"With this performance I'm trying to get at the reflexivity of live video — the taut line between the space and the image that results. It's possible to think of almost anything that mediates as a filter of some kind... sort of a "the-map-is-not-the-territory" territory"
Oh, I get it now, it's "art." That's explains why the video demonstrates nothing, and why there is no practical, scientific or culinary value to this. But he did say something about Harvard on his website, so it must be important.
The bokeh normally assumes the shape of the aperture opening through which the light enters the camera. That means it's normally a circle or a close approximation thereof as the iris forms hexagons or octagons as it gets closed down further and further. The blur makes it appear roughly circular. In this case though, you would take your wide-aperture lens and leave it all the way open at 1.7 or whatever...and the "aperture" is then decided by this cutout which you stick in front of the lens. That usually means you get the equivalent of f/22 or something, and not a circle but the shape you placed in front of the lens.
The reason you need a wide aperture lens is so that you can still allow a reasonable amount of light in and so that there is enough out of focus area to actually make the effect of the cutout shape visible and obvious. Point and shoots have very short focal lengths and so very little out of focus area, thus, they can't use this trick. It doesn't *have* to be a heart either, it could be a star or triangle or...whatever really.
@bikehorn86: Hm, for some reason I can't promote this very well written, very informative comment. Perhaps replying to it will bring it to the surface where it belongs.
@roy8000: "The bokeh normally assumes the shape of the aperture opening through which the light enters the camera. That means it's normally a circle or a close approximation thereof as the iris forms hexagons or octagons as it gets closed down further and further. The blur makes it appear roughly circular. In this case though, you would take your wide-aperture lens and leave it all the way open at 1.7 or whatever...and the "aperture" is then decided by this cutout which you stick in front of the lens. That usually means you get the equivalent of f/22 or something, and not a circle but the shape you placed in front of the lens.
The reason you need a wide aperture lens is so that you can still allow a reasonable amount of light in and so that there is enough out of focus area to actually make the effect of the cutout shape visible and obvious. Point and shoots have very short focal lengths and so very little out of focus area, thus, they can't use this trick. It doesn't *have* to be a heart either, it could be a star or triangle or...whatever really"
@admoseremic: no, his feet are. Little-known side-effect of microgravity is that the bones in your feet can shift completely around so that your big and pinky toes become inverted.
GarciaConcern promoted this comment
DeusExMach wonders what the hell happened to his star. was starred
DeusExMach wonders what the hell happened to his star. was unstarred
@Knowitallguytherevenge: Agreed, some of the commenters here are very high level tech people and their insight and experience add some really good info to the usual "fart" jokes.
@Curves: Awww, come on, Curves! I'm usually pretty slow to the juvenile take on things, and that was the first thing I thought of!
I do remember a TV show (NOVA, maybe?) from many, many years ago where they had someone rebreathing his own, unscrubbed air. He was copying sentances from a book for about 20 minutes or so before his handwriting really declined and he nearly passed out.
@FЯeeMan: I love the juvenile take as well, which is one of the reasons I love Giz, but there is a good mix here of information and idiocy. It makes learning more fun, and I learn new things here every day (including new fart jokes).
Let me preface this statement by saying that my balls are of composed of an inferior material that would prevent me from leaving our atmosphere.
That said, the danger of this situation seems to be overstated. I'm pretty sure that Cassidy was not in any danger of being exposed to LiOH. This substance is used in SCUBA rebreathers and is well contained in that application. LiOH is corrosive but the Li polymers found in your laptop are explosive and you have that thing on your lap! You must have balls of asbestos.
The device that broke was probably very similar to a SCUBA rebreather and thus this scenario was more akin to a scuba diver noticing his rebreather wasn't scrubbing CO2 well, resulting in shorter bottom time. Surely no fun but SCUBA rebreathers have small reserve tanks of O2, I'd bet NASA had a small contingency cylinder for just this type of malfunction.
@Candle Jack: CO2 levels would have to increase 30X over basal levels before the first physiological effect which is drowsiness. My guess is that the increase was caught well before this and could be accounted for by diluting the spacesuit atmosphere with O2. If CO2 levels increased 240X, it would take 5-10 minutes for the astronaut to pass out.
At high concentrations, CO2 dissolves into the blood as carbonic acid and causes the blood to become acidic. The process is very slow however and probably not an issue here.
The place where carbonic acid is an issue is the ocean. Increased CO2 levels have acidified the ocean, leading to bleaching. I read the Barrier Reef has about 20 years left. The astronaut will be fine, the ocean is the one we should be worried about here.
@The Lab: Jet pilots have died because their O2 system malfunctioned.
One test pilot nearly did while being escorted by Chuck Yeager while on a test run. Chuck noticed that the pilot was slurring his words and getting paunchy. Chuck tried to convince him of the problem, but the pilot said "shut up, I'm running this show." Chuck finally faked an emergency to con the pilot to follow him below 10,000 feet and the pilot perked back up. They got him back on the ground without further incident.
