Mother Nature never gets any beauty rest, and neither do the scientists studying her creations. Labs hum in the middle of the night, often unassisted by human hands at even the most ungodly hours. Noah Kalina’s “Labs At Night” photo series from Seed Magazine shows the beauty that is created when science meets silence.

It isn't exactly clock day at JoshSpear.com (see the review of San Francisco's Clock Bar from earlier), but we need to update you about The World Clock Project. Launched earlier this year by the guys at Iridesco, this fun project of collecting pictures of clocks from around the world for every minute of the day has amassed plenty of big hands. Check out the site and submit a picture, or have a look at the flickr group. While you’re at it don’t forget to check out Hear, Hear — an online magazine Iridesco publishes about innovative small businesses in New York City. Now if we could only get the Clock Bar to submit a photo to the World Clock Project then we could have blog harmony.

An interview with artist/local hero Herbert Baglione and a hardcore-turned-samba musician Kiki Dinucci are just two of the stories in the packed new issue of the Sao Paulo free bimonthly magazine Mais Soma from JoshSpear friends Kultur Studio. With a distribution of 10,000 in a city of 16 million people, you can guess copies disappear fast. The glossy is a superbly done publication putting alternative and lesser-profiled subjects in front of the public eye. Plus, they have the occasional international star, like Shepard Fairey, who did a substantial Q&A in the last issue. We know many of you (ok, so plenty of you) don’t live in Sao Paulo, but you can still watch special videos on their site via Somacast, and download previous issues as PDFs for digital perusal.

As a child growing up one would associate the term “dork” as a defamatory slur against one with a quirky, less than popular, sense of taste. Nowadays that quirk has turned into an endearing quality attached to those with unique and admirable affinity towards certain aspects of culture. It’s that endearing quality that has been harnessed by the folks at Dork Magazine, a daily online magazine dedicated to the subjects of art, habitat, and people. The site, founded by James Oyedijo and Taj Reid, offers up it’s one of a kind viewpoint on everything from music to travel to events that anyone who might proudly hail themselves a modern day dork would be glad to partake. The publication “strives to inspire its readers by reporting on the people, places and things that embody an impassioned lifestyle.” It’s not about what the beautiful people are doing…it’s about finding what real people are doing and what inspires those people. If you’re among those who consider yourself a leader or even soldier in the Dork revolution…you should definitely take a look at their site. Maybe you’ll get lucky and be proclaimed dork of the week. Indeed, a new dork dawn has come…maybe it’s time you let your freak flag fly.

Word to those out there who left their hearts in woodshop class and happily gobble up every new issue of Make magazine: ReadyMade is now totally and uninhibitedly free through a digital version. To mark the occasion of their new issue hitting newsstands under an environmentally friendly theme, the DIY enthusiast’s publication went the way of convenience, making all the links and table of contents clickable so you can jump past mere perusal and quickly get started on recommended projects, like doing something (friggin’ anything, your roommates have been moaning) with all those darn wine corks lying collecting in the vase on top of the fridge for years now. In 2008, there’s no such thing as a cheapskate — it’s called being resourceful. Thank you, ReadyMade.

What does the Great White North know about hip-hop culture? More than you probably know about curling. Their national sport. The one with the big rock and the ice…never mind. Pound is an intelligent hip-hop magazine straight outta Toronto, that combines the Source’s subject matter, Nylon’s sense of style, and the New Republic’s mission statement. Feature articles delve into the “real” state of B-Boy culture, from MCs to graffiti artists, all the while asking it’s readers to separate “honesty from authenticity,” as publisher Rodrigo Bascunan editor’s letter states. You can download the last issue on via PDF file. That’s what we’re talking aboot.

Brazilian artist Alex Hornest, or Ornesto as he’s otherwise known by his street name, is a different kind of artist than the others I’ve been sharing with you lately. A rooted legend in this country’s street art scene, Ornesto’s just released a book of drawings with another street artist, called 100COTIDIANO . Rojo Magazine is dedicating its art space in Sao Paulo to his work starting tomorrow at the Livraria Pop store in a show called That Isn’t Easily Found, which will show Ornesto flexing his artistic muscle on found materials, from sculpture to paint works. I’ve always liked his drawings, but will find his mixed-media stuff equally as thrilling if it all looks like what you see in the photo. The theme of this show revolves around his heroic task of sorts: to save and remind the public about basic human values such as sincerity, generosity and friendship. Simple, but we need someone to put them in our face once in a while. The show runs through April 19th.

Unlike the issues of Entertainment Weekly that we didn’t subscribe to, but end up in our mailbox anyway, Seven Magazine is about pop culture and social responsibility. Since its inception in 2004, the British-based zine takes aim at the global world of arts and entertainment, with the articles ranging from a tête à tête with George Clooney or Keanu Reeves, to political pieces on vanishing Cambodian rainforests and the gangs of Cape Town. Apart from balancing arts and activism (two great tastes which always go great together), Seven has established a foundation that will provide support for underprivileged young adults around the world to create their own artistic endeavors. Recently, the magazine has turned its attention back to the online edition, so expect more content in the next few months.

