In his book Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations (2016), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Thomas Friedman explores how the release of the iPhone in 2007, along with significant advancements in silicon chips, software, storage, sensors, and networking, led to the creation of a new technology platform.
Friedman dubbed it "the supernova" - a metaphor for the explosive and extraordinary release of energy that continues to reshape various aspects of modern life, bringing new changes but also significant challenges. This supernova-like power causes indeed accelerations that morph industries, societies, and political systems, at times leaving instability and disruption in their wake. In this context, slowing down the pace becomes crucial to surviving the "supernova effect", a concept that finds resonance in the fashion world.
Shanghai-based brand Staffonly Studio captured this idea in its Spring/Summer 2024 collection, titled "Procrastinating Progress." The collection was an ode to pressing the pause button in the face of rapid contemporary life.
It celebrated the pleasure found in the unfinished, in the work-in-progress and in humble pencils and paper, as opposed to the sophisticated digital tools of today, and featured patterns inspired by grid systems, revision color tapes, coil-bound notebooks, rulers, 2D folder icons, intricate beadwork reminiscent of early electronic circuit boards and leather pencil shavings forming decorative elements on shoes. Through this, Staffonly Studio encouraged a thoughtful reflection on the accelerating pace of modern life, offering a creative response to the metaphor of the supernova that counterbalances our relentlessly fast lives.
But this is just one inspiration drawn from supernovae: you can indeed explore this theme also from a more scientific point of view, checking out scientific essays or stories of supernovas. For example, in 1181, there was an intriguing event: a new star appeared in the sky, glittering in the constellation Cassiopeia. It was actually a supernova explosion and Chinese and Japanese astronomers observed it. However, the remains of this explosion were not identified until much later.
In 2013, amateur astronomer Dana Patchick, analyzing data from the now-decommissioned Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), discovered a nebula at the site of the explosion. This nebula, named Pa 30, was confirmed as the leftover material ejected by the 1181 supernova.
In 2023, astronomers used the Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI) at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii to map the nebula in 3D.The KCWI is a powerful instrument employed by astronomers to study distant objects in space and it can capture multiwavelength or spectral information for every pixel in an image. Astronomers created a 3D map of the dandelion tendrils-like filaments coming from the center of the explosion and measured how fast they were moving.
The study found that the material is expanding ballistically at speeds of 1,000 km per second, confirming that the explosion occurred around 1181. The remnant nebula showed asymmetries in its structure, suggesting that the explosion may have been uneven, and that the nebula contained an unusual cavity inside.
The nebula's central star shows signs of fast winds made of oxygen, and its filaments lack hydrogen and helium. This suggests that the supernova was the result of a "failed" explosion occurred when a thermonuclear explosion was triggered on a dense dead star called a white dwarf. Typically, the white dwarf would be completely destroyed in this type of explosion, but in this case some of the star survived, leaving behind a sort of "zombie star." This type of partial explosion is called a Type Iax supernova. Although the filaments are made of material from the explosion, scientists are still unsure how they formed.
This supernova and its remnants were the focus of the paper "Expansion properties of the young supernova type Iax remnant Pa 30 revealed," published in October 2024 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The study helped to create an artist's interpretation of the nebula that shows a vivid, dynamic image of the supernova remnant, capturing the sprawling, filamentary structure and the mysterious cavity inside the nebula. The images help to bring the 3D data to life, showing the complex and active nature of the explosion's aftermath.
So, fashion students, which one will be your inspiring theme for today, the metaphors that may come from the supernova or the exploration of supernovae through scientific discovery?
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