Astronomer David Kipping of Columbia University has worked out that a 1-meter space telescope, positioned beyond the moon, could use the focusing power of the ring of atmosphere seen around the edge of the planet to amplify the brightness of dim objects by tens of thousands of times: http://bit.ly/Space_Telescope

Vai mēs varētu pārvērst Zemi par teleskopu?

Jau kopš Galileo Galileja laikiem astronomi būvē arvien lielākus un lielākus teleskopus, lai ieskatītos arvien tālāk un tālāk Visumā un izzinātu arvien smalkākas detaļas. Bet teleskopu būvei izmantotajiem materiāliem ir noteikti fizikāli ierobežojumi, kā arī līdz ar teleskopa izmēru pieaug arī izmaksas. Šajā Cool Worlds Lab video skaidrota ideja par terraskopu – teleskopu, kas radīts un darbojas,…

Icebird Magnitude January 2006 Rumbles album review by Terrascope.co.uk

The band are fronted by Australian Dom Mariani a man with quite a long list of former and current bands like DM3 and The Stems. With this album, like its predecessor, the band claims the territory of 70’s boogie, citing Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Beatles as heroes. So, much choogling, interesting arrangements and melodic rock driven songs, lending itself well to an open road with the car stereo turned up loud. – TERRASCOPE HERE

TERRASCOPE HERE

Professor David Kipping from Columbia University’s Cool Worlds lab proposes a massive leap forward in telescope technology with the “Terrascope.” This design only requires a 1m space-based telescope to turn the Earth’s atmosphere into a massive lens. The resulting terrascope would have the same capabilities as a 150 meter diameter telescope. For reference, the largest telescope today is 10 meters. A telescope this powerful would be able to detect topography and biosignatues from exoplanets.

Album ‘SEGYE’ Review by Terrascope

TENGGER – SEGYE

(LP on Cardinal Fuzz Records)

The evolution of Tengger can be traced through notable events. The story begins in Seoul, South Korea in 2005 as ‘10’ followed by the subtle renaming to (((10))) to mark the huge earthquake hitting Japan in 2011. A rebranding to Tengger followed for what was now a travelling, touring family unit consisting of core band members itta and Marqido with son RAAI. ‘Segye’ or ‘world’ began to take shape in Seoul in the midst of demonstrations against President Geun-hye Park in 2016. It was originally released on cassette by Gurugur Brain but has now been mastered for a lovely red vinyl release by Cardinal Fuzz Records.

‘Segye’ opens with ‘Donggrami’ which features a vibrant, jaunty pulse at its core and a drone not unlike Charlemagne Palestine with perhaps a subtle hint of Autobahn in its sound and feel. There’s a recurring wordless vocal phrase punctuating the tune and a more hymnal vocal briefly fights its way through the electro haze a little later in the piece. It’s an arresting opening track that grabs your attention and very good things are expected to follow which they most certainly do. ‘Haeoragi’ is essentially minimal and an audio flashback to the German electronic pioneers of the seventies in its ‘vintage’ analogue feel. The sound of older technology gives it a stark, icy, monochrome but stately grandeur and a simple elegance in the way it slowly introduces layers of sparse and unfussy overlapping sounds to make the sum of its parts a very good thing indeed over nearly eight minutes. I would happily listen to a complete side of this music and its simple, hypnotic joy. ‘Ollim’ raises the tempo again with a pulsing melody and a vocal with ethereal echoes of Liz Fraser or Lisa Gerrard in a dense soup of beats, drones and static teetering on the edge of chaos. It’s the musical soundtrack to sensory overload in a new city which keeps building until a sudden stop. A short interlude of dark rhythmic electronic ambience simmers in ‘Eeeum’, followed by more austere minimalist beauty in ‘Gubigubi Badabada’ which never seems to develop a clear forward momentum but nonetheless satisfies itself and this listeners ears with a recurring, slightly woozy dreamscape with harmonium drones, raga like themes and simple repeating melodies and distant almost ghostly vocals blending beautifully. Again, minimal composers such as Terry Riley came to mind when listening to this and that can only be a good thing.  

Another short interlude follows with ‘Gogae’, a simple, stark blend of overlapping drones creating dark textures before ‘Neoulneoul’ takes us to a land of deep reverberating pulses and delicate waves and washes of sound which has a gorgeous, minimal and  dreamy kosmische and dare I say it Eno-esque quality, strangely both calming and brooding at once. The finale is ‘Geuglag Wansaeng’ which begins with a much more prominent electronic beat than elsewhere on the record. Waves of treated and distorting electronics, ghostly vocals and pulsing synthesised melodies combine an industrial core with gothic folk melodies and drama. It’s stormy and elemental at times, an effect emphasised perhaps by the sound of lapping water which permeates the track and it’s a stunning ending to this fine record.

Tengger were new to me until very recently but it’s fair to say I’ve been completely enchanted by this wonderful record. There are lots of influences at play and I hear respectful and intelligent nods to Cluster, Eno, Kraftwerk, minimalist composers, industrial electronica, gothic folk and the 4AD sound to name but some. There is also an individuality at work here too where Tengger are informed and inspired by their travels, environment and life experiences and that helps elevate this record from being simply pleasant and clever pastiche to a personalised soundtrack to a life journey. I’m eagerly awaiting the next steps of the Tengger journey but in the meantime seek out and explore the pleasures of this record and you won’t be disappointed.

(Francis Comyn)