Spiral Motion of the Solar System

Anyone with some awareness of our cosmic situation knows that The Earth is a giant rock that is spinning & also orbiting around the Sun.

However most people don't realize that the Sun (& therefore the entire solar system) is also orbiting the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

I've posted before about the motion of our solar system and how the fact that the Sun is in motion relative to the galactic plane causes the planets to trace out helical paths through space.

The Monkey Buddha Archives:

Solar System in Motion

The Solar Vortex

I recently came across another animation visualizing the dance of the planets around our closest star, as they travel around the center of the galaxy.

This led me to investigate how accurate these representations really are. I found this excellent article that explains what is right & wrong about these animations.

Universe Today:

Is the Solar System Really a Vortex?

There is another animated GIF in the article, by Rhys Taylor, that depicts the motion a bit more accurately. It turns out that the orbital plane of the planets is about 60º relative to the motion of the sun. So, it looks more like this.

Solar Cycles

This design available at
The Monkey Buddha Bazaar
www.cafepress.com/monkeybuddha

Like many holidays, the origin of Christmas is rooted in man's continuous use of cosmic cycles to establish measures of time.

We are just about at the point in the Earth's orbit around the Sun that is known as the Winter Solstice. This solar occurrence has led to countless celebrations & religious festivals throughout the world such as Dies Natalis Solis Invicti on December 25th - where the Romans recognized the majesty of Sol Invictus, the Invincible Sun. This key astronomical marker is also used as a point of observation in such ancient initiation structures as Newgrange, Stonehenge, Chichen Itza, etc. The seemingly unconquerable Sun has obviously inspired wonder and reverence throughout the history of humankind.

However, in the fractal universe we inhabit, cycles within cycles within cycles are existing simultaneously. As we periodically spin around the Sun, this unimaginably massive star also exhibits patterns of activity that we can directly observe. The more I learn about the Sun's destructive potential I have become concerned about the susceptibility of our pervasive electronic technologies to electromagnetic forces. The possible disaster awaiting the modern world if a solar storm damages important digital infrastructures should be a major priority of the science & tech world.

Seeing the NASA article below really freaked me out because the magnitude of the solar cycle will be at its greatest around 2012, the supposed end of the intricate Mayan Calender's Great Cycle. We are becoming more and more aware of synchronicity in our perception of the universe. The question is whether, as a species, we can become tuned into it fast enough to affect our existence in a positive way...

"Is a New Solar Cycle Beginning?"

Solar-Powered Water Desalination

There are many enormous problems that the human race is facing in the near future.

Despite the seeming impossible nature of some of these challenges, I believe that the power of human intelligence has the potential to solve them. Things that once seemed insurmountable can be made trivial by a leap in understanding & technology.

One of these problems is how to feed and supply fresh water to the exploding population. There is an abundance of salt water on Earth, so if we can find a way to convert it to fresh water efficiently & cheaply, it would go a long way to preventing hardship or violence over water shortages.

This idea for a portable solar desalination unit won the 2015 Desal Prize, a contest run by USAID to figure out ways to deal with the looming water crisis.

Scientists are Turning Salt Water 

into Drinking Water Using Solar Power

This is the explanation of the process by David L. Chandler of MIT News:

"Electrodialysis works by passing a stream of water between two electrodes with opposite charges. Because the salt dissolved in water consists of positive and negative ions, the electrodes pull the ions out of the water, Winter says, leaving fresher water at the centre of the flow. A series of membranes separate the freshwater stream from increasingly salty ones."

Here is the link for the webpage associated with the contest:

Securing Water for Food

Green Technologies

This design now available at
The Monkey Buddha Bazaar
www.cafepress/monkeybuddha

Green has always been my favorite color. One of the reasons is that it is the color of the woods, nature, and plants. I was way ahead of the current environmental movement now known, of course, as "being green".

In light of my last post about the costs of the Iraq war I thought it would be good to show how that money should be used. I've come across some very interesting green technologies that I think have the potential to change human civilization in a major way if adopted on a wide scale. Click on the links to see the articles & the great illustrations.

