The best thing ever, today

Peter Carrington

Peter Carrington, an illustrator from Manchester, makes artworks about  science, natural history and his struggle to gain knowledge. As Carrington states, 

“I’ve always had an interest in science and nature, and during my studies I decided to combine this with my practice. Through deeper research into different scientific areas it quickly became apparent that, due to having dyslexia, I was never going to get a grip of the topics to make work that wasn’t shallow and ill-informed. I became frustrated that I wouldn’t be able to use the visual language of the sciences that I had become obsessed with. It was at this point that this frustration became the forefront of the work and the drawings became a portrait of me and my struggle with dyslexia. I began using the visuals of science and natural history journals to create seemingly scientific illustrations.”

Carrington’s work harkens back to the history of biology and botany, where drawing and labels were the key to all knowledge, then he adds his own bit of mystical influence. Now Carrington is focusing on the human need for order. Through labels and numbers he demonstrates our need to categorize. To see more of his work, click here. 

The Heartstopping Tale of How Apollo 11 Almost Failed to Return From The Moon

The date is July 20, 1969. With minutes of fuel to spare, the astronauts of Apollo 11 are gliding across the surface of the moon, looking for a place to land. There’s just one problem: boulders strewn across the landscape prevent a quick touchdown.

Back in Houston, mission control is issuing periodic readouts of the spacecraft’s fuel status. The seconds tick by until Apollo 11 is running on fumes. The situation is urgent. If the astronauts can’t land, they’ll be stranded on the moon until they die, with millions following the broadcast live from earth.

As the astronauts frantically search for a landing zone, the health monitoring equipment linked to the men goes haywire. The chart you see above shows Buzz Aldrin’s EKG readout in the final moments before touchdown, which is marked by the long vertical line about three-fourths of the way through the graph. It’s a rare, alternative glimpse of a critical moment in history, preserved by TEDMED curator and Priceline.com founder Jay Walker in a vast library devoted to science, medicine, and history.

Sharks and Fish