In the Begining

7 November 2010

Tracks of particles produced in a smashup 

of lead-ions in the Large Hadron Collider.

Background light filling the Universe holds a history that stretches back before Big Bang; the evidence is in the glow of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation. New analysis of relic radiation from Big Bang suggests the universe got its start eons earlier and has cycled through a myriad of episodes of birth and death, with Big Bang merely the most recent in a series of starting guns.

Someone once explained the cosmos as sort of like soap bubbles floating in the air. Each time two bubble universes collide, rather than pop-you're-gone, it's crash-bang-splinter and a new universe begins from the bits blown off by the bump. 

Jonathan Saunders scarf, Resort 2010

November's mini big bang created in the Large Hadron Collider was incredibly hot and dense. Sub-atomic fireballs with temperatures of over ten trillion degrees, a million times hotter than the centre of the Sun, melted into a hot dense soup. In Ancient Rome the humble scarf was used not to stay snug, but as a sweat cloth to keep cool, worn in hot weather around the neck or tied to a belt.

Jonathan Saunders' graphic aesthetic for his Resort 2010 collection started as watercolors on graph paper and exploded into a neon-shot grid of layered lead-ion, collision-like printed streaks.

Shine the Light Fantastic

A star cluster bursts into life in the Milky Way.

Ocabini chiffon cashmere scarves in Silver Shimmer, Emerald and Mandarin.

 

 

Photo credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration.