Radiohead and Consilience

This is a fourth culture I can believe in:

Google has a lot more on how the video was made using 64 rotating lasers (no cameras!) and some cool data visualization programs. (They also released the raw data for the point clouds, so anybody can, at least in theory, create their own visual remix of the Radiohead music video.) As people like Ben Fry demonstrate, the visualization of massive data sets - a pressing problem for modern science - is a great place for art and science to come together.

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Unfortunately this may inspire people who don't know what they're doing to play with equipment they can't handle:

Ravers lose sight at laser showMOSCOW (Reuters) - Dozens of partygoers at an outdoor rave near Moscow last week have lost partial vision after a laser light show burned their retinas, Russian health officials said on Monday....Attendees said heavy rains forced organizers to erect massive tents for the all-night dance party, and lasers that normally illuminate upwards into the sky were instead partially refracted into the ravers' eyes....

By Kalia's little… (not verified) on 16 Jul 2008 #permalink

Thanks, Jonah. Looking forward to checking out Radiohead's 'green' light show in Jersey City , NJ August 8 at the All Points West Festival. My 1998 interview with Thom is still floating around the internet.