Motion
Lee Konitz · 1961
Motion is a 1961 Verve trio session by Lee Konitz, Elvin Jones, and Sonny Dallas. Spontaneous. Standards only. No piano. Chromatic phrasing over loose time. Physics in sound.
Physics
The rules underneath, as far as they are known.
- 206
- briefs
- 9
- subjects
- 11:00
- average
- 2266 min
- in total
Abstraction 407Absurdism 137Acoustics 220Acting 65Adaptation 372Addiction 95Adolescence 202Advertising 77Age of exploration 14Ageing 113Agriculture 100Algorithms 114Ambition 46Anarchism 38Ancient Egypt 17Ancient Greece 38Ancient Rome 30Animals 172Anthropology 23Apartheid 12Architecture 165Archives 32Argentina 10Art Deco 26Artificial intelligence 78Astronomy 81Attention 42Australia 32Automation 73Avant-garde 164Aviation 79Banking 72Banned works 40Bauhaus 12Beer 5Behavioural economics 22Berlin 16Big tech 6Biodiversity 136Biography 86Birds 41Black holes 20Blockchain 12Boxing 14Branding 77Brazil 43Bread 29Britain 131Brutalism 4Bubbles 3Buddhism 28Byzantium 10California 17Canada 18Capitalism 94Cars 468Celebrity 59Censorship 110Cheese 24Chefs 9Chemistry 104Chess 2Childhood 87China 109Chocolate 8Christianity 49Cinematography 343Cities 90Class 485Climate change 107Club culture 100Cocktails 2Coffee 11Cognitive bias 14Collecting 16Colonialism 284Colour 42Comedy 89Community 52Complexity 21Computing 309Consciousness 16Conservatism 14Conspiracy theories 8Cooking 178Corruption 38Cosmology 31Cover versions 64Craft 116Crate digging 42Creativity 8Crime 234Cryptocurrency 8Cryptography 24Cuba 10Cybersecurity 30Dada 12Debt 38Decision-making 28Decolonisation 46Deep time 80Democracy 45Denim 16Deserts 45Detroit 17Dinosaurs 12Directing 168Disasters 59Disease 109DJ culture 89Dreams 32Drones 5Drum machines 96Dystopia 69East Africa 28Ecology 337Economics 36Editing 72Education 92Egypt 12Electric vehicles 59Emotion 22Empire 92Endurance 49Energy 120Engineering 541Entropy 8Epidemics 13Equality 9Espionage 31Ethics 44Evolution 174Existentialism 106Expertise 2Exploration 49Extinction 23Failure 37Family 240Fandom 22Fascism 45Fashion 215Fast fashion 12Fear 34Feminism 122Fermentation 126Film music 81Fishing 12Folklore 71Food history 588Football 16Forests 31Forgery 7France 163Fraud 15Free will 13Freedom 16French literature 15Friendship 24Furniture 36Gambling 14Gender 63Generations 28Genetics 87Geology 96Germany 66Globalisation 74Gothic 32Greece 5Grief 126Habits 6Happiness 2Hardware 709Haute couture 22Headphones 8Hi-fi 12Hinduism 12Hoaxes 1Human history 23Human nature 41Identity 138Illustration 8Impressionism 6Improvisation 249India 89Indonesia 15Industrial design 342Inequality 13Inflation 4Information 34Infrastructure 280Insects 29Intelligence 8Interiors 31Internet culture 88Invention 329Iran 41Islam 40Islands 17Israel 9Italy 52Jamaica 10Japan 114Jewellery 5Journalism 34Judaism 13Justice 42Korea 41Language 70Law 90Leadership 20Learning 6Liberalism 1Libraries 6Literary criticism 26London 12Loneliness 61Los Angeles 62Lost works 9Love 67Luxury 55Machine learning 15Management 10Maps 5Marketing 21Markets 51Mars 6Marxism 26Masculinity 46Materials 138Mathematics 79Meaning 6Medicine 124Memory 82Mental health 70Mesopotamia 4Mexico 38Migration 95Minimalism 68Mining 30Misinformation 9Modernism 63Money 24Monopoly 32Mortality 61Motivation 2Mountains 16Museums 27Mysticism 11Mythology 60Nationalism 40Neuroscience 23New York 