The Pale Blue Dot

A short clip from the audio book "Pale Blue Dot" by Carl Sagan.
"The Pale Blue Dot" is the name of a famous image of our blue planet "Earth" from six billion kilometres away, taken by the NASA probe Voyager 1.
The video was inspired by this image of the Earth.
Sagan pointed out that "all of human history has happened on that tiny pixel, which is our only home":

The Pale Blue Dot

کلیپ کوتاه فوق بخشی از کتاب صوتی «نقطه آبی کمرنگ» نوشته کارل ساگان است

نقطه آبی کمرنگ نام تصویر بسیار معروفی است از سیاره زمین که از فاصله شش میلیارد کیلومتری توسط کاوشگر وویجر ۱ ناسا گرفته شده است

ویدیوی فوق الهام گرفته از این تصویر زمین از فاصله دور است

Free access to information and education are the keys to preserving our liberty and fighting with poverty.

Human curiosity and consequently science and knowledge (in general) are our most reliable means to achieve better lives, esp. when thinking of not only today but also the far future and the next generations of human being! That, in particular, includes the fundamental sciences or the ones which at this time may look like extremely ambitious plans!

Obviously, science can also be employed in negative ways, then better to talk about knowledge and not specifically accepted definition of science. Our task is then to fight for free access to information, free information circulation and the freedom of speech, where discussion plays the most important role! That's the way to develop our minds, to find and provide better lives for everyone on the Earth!

In contrast, what threaten our real and deep happiness are dogmatism, greed, luxury, the aristocracy, arrogance, discrimination, .... These are the things which are making us blind and unhappy!

The Manifesto of a Wayfarer

Painting: The Wayfarer, 1510 - Hieronymus Bosch, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, Op. 55, "Eroica"- Adagio Assai

(Herbert von Karajan)

Can you hear sound of human pains? The attempts for real freedom, shouting the humanity and equality, against the aristocracy and arrogance!

آیا صدای رنج انسان را می شنوی؟ تلاش برای آزادی حقیقی، فریاد انسانیت و برابری علیه اشرافیگری و تکبر 

Poverty, 1903
Pablo Picasso

The Sound of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel 
September 1965

Hello darkness, my old friend

I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

"Fools", said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sounds of silence

Klaus Hoffmann: Berlin (1978)

Photo: 23 Nov 1962, West Berlin, Germany - The Berlin Wall shortly after its construction - Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

Hossein Alizadeh: Song of Sparrows

Photo: Wikipedia

Infinite Gratitude, 1963
Rene Magritte

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Gustav Mahler: Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen

 Berliner Philharmoniker - Claudio Abbado

Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen,
Mit der ich sonst viele Zeit verdorben,
Sie hat so lange nichts von mir vernommen,
Sie mag wohl glauben, ich sei gestorben!

Es ist mir auch gar nichts daran gelegen,
Ob sie mich für gestorben hält,
Ich kann auch gar nichts sagen dagegen,
Denn wirklich bin ich gestorben der Welt.

Ich bin gestorben dem Weltgetümmel,
Und ruh' in einem stillen Gebiet!
Ich leb' allein in meinem Himmel,
In meinem Lieben, in meinem Lied!

(Friedrich Rückert, 1788-1866)

I am lost to the world with which I have wasted so much time. It may well believe that I am dead.

I don’t care if the world thinks me dead for I really am dead to it.
Away from the rat race I am at peace, alone in my heaven, my love and my song.

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection Symphony)

Photo: Polar Mesospheric Clouds Illuminated by Orbital Sunrise (Wikipedia)

Sohrab and Gordafarid - Shahrokh Moshkin Ghalam (Dance-video)

"Sohrab and Gordafarid" is inspired by the Shahnameh (Book of Kings), a masterly rendition of Iran's national history in verse by Ferdowsi. Sohrab is born of a night of love between the great Persian hero Rostam and Princess Tahmineh, the daughter of the king of Samangan. Seeking his father, Sohrab goes to Persia. Although still young, he already has the reputation of a great hero, bringing terror to the hearts of his adversaries, who attempt to prevent him from arriving at his destination. Gordafarid, a young warrior maiden, disguised in the armor of a man, challenges Sohrab. During the battle, Sohrab uses his lance to throw Goradafarid's helmet to the ground. Her courage and patriotism impress Sohrab and touch his heart.

Spring at Stonehenge

From: About.com

 

Happy Spring, Happy Norouz

Nowruz (Norouz) ("New Day", originally "New Light") is the name of the New Year in Iranian calendars and the corresponding traditional celebrations. It is also widely referred to as the Persian New Year.

Nowruz is celebrated and observed by Iranian peoples and the related cultural continent and has spread in many other parts of the world, including parts of Central Asia,South Asia, Northwestern China, the Crimea and some groups in the Balkans.

Nowruz marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the year in Iranian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical vernal equinox, which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed.

The UN's General Assembly in 2010 recognized the International Day of Nowruz, describing it a spring festival of Persian origin which has been celebrated for over 3,000 years. It was officially registered on the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Read more on:

Nowruz at Wikipedia

Vernal Equinox

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To celebrate the event

Antonio Vivaldi: Spring (Four Seasons) by Julia Fischer

ترانه نسیم فروردین

Take This Waltz - Leonard Cohen

Next Destination: Moon!?

Photo: Earthrise, as seen from NASA Apollo 8 mission to the Moon,
24 December 1968

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Clarinet concerto

A great series of scientific magazines and websites (in German):

Spektrum der Wissenschaft

Wissenschaft-online: wissenschaft-online.de
Spektrum der Wissenschaft, Verlagsübersicht: spektrumverlag.de
Spektrum der Wissenschaft: spektrum.de
Gehirn&Geist: gehirn-und-geist.de
Sterne und Weltraum: sterne-und-weltraum.de
epoc: epoc.de
SciLogs: scilogs.de
Science-Shop: science-shop.de
Wissenschaft in die Schulen!: wissenschaft-schulen.de
AcademiaNet: academia-net.de

The Lost Jockey, 1948
Rene Magritte

Michel Legrand: Summer of 42

Saturn and Titan, side by side

Maurice Jarre: The Message

Picture from: Astrobio.net