semiconductor: black rain.

I flipped out for Seminconductor’s amazing art/sciene visualization film “Magnetic Movie”, where they interviewed NASA scientists and then visually realized the invisible affects of magnetic fields they were discussing. A brilliant collision of fact and visual interpretation.

Now Semiconductor is at it again with “Black Rain”, this time turning their focus from the Earth’s magnetic fields to all the sounds of the universe itself…

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“Black Rain is sourced from images collected by the twin satellite, solar mission, STEREO. Here we see the HI (Heliospheric Imager) visual data as it tracks interplanetary space for solar wind and CME’s (coronal mass ejections) heading towards Earth. Data courtesy of courtesy of the Heliospheric Imager on the NASA STEREO mission.

Working with STEREO scientists, Semiconductor collected all the HI image data to date, revealing the journey of the satellites from their initial orientation, to their current tracing of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Solar wind, CME’s, passing planets and comets orbiting the sun can be seen as background stars and the milky way pass by.”

nasa + semiconductor: magnetic movie.

I’ve always been especially inspired by the ostensible dichotomy that is the art of science. Or, depending on your view, the science of art. We like to separate our brains and functions and imagine the two as totally separate, and perhaps for many they are, but it’s fascinating to study the two together. There are many ways that the pursuit of fact spurns imagination, and where the beauty of things inspires people to discover the reality of what created it.

Directed by Semiconductor (the multi-disciplinary collaboration of UK artists Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt) and shot at the NASA Space Sciences Laboratory at UC Berkeley, “Magnetic Movie” is a subtly brilliant visual augmentation and sonic accompaniment to the accounts of scientists who’ve studied the affects of magnetic fields. A true interplay of science and art, you’re never really sure if what you’re seeing is an artistic rendering of science fact or a scientific interpretation of visual art. In the end, it’s actually both.

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Via The Denver Egotist