the magpie

Snail looking at its reflection in a bubble in Berdichev,...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:06:56 -0400

Snail looking at its reflection in a bubble in Berdichev, Ukraine

Picture: VYACHESLAV MISHCHENKO / CATERS NEWS

kenobi-wan-obi: Fiery Moon by Jerónimo Losada Jerónimo Losada...

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 07:04:58 -0400

Fiery Moon

by Jerónimo Losada

Jerónimo Losada captured this amazing photo of the Moon from the roof of his house in Seville, Spain. He used a Canon EOS 60D camera and EF 75-300 lens at 300mm.

scienceisbeauty: Internal structure of a carbon-nanotube...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:30:28 -0400

scienceisbeauty:

Internal structure of a carbon-nanotube coating that absorbs about 99 percent of the ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and far-infrared light that strikes it. A section of the coating, which was grown on smooth silicon, was purposely removed to show the tubes’ vertical alignment.

Source: NASA Develops Super-Black Material That Absorbs Light Across Multiple Wavelength Bands (NASA)

High-res

Credit: Stephanie Getty, NASA Goddard)

Future Environmental Leadership will require one to be expert in...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:30:22 -0400

Future Environmental Leadership will require one to be expert in interpersonal communication. The activities above can help with skills like paying attention to other people, anticipating and meeting their needs, reading their reactions, and taking responsibility for delivering a clear message are essential .

mothernaturenetwork: Marine expedition crosses over into...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 11:34:15 -0400

mothernaturenetwork:

Marine expedition crosses over into ‘twilight zone’
A marine expedition to the North Atlantic is studying the flow of carbon through the ocean’s ‘twilight zone’ where sunlight fades into the deep.

Photo

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:30:17 -0400

thisbigcity: Where to fit the expected million extra people...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 14:00:27 -0400

thisbigcity:

Where to fit the expected million extra people that will call New York City home in 2040?

medstud86: Amazing. Open source construction. Basically giant...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 07:08:52 -0400

medstud86:

Amazing. Open source construction. Basically giant ikea sets you can print out on 3-D printers, and build your own house!

http://www.wikihouse.cc/

"Erase our senses. Then maybe, the earth will touch us. The stars will whisper."

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 07:07:41 -0400

“Erase our senses. Then maybe, the earth will touch us. The stars will whisper.” - Jerry...

berlinfarmlab: Philip Ross Molds Fast-Growing Fungi Into...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 07:02:43 -0400

berlinfarmlab:

Philip Ross Molds Fast-Growing Fungi Into Mushroom Building Bricks That Are Stronger than Concrete

"As much as we are control freaks when it comes to engineering, where this is going toward is loss of..."

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 07:02:20 -0400

“As much as we are control freaks when it comes to engineering, where this is going toward is...

The Business Case For Wind Power

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 01:27:44 -0400

The Business Case For Wind Power - http://huff.to/19iJX6s

unconsumption: Here’s an absolutely fascinating project playing...

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 13:18:17 -0400

unconsumption:

Here’s an absolutely fascinating project playing out on Instagram, and turning litter-cleanup into fun creative game of sorts:

How an Instagram Hashtag is Helping to Clean up the Environment:

Using the hashtag #litterati, [Jeff Kirschner has] managed to start a world-wide Instagram campaign that is helping to stop pollution and clean up the environment one piece of trash at a time.

…

Using [this Instagram account], he would photograph each piece of trash he picked up over the course of the day, hashtagging the photos as he went. Pretty soon others caught on…

Now, Instagram users everywhere can join the movement by taking a photo of the couple of pieces of trash they pick up each day. It may not seem like you’re making much of a difference, but the over 10,000 photos from 22 countries uploaded under the #litterati hashtag last year illustrate just how powerful the collective impact can be.

Kirschner has stared a Litterati website complete with a “Digital Landfill” that aggregates all of the photos hashtagged #litterati, keeping statistics as it goes.

That’s so cool. It makes me wish we could figure out a way to do something similar encouraging acts & moments of #unconsumption.

molecularlifesciences: Christopher Harkins (Charkins) from...

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 13:17:41 -0400

molecularlifesciences:

Christopher Harkins (Charkins) from Louisville, KY, USA wins the VIDEO First Prize for ‘Anatomy of the HIV Virus’.
From: http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/autopack_challenge_winners

Artist comments:
“I am ecstatic and honored by placing first. I really thought that I wouldn’t place first because a lot of those submissions were really well done, obviously a lot of hard work and creativity behind them. I do hope this animation has educational value and will be used for some purpose other than winning the prize.

I put in a great deal of effort on this challenge, more effort than I’ve ever put forth on a personal project. A lot of learning and flexing new muscles. I lost track of how many hours I put in, but much of the time was reworking and refining, a luxury I don’t often get with most projects. I’m proud of this animation, I’m just so happy that it’s being recognized! In the last days of the competition, it was stressful waiting on renders, hoping everything would come together on time, but overall it was a fun, rich experience. I’d love to do more medical animations in the future, a great blend of technical information and abstract illustrations.”

