Below are links to a few individual artists and firms devoted to creation of data-driven art.  Before each link we give their brief description of what they do taken or paraphrased from their website.  We also provide a teaser image of work from their site, and our very brief commentary follows each link.  Enjoy, and please let us know of other artists / links to consider.  

variable.io

“Generative and data-driven art, including ever changing digital sculptures and data-based systems with thousands of possible outcomes.  Merge hi-tech aesthetics with nuance of human senses.”  

https://variable.io/generative-and-data-art/

This is a bunch of freaky-fun stuff indicative of very free and talented artistic imaginations.  

information is beautiful

“Data, information, knowledge:  we distil it into beautiful, useful graphics & diagrams.”  

https://informationisbeautiful.net/

All-over-the-place data visualization.  Must-see for anyone Interested in the topic.

Jill Pelto

“Communicate science through glaciogenic art to raise awareness about interesting and important environmental topics.”  

https://www.jillpelto.com/

A unique integration of serious traditional artistic skills with a data-driven approach to inspire environmental consciousness.

Nathalie Miebach

“Translating data into sculpture, installation and musical scores”

https://nathaliemiebach.com/

Mind-blowing hyper-translation of aural and other data, including but not limited to music, into 2- and 3-dimensional artworks.  

Refik Anodol

“Artist and director working with parametric data sculpture, live audio/visual performance, immersive installations, and the space among digital and physical entities.  Creates a hybrid relationship between architecture and media arts with machine intelligence.”  

https://refikanadol.com/

Immersive, abstract, bizarre, beautiful, amazing.  

FLOWINGDATA

“Use analysis and visualization to understand data and ourselves.

Finding the beauty in numbers.” 

https://flowingdata.com/category/visualization/artistic-visualization/

A sort of artistic infographic cooperative with a broad and fun variety of contributors and offerings as well as helpful resources.

Aaron Koblin

“Artist, designer, programmer, and entrepreneur specializing in data and digital technologies.”  

http://www.aaronkoblin.com/work/flightpatterns/

Incredible combination of artistic collaborative imagination with sincere talent and a broad skillset.  

Studio A N F

“Symbiosis of algorithm and human intervention in graphics, animation, data visualization, sculpture, and installations.”  

https://studioanf.com/drone-lll-generative-motion-design/

Wow, this is just some amazing, freaky, scary, weird, and stunningly beautiful stuff.

PERISCOPIC

“A socially conscious data visualization firm; doing good with data together.”  

https://periscopic.com/#!/

This serious company clearly understands the potential power of data visualization to change the world, and they’re not afraid to use it.  (I may apply!)

Kirell Benzi

“A data artist, science communicator and researcher creating visual experiences that inspire, educate, and empower.  Revealing the hidden beauty of data.”  

https://www.kirellbenzi.com/

Not all of the works are purely data-driven, but there are no better examples of how data, mere numbers, can become utterly beautiful.  

Stefanie Posavec

“A designer, artist, and author exploring playful, friendly approaches to communicating data and information.”  

http://www.stefanieposavec.com/

It’s pretty much just like she said it!  There is no stronger advocate for the accessibility and fun of data-driven art. 

Agnes Denes

"Artistic vision, image and metaphor are powerful tools of communication that can become expressions of human values with profound impact on our consciousness and collective destiny."

http://www.agnesdenesstudio.com/index.html

Much of Dr. Denes' massive and historic body of work is imbued with mathematics and geometry, and is therefore data-driven.

The Casual Reply

"Handmade Fine Art for Gifts and Events"

https://www.thecasualreply.com/
Although not data-driven, this incredible resource for custom-painted clothing and bespoke stationery also happens to be our sister company.

This work is a Venn diagram designed to illustrate the biology and sociology of abortion, both induced and spontaneous, in the United States.  As detailed below, the central “embryonic” oval in the diagram contains sub-categorizations of all pregnancies in the US in recent years.  

Spontaneous abortions, AKA miscarriages, are common.  At least 21% of pregnancies abort spontaneously (gray ellipse highlighted below).  This is usually due to genetic and developmental abnormalities.  The large majority of these spontaneous abortions are experienced as “late periods”.  If a woman is sexually active throughout her childbearing years and never uses birth control, it’s statistically likely that she’s had at least one if not more spontaneous abortions.  

At least 35% (~ 1/3) of US women of childbearing age are opposed to abortion (gray oval highlighted below), leaving the remainder ( < 65%) as pro-choice.  However, the proportion of pregnancies destined to miscarry is the same for both groups.  As noted above, this is at least 21%.  

Approximately 20% of pregnancies in the US end in induced, (or elective) abortion (gray ellipse highlighted below).  The large majority of these of course occur among pro-choice women, but a small number ( < 5%?) of anti-abortion women do in fact have induced abortions.  

On average, induced abortions occur at an earlier gestational age than spontaneous abortions.  Therefore, a significant number of pregnancies ended by induced abortion would have ended later spontaneously.  The reverse must also occur, albeit to a lesser extent:  a certain percentage of pregnancies abort spontaneously and early, before the woman may have chosen to induce abortion.  

Taking these scenarios together, it is estimated that ~13% of all abortions are inevitable, in that those pregnancies would end spontaneously or by choice, whichever came first.  The gray area highlighted below shows this overlap between induced and spontaneous abortions. 

As noted previously, a small percentage of women who oppose induced abortion have chosen to have at least one (small central gray area at right).  For example, at least 20% of US women who’ve had induced abortions are Catholic.  As with all abortions, a significant number of those induced abortions would have terminated later spontaneously (lower subdivision of gray area).  

