Art World: Edvard Munch's “The Scream” — Sold for a Record $119,922,500

The image of a man holding his head and screaming under a streaked, blood-red sky is one of four versions by the Norwegian expressionist painter. The auctioned piece at Sotheby's is the only one left in private hands.

The previous record for an artwork sold at auction was $106.5 million for Picasso's “Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust,” sold by Christie's in 2010.

Munch’s 'The Scream' was purchased for a record $119.9-million in New York auction.

119,922,500 dollars!

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The image has become part of pop culture, “used by everyone from Warhol to Hollywood to cartoons to teacups and T-shirts,” said Michael Frahm of the London-based art advisory service firm Frahm Ltd.

“Together with the Mona Lisa, it's the most famous and recognized image in art history,” he added.

Well, if you think 'The Scream'  is good check out the artwork below by some of my friends, acquaintances and family.

I think I could get you an original for, let's say, a million each or the whole package for 1.2 million.

Let me know.

'criuse ship and hula girls' by Camile Fontaine of Kauai Hawaii

'untitled' by KD Cox of Wilmington North Carolina 

Earth tones by Roger Drowne EC of Key West Florida

Click on artwork for more information on these artists 

Are Super Moons and Natural Disasters Related?



Just because last year Japan's 9.0 earthquake occurred a week before a Super Moon and a Super Moon occurred before the New England hurricane of 1938, and  one happened  before the Hunter Valley floods of Australia of 1955 this doesn't mean that a Super Moon is an omen of natural disaster.

Does it?

Science says No.

But in a sense, the SuperMoon is magical, because if you view it while it's on the horizon, through some trees or near a building, it's, well, spectacular.

Bigger and brighter, for reasons that even astronomers and psychologists are yet to explain.

All that will happen is the moon will appear 16 per cent brighter and exert 42 per cent more influence on the tides due to its increased gravitational force.

click image for full story at news.com.au

Story By Australian Journalist Peter Farquhar

Military Presence in Space: Air Force's Secret X-37 Shuttle Celebrating Silent Anniversary

The Air Force has been testing a mini-space shuttle in orbit for over a year, it isn't really a secret but the Military isn't talking much about it.

The robotic X-37B space plane is a reusable spacecraft that resembles a miniature space shuttle. The Air Force launched the OTV-2 mission on March 5, 2011, with an unmanned Atlas 5 rocket lofting the space plane into orbit from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
What the robotic space plane has been doing in orbit for so long remains a mystery, since Air Force officials have not commented on the flight's details due to its classified nature. Outside experts, however, have suggested that the flight is testing the limits of the X-37B space plane, or possibly serving as an orbital spy platform.

Each X-37B space plane is about 29 feet (8.8 meters) long and 15 feet (4.5 meters) wide. It has a payload bay about the size of a pickup truck bed. It is outfitted with a deployable solar array power system. What’s inside that payload bay, and what functions they serve, are classified.

Like NASA's now-retired space shuttle, the X-37B space planes are capable of returning experiments to Earth for inspection and analysis, as well as re-flight of equipment.

click image for complete story at Fox.com 
The X-37B space plane originated as a NASA spacecraft research project, but lack of funding led the agency to transfer the program to the Defense Advanced Research Agency in 2004. The Air Force took control of the project in 2006, and has launched two apparently successful missions so far.

Nasa: Martian Roving Laboratory 'Curiosity' to Touch Down in Three Months

[Mars is] the death planet, and the United States of America is the only nation in the world that has ever landed and driven robotic explorers on the surface of Mars, and now we're set to do it again.
As large as a car, the mobile, nuclear-powered Curiosity, equipped with 10 science instruments for analyzing the Martian surface, is NASA's most ambitious rover yet.

click image for Mars Science labratory 'Curiosity' trailer
Launched from Cape Canaveral on Nov. 26, 2011, NASA expects Curiosity’s delivery on the evening of Aug. 5, 2012, to begin a two-year mission. The landing site is near the base of a mountain inside Gale Crater, which researchers believe may hold evidence of water and wet environments of early Mars.

That Curiosity is so close to its final destination is in itself a small miracle.

"Mars really is the Bermuda Triangle of the solar system."

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