"Hidden within the basement archives of Yale University's Historical Medical Library lie the original oil painting collection and personal papers of the first American surgeon to practice in China." Extraordinary paintings of compassion in a medical setting. [Warning, these are graphic depictions, some NSFW] Elegant, disturbing and moving portraits of patients by Lam Qua, commissioned by a medical missionary named Peter Parker in the 1830's. [No, not that Peter Parker. Via MeFite tellurian's awesome blog].
posted on Sep 2, 2008 - View this thread

The Museum of Nature by Ilkka Halso. [Via Ectoplasmosis!]
posted on Jun 9, 2008 - View this thread

Carl Zimmer's Science Tattoo Emporium - "Underneath their sober lab coats and flannel shirts, scientists hide images of their scientific passions. Here they are revealed to all." From the science journalist and writer responsible for The Loom and numerous other published works.
posted on Apr 8, 2008 - View this thread

Gorgeous images, selected solely for their artistic appeal, from the pages of Physical Review B.
posted on Mar 22, 2008 - View this thread

The University of South Carolina recently completed an ambitious survey of all medieval texts in the state for an exhibit at the university library. All the works were scanned and archived electronically. However, not only can you view the texts online, you can hear the university's chorus sing (MP3) the musical manuscripts.
posted on Mar 18, 2008 - View this thread

The Amen Break and the Golden Ratio by mathematics educator and author, Michael S. Schneider. Schneider, having already researched and written about the golden ratio extensively, noticed it right away when hearing the the amen break for the first time (amen break previously on the blue). While some composers have been known to intentionally incorporate fibonacci numbers and the golden ratio into their works, perhaps this is just another one of the many instances of the ratio showing up in nature.
posted on Mar 12, 2008 - View this thread

Marvel vs. the BMI (one-link, but fun.)
posted on Mar 4, 2008 - View this thread

Collective Perception
posted on Nov 18, 2007 - View this thread

Morbid Anatomy - an excellent blog with a focus on art, medicine, death, and culture. Great viewing anytime, but it might also be a good reference source for any macabre seasonal celebrations!
posted on Oct 8, 2007 - View this thread

COLOURlovers blog - science, design, art, culture, travel - you name it, they can relate it back to color.
posted on Sep 20, 2007 - View this thread

Fate, Absolute Life and Death, the Aleph, the Zeitgeist, the sinking of the Atlantis, the World Trade Center, the formation of the universe...what more could you want from art? There's probably already been a been a post on this guy, Paul Laffoley, but I should hope more people could get a glance at some of this man's work. Crazy or brilliant, you make your decision. A video from his website.
posted on Aug 31, 2007 - View this thread

Steve Mann's hydraulophone with sculpture gallery and performance video snippets: [1] [2] [3]
posted on Aug 27, 2007 - View this thread

The Visual Image of Chemistry: Perspectives from the History of Art and Science. [Via homunculus (no relation)]
posted on Aug 12, 2007 - View this thread

Mont Saint-Michel as a sundial. Previously [via, via]
posted on Apr 5, 2007 - View this thread

"This is a story of how the impossible became possible. How, for centuries, scientists were absolutely sure that solids (as well as decorative patterns like tiling and quilts) could only have certain symmetries - such as square, hexagonal and triangular - and that most symmetries, including five-fold symmetry in the plane and icosahedral symmetry in three dimensions (the symmetry of a soccer ball), were strictly forbidden. Then, about twenty years ago, a new kind of pattern, known as a "quasicrystal," was envisaged that shatters the symmetry restrictions and allows for an infinite number of new patterns and structures that had never been seen before, suggesting a whole new class of materials...."