Additional Features of this Work

Venn diagrams are a useful way to illustrate both overlap and dissimilarity within categorical data sets.  This Venn diagram was created with data from the references below using a “quantitatively conservative” approach, meaning that things are in general underestimated.  For example, the overall miscarriage rate exceeds 21%, but it’s difficult to know by how much due to underreporting and undersampling error.  The rate exceeds 50% in older childbearing women with large numbers of children.  Another example:  the percentage of pregnant US women opposed to abortion probably exceeds 35%.  Some non-US references are cited concerning purely biological aspects of spontaneous abortion and/or as informative or historical resources on the topic of abortion in general.  

The central “embryo” representing all pregnancies in the US is surrounded by a maroon-lined area, a “uterus” of sorts, which signifies all non-pregnant females in the US.  The teal-lined area around that represents all males.  The teal/male surround is not meant as some sort of patriarchal, protective envelope, but instead represents the insulation of males from the “heavy lifting” of procreation.  Men don’t remember their singular direct experience with pregnancy and childbirth processes.  Happy Birthday to them! 

Thoughts and Questions Raised by the Data

Human conception is far from perfect.  Conception is not the guaranteed beginning of a human life.  It is the beginning of a chance at that life.  Biology inevitably and frequently terminates pregnancies to cull genetic mistakes with little or no chance of proper development and survival, and for other less common reasons (maternal illness, infection, uterine anomalies, etc.).  Women choose to end pregnancies if they aren’t prepared to complete the pregnancy and then raise a child or cede it to others.  

What does all this mean for religious or other opposition to abortion?  

Does human existence (having a soul, etc.) truly begin at conception, or sometime later?  

If later, then when?  Second trimester, or third?  Birth??  

Who exactly decides this, and on what basis?  

If human existence does begin at conception, then is all abortion murder, including miscarriage?  But there is no killer!  Miscarriages are by definition spontaneous, so prospective mothers don’t cause them. 

What about women considering induced abortion?  

Does the frequency of spontaneous abortions automatically license women to terminate potentially viable pregnancies?  

Who is best qualified to judge a woman’s emotional, spiritual, physical, and socioeconomic ability to attempt to gestate, deliver, and then raise a child or relinquish it to another fate?  

Should women be required to follow beliefs / opinions about when human existence begins that differ from their own?  

What do you think?  

The story behind the work

I became vehemently opposed to abortion in high school.  My opposition was based on a belief that human life begins at conception.  

As a college freshman at SMU, I had this fantastic English teacher, Jane Albritton.  One of our assignments was to:  

1:  Identify a topic about which we held strong opinions and deep-rooted feelings, 
and then, 

2.  Research the topic and write an essay defending the opposite viewpoint to our opinion, with references.  

I chose abortion as my topic.  The rest, as they say, is history.  

My research revealed the stark truth that a huge percentage of conceptions abort spontaneously, very often before the woman even knows she’s pregnant.  This completely exploded my ignorant presumption that every human conception represented the beginning of an independent human existence.  Far from it.  By the time I turned in my essay, I was unequivocally “pro-choice”.  

Yes, a human life may indeed begin at conception, but the converse is not necessarily true:  conception in no way guarantees the beginning of a human life.  

The research I did over 40 years later for this artwork forced me again through the thought processes I underwent back then.  Little has changed, including the need for people to educate themselves about opinions they hold.  

Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank Richard Del Cristo, Jr. for his insightful comments on this work.  

REFERENCES

United States abortion-rights movement
United States anti-abortion movement
Who are the 1 in 4 American women who choose abortion?
Competition between spontaneous and induced abortion
"Pro-Choice" or "Pro-Life," 2018-2020 Demographic Tables
We polled 1,060 Americans about abortion. This is what they got wrong.
Misclassification of Gestational Age in the Study of Spontaneous Abortion
Miscarriage
Miscarriage
Miscarriage
Pregnancy rates for U.S. women continue to drop
Induced Abortion in the United States
Recurrent spontaneous abortions
Spontaneous Abortion
The Moral Significance of Spontaneous Abortion
Estimating the probability of spontaneous abortion in the presence of induced abortion and vice versa.
The clinical management of repeated early pregnancy wastage.
Spontaneous first trimester miscarriage rates per woman among parous women with 1 or more pregnancies of 24 weeks or more
Expectant management of spontaneous first-trimester miscarriage: prospective validation of the '2-week rule'.
Trends in Self-reported Spontaneous Abortions: 1970–2000
Trends in the incidence, rate and treatment of miscarriage—nationwide register-study in Finland, 1998–2016
Lifetime Prevalence of Abortion and Risk Factors in Women: Evidence from a Cohort Study
Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2015
Poll: Majority Want To Keep Abortion Legal, But They Also Want Restrictions
The Problem of Spontaneous Abortion: Is the Pro-Life Position Morally Monstrous?
‘Miscarriage or abortion?’ Understanding the medical language of pregnancy loss in Britain; a historical perspective
Reproductive autonomy and the ethics of abortion

#abortion #prochoice #anti-abortion #prolife #miscarriage #medicalethics #religion #patriarchy

This started as a simple, innocent birthday sign.  It’s a family tradition.  It was Grandma’s 86th birthday.  Signs are usually just scribbled onto pieces of paper.  

But no.  This one evolved from furtive scribbling to a gaudy triptych.  

Rules for Grandma’s 86th birthday sign are listed below in the format:  

Rule.

• Official reason for rule.

• Actual reason for rule.

A few preliminary guidelines kicked things off:

1.  Must be rendered clandestinely.

• Tradition stipulates that the Birthday Person mustn’t see their sign before that day.  

• That’s pretty much it.  

2.  Says “86”.

• Grandma turned 86!

• We’ve covered that.

3.  Uses many colors.

• Grandma delights in vivid color.

• True story.

4.  Must be done quickly.

• This commission found us on short notice.  

• Her birthday was the next day.  

The start of work soon added rules 5-7:

5.  Use fancy heavy paper

• A sturdy substrate gives artwork depth and authority.

• There was some fancy but flawed cardstock handy in our scrap folder.

6.  Use Sharpies

• Sharpies provide casual yet bold and unrelenting color.  

