Everything is Interesting
Lenticular [len-tik-yuh-ler] printing is a technology in which a lenticular lens (an array of magnifying lenses, designed so that when viewed from slightly different angles, different images are magnified) is used to produce images with an illusion of depth, or the ability to change or move as the image is viewed from different angles. This technology was created in the 1940s but has evolved in recent years to show more motion and increased depth.
The Hebrew word Merkabah is used in Ezekiel (1:4-26) to refer to the throne-chariot of God, the four-wheeled vehicle driven by four ‘chayot’ (‘living creatures’), each of which has four rings and the four faces of a man, lion, ox, and eagle. Due to the concern of some Torah scholars that misunderstanding these passages as literal descriptions of God’s image might lead to blasphemy and/or idolatry, there was great opposition to studying this topic.
Jewish biblical commentaries emphasize that the imagery of the Merkaba is not meant to be taken literally; rather the chariot and its accompanying angels are analogies for the various ways that God reveals Himself in this world. Hasidic philosophy and Kabbalah discuss at length what each aspect of this vision represents in this world, and how the vision does not imply that God is made up of these forms. Jews customarily read the Biblical passages concerning the Merkaba in their synagogues every year on the holiday of Shavuot, which commemorates the receiving of the Ten Commandments.
Ming the Merciless is a fictional character who first appeared in the Flash Gordon comic strip in 1934. He has since been the main villain of the strip and its related movie serials, TV shows and film adaptation. The capital of his empire is named ‘Mingo City’ in his honour. In addition to his army, Ming has access to a wide variety of science fiction gadgets, ranging from rocket ships to death rays to robots.
Xenu [zee-noo] was, according to the founder of Scientology and science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, the dictator of the ‘Galactic Confederacy’ who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of his people to Earth in a DC-8-like spacecraft, stacked them around volcanoes and killed them using hydrogen bombs. Official Scientology dogma holds that the essences of these many people remained, and that they form around people in modern times, causing them spiritual harm.
Gondwana [gond-wah-nu], originally Gondwanaland, is the name given to a southern precursor supercontinent. Its final geological suturing occurred between ca. 570 and 510 million years ago, joining East Gondwana to West Gondwana. It later separated from Laurasia 180-200 million years ago during the breakup of the Pangaea supercontinent that existed about 500 to 200 million years ago into two large segments, nearly equal in area. The continent of Gondwana was named by Austrian scientist, Eduard Suess, after the Gondwana region of central northern India
The adjective ‘Gondwanan’ is in common use in biogeography when referring to patterns of distribution of living organisms, typically when the organisms are restricted to two or more of the now-discontinuous regions that were once part of Gondwana, including the Antarctic flora. For example, the Proteaceae, a family of plants that is known only from southern South America, South Africa, and Australia are considered to have a “Gondwanan distribution”. This pattern is often considered to indicate an archaic, or relict, lineage.
A kachina [kuh-chee-nuh] is a spirit being in the cosmology and religious practices of the Pueblo people of the southwestern U.S.. The term also refers to the kachina dancers, masked members of the tribe who dress up as kachinas for religious ceremonies, and kachina dolls, wooden dolls representing kachinas which are given as gifts to children.
A kachina can represent anything in the natural world or cosmos, from a revered ancestor to an element, a location, a quality, a natural phenomenon, or a concept.
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The Daily Omnivore 