Judges’ comments
”Nice. Educational and well shot!” - A. Ward

“A nice approach to a “Tour of HIV”. The visuals are sumptuous and it succeeds in its goal to educate about virion structure.” –D Goodsell

”... this “110%” effort you put in should really make a huge difference when scientists watch this and it can now become a valuable teaching piece. Outstanding job to fit in the addition of the HIV RNA with only one week to go, especially since you had to go out to Blender to get it all working. I love the lens zoom effect and the thorough exploration of this early version of the autoPACK HIV model.” – G. Johnson (host)

rorschachx: Even Whales Get Bitten by Mosquitoes No one has...

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 13:17:20 -0400

rorschachx:

Even Whales Get Bitten by Mosquitoes

No one has ever reported a wild orca dying from a mosquito-borne disease. But it’s a different story for killer whales in captivity. In 1990, Kanduke, a 25-year-old male orca died suddenly at SeaWorld Orlando, the victim of encephalitis virus carried by a mosquito. And in 2007, Taku, a 14-yar-old male orca, died at SeaWorld San Antonio; unknown to his trainers, he’d been infected with West Nile Virus, the disease’s tell-tale lesions spotted during a necropsy of his brain tissue. Captive orcas are particularly susceptible to these mosquito-borne diseases, scientists reported last month in the Journal of Marine Animals and Their Ecology, because of the shallow pools they’re kept in. Two researchers observed seven captive orcas at SeaWorld in Florida for thousands of hours from 10:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m., noting their behaviors. Most of the time, the whales stayed in a “logging” position, basically resting close to the surface. In the early evening hours, the scientists also observed mosquitoes landing on the animals’ exposed dorsal fins for a meal. Captive orcas may also be more susceptible to these diseases, the scientists say, because they suffer from sunburn and broken, damaged teeth (as can be seen in the photo above of Keto), which weaken their immune systems. More captive orcas in the United States may be similarly infected, but the presence of such diseases is rarely noted in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s records of the animals’ deaths, the scientists say. Instead, at least in Taku’s case, the official cause of death was “pneumonia” without any reference to the bug bite.

via Science

| image by Jeff Ventre

thescienceofreality: This Week in Science - June 3 - 9,...

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 13:16:44 -0400

thescienceofreality:

This Week in Science - June 3 - 9, 2013:

Molecule appearances here.

Widest tornado recorded here.

Hula painted frog here.

Polymer opal here.

Neanderthal tumor here.

Oldest fossil primate skeleton here.

Thought powered helicopter here.

Lithium-sulfur battery here.

Genital “loss” in birds here.

NASA intergalactic GPS here.

Bio-engineered blood vessel here.

Teleporting information here.

skeptv: Onychophoran - The World’s Weirdest Worm Don’t let the...

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 13:16:18 -0400

skeptv:

Onychophoran - The World’s Weirdest Worm

Don’t let the plush, downy appearance of the velvet worm fool you, these curious creatures hunt their insect prey by spraying them with an adhesive mucous before sucking out their insides! Equipped with an olloclip macro attachment, our iPhone camera gets up close and personal with the writhing plushness that is the velvet worm.

via Earth Touch.

somersault1824: Beautiful image of Volvox sp. via Scienze...

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 13:12:42 -0400

somersault1824:

Beautiful image of Volvox sp.
via Scienze Naturali
http://on.fb.me/117lxoU http://on.fb.me/19aALkF

Photo

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 16:30:21 -0400

Photo

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 16:30:11 -0400

the magpie

Snail looking at its reflection in a bubble in Berdichev,...

kenobi-wan-obi: Fiery Moon by Jerónimo Losada Jerónimo Losada...

scienceisbeauty: Internal structure of a carbon-nanotube...

Future Environmental Leadership will require one to be expert in...

mothernaturenetwork: Marine expedition crosses over into...

Photo

thisbigcity: Where to fit the expected million extra people...

medstud86: Amazing. Open source construction. Basically giant...

"Erase our senses. Then maybe, the earth will touch us. The stars will whisper."

berlinfarmlab: Philip Ross Molds Fast-Growing Fungi Into...

"As much as we are control freaks when it comes to engineering, where this is going toward is loss of..."

The Business Case For Wind Power

unconsumption: Here’s an absolutely fascinating project playing...

molecularlifesciences: Christopher Harkins (Charkins) from...

Christopher Harkins (Charkins) from Louisville, KY, USA wins the VIDEO First Prize for ‘Anatomy of the HIV Virus’. From: http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/autopack_challenge_winners

rorschachx: Even Whales Get Bitten by Mosquitoes No one has...

Even Whales Get Bitten by Mosquitoes

thescienceofreality: This Week in Science - June 3 - 9,...

skeptv: Onychophoran - The World’s Weirdest Worm Don’t let the...

somersault1824: Beautiful image of Volvox sp. via Scienze...

Photo

Photo

Christopher Harkins (Charkins) from Louisville, KY, USA wins the VIDEO First Prize for ‘Anatomy of the HIV Virus’.
From: http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/autopack_challenge_winners