• They were right there ready to go.  And those fumes …

7.  Disorganize the color scheme into random curvilinear patterns.  

• The wild color scheme reflects Grandma’s notorious chaos.  

• The initial hurried scribbling wanted to somehow become something more.  

As work progressed, additional rules came about either organically or by necessity.  Basically, 86 started to become a “thing”.  

8.  Edges must be smooth.  

• Smooth edges create a pleasing visual flow.  

• Rough edges of scribbling failed the “art test”.  

9.  Black fills spaces between other colors. 

• Black interludes add a certain drama to the piece.  

• Seemed like the thing to do?  

10.  Black areas must narrow to points colinear with local visual flow.  

• Tapered dark interpositions further accentuated the flowing multicolor motif.  

• Plain black blobs looked stupid.  

11.  Include rare tiny black lines.  

• Subtle aspects of the work reveal a sense of fine detail.  

• One accidental small black line needed friends.  

12.  Multicolored dots occupy encapsulated areas. 

• Dots fed umptious color into the starving spaces within character boundaries.  

• OK, well … 

13.  Yellow shadowing at 180° from vertical.  

• Unexpected yellow shadowing paradoxically lightens and lifts the work.  

• Found a yellow Sharpie late in the process. 
  Are the fumes from yellow the same?  Or better??

14.  Must qualify for inclusion in portfolio.  

• The Studio is highly selective in projects it entertains.  

• 86 was taking much more time than planned.  

15.  Must not look like a little kid did it.

• The Studio’s professional standards are never compromised.  

• It looked like a little kid did it.  A kid high on Sharpie fumes.  Hold it …

Panel 1 - 86

Those last couple rules really blew up in our face, so to speak.  However, our data-driven approach cleared the path forward!  We derived 8 mathematical expressions equal to 86.  No punk-ass kid could come up with these formulae.  The equivalencies encircle the number itself, a precious ring of equality to Grandma’s age.  

Our math party around 86 feted such luminaries as pi, the Golden Mean, Euler’s number, logarithms, absolute values, exponents, trigonometric functions (represented by cosine), factorials, prime numbers, imaginary numbers, roots, rounding, basic operations, scientific notation, and of course that all-powerful multisyllabic master of nothing, the basement of bases, the null android, da fada of nada, the worst grade ever, the round ground, the uniquely absent, the “O” in “Origin”, the Posineganot, the nun nooky number, Mostel’s moniker, the nil pill, the divider denier, the limitless limiter, the nope to a slope, the prequel to equal, none other than that dreadnaught of integers, the none and lonely, ZERO (zero; 0).  

The party went ballistic, so we took 86 to new places in the second and third panels of the triptych.  

Panel 2 - Rolling ahead to 98

It turned up that 86 is one of those “gymnastic” numbers that can do different things when rotated, flipped, or mirrored.  When rotated 180° in its plane, 86 becomes 98.  (If such numbers have a specific name, we couldn’t find it.  They’re not strictly strobogrammatic.)  

So, we’re saving 86 to trot out again as 98 when Grandma turns that age in only 12 years!  Expressed “mathartistically” (in both math and spatial terms), we have:

    86+12 = 86*180° = 98

Panel 3 - A side note rolls us still further out (much further!)

So what happens when we keep only the right half of 98 (8) and turn it 90° (on its side)?  We go to infinity!  In mathartistic terms:  

    (98-90)*90° = (R1/2*98)*90° = ∞

Whoever gets there first can use panel 3 for their birthday sign.  Grandma?  

This could go on forever, but the next rollout would require Buzz Lightyear.  So, we’ll sign off for now with this comment from Albert Einstein about infinity:  “Two things are infinite:  the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”  

Party on!  And on.  And on.  And on.  And on.  And on.  And on.  And on.  And on.  And on.  And on.  And on.  And on.  And on.  And on.  

REFERENCES
https://www.mathopenref.com/
https://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/e-eulers-number.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/7/5/17500782/zero-number-math-explained
http://www.math.com/
https://mathworld.wolfram.com/
https://www.britannica.com/science/infinity-mathematics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strobogrammatic_number#:~:text=A%20strobogrammatic%20number%20is%20a,69%2C%2096%2C%201001).

Disclaimer:
No little kids were harmed in the creation of this work.

In the United States, talking heads continue to pit healthcare against the economy in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Picture a boxing or MMA ring.  The crisply-suited, deep-voiced announcer bellows into the mike:  

“Ladieeees and Gentlemen, welcome to the COVID-19 maaaaain event!  

In the Blue Corner, we have Doctor Dale ‘Control the virus’ Dammitall,     AANND 

in the Red Corner, we have Governor Gus ‘Reopen now’ Orelse.  

LET’S get ready to RRRRRRRRRRUUMMMMBBLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLE!!!”.  

The truth is, this shouldn’t be a fight.  We can reopen the economy and quash the pandemic at the same time.  In fact, this is the fast lane out of the pandemic!  

We now know how, and we know it’s possible, because other countries have done it.  Our economic strength depends on a healthy society and workforce.  Pretending healthcare must be prioritized over the economy or vice versa is a false choice that leads nowhere.  Governor Gus and Dr. Dale are on the same team!  Both lose if they fight each other.  

About this work

It is an ekphrasis, which combines literary and visual art.  The literary component is a tanka expressing the take-home message of the work.  Tanka (“short song”) is a Japanese predecessor to haiku, yet slightly longer at 5 lines, and with syllables per line of 5 - 7 - 5 - 7 - 7.  

The visual data-driven aspect of this piece is the integrated symbology of the dollar sign and the Rod of Asclepius.  The dollar sign of course represents the US economy, and the A-Rod (not that other A-Rod!) signifies healthcare and medicine.  Combining Asclepius’ rod and the dollar sign into a single glyph depicts how a healthy economy depends on a healthy populace, and vice versa.  Note that the Rod of Asclepius, and not a caduceus, is the correct symbol for medicine.  

