Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Ancient Egyptian Art & Architecture Essay

Because of the shortage of wood the two transcendent structure materials utilized in old Egypt were sun-heated mud blocks and stone, mostly limestone yet additionally sandstone and rock in extensive amounts. From the Old Kingdom ahead, stone was commonly held for burial chambers and sanctuaries, while blocks were utilized in any event, for imperial royal residences, posts, the dividers of sanctuary regions and towns, and for auxiliary structures in sanctuary edifices. The center of the pyramids originated from stone quarried in the zone as of now while the limestone, presently dissolved away, that was utilized to confront the pyramids originated from the opposite side of the Nile River and must be quarried, carried over, and cut during the dry season before they could be maneuvered into place on the pyramid. Antiquated Egyptian houses were made out of mud gathered from the Nile stream. It was put in molds and left to dry in the blistering sun to solidify for use in development. Numerous Egyptian towns have vanished in light of the fact that they were arranged close to the developed region of the Nile Valley and were overwhelmed as the stream bed gradually rose during the centuries, or the mud blocks of which they were manufactured were utilized by laborers as compost. Others are difficult to reach (aloof), new structures having been raised on antiquated ones. Luckily, the dry, hot atmosphere of Egypt safeguarded some mud block structures. Models incorporate the town Deir al-Madinah, the Middle Kingdom town at Kahun, and the strongholds at Buhen and Mirgissa. Additionally, numerous sanctuaries and burial chambers have endure in light of the fact that they were based on high ground unaffected by the Nile flood and were developed of stone. Along these lines, our comprehension of old Egyptian engineering depends for the most part on strict landmarks, enormous structures described by thick, inclining dividers with hardly any openings, perhaps reverberating a strategy for development used to get steadiness in mud dividers. Along these lines, the etched and straight displayed surface embellishment (enhancement) of the stone structures may have gotten from mud divider ornamentation. Despite the fact that the utilization of the curve was created during the fourth tradition, every great structure are post and lintel developments, with level rooftops built of immense stone squares bolstered by the outside dividers and the firmly separated segments. Outside and inside dividers, just as the sections and wharfs (landing place) were secured with hieroglyphic and pictorial (representative) frescoes and carvings painted in splendid hues. Numerous themes (plan) of Egyptian ornamentation are emblematic, for example, the scarab or holy creepy crawly, the sun oriented circle and the vulture. Other regular themes incorporate palm leaves, the papyrus plant, and the buds and blossoms of the lotus. Pictographs were engraved for beautifying purposes just as to record memorable occasions or spells. Moreover, these pictorial frescoes and carvings permit us to see how the Ancient Egyptians lived, statuses, wars that were battled and their convictions. This was particularly obvious while investigating the burial chambers of Ancient Egyptian authorities lately. Old Egyptian sanctuaries were lined up with cosmically noteworthy occasions, for example, solstices and equinoxes, requiring exact (precise) estimations right now of the specific occasion. Estimations at the most huge sanctuaries may have been formally embraced by the Pharaoh himself. Artistic expressions: Ancient Egyptian works of art are portrayed by normality and nitty gritty delineation of divine beings, people, brave fights, and nature, and were expected to give comfort to the perished in existence in the wake of death. Egyptian workmanship in all structures complied with one law: the method of speaking to Pharaohs, divine beings, man, nature and the earth. Old Egyptian workmanship shows a phenomenally clear portrayal of the Ancient Egyptian’s financial status and conviction frameworks. Engineering: Ancient Egyptian draftsmen utilized sun-dried and oven heated blocks, fine sandstone, limestone and stone. Hieroglyphic and pictorial carvings in splendid hues were inexhaustibly used to embellish Egyptian structures. Papyrus: Papyrus is a plant. Papyrus was utilized by old Egyptians for composing and painting. Papyrus messages show all components of old Egyptian life and incorporate abstract, strict, verifiable and managerial records. Earthenware: Ancient Egyptians utilized steatite (a few assortments