Opus – Page 17 – Encyclopædia of the sublime

Port tongs

Port tongs are a special set of tongs designed to open wine bottles that are sealed with a cork. The tongs are heated over an open flame and held against the neck of the wine bottle for 20–30 seconds. The heated section of bottle is then cooled with a damp cloth or ice water, causing the glass to fracture due to thermal expansion. The result is generally a clean, predictable break. Any possible shards of glass are strained out, along with any sediment, when pouring the wine into a decanter. The tongs are intended for use when the cork cannot be removed with a normal corkscrew, such as old corks that would break apart and crumble into the wine.[2]

Gee’s golden langur

Gee's golden langur is a rare and endangered primate species found in the lush forests of the eastern Himalayan foothills, spanning the border regions of India and Bhutan. Named in honor of the renowned Indian naturalist E.P. Gee, who first documented the species in the 1950s, Gee's golden langur is characterized by its vibrant golden-yellow coat, which sets it apart from other langur species found in the region. Adults typically have a sleek and slender build, with long tails and expressive faces adorned with dark, soulful eyes.

Felipe Jesus Consalvos

Felipe Jesus Consalvos was a Cuban-American cigar roller and artist, known for his posthumously discovered body of artwork based on the vernacular tradition of cigar-band collage. A large body of Consalvos' art work was discovered in 1983 at a Philadelphia garage sale. The body of work consists of over 800 collages on paper, found photographs, musical instruments, furniture, and other objects. Consalvos' playful and often subversively political work—on which he is thought to have collaborated with his son, Jose Felipe Consalvos -- appropriated cigar bands and cigar-box paper, along with magazine images, family photographs, postage stamps, and cut-up money.

Alarma

¡Alarma! was a Mexican news-magazine published by Publicaciones Llegó that specialized in graphic and shocking pictures of corpses including murder victims and traffic accidents, as well as pictures of scantily clad women.

Desert kites

Desert kites are dry stone wall structures found in Southwest Asia, which were first discovered from the air during the 1920s. There are over 6,000 known desert kites, with sizes ranging from less than a hundred metres to several kilometres. They typically have a kite shape formed by two convergent "antennae" that run towards an enclosure, all formed by walls of dry stone less than one metre high, but variations exist. Little is known about their ages, but the few dated examples appear to span the entire Holocene. The majority view on their purpose is that they were used as traps for hunting game animals such as gazelles, which were driven into the kites and hunted there.

Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke

The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke is a painting by English artist Richard Dadd. It was begun in 1855 and worked on until 1864. Dadd painted it while incarcerated in the State Criminal Lunatic Asylum of Bethlem Royal Hospital, where he was confined after he murdered his father in 1843. It was commissioned by George Henry Haydon, who was head steward of the hospital at the time.

Anna Russell

Anna Russell was an English–Canadian singer and comedian. She gave many concerts in which she sang and played comic musical sketches on the piano. Among her best-known works are her concert performances and famous recordings of The Ring of the Nibelungs (An Analysis) – a humorous 22-minute synopsis of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen.

Tournedos Rossini

Tournedos Rossini is a French steak dish consisting of a beef tournedos, pan-fried in butter, served on a crouton, and topped with a hot slice of fresh whole foie gras briefly pan-fried at the last minute. The dish is garnished with slices of black truffle and finished with a Madeira demi-glace sauce. It is named after 19th-century composer Gioachino Rossini.

National Ignition Facility

The National Ignition Facility is a laser-based inertial confinement fusion research device. NIF's mission is to achieve fusion ignition with high energy gain. It achieved the first instance of scientific breakeven controlled fusion in an experiment on December 5, 2022, with an energy gain factor of 1.5] It supports nuclear weapon maintenance and design by studying the behavior of matter under the conditions found within nuclear explosions. NIF is the largest and most powerful ICF device built to date. The basic ICF concept is to squeeze a small amount of fuel to reach pressure and temperature necessary for fusion. NIF hosts the world's most energetic laser. The laser heats the outer layer of a small sphere. The energy is so intense that it causes the sphere to implode, squeezing the fuel inside.

Pheasant Island

Pheasant Island, known as Île des Faisans in French and Isla de los Faisanes in Spanish, is a small uninhabited islet located in the Bidasoa River, which forms part of the border between France and Spain. Despite its diminutive size, this tiny island holds immense historical significance as a symbol of peace, diplomacy, and international cooperation. The history of Pheasant Island is deeply intertwined with the complex relations between France and Spain, two European powers that have frequently been at odds throughout history. In 1659, the Treaty of the Pyrenees, negotiated to end the long-running Franco-Spanish War, stipulated that Pheasant Island would serve as a neutral territory, jointly administered by both countries. Since then, Pheasant Island has become a symbol of reconciliation and diplomacy between France and Spain. Every six months, on February 1st and August 1st, representatives from both nations gather on the island to perform a ceremonial handover of sovereignty, symbolizing the shared commitment to maintaining peace and stability in the region.