The healthcare sector comprises ~17% of the United States economy (a much greater proportion than any other country!).  Therefore, the snake around the Rod comprises ~17% of the surface area of the entire unified symbol.  

What can you do?

It’s amazingly easy and simple, and we’ve all heard it now a thousand times:  protect yourself and others by wearing masks, washing / sterilizing hands, and keeping distant from each other.  Get vaccinated STAT.  Help others do all the above. 

Give the virus no place to live and no where to go.  

What can you do about this artwork?  Remember tanka means “short song”?  We need some music!  Please write a melody for the words, then sing it on YouTube or wherever, and send us the link.  Looking forward to hearing your creation!  

REFERENCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekphrasis
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/ekphrasis
https://www.britannica.com/art/tanka-Japanese-poetry
http://www.tankasocietyofamerica.org/essays/what-is-tanka
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_of_Asclepius
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus_as_a_symbol_of_medicine
https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NationalHealthAccountsHistorical
https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-spending-u-s-compare-countries/

Have you ever been involved in a deep and focused discussion or process, and then wanted to completely destroy its focus and logical flow?  If so, bring in Grandma as a consultant.  We guarantee satisfaction!  

Grandma can enter any conversation or meeting, regardless of topic, and fairly quickly devolve it into chaotic discussion of random content.  This content will be of her choosing, and will have nothing whatsoever to do with the initial discussion points or priorities of the conversation.  Just some of her “go-to” redirections include passing birds, ailments (of whoever), old movies, and past travels.  With but few words, she can transform the planning of a trip to a review of someone’s gall bladder surgery.  Grandma easily shifts from topics fit for a Manhattan boardroom to a caterpillar on a stick.  

Her brain’s association cortex is capacious and hyperactive, yet also largely unsupervised.  Grandma’s frontal cortex long ago ceased trying to impose attention and organization on her associative brain centers.  She also has 86 years of data storage, and she instinctively applies it in the most disruptive possible ways.  

So what’s up with flowcharts?  Flowcharts are a time-honored diagrammatic tool to illustrate the logical flow of processes.  They combine functional symbology with directional connectivity to illustrate everything from software design to widget manufacturing to wedding planning.  The shapes of cells used in flowcharts code for different components of a process or Boolean operators. 

Grandma’s thought processes are to flowcharts what the cretaceous asteroid impact was to dinosaurs.  And this is just one of the many reasons we love her!  She is available by appointment only on terms negotiable by her grandkids, but not by her, which would be quite impossible.  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to creately for their online flowchart creation tool.  Check it out!  

Many people are not big fans of the poetry genre known as free verse, me included.  TBH, free verse twists my knickers up there.  

Some of my pique stems from simple semantics.  All definitions of poetry include meter/rhythm and word sound fun (rhyme, assonance, alliteration, etc.).  Any third-grader knows what poetry is and how it works.  

So what is free verse?  It’s defined as poetry “without rhyme or meter”, or “An open form of poetry that follows the rhythm of ordinary speech.”  Umm, so what is prose?  “Language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure.”

Hmm.  One need not be a cunning linguist to see that these definitions are the same.  In mathematical terms, free verse = prose.  

Confused?  Try this:

“Free verse poems are very carefully structured to communicate meaning through sounds, line breaks, punctuation, etc.  Poets using free verse aren't following rules.  They have the freedom to choose whatever words, sounds, and shapes they want.”

So free verse is very carefully structured with freedom and no rules?  How prosaic.  Or perhaps just lazy?  

My second complaint is a symptom of free verse.  The rhyme and meter of true poetry form the foundation of song lyrics.  Nothing emphasizes this more than the intense, rapid-fire cadence and ultrasonic syntax of rap.  OK, so now write music to accompany free verse.              (Cue the crickets.)  

What sets my knickerbockers most atwist about free verse is the content.  Have you tried to read any of it lately?  Much of it is unfinishable abstract blather.  I respect that it may mean something to the author, but what about the rest of us?  How does this stuff even get published, much less studied and lauded?!?

And hey, to be clear, I’m fine if people like it and enjoy reading it.  Just don’t call it poetry.  

If you got this far, you just read a bunch of boring prose.  What better way to express the above ideas than poetry!  In honor of my disdain of free verse, I wrote an old-school poetry collage using four classic forms:  the Spenserian sonnet, tanka, limerick, and ghazal.  Enjoy!  I did.  

And write a real poem today, with rhyme and meter.  It’s fun, and easier than you think!  Especially if you use free verse.    JK, party on!

Want more poetry, including custom song lyric adaptations?  Check out our website.  And thanks! 

REFERENCES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_verse

https://literarydevices.net/free-verse/

https://poetryteatime.com/blog/learn-about-free-verse-poetry

https://www.google.com/search?q=free+verse+definition&rlz=1C1SQJL_enUS859US859&oq=free+verse+def&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j0l5.4080j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Pichaske, David R.  Beowulf to Beatles:  Approaches to Poetry, ISBN 0029252601 (ISBN13:  9780029252604), 410 pp., Free Press, 1972.

Except that you’ve probably already been playing it for years. 

We sure have!  It’s where everyone’s sitting around just jawboning, then someone says “Hey, I gotta show you guys this!”.  They pull up some random video or whatever from the Internet and show it to the room on the telly.  Everyone says “Wow!”, “OMG!”, or whatever, and then someone else says, “OK yeah, but look at THIS!”.  From there, it just goes, and almost inevitably becomes an unstructured contest:  

“Right, you guys aren’t gonna believe this.”  

“Dude, that was actually lame, but check this out.”  

Etc. etc. etc.  

So, we made an official game out of this process, complete with rules and a scoresheet. We’ve also created a PDF scoresheet for those who prefer pen and paper.  The game is in fact a microcosm of the Internet itself.  More popular things get more hits, and more hits may eventually turn into advertising cash.  Cha-ching, you win!  And this just in:  you can play The Internet Game over the webs through platforms like Watch2Gether https://w2g.tv/ .  So, please give TIG a try and let us know what you think.  