Plasma Waste Convertor
• I posted previously about Joseph Longo's Plasma Incinerator which I read about in Popuular Science magazine. This is a machine that is as simple in concept as it is revolutionary in function.

Popular Science: "The Prophet of Garbage"

Algae Energy Harvesting
• I saw a show about green tech on the Discovery Channel featuring this development, that is as green as it gets! By farming massive amounts of energy-collecting algae, biodeisel and other products can be created. Perhaps the engineering concepts behind this article on vertical farming could also be combined with this method of algae production.

Popular Mechanics: "Pond-Powered Biofuels"

Solar Collector Sheets
• Just like e-paper, the cheaper this nano-solar technology becomes, the closer we are to having society transformed by its benefits.

Popular Science: "The New Dawn of Solar"

Magnetic Levitation Wind Turbine
• This is an example I'm amending to this post because it is a great example of how modern technology and insightful design can produce leaps in innovation.

Inhabitat.com: "The Super-powered Magnetic Wind Turbine"

Here's a few other green breakthroughs worth mentioning:
• BoingBoing.com: "Micro Generator Feeds off Ambient Vibrations"
• Neatorama: "MIT Students Create Electricity from Grass Clippings"
• BoingBoing.com: "Mushrooms as Insulation Material"

Riding Light: Trip Through the Solar System

I came across this video that gives an impression of the vastness of space, in
just a part of our own solar system.

It's called Riding Light, and it is a simulation of traveling from the surface of the Sun out to the largest planet, Jupiter.

The video simulates traveling at the speed of light (without relativistic effects) in real time, so it takes eight minutes to reach the Earth.

The whole video is 45 minutes long, which is how long it would take to travel from the Sun to Jupiter, at the speed of light.

This gives us an idea why moving humans across interstellar distances poses such a problem with conventional technology.

Until we develop warp drive or some other propulsion that bypasses the limits of relativity theory, even getting to planets beyond Mars is a difficult proposition.

The Monkey Buddha Archives:

Warp Drive

Solar System In Motion

One of my favorite subjects to post about is outer space.

These are a couple of hypnotic animated GIFs I saw on FFFFOUND! showing the solar system in motion.

This one shows the motions of the planets & moons in relation to each other, as they orbit the Sun.

I'm not sure how accurate the relative motion of this animation is, but it's a more hyperdimensional view of the paths of the planets around the sun.

Sol Invictus, The Invincible Sun

Now that the weather here in Dirty Jersey is finally starting to brighten up, that immense nuclear maelstrom in the sky has been on my mind.

Illustration by Martin Kornmesser

I watch the HD digital cable channels over my parents house & the programming is awesome. Tonight I was watching a Sunrise Earth special about the Sun and its affect on man's livelihood & mythology. Right after that I put on the Digging For the Truth episode about Macchu Picchu, the Peruvian royal estate and temple complex of the Sun-revering Inca.

Deus Sol Invictus, "The Invincible Divine Sun" is the source of the elements that create our world, and the sustainer of life that has thrived within it. It's awesome and incomprehensibe nature inspired the ancient precursors to modern religious existence. The Sun is both creator and destroyer, defying such ultimately meaningless labels. The damage a major solar flare or storm could cause to communications, navigation, and possibly all electromagnetic technology is a humbling thought, to say the least. It would make what I'm writing now and trillions of human creative and productive efforts completely useless. I wouldn't recommend trying to feed human hearts to the Sun God, Ahau-kin, so I guess all we can do is keep our fingers crossed...

NOAA: "11-Year Solar Storm Cycle Will Start in March"

Mystery of the Maya Astronomy


The graphic below is my sun tattoo that I designed in college. This was before I really began to try learning about the mythologies of the world and the astro-religious worldviews of ancient cultures. I'm fortunate to have chosen a tattoo that I appreciate more as time goes on. Looking at it now, I never noticed how much the Chinese symbol resembles a face! Since it's on my chest, I usually see it upside-down.

Solar Eclipse 2017

Yesterday, I was able to watch the solar eclipse as the moon's path crossed in front of the sun. It's one of the cosmic events that is able to capture everyone's attention.

The last major eclipse I saw was a lunar one, where the Earth's shadow turned the moon blood red.