were called soapstone). Various kinds of stoneware things were saved in burial chambers of the dead. Whatever earthenware things spoke to inside pieces of the body, similar to the lungs, the liver and littler digestion tracts, which were expelled before treating (the craftsmanship and study of briefly safeguarding human remains). Figure: The old craft of Egyptian model advanced to speak to the antiquated Egyptian divine beings, Pharaohs, and the lords and sovereigns, in physical structure. Extremely severe shows were followed while creating sculptures: male sculptures were darker than the female ones; in situated sculptures, hands were required to be put on knees and explicit principles administered appearance of each Egyptian god. Egyptian Art Ancient Egyptian workmanship is the painting, model, design and different expressions delivered by the human advancement in the lower Nile Valley from 5000 BC to 300 AD. Antiquated Egyptian craftsmanship arrived at a significant level in painting and form, and was both exceptionally adapted and representative. A great part of the enduring workmanship originates from burial chambers and landmarks and in this way there is an accentuation on eternal life and the safeguarding of information on the past. The nature of perception and execution began at an elevated level and stayed close to that level all through the second and third administration. Compositions: Egyptian canvas is supposed to be one of the most one of a kind and puzzling properties of Egypt. Egyptian work of art isn't oil-based or fresco-based, it is tempura-based. Every Egyptian alleviation were painted on a level surface. Shades were for the most part mineral, picked to withstand solid daylight without blurring. The coupling medium utilized in painting stays indistinct. In the wake of painting, a varnish or gum was typically applied as a defensive covering. The artworks were regularly made with the purpose of making a charming life following death for the perished. Some burial place artworks show exercises that the perished were associated with when they were alive and wished to continue accomplishing forever. Egyptian works of art are painted in such a manner to show a profile see and a side perspective on the creature or individual. Periods in Art: The Ancient Egyptian workmanship style is known as Amarna craftsmanship. It was portrayed by a feeling of development and movement in pictures. Likewise, the human body is depicted contrastingly in Amarna style craftsmanship than Egyptian workmanship all in all. Countenances are still demonstrated only in profile.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Get a Look at Some Giant Mammals of the Cenozoic Era

Get a Look at Some Giant Mammals of the Cenozoic Era The word megafauna implies monster creatures. Despite the fact that dinosaurs of the Mesozoic Era were nothing if not megafauna, this word is all the more regularly applied to the monster warm blooded animals (and, to a lesser degree, the goliath fowls, and reptiles) that lived somewhere in the range of 40 million to 2,000 years back. More to the point, goliath ancient creatures that can guarantee all the more unassumingly estimated relatives, for example, the monster beaver and the mammoth ground sloth-are bound to be put under the megafauna umbrella than unclassifiable, hefty measured brutes like Chalicotherium or Moropus. Its likewise imperative to recall that warm blooded creatures didnt succeed the dinosaurs-they lived directly nearby the tyrannosaurs, sauropods, and hadrosaurs of the Mesozoic Era, yet in small bundles (most Mesozoic vertebrates were about the size of mice, yet a couple were similar to mammoth house felines). It wasnt until around 10 or 15 million years after the dinosaurs went terminated that these warm blooded creatures began developing into monster measures, a procedure that proceeded (with discontinuous eliminations, bogus beginnings, and impasses) well into the last Ice Age. The Giant Mammals of the Eocene, Oligocene, and Miocene Epochs The Eocene age, from 56 to 34 million years prior, saw the first larger estimated herbivorous well evolved creatures. The accomplishment of Coryphodon, a half-ton plant-eater with a minor, dinosaur-sized cerebrum, can be surmised by its wide dissemination across early Eocene North America and Eurasia. Be that as it may, the megafauna of the Eocene age truly hit its sweet spot with the bigger Uintatherium and Arsinoitherium, the first of a progression of - therium (Greek for mammoth) warm blooded creatures that enigmatically looked like hybrids of rhinoceroses and hippopotamuses. The Eocene additionally gestated the main ancient ponies, whales, and