DISCLAIMERS

1.  A Google search showed a few hits on “the internet game”, but nothing screaming of ownership.  However, if our use of the phrase twists anyone’s knickers in a way that would summon legions of lawyers, we give up, and we’ll gladly rename our game.  Maybe something like “Webshiz” or “Search and Enjoy”? 
2. Data from focus groups tells us we should stay focused on our raison d’etre: data-driven art and custom poetry. But it’s hard. So, we randomly come up with weird stuff like this. Hey, we did create a data-driven artwork specifically for the game.

Earth’s atmosphere is heating up faster than predicted by climate change models.  Those models assume that greenhouse gas accumulation is the sole cause of global warming.  

The discrepancy between predictions and reality raises the question:  are greenhouse gases really the only cause of global warming?  There may be at least one additional, important, and as yet unrecognized contributing factor:  our old thermodynamic friend, the law of conservation of energy.  Or, in more simplistic terms, heat from friction.  

An animation of a slowly heating disk brake leading to global warming: extreme heat from brake discs + billions of brake discs worldwide = global warming.

Obviously, combustion of fossil fuels creates heat, but climate change researchers consider this inconsequential relative to the greenhouse effect.  

The role of heat from friction hasn’t previously been considered.  The first law of thermodynamics dictates that the energy used to propel and stop vehicles will eventually be converted to heat.  

At least two sources of anthropogenic frictional heat may be significant contributors to climate change.  One is aircraft.  Airliners cruise pan-globally at high subsonic speeds.  Right now there are roughly 10,000+ planes airborne.  How many contrails can you see right now?  

Commercial jet aircraft cruise in the lower stratosphere.  How much does frictional heat add to heat from jet fuel combustion?  Does direct heating of the atmosphere at this level somehow accentuate the greenhouse effect or otherwise magnify tropospheric heating?  These are speculations, but the point is, thermal effects of aircraft haven’t been excluded as causative factors to global warming.  

An even more significant source of frictional heat may be brakes.  Brakes use friction to decelerate and stop wheeled vehicles:  bikes, cars, trucks, trains, even landing aircraft.  In doing so, the vehicle’s kinetic energy is converted to heat.  Depending on frequency and duration of braking, discs reach temperatures of 200 – 600°C.  (Please never touch a brake disc on a vehicle shortly after it’s stopped!)  

There are well over a billion cars on the planet.  How many times per day do you use your brakes?  Without doing the detailed math, you get the idea:  brakes put a lot of heat into the atmosphere!  

Consider stopping a 10,000 metric ton train travelling at 20 m / s.  Remember conservation of energy:  the moving train’s kinetic energy equals 2000 MJ.  All of this gets converted to heat during stopping.  Also, since most vehicular braking occurs in large urban areas, this heat source would be concentrated in those areas.  

So what to do?  First, the above concepts may deserve more thorough investigation than this cursory analysis.  Findings may support more attention to boundary layer physics and streamlining of vehicles, especially aircraft.  

Even without further investigation, the above observations support much wider use of regenerative braking systems.  Regenerative brakes convert a vehicle’s kinetic energy into other more useful forms of energy than heat.  That recovered energy can then be re-used to propel the vehicle, which reduces need for energy from fossil fuel combustion.  Therefore, regenerative brakes conceivably decrease global warming by at least two mechanisms:  reduced heat from brake friction and reduced greenhouse gas production.  

Technical versions of this work found at:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349105072_Does_heat_from_friction_contribute_to_global_warming

https://figshare.com/articles/preprint/Does_heat_from_friction_contribute_to_global_warming_/13727812

DOI number 13727812 https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13727812.v1

Race Against No One

Imagine one day that you’re out for a run, 
Moss hanging from the trees in the southern sun. 
It’s a beautiful day.  You’ll have miles of fun. 
Like running in a race, yet against no one. 

Then some angry guys show up in a truck. 
They’re yelling at you “Stop!”, and you’re thinking “What the fuck?”. 
“Holy crap!  They have guns!  This is real!  Man I’m stuck!” 
Then you’re lying on the ground, dying with your good luck. 
Your pain’s deep, you watch your blood, then your last breath to suck.  

Ahmaud, Martin, Trayvon, Jon, Botham, Emmett,
Try on their footwear.  Take a long run in it. 
They all ran the black race.  If you’re white, could you win it? 
Running in their skin, but without the soul within it? 

Just know this before you kill any more: 
The world watches now more than ever before.
It’s getting hard to hide behind your hood or office door. 
The power that you seek will soon settle your score. 
You claim to know a god?  Do you know what he stands for? 

But why hate?  What’s the point?  Is it really worth the trouble? 
What a big hassle just to stay inside your bubble. 
Why not get along instead of cause more social rubble? 
You must have better things to do than raging like a bull. 

And also there’s this:  please know that you are loved. 
WE choose, FOR you, to open fist in velvet glove
‘Cause the King taught all the mighty power of the dove,
And reciprocating hate raises no one above. 

So, what can you do with your inculcated hate? 
Please try something different to improve our mutual fate. 
Have you read Black Like Me?  If not, it’s not too late. 
Then stare deep in Griffin’s mirror.  Donne’s answer will await. 

Imagine one day that you’re out for a run.
Moss hanging from the trees in the southern sun. 
It’s a beautiful day.  You’ll have miles of fun. 
Like running in a race, yet against no one. 
Because the human race is nothing to be won. 

Like so many, we hoped to gather family together for Christmas, but the risks of travel scuttled all such plans.  So, this song adaptation was one of our gifts.  The lyrics play on those travel limitations, the pandemic-related increase in alcohol consumption, and the shifting political climate.  It was indeed a “Blue Christmas” after the definitive Biden/Harris victory over Trump/Pence.  This didn’t sit well with the shrinking Trump base of conspiracy theorizing white supremacists.   

