I have been busy! These are two new Tritium designs. Unlike normal glow in the dark Tritium doesn’t need to by charged by an existing light source. It’s a gas, slightly radioactive (not dangerously so) and glows continuously for 12 to 15 years. It’s used in high end watches, gun sights - anything that requires constant illumination. But it’s very, very expensive and is sold in a range of small glass tubes. For the safety of the tube I install them in a second glass or crystal vial.
The green stick is small 12mm x 2mm. It’s sealed in the square crystal vial hung on semicircle silver tone connector with pointed terminals. Two flat struts are used to attach the chain.
The orange/pink stick is larger 24mm x 2mm sealed within a second glass vial test tube. I created a hanging bracket for the vial. The vial is topped with a 5 finned post. There is a brass ring on the test tube that holds the vial at a midpoint and can be removed. The vial itself can be worn without the bracket by clipping two clasps to the holes on the top cap that will be included.
Immediately after the detonation of the Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right) atomic bombs, two types of radioactive fallout were present, initial and residual.
Initial radiation comes from the detonation of the bomb, and immediately effects those in the local vicinity of the blast. The large amount of immediate deaths in the bombings were due to other factors such as flash or flame burns, falling debris, suffocation, etc… and not that of initial radiation. However, in the coming days and weeks following the blasts, about 30-50% of survivors succumb to the extreme amounts of initial radiation their bodies had absorbed.
Residual radiation has a longer lasting effect, and is what sticks (or is formed inside of) physical matter such as soil, buildings, and bodies. Deaths from residual radiation were relatively low due to the lack of a substantial amount of nuclear fallout as seen in other nuclear incidents. The bombs were detonated ~500 meters above street level, maximizing the large scale devastation to buildings, but limiting the amount of radioactive soil thrown into the atmosphere (that would eventually rain back down onto the ground). Most of the residual radiation had been pushed upwards into the mushroom cloud.
The threat of nuclear contamination was relatively low, and didn’t seem to pose a long threat of radiation poisoning as seen in the Chernobyl disaster. Because of this, reconstruction of the cities began only months after the bombings.
Flowers Gallery is pleased to present Nadav Kander’s most recent project Dust, which goes on display in New York for the first time in April 2016. Rooted in an interest in the ‘aesthetics of destruction,’ Dust explores the vestiges of the Cold War through the radioactive ruins of secret cities on the border between Kazakhstan and Russia.
Priozersk (formally known as ‘Moscow 10’) and Kurchatov are closed cities, restricted military zones, concealed and not shown on maps until they were ‘discovered’ by Google Earth. Enlisted to the pursuits of science and war, the sites were utilized for the covert testing of atomic and long distance weapons. Falsely claimed as uninhabited, the cities, along with nearby testing site ‘The Polygon’ set the stage for one of the most cynical experiments ever undertaken. Scientists watched and silently documented the horrifying effects of radiation and pollution on the local population and livestock.
On this day in 1903 Pierre Curie, accompanied by Marie Curie, gave a Friday Evening Discourse at the Ri, simply titled ‘Le Radium’.
That same year Pierre and Marie were awarded half of the Nobel Prize for Physics for their work on the spontaneous radiation discovered by Henri Becquerel, who was awarded the other half of the Prize.
Pierre Curie used an early sample of radium during his Discourse demonstration and stored it in this copper alloy pot and box, which are still radioactive to this day.
Early starts aren’t nice. They’re even worse when you wake up in a cold sweat imagining you’re trapped in Chernobyl and history has repeated itself. Thankfully, it became clear that hadn’t happened when I woke up, but it did leave me unable to get back to sleep from about 4am, four hours before my tour began. Perhaps that was my subconscious telling me that I was a little more apprehensive than…
Today I thought I would talk about a band that I hold very near and dear to my heart: Imagine Dragons. They were the first band I ever fell in love with as a young adult, the first concert I ever attended by myself and the first band I ever saw live more than once (sadly only twice, the perks of living in South America smh).
The first time I heard one of their songs was back in 2014 and I’ve been a fan of their music ever since. I gotta admit tho, I’m not that keen on their recent stuff :/ but with that said, I do appreciate everything they do and I plan to support them always ♥
To be honest, I feel like they’re underappreciated and get too much hate for absolutely no reason. I mean, they do a lot for charity, they are outspoken supporters of the LGBTQ+ community, they’ve helped a lot of people through their music and in top of that, they have magnificent lyrics! Everyone needs to get off their backs ffs
Following are my top 10 favourite songs by them.