elephants. Any place you discover enormous, slow-witted plant-eaters, youll additionally discover the carnivores that help hold their populace in line. In the Eocene, this job was filled by the enormous, enigmatically canine animals called mesonychids (Greek for center paw). The wolf-sized Mesonyx and Hyaenodon are regularly viewed as tribal to hounds (despite the fact that it involved an alternate part of mammalian development), however the ruler of the mesonychids was the tremendous Andrewsarchus, at 13 feet in length and gauging one ton, the biggest earthly rapacious warm blooded animal that at any point lived. Andrewsarchus was equaled in size just by Sarkastodon-truly, that is its genuine name-and the a lot later Megistotherium. The fundamental example built up during the Eocene age huge, idiotic, herbivorous well evolved creatures went after by littler however brainier carnivores-endured into the Oligocene and Miocene, 33 to 5 million years prior. The cast of characters was somewhat more odd, including such brontotheres (thunder brutes) as the massive, hippo-like Brontotherium and Embolotherium, just as hard to-arrange beasts like Indricotherium, which looked (and most likely carried on) like a cross between a pony, a gorilla, and a rhinoceros. The biggest non-dinosaur land creature that at any point lived, Indricotherium (otherwise called Paraceratherium) weighed between 15 to 33 tons, making grown-ups basically safe to predation by contemporary saber-toothed felines. The Megafauna of the Pliocene and Pleistocene Epochs Monster well evolved creatures like Indricotherium and Uintatherium havent reverberated with people in general as much as the more recognizable megafauna of the Pliocene and Pleistocene ages. This is the place we experience captivating monsters like Castoroides (goliath beaver) and Coelodonta (wooly rhino), also mammoths, mastodons, the mammoth steers predecessor known as the auroch, the mammoth deer Megaloceros, the cavern bear, and the greatest saber-toothed feline of all, Smilodon. For what reason did these creatures develop to such hilarious sizes? Maybe a superior inquiry to pose is the reason their relatives are so little all things considered, smooth beavers, sloths, and felines are a moderately late turn of events. It might have something to do with the ancient atmosphere or an unusual harmony that won among predators and prey. No conversation of ancient megafauna would be finished without a deviation about South America and Australia, island mainlands that hatched their own weird cluster of colossal warm blooded creatures (until around 3,000,000 years prior, South America was totally cut off from North America). South America was the home of the three-ton Megatherium (mammoth ground sloth), just as such odd brutes as Glyptodon (an ancient armadillo the size of a Volkswagen Bug) and Macrauchenia, which can best be depicted as a pony crossed with a camel crossed with an elephant. Australia, a great many years prior as today, had the most peculiar combination of mammoth untamed life on the planet, including Diprotodon (monster wombat), Procoptodon (goliath short-confronted kangaroo) and Thylacoleo (marsupial lion), just as nonmammalian megafauna like Bullockornis (also called the evil presence duck of fate), the mammoth turtle Meiolania, and the monster screen reptile Megalania (the biggest land-staying reptile since the annihilation of the dinosaurs). The Extinction of the Giant Mammals In spite of the fact that elephants, rhinoceroses, and arranged enormous warm blooded animals are still with us today, a large portion of the universes megafauna ceased to exist somewhere in the range of 50,000 to 2,000 years back, an all-inclusive death known as the Quaternary elimination occasion. Researchers point to two principle offenders: first, the worldwide dive in temperatures brought about by the last Ice Age, in which numerous enormous creatures starved to death (herbivores from absence of their standard plants, carnivores from absence of herbivores), and second, the ascent of the most perilous warm blooded animals of all-people. Its still muddled to what degree the wooly mammoths, goliath sloths, and different warm blooded creatures of the late Pleistocene age capitulated to chasing by early people this is simpler to picture in secluded situations like Australia than over the entire degree of Eurasia. A few specialists have been blamed for exaggerating the impacts of human chasing, while others (maybe so as to jeopardized creatures today) have been accused of undercounting the quantity of mastodons the normal Stone Age clan could cudgel to death. Pending additional proof, we may never know without a doubt.