No worries, they’ll come around.  Even if not, time, education, and truth will “vaccinate” most of their children against being bamboozled.  That “vaccine” may be even more important than vaccines for COVID!   

But I digress. At risk of self-promotion, we gotta say, Richie Del Cristo makes a fine Elvis! Enjoy! And thank you, thank you very much.

References

Original “Blue Christmas” lyrics

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2770975

Credits

Lyrics adapted with respect and gratitude from original (Jay Johnson, Billy Hayes) for Studio Videnda by Don Watenpaugh.  

Sung by Richie Del Cristo with Jenna Del Cristo and Don Watenpaugh on backup vocals and instrumentals.  

Produced and directed by Jenna Del Cristo. 

Words are a form of data made up of character strings (e. g. “name”).  Words in turn may be grouped into phrases or multi-word labels (e. g. “Republican in Name Only”).  Acronyms are words created from the first letters of words in a multi-word label or phrase (e. g. “RINO”).  Therefore, acronyms condense the data from multiple words into a single word.  

One of my favorite acronyms is SPEBSQSA, which stands for the “Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America”.  As you see with these examples, articles, prepositions, etc. are often but not always left out of acronyms.  

Acronyms efficiently summarize a string of words, and so save space in text and time in speaking.  However, a listener or reader must know what the acronym stands for!  Years of working for NASA and the Navy made me very familiar with acronyms and enabled me to decode unfamiliar ones.  This comes in handy with the explosion of acronyms in the age of texting.  

Acronyms can mutate, in that a single “source” acronym may be adapted to new meanings if it includes a common and broadly applicable phrase.  This work starts at the top with RINO and proceeds to other labels or roles “in name only”:  American, president, taxpayer, Christian, husband.  

Make up your own acronyms!  It’s fun and useful, and who knows, you may come up with some that go big.  

REFERENCES

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acronym

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_In_Name_Only

We’ve largely healed from 9/11’s assault.  It was a deep and scarring wound from foreign attackers.  However, we’ve recovered, and we may now be stronger for it. 

Concerning 1/6, the illness arose from within our “body”, the US.  Severe illness from the tumor is temporarily controlled, and we’re out of the ER.  However, the cancerous “cultoma” of Trumpism remains, large, malignant, and destructive.  It is a very invasive and metastatic cancer that can’t be removed surgically. 

Quite literally, the most carcinogenic “cells” of this sociopolitical “cancer” are those that successfully indoctrinate children and young adults to blindly follow an insane despot. 

Some additional thoughts that may not be getting out there or that deserve stronger emphasis: 

• There were apparently few if any counter-protesters against the pro-Trump rioters.  If this was by design, it was genius.  It exposed the Trump zealots’ criminal intent and behavior without distraction or dilution.  It also kept good people out of harm’s way. 
  However,

• Some Trump followers believe it was antifa or Black Lives Matter supporters who raided the Capitol.  This is the strongest example yet of the bizarre self -delusion that cults like Trumpism indoctrinate. 

• The stark contrast between law enforcement preps and reaction to Black Lives Matter protests as compared to Trump supporters’ violent insurrection can’t be overemphasized.  That contrast provides unequivocal proof of systemic racism in US law enforcement at all levels. 

• The sacking of the US Capitol was a COVID-19 superspreader event.  One hopes they sterilized the building interior before proceedings resumed.  No need to state the obvious about possible fates of the rioters and contacts.

 Looking forward: 

• Political parties should consider medical and psychiatric testing of prospective presidential candidates. 

• Tax returns and other pertinent financial records should be required by law from candidates. 

• Presidential immunity from criminal prosecution should be reconsidered and at least partially rescinded.  Really:  Why exactly should Presidents be above the law while in office? 

• If he somehow stays out of prison, Mr. Trump may want to start another reality TV show, something like “The Cult Leader” or “The Con Artist”. 

Good luck to us, but better to be good than lucky.

27 November 2020

Lyrics by Don Watenpaugh
Original Music by John Kander with Original lyrics by Fred Ebb

This personalized adaptation of The Chairman's Big Apple classic was a collaborative effort of immediate family. After uploading the music video to YouTube, the family gathered online for a surprise event to watch it with the Birthday Boy. Had to be there, but it was delightful fun!

Start spreadin' the news, it’s Richard’s big day
‘cause he was born a part of it
New York, New York

He’s worn out some shoes, he’s come a long way.
Drove limos through the heart of it,
New York, New York. 

With Tess he’s raised up three great children who love him deep.
And he’s not over the hill,
He’s theirs to keep! 

He’s paid lots o’ dues to get to this day
from where he made a start of it
in old New York.
With Tess they’re quite a pair, their lives so full of prayer
And love they do, New York, New York

New York, New York
From there he’s climbed the hills life gives him even when steep,
And he’s still nowhere near done, gotta long list,
Doing God’s will, makin’ it fun,

There’s no time for blues!  I’m belting away!
‘Cause my Dad got his start at it
Back in New York
It’s not just anywhere! 
Let’s sing he came from there!
Richard for you, we thank, New York

See this article for a detailed discussion of the plan.

This work depicts some of the divisions and conflicts Donald Trump created or fomented from 2016 to 2020.  Conflicts are shown as symbols of the “trumped-up” opponents mirrored on the left vs. right side.  (Note:  the right and left sides are not politically right and left.)  The discordant red line down the middle represents the intensity of these conflicts. 

In your mind’s eye, fold the work in half down the midline.  Opposing forces are now forced together. 

Examples of pre-existing conflicts worsened by Mr. Trump’s statements, actions, inactions, and policies include:

• familial political disagreements,

• Republicans vs. Democrats,

• white supremacy vs. non-white Americans,

• conflicts based on sexual identity,

• religious conflicts,

• alternative vs. actual truth,

• science vs. pseudoscience,

• Turkish-Kurdish conflict,

• Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and

• the US population vs. a mindless microorganism.   

