned Satsop Nuclear Power Station
Andrew Walker and friends recently had something of an experience – a visit to a Satsop nuclear power station in Western Washington, a place abandoned before it was even completed.
Finding Music in The Patterns of Cars on the Freeway
Brazilian multimedia artist Jarbas Agnelli experiments with musical phrases determined by cars crossing a lamp post on a New York freeway small loops of footage.
Historical Correction – Photos by Maxine Helfman of Black People in Historically Flemish Costumes
In her photo series, "Historical Corrections," Maxine Helfman tweaks the way we think of the Old Dutch Masters by placing black models in the dress of high society 17th century Flanders. The new narratives contrast with and highlight so much of the frame of reference for history and race in the West.
Refugees With Their Most Valuable Possession
What would you grab, if you were ever forced to flee your house and home?
NYC-based photographer Brian Sokol's project titled “The Most Important Thing,” is supported by the UN Refugee Agency.
Similar to "Toy Stories" by Gabriel Galimberti that we featured last week, Sokol's photos aren't just of refugees, but of people. Unmistakably human.
Follow Sokol's project on its Flickr page, visit his website or follow him on his instagram.All photos and text are courtesy of Brian Sokol.
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