lowraine.me

apocalypse-resistant: Auroville (City of Dawn) is an...

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:39:45 -0500

Auroville (City of Dawn) is an “experimental” township in Viluppuram district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, near Pondicherry in South India. It was founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa (also known as “The Mother”) and designed by architect Roger Anger. As stated in Alfassa’s first public message about the township, “Auroville is meant to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity.”

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Thu, 23 Feb 2012 21:40:56 -0500

last panel omg

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:52:10 -0500

last panel omg

laughingsquid: Draw Like You’ve Never Been Taught

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:48:53 -0500

laughingsquid:

Draw Like You’ve Never Been Taught

curiositycounts: The Dawn of the Color Photograph – how French...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:41:50 -0500

curiositycounts:

The Dawn of the Color Photograph – how French banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn catalogued humanity and shaped everything from photojournalism to your favorite Instagram filters.

millionsmillions: “Little, Brown has world English rights to...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:38:11 -0500

millionsmillions:

“Little, Brown has world English rights to the first novel for adults by JK Rowling, the company announced Thursday morning.”

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Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:30:47 -0500

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Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:12:04 -0500

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Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:29:25 -0500

symboliccapital: thephilter: “This shit is just fucking creepy....

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:14:16 -0500

symboliccapital:

thephilter:

“This shit is just fucking creepy. Called “the headless chicken solution”, it’s a technologically elaborate set-up in which brainless chickens would grow like tomato plants in vertical containers like the one above until they’re ready for slaughter. Or whatever you would call it.

Philosopher Paul Thompson from Purdue University has suggested “The Blind Chicken Solution.” He argues that chickens blinded by “accident” have been developed into a strain of laboratory chickens that don’t mind being crowded together as much as normal chickens do. As a result, he argues, we should consider using blind chickens in food production as a solution to the problem of overcrowding in the poultry industry. He argues that it would be more humane to have blind chickens than ones that can see.

But Ford goes a step further and proposes a “Headless Chicken Solution.” This would involve removing the cerebral cortex of the chicken to inhibit its sensory perceptions so that it could be produced in more densely packed conditions without the associated distress. The brain stem for the chicken would be kept intact so that the homeostatic functions continue to operate, allowing it to grow.

Ford proposes this solution for two reasons: To meet the rising demand for meat, particularly poultry, and to improve the welfare of the chickens by desensitizing them to the unpleasant reality of their existence.

After this “desensitization,” the chickens could then be stacked into huge urban farms with around 1,000 chickens hooked up to large vertical frames — a little like the network of pods the humans are connected to in The Matrix. The feet of the chickens would also be removed in order to pack more in. There could be dozens of these frames in the vertical farming system, which Ford refers to as the Centre for Unconscious Farming. Food, water and air would be delivered via a network of tubes and excrement would be removed in the same way. This technique could achieve a density of around 11.7 chickens per cubic meter instead of the current 3.2 chickens achieved in broiler houses.

A challenge for Ford’s system would be the lack of muscular stimulation. However, Ford proposes using electric shocks similar to that used in other lab meat experiments.

“The realities of the existing systems of production are just as shocking.” Ford argues that his solution is no more shocking than existing food-production techniques. “The realities of the existing systems of production are just as shocking,” he told Wired.co.uk, “but they are hidden behind the sentimental guise of traditional farming scenes that we as consumers hold in our minds and see on our food packaging.”

He added: “There are numerous differences between the current dominant production systems and the one I am proposing, but the fundamental difference is the removal of suffering. Whether what I am proposing is an appropriate means to achieve the removal of suffering is open to interpretation. In reality this should be decided at the level of the individual consumer, at the counter, handing over their money and ‘voting’ for their system of preference.”

Ford believes that the Headless Chicken Solution has the same intentions as the lab-grown meats we have seen developed recently. “The intentions are the same — the synthesis of animal protein without the suffering,” he says. However, he believes that the inability to synthesize blood vessels will prove to be a major challenge for those seeking to create 3-D chunks of lab meat.

The likeness to The Matrix has not gone unnoticed by Ford. “The similarities are patent, although in The Matrix the dominant species were kind enough to provide the subspecies with a alternate reality, which was far better than the their ‘real’ post-apocalyptic world,” he told us. “This was a lovely gesture by ‘The Machines,’ but the chickens in this system will not be privy to such a luxurious appendage to an already elaborate system, especially in this age of austerity.”

Via”

Yikes.

I… I just cannot tell you how I feel about this. Still taking it all in, but I’d like to know what other people think. This raises all sorts of ontological questions for me, and I’m not sure if I should feel relieved or terrified.

arsvivendi: Moss Shower Mat This bathroom mat is made of...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:09:07 -0500

arsvivendi:

Moss Shower Mat

This bathroom mat is made of imputrescible foam called plastazote. Each cell contains a piece of moss. The mat contains a total of 70 pieces of ball, island and forest moss. The humidity of the bathroom and the drops flowing from the body water the mosses.

descroissants: inthisglobaldayandage: Secret cinema found...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:56:44 -0500

descroissants:

inthisglobaldayandage:

Secret cinema found beneath Paris

In September 2004, French police discovered a hidden chamber in the catacombs under Paris. It contained a full-sized movie screen, projection equipment, a bar, a pressure cooker for making couscous, a professionally installed electricity system, and at least three phone lines. Movies ranged from 1950s noir classics to recent thrillers.

When the police returned three days later, the phone and power lines had been cut and there was a note on the floor: “Do not try to find us.” (via)

So, my brother's kinda famous and awesome.

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:44:47 -0500

So, my brother's kinda famous and awesome.

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Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:29:34 -0500

okayadventurer: Agreed.

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:27:15 -0500

okayadventurer:

Agreed.

stickyembraces: Would Schopenhauer still have hated life as...

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 23:51:42 -0500

stickyembraces:

Would Schopenhauer still have hated life as much if he had owned a baby sloth?

If 10 poodles can’t do the trick I don’t know what can…