MetaFilter posts tagged with zoom

Cell Size and Scale

grumblebee — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:50:05 -0800

Cool app lets you zoom in from a coffee bean to a carbon atom, so that you can compare sizes. Along the way, you see a grain of sand, a skin cell and many other tiny things. This is the first time I've ever had a sense of these objects' sizes. Cells are actually bigger than I thought they were. I wish the zoomer would keep going. I want to see some sub-atomic particles on the scale.

Zoomable Universe

paradoxflow — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:02:24 -0800

Amazing zoomable images of the Extended Groth Strip and Orion Nebula.

Art In HD

Rykey — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 08:26:46 -0800

Zoom in to brush-stroke level detail of the masters at the World's First HD Online Art Exhibition. At SXSW 2009, France's Zoomorama showed off its latest collaboration with Bridgeman Art Library. So far the collection features the work of only three artists, but for those of us who like to make museum security nervous by getting really close, the results are pretty amazing, and the implications for future exhibitions are exciting. [Flash]

SFMOMA ArtScope

hortense — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:26:47 -0800

SF artmuseum's zooming interface interesting collection, flash found

Zoom into Aluminium

Tube — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:39:59 -0800

Accomplished by seamlessly blending images captured with different photo and microscopy techniques – and some deal of illustration – delve deep into the matter, from the hair above to concrete, steel and more in the Weird, Weird Science Channel. Via forgetomori

Psychemathadelica!

not_on_display — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:56:40 -0800

How deep does the rabbit hole go? The Ultimate Fractal Video Project features animated zooms into the famous Mandelbrot Set. Some zoom in so far that, by the end of the dive, the first frame you had viewed would be as large as (or larger than) the known universe. | The animations are offered as .zip'd WMV files; lower-quality versions are viewable on FractAlkemist's YouTube page. The author explains: "The 'Universe' viddies are so named because at a zoom depth of E+26, the original Mandelbrot is expanded to approximately the size of the known observable universe, 10-20 billion lightyears. And E+61 is the ratio of the entire visible universe to the smallest sub-atomic quantum effects. So where does E+89 take you? To the Mother of All Mandelbrot ZooM animations! "This one took 8 months to render on 3 systems, all running 24/7. This is the Deepest Mandelbrot ZooM Animation ever made, and ever likely to be made (without frame interpolation, shortcuts, tricks or cheating). It goes all the way to a final zoom depth of E+89, and uses maximum iterations (2,100,000,000) all the way for maximum detail." - - - - - Recommended uses: download a few, put them in a queue on your media player, and let them play on repeat at your next box social. - - - - - This FPP by loquacious points to another cool fractal animation site. - - - - - Bonus: two more cool fractal animations: one with Jonathan Coulton's song "Mandelbrot Set" as the soundtrack, the other with a more baroque flavor. - - - - - There are many more examples of fractal animation out there; please add your favorite links in the comments section.

All the better to see you with

ardgedee — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:20:48 -0800

As a photographer, you need to get close to your subject. But sometimes things get between you and your subject. Things such as state lines, restraining orders, and guard patrols that can keep you miles away from the people you want to shoot. What do you do at times like this? Get a bigger lens. It's a 1200mm autofocus lens. With an 84cm housing, 18 kilo carrying weight, and combination handle and tripod mount collar, it will make your SLR look like a pocket camera stuck to the pointy end of a traffic pylon. There's no macro mode: It can't focus on anything less than 12 meters away. All for just under $100,000.

Mubetubafubiltuber

not_on_display — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 13:52:33 -0800