Saturday, August 1, 2020

Fun in NYC Part 1

Fun in NYC Part 1 Every once in a while something so noteworthy comes along that it warrants two blog entries. This is not because I want to hog the MITAdmissions home page or because I just like seeing my own face, its simply because this particular episode flows better and will work nicely when separated into two distinct entries. If youll kindly remember, I have this awesome little class that I like to call Toy Design. Also, if you can wrack your brains enough, youll remember that I mentioned we were going to take a trip to Hasbros world headquarters, conveniently located in nearby Rhode Island (which is about a 1 hour drive from MIT). Thursday came, we all packed into the charter bus (and by packed I mean sat comfortably in a bus designed for twice as many people as we had) and chatted jovially all the way there. When we arrived we were greeted by a giant fiberglass Mr. Potato Head. Things only got better from there as we noticed that the reserved parking spots were marked with large Monopoly cards, the glass on the front of the factory was laser etched with Mr. Potato Head, and immediately inside we were met by My Little Pony, more Mr. Potato Head, and Transformers toys everywhere! Unfortunately, thats where my coverage of the Hasbro world headquarters ends because we werent allowed to take pictures of anything. We were taken down Main Street and got to see the really old, original versions of most of the Hasbro toys including the original Monopoly board, the original Mr. Potato Head pieces, a 4 foot tall light bright, an $8,000 Mr. Potato Head (diamonds, rubies, etc.) and a life sized version of the Monopoly car game piece. After main street we went into the cafeteria and were spoken to by many members of the Hasbro staff about what goes into the design process. We saw old toys, current toys, and even prototypes of toys yet to be released. After 2 hours of listening to stories we were allowed to ask questions and chat with the staff on an individual basis, which was very insightful. Hasbro is awesome, they care a lot about what they do, and it was fun to get a glimpse into the workings of a toy factory! The real story begins when I got home from Hasbro. I was surfing Engadget and found this article. This was the line that struck me: Hasbro will be showing off the Blaster Controller at Toy Fair 2008 next week, so hopefully well get some more release info then. Keep in mind, I was in a very toy-oriented mood and now all of a sudden there was talk of some magical thing called Toy Fair 2008. WHATS TOY FAIR!? I quickly did some Google searches I found this Wikipedia article: The American International Toy Fair (the trademarked name uses all capitals for TOY FAIR) is one of a few major toy industry trade shows held around the world. It is held annually in late winter (mid February) in New York Citys Toy District (Broadway and 5th Avenue in the mid 20s) and at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, and is open to the toy trade only. It is staged by the Toy Industry Association. The show is claimed by the promoters to be the largest toy trade show in the Western Hemisphere. In 2006, more than 1,500 manufacturers, distributors, importers and sales agents from 30 countries exhibited their toy and entertainment products in over 300,000 square feet of exhibit space Oh. My. God. *Frantically searches for a date* Exhibit Dates Hours Sunday, February 17, 10:00 am â€" 6:00 pm Monday, February 18, 9:00 am â€" 6:00 pm Tuesday, February 19, 9:00 am â€" 6:00 pm Wednesday, February 20, 9:00 am â€" 4:00 pm This Weekend!? New York!? Toys!?!?!? Brains have this really cool way of thinking of about a million things at once, have you ever noticed that? Heres what flashed through my brain in the span of about 2 seconds: 1) New York City is close by! 2) This would be great for Toy Design! 3) Monday is a holiday, I could go then! 4) I need a friend, no way Im going alone . . . 5) Maddie! 6) Ooo, open to the toy trade only, bummer 7) HASBRO! 8) How much $$$ 9) MIT could pay! 10) Awesome Awesome Awesome! I dug around the Toy Fair Website and found the registration form. I read it very carefully. One way to get into the Toy Fair was to be a member of the TIA (Toy Industry Association). I wasnt. The other way involved a bunch of paperwork. The skinny of it is that I needed a minimum of two of the following: • Tax Resale Certificate or Business License • Recent Invoices showing purchase of youth industry related products • Yellow Pages listing • Printed materials (brochures, catalogs, sell sheets, etc.) illustrating industry related products • Letter of Intent from a lawyer or bank on official letterhead stating your intent to start a business (For new retailers only) • Company Credit Card or Company Paycheck stub • Letter from a toy industry client on their letterhead confirming your business relationship • Letter of Referral from an exhibiting youth product manufacturer or agent with whom you do business (Mandatory for Inventors) • Business Card listing job title, company and address • List of Lines you currently