Design and the New Ornament Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Design and the New Ornament - Case Study Example The Latin term memento mori stands for - remember that you must die. They remind that everyone is mortal. 'Memento' also stands for 'a point of departure'. A deviation. Perhaps even signifying unfaithfulness. 'Memento Mori' is also the title of a story written by Jonathan Nolan. The complex story is centered around a man named Leonard in a mental institution. Leonard has problems with his memory and so has to depend on notes and pictures to daily remind himself about what he has to do, even simple chores like brushing his teeth. The extend of his brain damage could be gauged from the scenes of Leonard trying to cope with his daily life. The main cause of his problem is the rape and murder of his wife. This is all he can think of, and he carries on with notes written in italics to himself stuck all over the ceiling where he stoically explains why he could never lead a normal existence. He seeks revenge for his wife's murder knowing he cannot get over it. This is the only scene fresh in his mind and memory. The story is interspersed with five brief scenes in Leonard's life - waking up in a mental institution, trying to go through the process of brushing his teeth, waking up fully clothed in bed, and then reading the note on the ceiling telling him he must escape the institution to find his wife's killer.He opens his eyes to find himself getting a tattoo, waking up in a hotel room, and examining all his tattooed facts and instructions, including a sketch of a man's face; looking out a car window at a dead man on the sidewalk with a face matching his tattoo, then finding that he is handcuffed and can't find a pen as the car pulls away from the scene.The human mind, conditioned largely by what we read, learn and are told, is rather crazy. The images it creates in people's minds, seen or unseen, largely influences the person to go in for a particular tattoo design at a specific spot in his or her body. Earlier, tattoos were largely used by ruffians, outlaws and biker gangs. But now even ce lebrities sport tattoos and complement their piercings. (www.tattoos-the.com). History of the tattoo The word 'tattoo' comes from the Tahitian word tatau. In the 1800s tattoos were particularly popular in England where sailors would get them as permanent souvenirs of their travels (www.tattoos-the.com). Tattoos have been around for thousands of years. They have been found in 3,000 years old Egyptian mummies. They are sported in designs of all kinds, plain, elaborate, colorful, almost always personal. Permanent once etched, they serve as amulets, status symbols, love emblems, adornments, and even signs of religious beliefs. Joann Fletcher, research fellow in the department of archaeology at the University of York in Britain, describes the history of tattoos and their cultural significance to people around the world, from the famous " Iceman," a 5,200-year-old frozen mummy, to today's Maori. www.smithsonian.com1. If you're thinking about getting a tattoo, make sure you are up to date with your immunizations, and plans about where to go for medical care if your tattoo becomes infected.Added to these, you have to take the precaution of consulting your doctor if you

Adaptive Optics for Vision Science Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Adaptive Optics for Vision Science - Term Paper Example Astronomers have come up with a system that improves on the optic systems; used to study space that can counter this distortion brought about by the front waves, a system known as â€Å"Adaptive Optics†. Adaptive optics refers to an astronomy technology that improves the performance of optical systems through reduction turbulence of the earth’s atmosphere distortions. Adaptive optic system purposes to correct deformations Caused by the turbulence of the earth’s atmosphere. This correction happens by using deformed mirrors that are controlled by a computer so as to compensate for the distortion by the incoming wavefront. The image obtained through this system is usually as sharp as the ones taken in space. The system allows observation of dimmer (faint) astronomical details of the corrected optical system that would possibly be observed from the ground. For the system to work effectively, it requires a bright reference star located close to the object being studie d. Astronomers do create artificial stars by shining a very strong laser beam into the upper atmosphere of the earth, in cases where an appropriate natural star is not available around the object of study (Hardy, 2010). Normally, light gets distorted as it passes through the wavefront thus preventing the formation of sharp images by a telescope placed on earth’s surface. The adaptive optic system eliminates this blurring effect of the atmosphere. The adaptive optics works by measuring atmospheric distortion in the light coming from the star or the other artificial source of light. Electronic signals are then sent to a deformable mirror that rapidly changes its shape to correct this distortion. This system has the ability to see hundreds of separate beams of light while looking at a single beam of light from a star even those that have been deviated due to atmospheric turbulence.