Unfortunately, I'm in NJ & we weren't in the path of the totality, where the entire sun is covered and the sky goes dark. However, it was still cool to see (through special glasses) the shadow of the moon as it slowly worked it's way past the sun's disc.

Here is a photo of me looking super cool in my eclipse glasses. I had absolutely no equipment to photograph the event properly, so I tried to take a pic with my phone through the filtered glasses lenses, but it didn't work very well since the moon's shadow wasn't visible at all.

The Solar Vortex

It may not be 100% scientifically accurate, but I think this video illustrates an interesting way of looking at the motion of the solar system through space.

This animation is simply looking at a process beyond the scope of our immediate perception, from another frame of reference. Relativity is essentially the recognition of different consciousnesses experiencing different things, depending on their situation. With modern technology, humans can more accurately model frames of reference outside our own experience. These vast, cosmic processes are now being looked at in new ways that may help illuminate us greatly.

Solar Energy Spill

I've posted previously about the insanity of paying for electrical power when our world is awash with unlimited free energy.

Monkey Buddha Archives:

Free Energy

One source of boundless energy is the giant nuclear furnace in the sky, our Sun.

I'll be on vacation at the Jersey shore this week, so I'll be too busy exposing myself to the 'solar energy spill' on the beach to post alot.

Space Art by Ron Miller

Stock Space Art

by Ron Miller

I recently came across the fantastic 3D artwork of Ron Miller. His work was featured by LIFE magazine.

LIFE

Out of This World: 

Ron Miller’s Spectacular Space Art

His creations are computer rendered depictions of other worlds & scenes throughout the Universe. He has included all the major bodies of the solar system, but also hypothetical space environments on extra-solar planets.

I have made many 3D space scenes myself, that I'll have to post soon.

Here are a couple more images, but definitely go to the website to see more of this amazing work:

"Blue Sky Seed of Life" by Paul Micarelli

This is the 2nd of a series that I created, depicting a 3D version of the sacred geometry symbol, known as the "Seed of Life".

It is the core of the larger pattern of interlocking circles, "The Flower of Life".

3D Art by Paul Micarelli

From 3D Art by Paul Micarelli

"Blue Sky Seed of Life"

This rendering is interesting, because you can see the hexagram, or Star of David, in the center circle. (I didn't intend for it to appear there.)

The 7 circles forming the Seed of Life is the symbol of Creation. The hexagram is the symbol of the divine union of opposites; male/female, solar/lunar, active/passive, etc.

The unique geometric form seems to be rising into the sky, & leaving the planet....

Asterank: Asteroid Database

 This is an awesome online database that tracks all of the asteroids in our area of the solar system.

Asterank

Asteroid Database and Mining Rankings

Although there are vast areas of emptiness in outer space, there are also alot of bodies of various sizes floating around out there. These objects range from the size of cosmic dust particles, to comets that are miles across like 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, to asteroids the size of small planetoids.

If we were smart, the human race would be pouring significant amounts of money into tracking objects that could have catastrophic collisions with Earth.

Effects of an Asteroid Impact on Earth

Unfortunately, humanity is full of stupid, shortsighted people who would rather spend resources on fighting and killing each other. Hopefully we can evolve & come to our senses before this threat is actualized.

Ultra-cool Sci-fi Info-graphics

I'm going to really let my 'inner nerd' shine through.

Although I've been a fan of mainly Star Wars since I was young, I've also picked up on bits of other Sci-fi knowledge, too. I think science fiction is fascinating in the sense that it's like a conceptual nursery for the future possibilities of humanity.

Searching through "Google Images" as I sometimes do, I came across these great charts. The first one is a comparison of everything from (comparatively tiny) earth-bound vessels from history to Darth Vader's mile-long intersellar craft, the Executor-class Star Destroyer.

The second chart is a map of all the planets in the Star Wars galaxy.
"The galaxy is filled with over 400 billion stars, around which circle over a million inhabitable planets that are home to over 20 million intelligent species."

*I also found this website that takes it to yet another level, including everything from the scale of humans & Ewoks to the Death Star to structures like the "Dyson Sphere" that encompass an entire solar system!