36Nigeria 7Nihilism 10Noise 31Nostalgia 33Nuclear 29Nutrition 17Oceans 48Oil 42Open source 45Painting 18Palaeontology 29Parenting 14Paris 18Partition 6Patents 71Patronage 14Perception 44Personal style 27Personality 2Persuasion 8Peru 10Philosophy 77Photography 37Physics 206Plants 26Platforms 89Podcasting 1Poetry 25Poland 17Policing 34Pop Art 16Populism 2Portraiture 6Portugal 18Postmodernism 23Power 91Prehistory 24Preservation 28Printmaking 21Privacy 11Probability 6Productivity 1Programming 54Prohibition 1Propaganda 35Protest 75Pseudoscience 17Psychology 80Publishing 22Punishment 16Quantum mechanics 44Race 145Radio 30Railways 35Rave 17Realism 47Record labels 19Recording 810Relativity 23Religion 154Resilience 15Restaurants 30Restoration 2Retail 94Revolution 58Risk 18Ritual 96Robotics 26Romance 96Russia 58Salt 9Sampling 246Satire 84Scandinavia 28Scientific method 186Screenwriting 26Sculpture 7Secularism 2Self-deception 14Semiconductors 73Sexuality 102Ships 18Silence 24Silicon Valley 17Slavery 35Sleep 2Smartphones 27Sneakers 15Social media 58Socialism 9Software 68Songwriting 180Sound design 332Sound systems 20South Africa 19South East Asia 30Space exploration 84Spain 18Special effects 41Spices 62Spirits 12Sport 82Startups 21Statistics 10Status 9Stoicism 4Storytelling 68Strategy 70Street food 99Streetwear 16Studio craft 508Subcultures 59Sugar 12Supply chains 115Surrealism 53Surveillance 21Sustainability 30Synthesis 232Tailoring 37Taxation 14Tea 24Textiles 97Thailand 11The American Revolution 19The American South 88The Arab world 41The Arctic 19The Balkans 17The Belle Epoque 13The body 29The brain 26The Caribbean 28The civil rights movement 62The Cold War 160The eighties 268The Enlightenment 29The financial crisis 19The First World War 39The food industry 157The French Revolution 9The Gilded Age 9The Great Depression 18The Holocaust 20The Industrial Revolution 93The internet 61The interwar years 135The Middle Ages 35The Moon 4The music business 169The Netherlands 10The nineties 26The Olympics 10The pandemic 13The Reformation 1The Renaissance 16The Russian Revolution 19The Second World War 102The seventies 58The sixties 28The space race 5The United States 19The universe 7The Victorian era 37Therapy 20Tokyo 11Trade 48Tragedy 22Translation 5Trauma 85Travel 5True crime 2Turkey 18Typography 54Uniforms 23Unions 8Urban planning 66Utilitarianism 1Utopia 5Vaccines 10Vegetarianism 15Venture capital 6Video games 291Vietnam 12Vintage 65Vinyl 6Virtual reality 11War 169Watches 4Water 11Weather 29West Africa 29Wilderness 10Wine 3Work 22Workwear 19Worldbuilding 121
music.briefs Music
All 1 in music →film.briefs Film
All 1 in film →
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Jack Arnold · 1957
Jack Arnold’s 1957 adaptation of Richard Matheson’s novel follows Scott Carey’s gradual, irreversible shrinking — not as allegory or adventure, but as a precise, physical recalibration of self, space, and significance. Shot on Universal’s backlot with meticulous forced perspective and restrained performances, it builds tension through scale, silence, and spatial logic rather than plot twists or moralising. Its power lies in accumulation: each inch lost reshapes the terms of survival.
science.briefs Science
All 139 in science →
Ibn al-Haytham
He didn’t just study light—he invented the scientific method for perception.