Examples of new conflicts directly attributable to Mr. Trump include: 

• the US vs. NATO and EU allies,

• promotion of Russian propaganda in conflict with US intelligence findings,

• the Republican party vs. itself,

• law enforcement vs. peaceful protests,

• states pitted against each other for pandemic response resources,

• the false conflict between economic recovery and pandemic control (recovery depends upon pandemic control), and

• the US healthcare system vs. an anti-scientific and ineffective pandemic response. 

Some of Mr. Trump’s goals may have been worthwhile, such as improving protection of US interests abroad.  However, the routinely adversarial approach was unnecessary, especially with allies.  More importantly, creating conflict instead of seeking solutions often defied instead of achieved the intended goals.   

The Divider-in-Chief:  Implications

Leadership styles vary, but the formula for success doesn’t.  The unified front of a cohesive and coordinated team best accomplishes goals and overcomes obstacles.  Sowing divisiveness among those upon whom success depends is counterproductive. 

Nations are essentially giant teams.  Everyone in a country should be given the chance to be an ally.  After all, they’re all in it together, literally! 

 It’s rare that the leader of a nation gets the opportunity to achieve true historic greatness.  The year 2020 gave this opportunity to Donald Trump.  He led the most powerful nation on Earth for three years before multiple major challenges fell in his lap:  racial unrest, various natural disasters, a global pandemic, and the economic outfall from the pandemic. 

 Sadly, Mr. Trump’s divisive leadership style was well-established, and it was the exact opposite of what the United States, and the world, needed.His conflict-based leadership was ultimately self-defeating, as represented by the left and right edges of this work when folded in half.

Key to Symbols

This list defines the symbols and images shown, including those that are less well known or unique to this work. 

References

Available upon request

Eight Studio Videnda pieces (three data-driven art, five sonnets) have been accepted into a virtual exhibition by Kilburn Mill, an arts gallery in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The show contains works of visual and written art made in and inspired by our times of isolation in the COVID-19 pandemic this year.

Check out the full exhibit here: https://kilburnmill.com/artisan-center/elementor-3340/

See if you recognize any of the pieces from Studio Videnda—some have been here on the blog, and all can be found in the website portfolio! Also, be sure to scroll to the bottom of the exhibit page and cast your vote in the people’s choice award before December 12th. There are some wonderful pieces in this show!

The Center for Contemporary Political Art and Millennium Arts Salon requested poster art to encourage voting in 2020.  The initiative honors the late US Representative and civil rights icon John Lewis.  One template option was “190,000 +” to memorialize US deaths from COVID-19. 

At 640 deaths per million people, US COVID-19 fatalities per capita remain in the top 10 among countries.  By comparison, Canada has experienced 258 COVID-19 deaths per million people, Germany 115 per million, Australia 36, and Ethiopia 11.  US population health does not explain the higher death rate.  Several countries with poorer health scores have lower COVID death rates per capita.  Testing differences also do not explain high US mortality.  Some international differences exist, but not enough to account for US mortality rates 2 to 60 times greater than those in other countries. 

Why is it so important for Americans to vote this year?  First, our country needs dramatically improved management of the pandemic, yesterday.  Second, we’re at the cusp of opportunity to finally heal racial wounds festering since 1619.  Most importantly, both internal and foreign forces seek to subvert and manipulate our election process.  If our elections are corrupted or the results aren’t accepted, our country is basically finished.  Put simply, voting defends voting.  Use it or lose it. 

REFERENCES
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/healthiest-countries|
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/cumulative-cases

There’s good news that many former “mask-o-phobics” already know.  Phobias, including claustrophobia from masks, may be overcome through a process called desensitization.  Desensitization may be professionally facilitated or in some cases self-guided.  It involves controlled exposure to the source of fear, in this case mask wearing, until the fear is gone. 

Steps in the process may include: 

·       Reading stories about how others overcame phobias. 

·       Researching types of masks, how they work, and their importance in controlling the pandemic. 

·       Just having masks laying around to see and think about.

·       Holding and studying a mask. 

·       Holding a mask up to the face for increasing amounts of time, but not putting it on.  Accompanying relaxation exercises such as deep breathing or meditation can help. 

·       Putting a mask on, even briefly, again with relaxation measures as needed. 

·       Wearing a mask for increasing amounts of time. 

It helps to push but stay within comfort limits.  Distractions such as reading or watching TV can help.  Progress depends on diligence.  The person who works with the mask several times per day will be wearing it without fear sooner than someone who is less engaged.  

Desensitization works.  In sleep medicine, severely claustrophobic people commonly and successfully desensitize to use of a CPAP mask over their nose and mouth.  They learn to sleep all night every night wearing it.  Their motivation for doing so is to improve their sleep quality, quality of life, and overall health by treating their sleep apnea. 

Motivation is important, and this pandemic provides a very strong motivator.  Fear of a mask is indeed irrational, but fear of COVID-19 is justified. 

A mask can’t kill anyone, but going out without a mask can.   

Further Reading 

COVID-19 Is a Multifaceted Challenging Pandemic Which Needs Urgent Public Health Interventions.  Contini C, Caselli E, Martini F, Maritati M, Torreggiani E, Seraceni S, Vesce F, Perri P, Rizzo L, Tognon M
Microorganisms. 2020 Aug 12;8(8):E1228.

Psychosocial treatment of phobia and panic disorders.
Zarate R, Agras WS.  Psychiatry. 1994 May;57(2):133-41.

Psychological problems associated with mission-oriented protective gear.
Ritchie EC.  Mil Med. 2001 Dec;166(12 Suppl):83-4.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/avoiding-covid-19-when-following-the-guidelines-seems-impossible-2020072820654

Treatment Options for Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
Abad VC, Guilleminault C.  Curr Treat Options Neurol. 2009 Sep;11(5):358-67.