Physicist Paul J. Steinhardt delivers a fascinating lecture (WMV) on tilings and quasicrystals. However, it turns out science was beaten to the punch: a recent paper (PDF) suggests Islamic architecture developed similar tilings centuries earlier.
posted on Mar 18, 2007 - View this thread

If you've ever thought that music can be an extremely intuitive and effective way to communicate things, then Stanford Professor Jonathan Berger (samples of his music) is doing some research that might interest you. (via)
posted on Feb 6, 2007 - View this thread

A talk with Benoît Mandelbrot, entitled Fractals in Science, Engineering and Finance (Roughness and Beauty) [video, 80mins, realplayer] about fractals as A Theory of Roughness.
posted on Dec 3, 2006 - View this thread

The King's Kunstkammer - en vogue in Renaissance Europe, kunstkammers were status symbols of kings, vast collections of art, curiosities, and scientific and natural objects. This is a partial reconstruction of the Royal Danish Kunstkammer, established by King Frederik III in the mid-1600s. Exploring the collection's 250 objects offers insight into princely preoccupations of the era.
posted on Nov 22, 2006 - View this thread

The Art of Edgar Lissel " Lissel works with bacteria, using their photo-tactical characteristics for his images."
posted on Nov 15, 2006 - View this thread

Scientific visualization challenge 2006: This year's winners captured inner details of a child mummy, mathematical surfaces rendered as glass objects, the highest mountain on Earth, air traffic by night, etc...
posted on Oct 4, 2006 - View this thread

Beautiful, occasionally abstract, old German zoological wall charts. [via]
posted on Oct 3, 2006 - View this thread

"On September 30, 2006, for one day only, museums across the country will join the Smithsonian Institution in its long-standing tradition of offering free admission to visitors."
posted on Sep 28, 2006 - View this thread

Beethoven stretches out and relaxes. Gorillas belch to let others know where they are. Fish sing the body electric (.mov, 12 MB) for food and safety. How has your own perception shaped your worldview?
posted on Aug 14, 2006 - View this thread

Seeing is believing : Illustrations were essential in spreading new scientific and medical ideas and it was often the case that new developments in the sciences were accompanied by corresponding developments in illustrative techniques.
posted on Jul 13, 2006 - View this thread

The U.S. Naval Observatory Library features high-res scans of images from antique books dealing with astronomy and navigation. Wallpapers, ahoy!
posted on Jul 13, 2006 - View this thread

i began cataloging the colors, and put the color list on the web. over time, the paint catalog turned into a web site.
posted on Jun 27, 2006 - View this thread

Science sites of all kinds for kids. Archeology. Entomology. Natural Symphony. Baseball in Space. Philosophy. Process or Content. Science songs. Physics songs, relativity. String theory. Science and Art.
posted on Jun 26, 2006 - View this thread

Art of Science 2006 'images, videos and sounds—produced in the course of research or incorporating tools and concepts from science.' Previously on MeFi.
posted on Jun 5, 2006 - View this thread

On the heels of microscopic jewelry rides golden buckyballs (full text).
posted on Jun 1, 2006 - View this thread

Loes Modderman's Science Art
Beautiful microscopic art, often striking similar to some modern art. Dig the abstract crystal images: cholesterol, crystal landscapes, vitamin c is psychedelic. Explore the sands of the world! Bubbles are pretty, plastics rock, fluids are minimalist. (via)
posted on Mar 30, 2006 - View this thread

ARTnatomy: Anatomical Basis of Facial Expression Learning Tool. See how all the different muscles in your face work. Flash interface; via Drawn!
posted on Mar 15, 2006 - View this thread

What are nudibranchs? Jewels of the sea. Page after page of photographs of these squishy hermaphrodites.
posted on Mar 10, 2006 - View this thread

These images remind us never to underestimate our opponent. -- The science behind the art (.pdf). Fractal art by way of bacteria growin' in a petri dish. A few more images here.
posted on Mar 7, 2006 - View this thread

The Six Thousand: 6000 [well, at least twenty or so right now] intriguing people you want to meet online before you die, edited by Cliff Pickover. My fave right now? Asya Schween.
posted on Feb 27, 2006 - View this thread

