WTF ?

WTF ? 
by Minga

Minga's Work

Machine de Marly

The "machine" of Marly was a civil engineering marvel located at the bottom of the hill of Louveciennes, on the banks of the Seine about 12 kms from Paris. 
Louis XIV had it constructed to pump water from the river to his chateaux of Versailles and Marly. It consisted of fourteen gigantic water wheels, each roughly 11.5 meters, that were turned by the Seine to power 221 pumps to bring water 162 m up a hillside from the Seine River to the Louveciennes aqueduct.

The original Louis XIV Machine included not just an enormous structure on the river itself, but sprawled 600 meters all the way up the hill, comprising pumping stations, holding tanks, reservoirs, pipes and an intricate system of mechanical linkages to power pumps on the hill from the waterwheels below. 
Several accounts of the period describe the infernal noise this all generated... Sixty maintenance workers were employed to keep it running. Pumping at full capacity, it could add over a million gallons in 24 hours to the Marly reservoirs.


The construction lasted 7 years and was inaugurated in the presence of the King in June 1684. It was considered a wonder of the world at the time. However, the machine suffered from frequent breakdowns, required a permanent staff of sixty to maintain and often required costly repairs. In use until 1817, it was subsequently updated and rebuilt, finally ending up as an electrical generator until 1963.  

Exhaustive explanation :


http://www.arts-et-metiers.net/pdf/machine-marly.pdf
http://www.marlymachine.org/belidor.pdf




Texts :


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_de_Marly
http://www.marlymachine.org/
http://sciences.chateauversailles.fr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=161&Itemid=483__&lang=en

Sol Lewitt

"Solomon "Sol" LeWitt (September 9, 1928 – April 8, 2007) was an American artist linked to various movements, including Conceptual art and Minimalism.

LeWitt came to fame in the late 1960s with his wall drawings and "structures" (a term he preferred instead of "sculptures") but was prolific in a wide range of media including drawing, printmaking, photography, and painting." Wiki

 









Sol LeWitt Sol Lewitt @ Artnet

An octopus, some fishes and a frog

                        Photograph courtesy Bedford Institute of Oceanography

New Purple Octopus?

An unidentified purple octopus (pictured) is one of 11 potentially new species found this month during a deep-sea expedition off Canada's Atlantic coast, scientists say.

National Geographic

See also aBowman cute fish and frog gadget:
Watch them as they follow your mouse hoping you will feed them by clicking the surface of the water.

Fly eating tree frog ! Drop some flies by clicking! Awesome! Get yours here!

SS France // Paquebot France

SS France was a Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT, or French Line) ocean liner, constructed by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard at Saint-Nazaire, France, and put into service in February 1962.

At the time of her construction in 1960 she was the longest passenger ship ever built, a record that remained unchallenged until the construction of the 345 meter RMS Queen Mary 2 in 2004.

France was later purchased by Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) in 1979, renamed SS Norway and underwent significant modifications that better suited her for cruising duties. She was sold to be scrapped in 2006, and scrapping was completed in late 2008. Wiki