Mr. Tea's Top 10 Badass Phenomena

slowtrain

Well-known member
I just had a very weird idea! Would it be possible to make condoms with a tentacular sucker pattern on them? - Im sure they would sell......

Thats one of the best ideas I've heard in a long time, you'd make a mill with those no problem I bet
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Yeah, tentacles - giant amoebae - Tokyo - there's only one way this thread could go really...

I love the idea of that slime mould practically reconstructing the route of the Tokyo Metro. Makes me think of cellular automata, neural networks, ants/bees/termites - very simple individual mechanisms or creatures acting together as a system, unconsciously and acephalously, to achieve something that bears all the hallmarks of an intelligent design. And then applying that principle to human cities: urban sprawl as an emergent phenomenon, a gestalt entity. Really no difference in principle between the organic and the cybernetic.

I was thinking about hive minds and such recently and the thought struck me: has any explored 'entomo-punk' as a sci-fi subgenre? I have a feeling Bill Burroughs would have been the chap for this, somehow.
 
Last edited:

grizzleb

Well-known member
Me and a mate were talking about hive minds at the weekend. It's kind of like the structure of all minds as an entity of disparate parts which is united to acheive a whole, except its more bare. The structure of the 'hive mind' as a mind constituted soley by its individual parts is exposed more obviously, in turn giving insight into minds generally... Anyway, it's fascinating business.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Me and a mate were talking about hive minds at the weekend. It's kind of like the structure of all minds as an entity of disparate parts which is united to acheive a whole, except its more bare. The structure of the 'hive mind' as a mind constituted soley by its individual parts is exposed more obviously, in turn giving insight into minds generally... Anyway, it's fascinating business.

Yep, I'd agree with that. And as luck would have it, from yesterday's beeb: "The brain appears to be a vastly interconnected network much like the Internet, according to new research" - seems to back up exactly what you're saying.

Shame nomad's not around at the moment, she'd probably have some worthwhile input here from the neurology side of things.
 

Sick Boy

All about pride and egos
An appropriately bad-ass name for a bad-ass insect... I give you Paraponera - the "Bullet Ant":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraponera

Paraponera is a genus of ant consisting of a single species, the so-called bullet ant (P. clavata), named on account of its powerful and potent sting, which is said to be as painful as being shot with a bullet.

The pain caused by this insect's sting is purported to be greater than that of any other Hymenopteran, and is ranked as the most painful according to the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. It is described as causing "waves of burning, throbbing, all-consuming pain that continues unabated for up to 24 hours". It is thought that the ant has evolved this way to ward off any predators who would normally unearth them. In some indigenous communities, to enter manhood, a boy has to endure being stung by the ant 20 times without screaming.[1] A paralyzing neurotoxic peptide isolated from the venom is poneratoxin.

Apparently this practice is employed by removing the stings from the ant and placing them facing inwards into a glove. The glove is then worn by the initiate, who then usually experiences such a degree of pain that they are left physically ill and delusional for days. My initiation into manhood was clumsy and embarassing sex, a driving test, and being covered in shaving cream from head to toe by the senior years before my first day of high school. My naturally-endowed self defence mechanism was running home and jeering at my predators out of the window. This ranks slightly higher in bad-assitude on both counts.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
"Ever sift sand through a screen?" she asked.
The tangential slash of her question shocked his mind into a higher awareness: Sand through a screen, he nodded.
"We Bene Gesserit sift people to find the humans."

Apparently this practice is employed by removing the stings from the ant and placing them facing inwards into a glove. The glove is then worn by the initiate...


dune04.jpg



I must not fear.
FEAR IS THE MIND-KILLER.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
 

michael

Bring out the vacuum
Just had an enthused conversation about Weddell Seals. Specifically that they sound like the Forbidden Planet soundtrack dubbed out by Scratch Perry, without needing anything so downright soft as a recording studio or an echo box to help them.

I was sure there'd been some chat about them on dissensus, but can't find anything now. Here's a clip from Herzog's documentary where he went to Antarctica. The shots of the scientists lying on the ice are just great.

<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value=""></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

There are some other really long, equally amazing sound samples in a blog post I did earlier in the year.
 
Last edited:

grizzleb

Well-known member
Just had an enthused conversation about Wardell Seals. Specifically that they sound like the Forbidden Planet soundtrack dubbed out by Scratch Perry, without needing anything so downright soft as a recording studio or an echo box to help them.

I was sure there'd been some chat about them on dissensus, but can't find anything now. Here's a clip from Herzog's documentary where he went to Antarctica. The shots of the scientists lying on the ice are just great.

<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value=""></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

There are some other really long, equally amazing sound samples in a blog post I did earlier in the year.

That's absolutely brilliant. I can't get my head around that.
 

michael

Bring out the vacuum
Oops, I got their name wrong above, fixed now. Weddell Seals. Yeah, I honestly didn't believe it at first, hence seeking out the other links in my post above... hours and hours and hours of audio collected by scientists.

This one of Bearded Seals is, if not as amazing, at least as inorganic sounding. http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/126104

Competitive displays based around sub-ice soundclashes... Shit yeah. :)

Their frequency range is remarkable, with lower frequency calls registering around 0.1KHz and others reaching up to 70KHz--well beyond human hearing which levels out at about 18KHz. Males generally have a broader repertoire of calls which are heard most often during the mating season, as a display to competing males and to attract females.

From http://www.antarctica2000.net/wildlife/weddell.html


And if I may attempt a badass phenomena segue, this PDF has a guy speculating fairly loosely about how places where you find these seals are also places where you have very high frequency of occurrence of ultra-low frequency (pitch) "whistlers" in the atmosphere. Whistlers are basically massive surges of radio waves generated by lightning, but well within the frequency range of the seals' calls. The idea that the seals might be in some way responding to or imitating the massively deep bass pressure in the atmosphere above them is ... ok, probably really far fetched, but also pretty beautiful.
 

michael

Bring out the vacuum
Oh yeah, and I don't know if this constitutes a badass phenomenon but that guy whose PDF I linked to in the last post talks about the McMurdo Dry Valleys. They're the bits of Antarctica that are so cold there is no snow and thought to be the driest place on earth. May have been without rain for millions of years. That's pretty awesome for a continent most would still picture as a big flat expanse of ice and snow.


Finally, lyre birds? We've gone there in some other thread, eh?

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value=""></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value=""></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>
 

Dr Awesome

Techsteppin'
When I was last over in Aussie the people I stayed with had a bird that'd sit on the power line in front of their house and make casino slot machine noises.
Was rather hilarious.

Those seals are insane. I'd love to see what they'd make if you took them out to town and got them pissed.
 

alex

Do not read this.
Touché

this part especially made me laugh

The ball of fire reportedly divided into two segments, one exiting through a window by smashing it open, the other disappearing somewhere inside the church. The explanation at the time, because of the fire and sulfur smell, was that the ball of fire was "the devil" or the "flames of hell". Later, some blamed the entire incident on two people who had been playing cards in the pew during the sermon, thereby incurring God's wrath.[5]
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Great thread. You should write a Badass Book, Mr Tea.

Was watching Planet Earth last night. There's so many Badasss Phenomena in that program but to pick one example:

 

you

Well-known member
ill see your beyonce and raise you a rihanna:
<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value=""></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>
 
Top