Piero Scaruffi is a normal person. Like so many others, he ponders knowledge, language, and art from time to time. When he travels, he takes pictures. Just like everyone else. Sure, he has his thoughts about politics and world affairs, who doesn't? And when he's done with all of this he just wants to rock. Exactly like you. See?
posted on Feb 23, 2006 - View this thread

Carl Buell, natural history illustrator, has started a blog. Interview with the man here.
posted on Dec 9, 2005 - View this thread

3quarksdaily. Just another blog, sure, but a good one. 3quarksdaily is a filter blog much like our very own, but with only 15 users (and an editor). As they say on their about page "On this website, my guest authors and editors and I hope to present interesting items from around the web on a daily basis, in the areas of science, design, literature, current affairs, art, and anything else we deem inherently fascinating." The do an admirable job.
posted on Dec 6, 2005 - View this thread

The winners of the 2005 Nikon Small World Competition are up (previous years going back to 1977 are also worth a look). Photomicrography produces some amazing imagery, giving us glimpses into both the inner workings of living things, and the intricate structure of nonliving things (just click "find all").
posted on Dec 4, 2005 - View this thread

Visions of Science
posted on Sep 28, 2005 - View this thread

These are the cures. These are the illnesses. Guaranteed to cure what ails you. A look at the fantastic science of medicine, and the fantastic art of bodies afflicted.
posted on Sep 23, 2005 - View this thread

"If time has to end, it can be described, instant by instant," Mr. Palomar thinks, "and each instant, when described, expands so that its end can no longer be seen." He decides that he will set himself to describing every instant of his life, and until he has described them all he will no longer think of being dead. At that moment he dies.
In memoriam of Italo Calvino, who died exactly 20 years ago.
"Calvino's novels" by his friend Gore Vidal. Calvino's obituary by Vidal, il maestro William Weaver's essay on Calvino's cities, Jeanette Winterson on Calvino's dream of being invisible, and Stefano Franchi's philosophical study on Palomar's doctrine of the void. More inside.
posted on Sep 18, 2005 - View this thread

Bathsheba Grossman: a geometric sculptor
posted on Aug 26, 2005 - View this thread

Artists on science; scientists on art
posted on Aug 1, 2005 - View this thread

The Hidden Messages in Water? Masaru Emoto claims that water has the ability "to absorb, hold, and even retransmit human feelings and emotions. Using high-speed photography, he found that crystals formed in frozen water reveal changes when specific, concentrated thoughts are directed toward it. Music, visual images, words written on paper, and photographs also have an impact on the crystal structure." The theory may be suspect, but the photos are beautiful.
posted on May 11, 2005 - View this thread

We Make Money Not Art :: art meets science and technology in the near near future and begets some cool and scary toys.
posted on Jan 27, 2005 - View this thread

Dr Hugo's Museum of the Mind - Synaesthesia
posted on Jan 20, 2005 - View this thread

"Researchers have discovered the hidden laboratory used by Leonardo da Vinci for studies of flight and other pioneering scientific work in previously sealed rooms at a monastery next to the Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata, in the heart of Florence."
posted on Jan 13, 2005 - View this thread

Eye Of Science - Beautiful images of the microscopic world. (via boingboing.net)
posted on Dec 31, 2004 - View this thread

Between whimsy and science lay the water clocks of Bernard Gitton.
posted on Dec 26, 2004 - View this thread

Move over, Gray's Anatomy! Children draw the human body.
posted on Oct 14, 2004 - View this thread

The Pig Wings Project: "Rhetoric surrounding the development of new biological technologies make us wonder if pigs could fly one day. If pigs could fly, what shape their wings will take? The Pig Wings Project presents the first use of living pig tissue to construct and grow winged shape Semi-Living Objects."
posted on Sep 28, 2004 - View this thread

bird and moon
posted on Aug 11, 2004 - View this thread

Beershots :: Microscopic Views of Beers from Around the World.
Also, an assortment of cocktails.
Shamelessly stolen from Plep
posted on Jul 3, 2004 - View this thread