Starship Dimensions

One thing that nobody has thought of yet is the "Monkeybuddhasphere™" which is a spaceship, the size of the entire Universe. The control system for this complex vehicle is already in operation- your own brain!

click to enlarge

President Barackenaten

Barack Obama has truly become one of the most inspiring figures in American history.


In any other time, he would be considered an extraordinary individual. After the disturbed mood of the Bush years, though, it's understandable why a desperate world would rejoice at the promise of such an intelligent Chief Executive.

The inauguration was streaming on my computer while I was working at the studio. At 11:30, I had a cup of hot green tea, a cookie bar, & sat back to watch the swearing-in ceremonies.

As I viewed this amazing event on my futuristic light-manipulation devices (known as computer & monitor), I had the comforting sense that a progressive President Obama has the real potential to inspire modern, effective solutions to our worst problems.

I went back to look at the first post in which I mentioned Obama. The cynic in me had alot of trouble accepting that Americans would vote for a guy with the name "Barack Hussein Obama". This was less than a couple years go... when the idea of President Osama-bama was borderline ridiculous! It just goes to show that rapid and tremendous change are unavoidable facts of life.

One has to be sobered by the knowledge, though, that there are myriad malevolent forces in the world that will resist the paradigm shifts that an Obama Administration might bring to the table. We also have to accept that as long as we inhabit this physical realm, there will always be suffering in life- no matter how great our leaders are.

I've half-jokingly compared Obama to the Egyptian Pharoah Akhenaten, its first known monotheistic king. Akhenaten declared a new capital & state religion, consisting of one god- the sun disc Aten.

Barakhenaten

The symbol of the Sun represents 'life', 'a new day', 'power', 'stability', and a literally endless number of other associations.

Our relatively immense Sun has always been used as a symbol of majesty & royalty.

When I saw the photo of Obama standing next to the Superman statue, the first thing that came to mind (besides it being a funny picture) was the sun symbolism surrounding both figures.

Superman is one of humanity's numerous stories of solar god-men. Obama's campaign logo was the perfect circle - echoing the 'O' in his last name & the sun of a new dawn.

Barack Obama & his team used the most powerful symbolism known to man in order to create the most tremendous possible effect on public consciousness.

So far, I think his leadership ability has been utterly amazing.

Of course...

Not everyone is excited about the new direction of an Obama Presidency:

"The Rapture-Ready Board
Reacts to Obama’s Inauguration"



Obama's Left-handed!!!!!!!

He MUST be evil!!!!!

Fractal Shorts

 I am endlessly, recursively fascinated by fractal geometry & the imagery that can be produced with it.

Recently I found a series of awe-inspiring animations using 3D fractal renderings. The artist is Julius Horsthuis, and there is a whole playlist of his mind-bending creations in YouTube. I would recommend bookmarking this page so you can go back & watch through the dozens of videos on his playlist:

Fractal Shorts

 Here are a few of my favorites, but they all should really be seen:

"Emergence" feels like finding an impossibly constructed alien temple in a dense jungle:

"Divergent Evolution" takes the idea of a jungle theme even deeper and immerses us in an ever-shifting organic landscape.

"Solar Wind" has a cosmic, but foreboding feel to it:

"Dream/Iterate" uniquely includes a human figure in the animation, who is transported to a very non-human fractal realm:

2020 Winter Solstice & The Great Conjuction

 What does this mean??????

As the Christmas holiday approaches, today we enter the Winter Solstice - the shortest day of the year, after which the daylight hours start to increase again.

This has been traditionally a very important seasonal marker in all of human society, for agricultural and cultural reasons.

This year, this holiday season and solstice have an added feature: the conjunction in the night sky of the 2 largest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Mars. The planets are going to appear to be the closest they've been in centuries. I've been watching these celestial bodies inch closer together in the sky over the last few weeks & it is an unmistakable formation that stands out even when the stars aren't very visible.

Although it is certainly visually very interesting, is there any significance to these planets being in close proximity? 

My answer, as usual, is two-fold... 

On a cosmic level, no, there is no significance. End of story. It just happens to be two visible objects that are nowhere near each other, looking like they're close together in our visual field. 

