Results for "Science"
- Blog Post
Look! Up In the Sky! It's . . .
- Date: July 1, 2009
- Creator: Marvin Heiferman
- Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="277" caption="Cascading Light, by Terry Mann."][/caption] It was 3 o’clock in the morning and something out of the ordinary was happening. And good neighbor that she is—although it might not seem that way to all of you—Terry Mann grabbed her camera then started waking people up. There wasn’t anything wrong in the neighborhood, but she
- Blog Post
Here's Looking at You, Closer . . . Photography and Radiology
- Date: April 10, 2009
- Creator: Marvin Heiferman
- Description: [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="251" caption="Photo of William F. Mack, Roentgenologist, by Margrethe Mather, 1922, National Museum of American History, Behring Center, Division of Information Technology and Communications"][/caption] Just how closely do radiologists look at what they’re supposed to be analyzing? Would knowing whose CT scans they were studying make
- Blog Post
And the Winner Is . . . Photography!
- Date: October 9, 2009
- Creator: Marvin Heiferman
- Description: [caption id="attachment_2474" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Silicon Eye, from the inner core.... the 5 Megapixel CCD sensor that electronically captures the image, by Flickr user jurvetson."][/caption] The Nobel Prize jury recently announced three winners in physics, who’ve been dubbed "the masters of light" for their innovations in the ways photographic images are
- Blog Post
Wish You Were Here?
- Date: December 1, 2009
- Creator: Marvin Heiferman
- Description: [caption id="attachment_3071" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Spiral Galaxy Messier 81 (M81), 2003, Spitzer Space Telescope / IRAC, NASA / JPL-Caltech / S. Willner, Harvard-Smithsonian CfA"][/caption] You may in fact be, or just feel like, a big shot down here on earth. But, ever since airborne cameras started to photograph our little planet from above, and once they
- Blog Post
Coming into Focus
- Date: October 1, 2009
- Creator: Marvin Heiferman
- Description: [caption id="attachment_2376" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="blurredvision, by Flickr user Paul Denton Cocker."][/caption] According to the National Eye Institute, more than 3 million Americans are blind or have vision so poor that everyday tasks become extremely difficult. Interestingly, according to a recent article by Pam Belluck in The New York Times, a new
- Blog Post
Upon Closer Inspection . . .
- Date: December 9, 2009
- Creator: Marvin Heiferman
- Description: [caption id="attachment_3532" align="aligncenter" width="220" caption="Lorgnette Humaine, Scan from The English Mechanic, 1897 drawing of an invention using X-Rays to scan luggage, courtesy of Flickr user Mark Wahl, Creative Commons: Attribution 2.0."][/caption] A week or so ago, shoes off and stuck in the slow moving security check line at an airport, I became fixated as I
- Blog Post
Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty
- Date: June 16, 2010
- Creator: Marvin Heiferman
- Description: Since The Bigger Picture began in early 2009, I’ve written a number of posts about what might be called camera traps, situations where cameras are installed to collect evidence of one kind of unusual or unwanted behavior or another. Red light cameras are a controversial example; across the country and on an almost daily basis, local municipalities and motorists argue about
- Blog Post
Memories are Made of This
- Date: May 11, 2010
- Creator: Marvin Heiferman
- Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="295" caption="In memory, by Kevin Dooley, Creative Commons: Attribution 2.0."][/caption] For all that’s been said about the form and content of photographic images, few of us are aware of how the ways we actually see, process, and remember photos helps to explain their power over us. Say what you will about the skills or “vision” of
- Blog Post
Photos Can Turn Down the Heat
- Date: October 20, 2009
- Creator: Marvin Heiferman
- Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="Natural Gas Fracing, by Melissa Peffs."][/caption] Photography is valued for, among other things, seeing what the human eye cannot. From medical scans to red light cameras to artworks made by image makers offering up new perspectives, photography reminds us that there’s always more to observe than we’re physically able to
Looking for love
- Date: February 14, 2010
- Creator: Marvin Heiferman
- Description: Across the Smithsonian, in hundreds of photographic collections, you’ll find images that document historic objects and events, species on land and under the oceans, cultural achievement, and data that streams in from outer space on a daily basis.
A Second Round of "Firsts"
- Date: January 6, 2010
- Creator: Marvin Heiferman
- Description: We found so many interesting photos of “firsts” as we put together our post to celebrate New Year’s Day, we thought we’d post a second group of firsts. We hope you enjoy another slideshow of images of the curious and unique. Click on the image to begin the slideshow.
- Blog Post
Wipe That Grin Off Your Face!
- Date: June 2, 2009
- Creator: Marvin Heiferman
- Description: Access the official records of the Smithsonian Institution and learn about its history, key events, people, and research.