Molecular Media Project.
posted on May 16, 2004 - View this thread

Tessellations :: the intersection between symmetry, mathematics, and art.
posted on Mar 11, 2004 - View this thread

Investigating the Renaissance. 'This interactive program demonstrates the ways in which computer technology can be harnessed to add to our knowledge about Renaissance paintings and how they were made.' Analysis of paintings using x-ray, infrared and ultraviolet technology.
posted on Dec 23, 2003 - View this thread

Scicult: bridging science & culture through contemporary art.
posted on Oct 25, 2003 - View this thread

1957 atomic revolution comic book. Quite a find for 1950s atomic memorabilia enthusiasts. Creepy and educational. Has anyone here ever heard of M.Philip Copp?
posted on May 19, 2003 - View this thread

This guy can build an orrery for you. Or you can make your own armillary sphere. These two devices are quite possibly the most elegant and beautiful scientific instruments ever created.
posted on May 2, 2003 - View this thread

Ethiopian Icons: Faith and Science. Richly hued religious art from an African Christian culture.
posted on Apr 15, 2003 - View this thread

They may not have staples in their stomachs, but these monthly pictorials might have you wishing that there were more than 12 months in a year. Meet January's lovely Absinthe: mysterious, intoxicating, barely legal, and February's naughty Anthrax, who can only be described as dangerous and intimidating. Or perhaps you prefer spicy Myrrh, December's offering - exotic, refined, desirable. safe for work
posted on Apr 3, 2003 - View this thread

Art meets science - a fascinating site linking art, maths, physics, astronomy and.... the London Underground!
posted on Feb 11, 2003 - View this thread

In these troubled times, we would all do well to remember the lesson of the Apasht. But you'll have a hard time finding this vanished Neolithic culture in any mainstream anthropology textbook. That's why these archives are such an invaluable resource.
posted on Jan 31, 2003 - View this thread

Genomic Art. This lies somewhere on an interface between science and art that most never suspected existed. Check out the gallery.
Oh, and don't forget to visit the Randolph Y. Teasely Hospital - Dwayne Medical Center and it's current projects: male pregnancy, designer babies and Clyven, the world's first talking transgenic mouse.
posted on Jan 22, 2003 - View this thread

The Apothecary's Drawer is the "play page" of writer and science journalist Ray Girvan. Here you'll find the Web equivalent of stuffed alligators, brass astrolabes and jars of leeches: an eclectic choice of links to scientific and artistic sites worldwide. Give it a try.
posted on Nov 17, 2002 - View this thread

Art from physics: it's a groovy gas. It's transonic flight. It's a pi-muon death cycle. It's a dark matter detector. It's a Super-Kamiokande with 9000 neutrino eyes. Dream on!
posted on Nov 15, 2002 - View this thread

Buddhist mandalas? Abstract doodles? Alien snow crystals? Nope. Just some amazing scientific art from Art Forms in Nature, published between 1899 and 1904 by zoologist Ernst Haeckel. Lots more early biological art at this scientist's public domain archive. Unfortunately, Haeckel also helped provide the philosophical foundation for Nazism. Hey, no one's perfect.
posted on May 24, 2002 - View this thread

From windmills to whirligigs... Please step lightly. It's an old site and I'd hate to see it overwhelmed. I love it and I thought you might like it too. Gently, please, gently.
posted on Mar 23, 2002 - View this thread

High Speed Photography is truly amazing. Who knew a water drop collapses like a racquetball?
posted on Aug 31, 2001 - View this thread

"Protrude, Flow" A most amazing artistic endeavor - metallic filings dumped in oil to make magnetic liquid, and the fun that ensued afterwards. Make sure to check out the video as well! (from memepool)
posted on Aug 23, 2001 - View this thread