First of all, a few honorable mentions: Whatever It Takes,Believer,Rise Up andNatural.
10.- Warriors
Number 10 on my list goes to Warriors, a song the band wrote and recorded for the 2014 League of Legends World Championships and that ultimately ended up in the deluxe version of Smoke + Mirrors, their sophomore album, and the best one yet imo.
I’ve always found it truly empowering, specially because of the lyrics, but also because of the theatrical vibes the overall melody gives off.
9.- The Fall
Next is The Fall, the last track of the standard version of Smoke + Mirrors. The song deals with the loneliness and depression usually associated with the cooling temperatures of autumn. Despite the gloomy theme, it shows a hopeful side as well, finishing with the lyrics “I’m ready for the fall, ready for the leaves, ready for the colours to burn to gold and crumble away”. It makes me feel like everything’s going to be okay.
8.- It Comes Back To You
At this point we’re clear on what my favourite album by them is, right?
I feel like this song is very overlooked by everyone and I’m not sure why. The lyrics talk about Dan Reynolds’ battle with depression, but again there’s a positive twist: despite all the hardships, everything that you might have otherwise lost will come back to you if you can see it through. Keep going ♥
7.- Dream
This song is so sad yet so beautiful at the same time. It brings tears to my eyes everytime I listen to it, and I honestly feel so fortunate to have been able to experience it live.
6.- Hopeless Opus
Following we have Hopeless Opus, again from Smoke + Mirrors. To be honest, that record is like a windwhirl of emotions. This time, the story is told from the perspective of someone that’s reflecting on their life, and that’s not content with the person they’ve turned out to be, with lyrics like “I’m trying not to face what I’ve done” and “I’m trying not to face what’s become of me”. Very moving.
5.- I Bet My Life
The first few times I heard this track, I must admit I wasn’t that bothered by it, because musically it didn’t seem *that* interesting, specifically the chorus tends to get a bit annoying over time. Nonetheless, once I paid attention to the lyrics, I was sold. I Bet My Life is a song about forgiveness, and it touches on Dan’s relationship with his parents, with whom he had a lot of disagreements with while growing up.
4.- Amsterdam
Now that we’re reaching the top, we’re throwing it back to the good old days ♥
I don’t have a specific or meaningful reason of why I love Amsterdam, other than nostalgia I guess. It was one of the first songs by Imagine Dragons that I ever listened to and its sound it’s part of what drew me to them.
3.- Hear Me
Hear Me is another one of those songs that brings me back. I feel its lyrics touch my soul (not to be dramatic or anything lol)
“Can nobody hear me?
I got a lot that’s on my mind
I cannot breathe
Can you hear it too?”
2.- Radioactive
Hear me out, okay?! I know Radioactive is suuuper overplayed, and if you say it’s your favourite song by the band, “true” fans will roll their eyes and call you a fake fan. I don’t care.
There’s a reason it’s so popular, it’s bloody good, okay?! My favourite part is the drum solo during the live performances, amazing.
1.- Demons
“Can I share something with you? This is something I’ve been sharing in this entire tour, and it’s important to me to express, to hopefully be a part of some sort of change in our future. Our youths across the world everyday are diagnosed with depression and anxiety. There are millions and millions of people who deal with this on a daily basis. They’re not seeking attention. They’re not making it up. They’re not looking for you to give them some sort of present for it, or for it to be a sob story. It’s a real thing. I was diagnosed with depression many years ago. It’s been part of my life, it’s been part of my story, but it never stopped me from doing anything that I wanted to do in this world. For those of you who are struggling with depression, anxiety, I stand with you. I love you. I understand the grey, I understand the numb. Hang on, it gets better. There is light. Speak to a family member, speak to a friend. If you can, go to a therapist. These things are not something we should be ashamed of. You are not broken. You can go on to do all the things that you wanna do in life, I promess. Above all, the reason I shared this is because, above all, your life is always worth living. Please, never ever take your life from us. We need you. We’re enjoying this human experience together. So, spread the love, see the light in the world, turn off the internet for a while and see each other’s faces and eyes, and feel each other’s hearts, and exist, and just… love. That’s it, it’s simple. This is a song about that, it’s called Demons”.
-Dan Reynolds, Lollapalooza Chile 2018
This man had me fuckin crying my eyes out in that crowd. I don’t think I need to say any more than that.