represent (For Manufacturer’s Reps only) Some of these were like Psh, sure, like THATs gonna happen. Tax Resale Certificate or Business License? Yellow Pages listing? *scans listings some more* Wait, what about these two? • Letter from a toy industry client on their letterhead confirming your business relationship • Letter of Referral from an exhibiting youth product manufacturer or agent with whom you do business (Mandatory for Inventors) You know, in movies , how memories and flashbacks will float above the characters head, all hazy and watered down, and reveal the answer to some complicated problem? Thats what happened to me, heres my flashback: [The scene: Sitting at Hasbro, listening to the Project Engineering Manager Kevin speaking] I hope you enjoyed hearing about Hasbro today. Heres my card, if you ever need anything, just let me know. Wed be happy to help . . . to help . . .to hel- [fade to black] I went to find Maddie and pitch the idea to her. On Monday morning at 2:00 AM we would take the bus from South Station to Chinatown in New York City ($15 normally, $25 at 2 AM. If youre an MIT student you should know about this bus!). We would arrive in NYC at around 6 AM and kill four hours before heading to Toy Fair. Wed stay at Toy Fair until 6 PM, eat some dinner, and then catch the 7 or 8 oclock bus back to Boston, making it back to MIT around 11 or 12 oclock, just in time for class on Tuesday. There were a couple of issues, one being that we would need letters from Hasbro to get us in. Remember, its Thursday and Toy Fair is on Monday, thats not a lot of time to scramble stuff together. Also, the $100 entrance fee was too much for either of us, so it would have to be subsidized by MIT or we couldnt go. I sent this e-mail to my Toy Design professor: Prof. Kudrowitz, Thanks for the awesome trip to Hasbro today, it was extremely fun, definitely a good way to spend a Thursday. I have a fairly intricate proposal for you, which would be awesome if it could work out. Would it be naive to think that you werent aware of Toy Fair 2008 happening in NYC this weekend? I just discovered this this afternoon after our trip and started looking in to how I could attend. Maddie Hickman is interested as well, and fortunately for us we meet the initial criteria (not an infant, over 18 years old). The next bit is a little tricky . . . We need two of the following forms: [forms listed] We would attend as inventors (because thats what we are now). Hasbro is really supportive of our class, do you think they would be willing to provide these forms for the two of us? Ken did say to call if there was anything we needed, and Maddie and I think that going to the Toy Fair would, in all seriousness, be really helpful for our topic-reveal on Tuesday and for our design process in general. With these two forms there would be only one more hurdle. Its $100 per person, which is a little hard for us to pay for. Would 2.00b be able to subsidize it at all? Its curriculum related and we would do whatever you would like us to while there (take notes, interview people etc). Maddie and I are really excited about the prospect of doing this, can you give us a thumbs up or snap us out of our fantasy? Wed probably have to contact Hasbro tomorrow (Friday) to get the forms. Wed be willing to front the entrance fee so just as long as we know some financial help would be available, there would be no hurry to actually get us the money. Thanks for the help, and thanks again for the trip today! -Michael Snively and Maddie Hickman Now we wait. 10 minutes later (people here are really good about checking e-mail . . . .) we get this: Michael, I think it is possible. I was planning on attending myself, but I am very sick and I also have to build the 2.00b shop this weekend. I ccEd Lief Askeland (Hasbro VP) to see if he could provide letters, but it is quite short notice. I will also have to ask David about the funding. Lets see what happens Barry Oh. My. God. (I know, its the second time Ive used it, but it fits!) This could actually happen! AAAAHHHH!!!! The next two days were fairly frantic and full of a lot of e-mails. Ill try to summarize it the best I can. Lief Askeland e-mailed his secretary and told her the details. Then he sent her the official letter to be typed on company letterhead with our names on it , instructing her to overnight it to us. We provided our official names and expressed concern about overnighting. Faxing was considered, but in the end the letters were given to a man named Jonathan Pale who would meet us at Toy Fair and deliver them there. Here is the final e-mail of the string: Ok, Just to be clear..Jonathan Pale will meet the students at 10 at the Jarvits centre. If they take the train please let them know that there is a free bus from Pen station to Jarvits. Please contact Jonathan at [phone number] to agree to meeting destination. He will pick up the entrance charges. Leif and just like that, it was done. Maddie and I were to head to New York City to attend Toy Fair 2008 as official inventors for Hasbro with Hasbro picking up the tab. We were a bit excited . . .