Virtual newsstand PDF Mags‘ reasoning is simple: show ‘em where the free mags are at, and they will come. This neat resource links you to issues of independent PDF publications focusing on art and culture from around the world and back, some of them created only in this medium and others (like The Fader and XLR8R) have been converted from holy printed page into easy Internet reading. Browse by category as varied as reportage and fanzine or just dive in and see the whole list; either way, you’ll inevitably bookmark or pass on to a pal the links to slick, interesting publications like Bastard from Germany or Ninja from France. Mags are added regularly, and if you’re a photographer or other artist looking for more outlets for your work, a Submissions area gives you a heads up on which places are accepting work. Happy reading.

The fellas at Ohio-based Faesthetic magazine have a new lucky-7 edition of their rad art mag out, and if you know better, you’ll order this one to keep in the archives. Packed to the gills with 160 pages of two-color (a huge step up from their usual zine-style black-and-white days) illustrations and a cover by Gama-go collaborator Tim Biskup, the editors asked 80 artists you have (or haven’t) heard of before to contribute their interpretation of doomsday, which is probably appropriate, since we’re nearing the end of the year. The initial 50 art dorks to order an issue will get a special print by Mike Deye, which comes complete with crayons. Order Faesthetic #7 through our friends at Threadless, who are now producing and distributing the mag. And don’t let me ever talk crap about Ohio ever again.

Sure, we all love staying up to speed on what’s going on with our favorite bands, but how often do you find yourself having to rifle through a bunch of other garbage about artists that you could care less about? If we have to hear another word about The White Stripes, My Chemical Romance, The Arcade Fire, and whoever the next supposed big thing, is we’re going to projectile vomit all over the Internet. Can’t we just get the skinny on the acts that really float our boat…you know, like Winger, REO Speedwagon, and Journey? If you’d like to skip all of the hype and get right to the meat of the music news then Idiomag, is for you. So maybe Winger isn’t your personal favorite, that’s fine (you obviously have horrendous taste); the best part about IdioMag is that it bases its content on what you like.

You’re probably thinking to yourself, “How does Idiomag know what I like? Does this have something to do with the Patriot Act?” No. It’s pretty simple, you tell them what you like using one of two options. Option number 1 is to type in the name of your two favorite bands. If two bands isn’t enough than you’ll probably opt for Option 2 which analyzes your last-fm, Mog, iLike, or MyStrands, account in order to create your instant magazine and bring you the latest about the music that moves you no matter what that music is. I heard Charlotte Church is going on tour.

You could speculate on a bevy of reasons, from a new age of conservatism to a shrinking audience in face of a digital alternative, for what Nation Magazine Cover Archive sees as a decline in quality print magazine covers as endeared titles are disappearing. They’re doing something about it, by archiving the covers from their favorite magazines as exemplars of the extraordinary, to remind us all that cover art indeed once upon a time was just that — art. From a list of about 20 publications, they showcase Dazed and Confused Japan for its edgy photography, Thrasher for pioneering the DIY look in publishing and old issues of Esquire, which surprisingly used to be a lot more imaginative compared to today (”Shame,” the website berates). Mad and Harper’s Bazaar also are there. While you’re at the site, check out the beginning Index covers, which stood uninterrupted by annoying cover slugs — a pretty ballsy move at the time that apparently didn’t affect its rise. Seems like you can judge something by only looking at its cover…

Andy Jenkins, Andy Mueller, Tony Larson and the rest of the inimitable design crew at Girl Skateboards’ Art Dump are having a good ol’ fashioned zine swap. If you send in a zine of your own making, they’ll snail mail you a 32 pager they put together, silkscreened cover and all. This is probably the cheapest way you’ll ever get your hands on art from some of the most worshipped names in skateboard and clothing graphics, so get photocopying! Check the link above for the address and a peek at what you’ll get.

My sources say it’s happening in Berlin, where the affordable, open-minded and -armed German city is serving hype by the bucketful to its loyal creative class fanbase. However, it is my opinion that the city, though nice enough, deserves less back-patting then the creatives calling Berlin home themselves — because it’s their blood giving the old city its new pulse. Case in point: Parabol Magazine, a newspaper format art zine, opens like a newspaper. I know that sentence doesn’t come across as a particularly brilliant pairing of words, but imagine it from a visual perspective and you’ll see what it means: People hiding behind huge pages of art in public places; an hour-long installation on a park bench or in front of a coffeshop; a better-looking decoupage project (uh, for the kids, I mean). Parabol has more to offer than it’s noteworthy size (like famous “issue curators”) so hop on over for the full rundown…then hit me back so we can plan our relocation.

The international fashion, design, and lifestyle magazine Wallpaper* will launch an online directory of the world’s best new stores tomorrow, featuring a variety of niche boutiques, the latest from global fashion houses, and other notable shopping destinations. The guide (which I’m assuming will read much like the Wallpaper* City Guides, i.e., informatively, simply, and pleasantly) will direct readers to the world’s best “revolutionary retail locations” to throw away their hard earned money, including places like opticians and patisseries. I think these locations were judged on their overall design as well as their offerings, so you’ll probably find the guide to be visually inspiring as well as, uh, debt inspiring. It looks like the November issue of Wallpaper* will also include an edited-down version of the directory, so if you’d prefer to spend money on the “real thing” (or not, if you’re already a subscriber), feel free to hold out.