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"QUANTUM SHOT" #14 (revised)
Link - by Avi Abrams

        Emerging ways of playing with light, in art and technology

        Light is fascinating, sacred, mysterious; its nature still debated by
        scientists, its properties compel artists to play with effects of light
        refraction and reflection in endless creative ways (see for example,
        Painting with Light
        effect in photography). It is an endless subject to cover, so here are
        some highlights (pun intended): 
        
        We'll start with one of the shiniest and
        light-infused objects: a good old CD. It owns its existence to the laser
        light, but its fortunes as a media carrier are fading, so -

        What to do with a pile of used CDs?

        Play your old CDs on the "Gakken Emile Berliner Gramophone" (below
        left), made by
        AudioCubes,
        more
        info:

        
        (right image
          via)

        As the glass CD, DVDs and BluRays are replaced by new media, old CDs are
        transformed into art sculptures, making use of refraction of light and
        various lighting schemes. Here is a CD Sculpture displayed at the
        Burning Man Festival:

        
        
        (images credit:
          Gabe Kirchheimer,
          George Post,
          Brad Templeton)

        George Radebaugh
        also makes recycled CD art sculptures:

        
        
        
        (images credit:
          George Radebaugh)

        Broken CD pieces can be brought together as a sinister
        Ghost in the Machine mask (sculpture by
        Ver Curtiss):

        
        (image credit:
          Ver Curtiss)

        This frightening "techno idol" pulses light bursts in sync with music.
        
        OK, so what other uses you can find for your old CDs? You can keep the
        cats away - by hanging up a bunch of them around your office: cats don't
        like the flashing as they turn. Or you can make an exercise equipment
        for hamsters (left)... or you can make cool-looking lamps out of CD
        stacks (right):

        
        (images via
          1,
          2)

        Long Live the "CD Everlasting"!

        So you think the CD Age is over? Well, back in 2007 one Japanese
        recording engineer has developed the world's first Glass CD,
        which has a superior sound quality and will
        practically last forever (more
        info). Recent
        updates
        suggest that it indeed sounds better, but comes with $2000 price tag! -

        

        So why do we need a new CD medium, considering there are DVDs, BluRays
        and many digital options available? Because glass CDs are completely
        transparent, information on them can be read perfectly, improving sound
        quality. They are not affected by heat or humidity and remain in perfect
        condition forever (very good for archiving purposes). 
        
        We all know that the sound quality on CDs is not up to exacting standards set by
        audiophiles. What to do, then, if you have a library of CDs? Consider
        treating them with a CD Sound Improver! made by Audio Desk
        Systeme 'Glass' CD trimmer (more info):

        
        (images
          via)

        A Cloak of Partial Invisibility

        Scientists have created a cloaking device that can reroute
        certain wavelengths of light, forcing them around objects like water
        flowing around boulders in a stream. (see picture below). To creatures
        or machines that see only in microwave light, the cloaked object would
        appear nearly invisible.

        

        "A microwave cloaking device created using artificial materials, called
        metamaterials, that manipulate light in bizarre and startling ways." (more
        info). They have a negative refractive index, for example. So far, it only
        works in two dimensions and only for microwaves moving in a plane. A
        three-dimensional invisibility cloak would hide an object completely.

        

        Photonics and Optical Technologies are the future of communication:
        there are advances in nano antennas, quantum communication systems, etc.
        After all, light is the ultimate data carrier. But there is also an
        interaction between biological items and photons. The Institute of
        Photonic Sciences (ICFO) in Catalonia, Spain, focuses on this new area
        of science called
        Biophotonics, which is all the rage in personalized medical research in Europe
        today.

        
        (images via
          1, 2,
          3)

        

Join us on the New Digg

CONTINUE TO "PAINTING WITH LIGHT"! ->



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YOUR COMMENTS::

7 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

The microwave invisibility thing is really quite interesting. I watched a program about it last week, and it seems like a very promising proof of concept design.

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"We all know that the sound quality on CDs is not up to exacting standards set by audiophiles."

We all know that audiophiles are not up to the exacting standards set by normal human beings.

___  
Blogger Skipweasel said...

I love the non-sequitur of "Because glass CDs are completely transparent, information on them can be read perfectly, improving sound quality."

Somehow the essential digitalness of digital media seems to escape these people. I'm assuming you quoted it tongue-in-cheek!

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Recent updates suggests that it indeed sounds better.." And from the article, author says that they won't do double blind testing.... I Call psychological effect. ie. total bs, that it sounds better. Also, I haven't seen indestructable glass so far. I had an idea of burning CD's with industrial laser to the stainless steel blanks, though...

___  
Blogger Sigivald said...

Exactly. If they're not doing a blind A/B or A/B/X test, they're only testing preconceptions.

When the linked guy says "the bitstreams were identical after decoding" but then says it sounded different anyway, it's clear that he doesn't understand the thing he's writing about.

Because glass CDs are completely transparent, information on them can be read perfectly, improving sound quality.

See, that doesn't work like that...

Now, glass does make it slightly easier for the laser to read the data off the disc... but unless the disc is significantly scratched, you can read the data off a poly disc perfectly well.

Sound quality is not controlled by how "easy" it is to read the data off the disc, as long as the disc is not so damaged that a bit can't be read correctly at all.

Same data, same sound, guaranteed. (Assuming identical post-digital hardware, of course. Different DACs and amplifiers can affect the sound...)

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

They used to say that CDs sounded better when you colored the edge of the CD with a green Sharpie. Honest.

___  
Anonymous PENFOLD said...

28,000+ as art!

http://www.penfold.net/coastergarden.html

___  

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