Klaus von Klitzing
A single number, RK, turned resistance into a quantum ruler — but it measures only one kind of perfection.
Per Bak
Self-organized criticality is not a law of nature—it’s a sandbox with one working toy.
Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot
Carnot didn’t invent the steam engine—he invented the idea of physical limits.
Space
Space is not empty. It bends, ripples, expands—and you’re standing inside a four-dimensional object you can’t see.
Lord Kelvin
He didn’t discover cold — he made temperature itself objective.
Abdus Salam
Salam didn’t discover a particle — he built the grammar that lets physicists speak about weak and electromagnetic forces as one thing.
Positron
Carl Anderson's 1932 cloud-chamber photograph of a positively charged electron confirmed Paul Dirac's theoretical prediction of antimatter, a discovery that later underpins hospital PET scanners.
design.briefs Design
All 1 in design →
Max Bill
Max Bill didn’t make Swiss design rational — he made it bodily.
games.briefs Games
All 17 in games →
Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now
Stainless Games · 1998
Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now is a 1998 Windows vehicular combat sequel developed by Stainless Games. It uses hardware acceleration to power a world-first fully featured physics engine, enabling detailed vehicle deformation — including fenders, spoilers, and catastrophic splitting — and replaces the original’s ‘stealworthy cars’ mechanic with universal purchase of wrecked vehicles.
Flashback (1992 video game)
Delphine Software · 1992
Flashback is a cinematic platformer whose gameplay resembles Prince of Persia and Another World. Each level spans many non-scrolling screens, nearly all of which feature multiple levels of altitude. Conrad exhibits realistic human running speed and jumping ability, and realistic weakness. He dies if he falls from a great height. Conrad carries a pistol with unlimited ammunition; a force shield, which absorbs a certain number of shots before needing recharging, acting as Conrad's health; and a portable force field with unlimited use, which can act as a temporary barrier to block enemies' shots. As Conrad progresses through the game's seven levels, he is increasingly presented with spatial puzzles, requiring the player to discover how to guide him toward his destination. Late in the game, Conrad receives a teleportation device, and is able to progress by throwing the device and teleporting into otherwise unreachable areas.
Session: Skate Sim
crea-ture Studios · 2019
Session: Skate Sim is an open-ended sports video game that simulates skateboarding with strict adherence to physics, presented through a fish-eye lens mimicking mini DV format.
Skate (2007 video game)
EA Black Box · 2007
Skate (2007) replaces animation with physics, and menus with motion. Its 120 Hz input loop forces players to internalise flick timing. It gives full control of trick execution — then withholds walking, dismounting, and female skaters. It asks for wrist discipline, not button memorisation. It rewards patience with authenticity, not spectacle.
Warsow (video game)
Amanieu d'Ohsson · 2005
Warsow is a movement-first FPS built on Quake II. Its design forces mastery of physics-based tricks—dash, dodge, wall jump, rocket jump—as the sole path to advantage. It trades narrative, progression and accessibility for purity of motion and competitive clarity.
BeamNG.drive
BeamNG · 2015
BeamNG.drive is a sandbox vehicle simulation game built around soft-body physics. It features career mode, campaigns, time trials, and free roam. Campaigns consist of small scenarios themed around races, chases, and stunts. In time trials, players compete against their own best time using selected vehicles, maps, and routes. In free roam, players can operate, place, and manipulate objects and vehicles within maps. They can also change environmental properties such as time, gravity and wind. Players can utilize various objects ranging from road barriers to weapons such as cannons in order to inflict damage on other vehicles.