A malfunctioning closed circuit system, especially with the LiOH canister, is grounds for an immediate abort, switchover to the "bailout" bottle, and to get to safety. That comment by the astronaut makes me think back to that Navy test pilot that Yeager bailed out of trouble. It could have gotten worse if they didn't shoo him back inside the station.
CO2 poisoning is a subtle affair and someone not knowing that their CO2 levels are exceeding saturation until it's too late is all too common.
And yes, the PLSS they use has two oxygen bottles to feed them supplemental O2 and to use as a backup.
The heading along with the first sentence of the post led me to believe that this post was about a rookie astronaut, Chris Cassidy, who had a gas problem....
Anyway, it's cool to know that the people in Houston are continuously monitoring all spacesuit sensors. I guess I always assumed it was the other astronauts within the ISS that would be doing this (especially considering the delay which although short, may be crucial in an event like this).
11/18/09
Oh, I get it now, it's "art." That's explains why the video demonstrates nothing, and why there is no practical, scientific or culinary value to this. But he did say something about Harvard on his website, so it must be important.
11/18/09
BAM: #RosaRocks #steakfilter
08/30/09
Do you know how much time, money, and effort I spend on printing out my digital photos and sprinkling glitter and sparkle-hearts on them?
This will pay for itself in no time.
08/30/09
08/30/09
If you get stuck, leave a comment and the author will almost always respond and help you out.
08/29/09
The reason you need a wide aperture lens is so that you can still allow a reasonable amount of light in and so that there is enough out of focus area to actually make the effect of the cutout shape visible and obvious. Point and shoots have very short focal lengths and so very little out of focus area, thus, they can't use this trick. It doesn't *have* to be a heart either, it could be a star or triangle or...whatever really.
08/29/09
08/30/09
i don´t see any coment?
08/30/09
The reason you need a wide aperture lens is so that you can still allow a reasonable amount of light in and so that there is enough out of focus area to actually make the effect of the cutout shape visible and obvious. Point and shoots have very short focal lengths and so very little out of focus area, thus, they can't use this trick. It doesn't *have* to be a heart either, it could be a star or triangle or...whatever really"
By "bikehorn86"
08/29/09
08/29/09
08/29/09
08/29/09
[www.diyphotography.net]
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/30/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
I do remember a TV show (NOVA, maybe?) from many, many years ago where they had someone rebreathing his own, unscrubbed air. He was copying sentances from a book for about 20 minutes or so before his handwriting really declined and he nearly passed out.
07/23/09
07/23/09
That said, the danger of this situation seems to be overstated. I'm pretty sure that Cassidy was not in any danger of being exposed to LiOH. This substance is used in SCUBA rebreathers and is well contained in that application. LiOH is corrosive but the Li polymers found in your laptop are explosive and you have that thing on your lap! You must have balls of asbestos.
The device that broke was probably very similar to a SCUBA rebreather and thus this scenario was more akin to a scuba diver noticing his rebreather wasn't scrubbing CO2 well, resulting in shorter bottom time. Surely no fun but SCUBA rebreathers have small reserve tanks of O2, I'd bet NASA had a small contingency cylinder for just this type of malfunction.
07/23/09
07/23/09
At high concentrations, CO2 dissolves into the blood as carbonic acid and causes the blood to become acidic. The process is very slow however and probably not an issue here.
The place where carbonic acid is an issue is the ocean. Increased CO2 levels have acidified the ocean, leading to bleaching. I read the Barrier Reef has about 20 years left. The astronaut will be fine, the ocean is the one we should be worried about here.
07/23/09
One test pilot nearly did while being escorted by Chuck Yeager while on a test run. Chuck noticed that the pilot was slurring his words and getting paunchy. Chuck tried to convince him of the problem, but the pilot said "shut up, I'm running this show." Chuck finally faked an emergency to con the pilot to follow him below 10,000 feet and the pilot perked back up. They got him back on the ground without further incident.
A malfunctioning closed circuit system, especially with the LiOH canister, is grounds for an immediate abort, switchover to the "bailout" bottle, and to get to safety. That comment by the astronaut makes me think back to that Navy test pilot that Yeager bailed out of trouble. It could have gotten worse if they didn't shoo him back inside the station.
CO2 poisoning is a subtle affair and someone not knowing that their CO2 levels are exceeding saturation until it's too late is all too common.
And yes, the PLSS they use has two oxygen bottles to feed them supplemental O2 and to use as a backup.
07/23/09
Anyway, it's cool to know that the people in Houston are continuously monitoring all spacesuit sensors. I guess I always assumed it was the other astronauts within the ISS that would be doing this (especially considering the delay which although short, may be crucial in an event like this).
07/23/09
07/23/09
Actually, this sentence indicates that the "lithium hydroxide CO2 scrubber" is the lethal gas.
07/23/09
It might read a bit weird but it was just CO2.
07/23/09