Can state-of -the-art visual analysis software always be relied on to find the elephant in an image? Akshay Raj Dhamija and colleagues at the VAST lab (Vision And Security Technology) at the Department of Computer Science, at University of Colorado, at Colorado Springs, US. have recently investigated the robustness of automated elephant detector systems. The team […]
Tag: picture
Untrained modern youths and ancient masters in self(ie) portraits
What do modern youths and ancient masters have in common? One possible commonality is they way they depict themselves in self portraits – specifically whether they tend to prefer giving preference to their left cheek or the right one. “[…] a set of selfies and wefies by modern youths reveals comparable biases to self-portraits and […]
An Iconography of Carrots
Authors John Stolarczyk and Jules Janick present their assessment of Carrot History and Iconography in the scholarly journal Chronica Horticulturae© (volume 51 – Number 2; June 2011). A great deal of further information can be found at John Stolarczyk’s World Carrot Museum which has a section devoted to Carrots Depicted in the Fine Arts. More […]
Maggot Paintings – can they be ©opyrighted?
For those interested in painting with maggots, Alison Bockoven, who is a PhD entomology student at Texas A&M University, provides an online resource: How to paint with maggots. Leading Improbable to a question : ‘If a maggot (or group of maggots) create(s) an artwork, who, if anyone, owns the copyright?’ Navigating the thorny and enigmatic […]
Remove a Nail, and the Painting Falls Off the Wall
An all-star team of computer scientists has come up with better ways to remove paintings from museum (or any other) walls). The team includes Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists (LFHCfS) member Erik Demaine [pictured here] and RSA Security co-founder Ron Rivest. Their study is: “Picture-Hanging Puzzles,” Erik D. Demaine, Martin L. Demaine, Yair N. […]
Seeking scientists who have their head in the clouds
Please help us compile a list of scientists who have their head in the clouds. Specifically, we are looking for scientists who choose to picture themselves with their head in the clouds. Here’s an example: Jérôme Hœpffner is an assistant professor at Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, Institut Jean Le Rond D’Alembert. This photo is on his […]