Joust (video game)
Williams Electronics · 1982
Joust is a Williams Electronics coin-operated arcade game from 1982. It features two-player cooperative or competitive play on a single screen with floating rock platforms above lava. Players control knights on birds — ostrich for Player 1, stork for Player 2 — using horizontal joystick movement and vertical wing-flap timing. Combat resolves via mid-air lance collision based on relative height. Defeated enemies become falling eggs that can be collected for points or left to hatch into new enemies. Three enemy types — Bounder, Hunter, Shadow Lord — differ in colour, AI behaviour, and point value. A pterodactyl appears periodically and must be defeated during a precise animation frame. An indestructible Lava Troll grabs low-flying characters. Lives are lost on collision or lava contact. The game was widely ported to home systems by external developers and publishers.
Super Smash Bros. (video game)
Nintendo · 1999
Super Smash Bros. (1999) is a Nintendo-published crossover fighting game that discards life bars for percentage-based knockback physics. Players move freely in two dimensions across large, dynamic stages. Damage increases as a percentage, making characters fly farther with each hit. KOs occur when a character is launched off open stage boundaries. Recovery is possible mid-air using jumps. All characters share identical control schemes. The game prioritises aerial mobility and stage awareness over traditional fighting game conventions like blocking or complex inputs.
business.briefs Business
All 4 in business →
Sanofi
Sanofi-Aventis wasn’t built to invent new medicines — it was built to own the ones that already paid.
Bristol Myers Squibb
A 1989 merger of two penicillin-makers became a US-revenue monoculture built on seven drugs — not science, but scale.
Genmab
Jan van de Winkel · 1998
Genmab is a platform biotech — not a drug developer — built around two licensed and proprietary antibody generation methods. Its value is in reducing discovery risk and time, not in owning clinical or commercial outcomes.
Boehringer Ingelheim
Albert Boehringer · 1885
Boehringer Ingelheim is a rare case of sustained private ownership enabling both technical continuity (from lactic acid to biopharma) and social infrastructure (welfare policies pre-dating national systems). Its business model is not about disruption but compound discipline: owning the science, the scale, and the staff.
technology.briefs Technology
All 27 in technology →
EUV lithography
EUV lithography is not a refinement — it is a forced pivot into vacuum, reflection, and tin plasma, because light refused to keep shrinking.
Ion thruster
Ion thrusters don’t move rockets—they move mission architecture.
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is a scale-based definition—not an engineering discipline—and its real-world impact lies in bulk materials, not molecular machines.
Ansible
Ansible isn’t infrastructure — it’s a plot licence disguised as physics.
Bell Labs
Bell Labs didn’t invent the future — it built the tools to measure, contain, and repeat what already worked.
CERN
CERN is not a physics lab—it’s a treaty that turned particle collisions into diplomacy.
Optical fiber
It does not carry electricity—but it carries light so precisely that medicine and telecoms had to rebuild themselves around it.
Physics engine
Physics engines don’t simulate reality—they choose which errors to tolerate.
culture.briefs Culture
All 2 in culture →
Homi J. Bhabha
He didn’t build bombs—he built the machines that decided whether India would have them.
Determinism
Determinism isn’t about destiny — it’s the quiet assumption behind every prediction engine, legal verdict, and moral judgment.
nature.briefs Nature
All 14 in nature →
Halo
A halo is an optical phenomenon in which sunlight or moonlight, bent and reflected by ice crystals in the air, makes rings, arcs and spots in the sky.
Glory (optical phenomenon)
You don’t see a glory — you wear it, like a halo only your shadow can hold.
Aurora
Auroras are not magic—they’re electron traffic jams in Earth’s magnetic tail, made visible.
Ball lightning
Ball lightning isn’t weather — it’s a warning that our instruments still miss what the sky actually does.
Upper-atmospheric lightning
It is not lightning — it is plasma, brief, alien, and happening right now over a storm near you.
Rainbow
A rainbow is not in the sky — it is in your eye, drawn by geometry and water.
Rogue wave
Rogue waves are not myths—they’re daily, dangerous, and defined: double the sea’s average big waves.
St. Elmo's fire
St. Elmo’s fire is plasma — not magic, not lightning, but ionized air glowing where geometry meets voltage.