On a personal level, you can apply any significance that you want...
Is it a good or bad sign from God?...
Is it a celestial prophecy, of the death (Saturn) of a leader (Jupiter)?...
Is it a reminder of the Star of Bethlehem that heralded Jesus's birth?....

Sure, all the above! It can mean whatever the hell you want it to mean... "Meaning" is not something inherent in The Universe. It is an abstract creation of the human mind, a narrative applied to external objects & circumstances by our thought patterns.

This does not take away for the value of the experience, as well as any subjective meaning you place upon it.

As we continue through the holiday season, I hope that the people of this world begin to find more value in these kinds of awesome experiences. If we can see the depth and beauty of the Universe, and appreciate the infinite wonders it contains, the human race would go a long way toward progress and enlightenment.

Interactive Planetarium

The infinite scale of cosmic space can make any earthly concerns seem insignificant.

I came across this interactive program that lets you view the heavenly bodies from different perspectives & times.

There are alot of customizable options & it's fun to play around with.

Solar System Scope

An amazing tool like this makes me think about the tremendous effort by ancient civilizations to track the thousands of visible celestial bodies.

It's awe-inspiring that, over many generations, our ancestors were able to record, visualize, and predict the relative movements of the myriad stars & planets using their limited technologies.

Trying to understand the vast forces of nature makes us realize our small place in the world, which is itself just a speck in the cosmos.

Summer Solstice 2010

Today marked the beginning of my favorite season, Summer.

Although I consider it to be "summertime" as soon as I can go outside wearing shorts, today marks the actual date of the longest day of the year- The Summer Solstice.

I found a couple interesting new articles about this sacred day & it's traditional astronomical significance.

Continuing to recognize dates such as an equinox or solstice is important for maintaining some sense of natural time. This fundamental aspect of the Life experience transcends the artificial time frames of the modern world, like the school year, business cycles, or the Gregorian calendar itself.

Huffington Post
"The Spiritual Meaning of the Summer Solstice"

National Geographic
"Summer Solstice 2010:
Why It's the First Day of Summer "

The website Secret Sun is dedicated to finding connections between astro-theology & modern culture. There was a post from today implying that the temporal relationship between Father's Day & The Summer Solstice is based on the ancient solar father-god archetype such as the Egyptian god Osiris.

The Royal Secret:
"The Raising of Osiris,
An Allegory of the Resurrection of the Sun"

Coincidentally, my Dad's birthday is today, and he was almost named 'Summer' since he was born on the Solstice. Thankfully he wasn't... because instead of Paul my name would have been Summer, Jr.!

Anyway, I guess the fact that I've always associated the beginning of Summer with both Father's Day & my Dad's birthday makes the idea of this synchronicity and its mystical connections more intriguing to me.

The International Flag of Planet Earth

Today is Independence Day in the U.S.A., or the Fourth of July. It is the day we celebrate breaking away from British rule and becoming a sovereign nation.

There are a lot of American flags flying today, and the red, white, & blue flag is symbolic for our unity as a country. I saw this article about The International Flag of Planet Earth, and how it should be used a symbol to unite the whole of humanity living on this planet, once we expand outward into the solar system.

Inverse:
If Humans Go to Mars, We Need an Earth Flag 

I think it's very optimistic to think that humanity, with all its primitive tribal instincts, would be able to unite as a collective, instead of continuing to exist as competing factions. I would like to think that colonizing space would be a reason to join the people of this planet together, but even space travel will not be able to overcome the monkey mind that drives us to form different sub-groups.

Still, it is a good idea to create a symbol to represent the Earth as a singular political entity.It would at least represent the idea of the people of this world joined as one, even if it doesn't practically work out that way.

I definitely like the use of the Seed of Life configuration of circles. I created a game using the larger Flower of Life pattern called Da Vinci's Challenge, so I am familiar with the powerful visual impact of this symbol.

I have seen some variations on this flag design, & I prefer the "closed/flat" look, especially because the original looks asymmetrical to me:

Hopefully, the human race continues to progress and eventually travels into space to other worlds. Then, perhaps we will be able to minimize our differences to see the common goal we have been working towards since life began - to survive, thrive, & continue the process of life in new places.