Art From an Unlikely Artist

Written by Andrea Campbell


Art From an Unlikely Artist

Amanda makes good money for her art, hundreds of dollars on some pieces. Her particular style is strictly abstract and she exhibits some unorthodox mannerisms, but her work garnersrepparttar attention of many. Sometimesrepparttar 127719 artist sleeps late and only paints once a week. Ifrepparttar 127720 inspiration strikes and she does not have her supplies though, she shows her frustration by spitting and acting out! Well, what would you expect from a 100-pound orangutan? Typically, her studio is littered with banana peels and other stuff lying around rotting, but she like to climbs up, up, up into a cargo net to greet visitors. Amanda lives atrepparttar 127721 Como Zoo in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her Como Zoo keeper, Mike Thell, says thatrepparttar 127722 Sumatran/Bornean orangutan started painting in June as part ofrepparttar 127723 zoo’s enrichment program. Animals in this zoo and others acrossrepparttar 127724 country, experience different incentive enhancements as well: there arerepparttar 127725 gorillas who have to maneuver their treats out of plastic bottles, a polar bear who has to scratch his way through a block of ice to get his fish, and lions who get to roll around in their favorite herbs and spices. Animal behavior experts have discovered that by supplying work for animals, whether that means foraging for food, navigating their terrain, or simply doing unlikely projects like Amanda,repparttar 127726 animals fare better and exhibit a "psychological well being."

The intelligent, antsy Amanda just kind of took to painting after only a few demonstrations about what to do withrepparttar 127727 brush and paints fromrepparttar 127728 less-talented humans around her. Because she thrives as a result of her painting, every so often bottles of nontoxic poster paint and thick sheets of paper are pushed up to her chain-link fence. Part of Amanda’s technique is to dip a fat paint brush into bright, primary colors and, after each thoughtful stroke on paper, she will cleanserepparttar 127729 brush in her mouth! Blue is a favorite hue. Several minutes of inspired painting take place and then she hands her brush back to Thell, licksrepparttar 127730 excess paint with her pointed tongue, and its done. "She usually gives itrepparttar 127731 tongue signature," Thell says. It does take some coaxing to get Amanda to part with her work, but she will eventually push her creation underrepparttar 127732 cage door for retrieval. She is further rewarded for her efforts with either orange juice or a box of Kool-Aid, which she receives for every painting she completes.

Exploring the Universe with Dr. Norio Kaifu

Written by Gayle Olson


During 1998 we were fortunate to attend a dinner hosted byrepparttar Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hawaii, featuring a lecture by Dr. Norio Kaifu. Professor Kaifu isrepparttar 127718 director ofrepparttar 127719 Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and has heldrepparttar 127720 position as vice president ofrepparttar 127721 International Astronomical Union (IAU) since 1997. A specialist in radio astronomy, infrared astronomy and interstellar matter, Dr. Kaifu has published some 100 papers on astronomy in addition to 15 popular science books. Before joiningrepparttar 127722 Subaru in 1990, he was a director, a professor and an associate professor atrepparttar 127723 Nobeyama Radio Observatory, and a senior research associate inrepparttar 127724 Faculty of Science atrepparttar 127725 University of Tokyo. As an amateur backyard astronomer we were delighted to learn ofrepparttar 127726 possibilities this new telescope will bring torepparttar 127727 exploration of universal knowledge.

Dr. Kaifu shared his views aboutrepparttar 127728 design ofrepparttar 127729 new telescope, cylindrical in shape, rather than dome, it can be more optimal for wind resistance. The 8-meter diameter glass mirror is only 8 inches thick and has taken six years to construct and polish. The mirror is controlled by two Fujitsu parallel computers, withrepparttar 127730 largest memory capacity inrepparttar 127731 world with 261 supporting structures. 100 times per secondrepparttar 127732 computer adjustsrepparttar 127733 mirror to counteractrepparttar 127734 atmospheric turbulence, which we see as twinkling stars. The mirror can be controlled byrepparttar 127735 computer by each second, to obtainrepparttar 127736 best view ofrepparttar 127737 deeper universe. Mauna Kea was chosen as a location forrepparttar 127738 new Japanese telescope because ofrepparttar 127739 stable weather and easy access.

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