Write ZOOM, Z-double-oh-M, Box three-five-oh, Boston, Mass, OH-two-ONE-three-FOURRRR! C'mon and Zooma Zooma Zooma ZOOM! ZOOM was produced for PBS by WGBH in Boston, and originally aired from 1972 through 1978. It literally was television for kids, by kids -- the show's various segments were culled from thousands of ideas submitted by viewers (by mail to the address above). Sometimes these kids were featured in the clips themselves. From a 1972 Time Magazine article: "Virtually all the material is by children and is selected by the seven-member cast (ages nine through 13). The kids sing, dance. play games, talk in 'Ubbi-Dubbi'--a catchy code language reminiscent of past generations' pig Latin-show home movies and give laconic instructions in all manner of skills. The first show featured a filmed demonstration of how to build a raft from tree limbs, leaves and an old tarpaulin. A 4-minute karate exhibition aimed at defeating bicycle thieves was on the second. The third will include a thoroughly befuddling lesson in the game of "cat's cradle," with a perplexed young instructress tangling her string and admitting, 'I got it wrong.'" Ubbi-Dubbi? Well, let Wikipedia break it down for you. Wait, that was no fun... better yet, pbs.org has a Flash-based Ubbi-Dubbi Translator. I had it translate its own instructions into Ubbi-Dubbi: "Uball yubou hubave tubo dubo ubis subay UBUB bubefubore ubevuberuby vubowubel subound. Uband thubis Ububbubi Dububbubi mubachubine hubas bubeen prubogrubammubed wubith thube ubabubilubituby tubo rubecubognubize whubich vubowubels ubare suboundubed, uband whubich ubare subilubent!" You can hear Ubbi-Dubbi spubokuben fubulubentluby by nubatubives at the beginning of thubis clubip of the ZOOMers' production of the Mad Tea Party scene from Alice in Wonderland. Wikipedia also comes close to de-funnifying Fannee Doolee: "Fannee Doolee is a fictitious girl acted in the playhouse by the ZOOMers on ZOOM. During the play, Fannee Doolee does not face the audience and she does not speak; instead, Fannee Doolee's unheard dialog is exposed when the person she was seen talking to turns to talk with others. The play is a comedy and the repeating gag is that Fannee Doolee likes and dislikes things that are similar and the people around her are perplexed by this inconsistency. For example, she likes stools but not chairs; she likes coffee but not drinks; she likes rolls but not bread; she likes cheese but not dairy. (I bet she loves LOLLing but hates MetaFilter.) Here's a clip of the cool Fannee Doolee song'n'dance. Here are some segments: - Roll out the ZOOMBarrel: a game called "Cracker Whistle" - this clip made me laugh when I was young, and again now. Play "Cracker Whistle" responsibly. It's fun. - ...doo-wah-zoom-doo, Do A ZOOMDo! These girls show (not tell) you how to make Stained Glass Cookies! - Bernadette shows us how she does that thing with her arms. Bernadette has her own ZOOMstalgia web page, too. This guy gets all mushy, shooting an eight-minute Youtube about how Bernadette answered his email. - ZOOM's Play of the Week: A melodrama about two lost fishermen. Written by someone just like you were back before the web sucked all the imagination out of you. - A nice piece of music: "I am a City Child I live on the tip-top floor Of an old apartment building With a very creaky door" And, as a bonus, here's the first episode of ZOOM, before the rugby shirts were de rigeur: Part 1 - Intro to the Merrymac, Intro to Ubbi-Dubbi, the ZOOM Play of the Week (an absurdist classic) Part 2 - ZOOMovie (Rated R, "Ristricted"), ZOOM Guest (Roy West, wordlessly showing you how to build a cool raft), The Ubbi-Dubbi Weather Report Part 3 - ZOOMgame (A Merrymac), ZOOMrap (a really nice piece that has the kids talkin' about their experiences with doctors and hospitals), a song ("The Cat Came Back") Part 4 - The address rap (Joe's and Nancy's lines are the best), and Closing Credits. Rugby shirts, jeans, and bare feet. The second season won a daytime Emmy. C'mon and ZOOM! (ZOOM was revived by PBS in 1999, but we'll save that for an FPP in 2035.)

Lyon's Electronic Office

tellurian — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:53:42 -0800

In October 1947, the directors of J. Lyons & Co (think - teashops, nippies, bakeries, ice-creams, steakhouses, hotels, Wimpy Bars and Dunkin' Donuts), decided to take an active role in promoting the commercial development of computers. In 1951 the LEO I computer was operational and ran the world's first regular routine office computer job.

Nanoreisen

stavrosthewonderchicken — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 23:43:54 -0800

Nanoreisen. "A virtual discovery journey into the worlds of micro- and nano-cosmos." [flash] A kind of thematic followup to this.

BIG, little.

the Real Dan — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 13:27:02 -0800

A Mandelbrot zoom that is much larger than our known universe.
Previously mentioned here, but it deserves its own mention. Via.

Universcale

stavrosthewonderchicken — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 05:02:04 -0800

The universe [flash]. I know, it's on a corporate site, and you have to sit through some pretentious Japanglish while it loads, but being able to use your mousewheel to scroll from femtometers up to the 100 billion lightyear scale is dazzling. I love cosmic zooms. Remember to pray that there's intelligent life in space, because there's bugger-all down here on Earth, except for folks like Metafilter's own kokogiak, who shows us everything in the solar system bigger than 200 miles in diameter.

Recent Shuttle Launch from Unusual Angles

crunchland — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 17:05:48 -0800

Recent Shuttle Launch from Unusual Angles
+ Right forward Solid Rocket Booster camera (Windows media)
+ Right aft Solid Rocket Booster camera (Windows media)
+ Left aft Solid Rocket Booster camera (13.7 Mb Quicktime movie)
+ Left forward Solid Rocket Booster camera (13.6 Mb Quicktime movie)
+ Separation composite view (10 Mb Quicktime movie)

The Zoom Quilt

criticalbill — Tue, 30 Nov 2004 15:28:27 -0800

The Zoom Quilt (uses flash)

Backing away from a rooster

languagehat — Sat, 02 Aug 2003 10:37:56 -0800

Zoom! A nice series of images for a summer weekend. (Via Avva.)

Chief Typist — Thu, 20 Jun 2002 10:10:50 -0800

Feeling small or feeling big? 39 orders of magnitude that take you from the Milky Way to the proton in an oak leaf.