Updated January 2022. Scroll to the bottom to see the original post.

Summary

The old saw “Hindsight is 20-20” of course refers to the “20-20 vision” we have when looking back in time.  The year 2020 was indeed one that many are happy to view in hindsight, if they survived it.  

More details

This work depicts seven variables of interest during the first half of that infamous year, 2020.  Data are from the United States only, because the US arguably made the year even more “special” than other countries.  

The variables depicted for the first 6 months of 2020 are:

Deaths from COVID-19 – They rapidly escalated after the virus established community spread.  

Presidential support of valid medical science - Sadly, this remained low.  

Number of people unemployed – Were you “essential”?  Able to work from home?  

Protests per day - Includes all protests for all causes (anti-lockdown, racial injustice, police reform, etc.).  Protests after George Floyd’s murder far eclipsed earlier anti-lockdown protests.  

Toilet paper sales – Hey, we installed bidets.  

Motor vehicle traffic – Do you remember how quiet the roads were?  

Stock market value index - Dow Jones Industrial Average.  How strange that this disconnects from everything else?  

Along with the variables, one key event per month is shown (vertical red lines).  

So now, do you remember what the seven variables did over the  final  six months of 2020?  

Deaths from COVID-19 – When we first published this work in mid-2020, we asked if US COVID deaths that year would possibly exceed 300,000?  They did.  Many hospitals needed refrigerated trucks as overflow morgues.  

Presidential support of valid medical science - Sadly, this remained low.  “Dr.” Trump discouraged mask use throughout his presidency despite his knowledge early in the pandemic that viral transmission was primarily airborne.  How many people would still be alive today if he had encouraged mask use?

Unemployment – Employment showed sluggish and incomplete recovery.  

Protests – They rekindled easily, especially those for police reform.  

Toilet paper sales – TP rolled towards normalcy except for blips before the Holidays.  

Motor vehicle traffic – Planes, trains, and automobiles partially recovered their hum.  

Stock market - The stock market continued its snow-blind march upward.  

OK, so how are the variables doing now?  

Many predicted full recovery in 2021.  Well crap!  Nobody imagined back in 2020 that US COVID deaths may eventually exceed one million people.  

COMMENTARY

It is stunning that, now two years into this pandemic, many people still prioritize procreation of a microbe over full economic recovery, reopening of schools, and complete return to normal.  And they do this in the name of freedom? Donald Trump recognized early that we are at war with a virus (March 2020).  

_________________________________________________________

Is hindsight really 2020?  Is the most “advanced” country on the planet really doing no better with the pandemic than “third world” countries?  Are all of us in the US learning from our mistakes, or … ??  

The adventure continues … for those of us who survive it.  

To adapt from Donne:

“Never send to know for whom the virus mutates.  It mutates for thee.”

REFERENCES

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104278/weekly-performance-of-djia-index/

https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf

https://www.bls.gov/

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html

https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/united-states?country=~USA

https://www.statista.com/

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-27/coronavirus-us-protests-on-the-rise/12288686

https://www.spglobal.com/en/research-insights/articles/daily-update-june-15-2020

https://ignaciomsarmiento.github.io/2020/07/11/Visualizing-Protests-for-Racial-Justice.html

https://blog.gdeltproject.org/abc-news-coronavirus-anti-lockdown-movement-surges-in-the-us-after-donald-trumps-liberate-tweet/

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/

https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases

http://www.healthdata.org/covid/updates

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/

https://time.com/5867511/trump-coronavirus-bad-news/

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/07/trumps-lies-about-coronavirus/608647/

https://econbrowser.com/archives/2020/06/covid-19-pandemic-in-the-us-the-trump-annotated-timeline

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/congressional-testimony/oversight-trump-administrations-response-covid-19-pandemic-06232020

https://time.com/5806657/donald-trump-coronavirus-war-china/

Original post:

This work depicts seven variables of interest during the first half of 2020.  Data are from the United States only, because the US has arguably made the year even more “special” than other countries.  Protests per day includes all protests for all causes (anti-lockdown, racial injustice, police reform, etc.).  We arbitrarily chose the Dow Jones Industrial Average to represent stock value — other indices showed slight differences.  The variable “Presidential support of valid medical science” is shown because it is far easier to quantify than the opposite.  One key event per month is labeled with a vertical red line. 

What do you predict the seven variables will do over the remainder of 2020?  How will hurricane season impact their course?  Why does the stock market seem so disconnected from other realities of this year?  Will the election create still more reasons to protest?  Will US COVID-19 deaths in 2020 exceed 300,000?  What will the Holidays be like?  No matter what, it will be interesting. 

If we make it through 2020, we’re already looking forward to attending our first virtual New Year’s Eve party!  We look forward to viewing 2020 fully in hindsight as much as we look forward to a much more normal year in 2021. 

Stay safe and stocked with toilet paper! 

REFERENCES
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104278/weekly-performance-of-djia-index/
https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf
https://www.bls.gov/
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html
https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/united-states?country=~USA
https://www.statista.com/
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-27/coronavirus-us-protests-on-the-rise/12288686
https://www.spglobal.com/en/research-insights/articles/daily-update-june-15-2020
https://ignaciomsarmiento.github.io/2020/07/11/Visualizing-Protests-for-Racial-Justice.html
https://blog.gdeltproject.org/abc-news-coronavirus-anti-lockdown-movement-surges-in-the-us-after-donald-trumps-liberate-tweet/
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases
http://www.healthdata.org/covid/updates
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/
https://time.com/5867511/trump-coronavirus-bad-news/
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/07/trumps-lies-about-coronavirus/608647/
https://econbrowser.com/archives/2020/06/covid-19-pandemic-in-the-us-the-trump-annotated-timeline
https://www.fda.gov/news-events/congressional-testimony/oversight-trump-administrations-response-covid-19-pandemic-06232020