December 12, 2011
Dirty Mouth?
Here’s 15 of the approximately 600 species of microbes living in your mouth, imaged via a newly developed technique called CLASI-FISH, allowing simultaneous identification and tracking of several species at once using a fluorescent microscope, as presented at a cell biology conference in Denver this week:
Combinatorial Labeling and Spectral Imaging (CLASI) was designed by a team at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., and Brown University in Providence, R.I., to distinguish microbes in the human body and in other complex communities in nature. Previous fluorescent labeling approaches relied on the classic green fluorescent protein, but CLASI allows for a range of colors by harnessing additional fluorescent proteins.
Don’t worry, though. Most of them aren’t harmful. Most of them.
Hopefully by tracking their communities on a large scale like this, we can learn how to keep our mouths, an ecosystem unto itself, happier than ever.
(via SciAm, image by Alex Valm)
(Source: jtotheizzoe)
November 29, 2011
Frozen bubbles would make amazing photo props! We’d love to get these under a macro lens, too.
Did you know that you can freeze bubbles? Go outside on any day when it’s below 32 degrees F and try this: blow a bubble and then catch it on the bubble wand. Wait a few moments while it freezes- it will turn into a cool crystal ball before it shatters!
Too cold to go outside? You can learn how to make your own crystal ball bubbles in the freezer with soap by checking out the site below…
(Source: dayanatuna.com)
November 25, 2011
How to Spot Planet Venus in the Sky
Pictured above: The Moon and Venus shine in the skies of Cerro Paranal, home of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). Below them, the Milky Way glows crimson.
Here’s a nifty little guide courtesy of SPACE, detailing how you can spot planet Venus any time in night sky. It also specifies how it will look to the unaided eye or a telescope and why. Here’s an excerpt from the article I particularly liked;
When Venus is on the opposite side of the sun from us, it appears full (or nearly so) and rather small because it is far from us. But because Venus moves with a greater velocity around the sun than Earth, it gradually gets closer and looms progressively larger in apparent size; the angle of sunlight striking it as seen from our Earthly vantage point also appears to change as well.
Ultimately, as Venus prepares to pass between the Earth and the sun, it appears as a thinning crescent. And since, at this point in its orbit, it is nearly six times closer to us compared to when it was on the opposite side of the sun, Venus appears much larger to us as well.
They also provide a schedule of how Venus’ appearance will change during the coming months. Be sure to check out the guide in full details and don’t be shy to put it to use tonight or any other night!
November 14, 2011
November 9, 2011
Spiderman May Not Be The Only Wall-Climbing Human: Insect-o-Stick
Scientists have just invented an insect-inspired tape that can be repeatedly peeled off thousands of times without losing its adhesive qualities.
Scientists from the Zoological Institute at the University of Kiel in Germany studied the way insects can run up walls using tiny hairs on their feet and legs and made a sticky tape based on the same principle. They have made a silicone tape patterned with similar tiny hairs that is so strong one of the researchers even used it to hang from a ceiling.
The key to insects’ unique climbing abilities is the fact that their thousands of hairs have flattened tips that can splay out to maximize contact on surfaces.
I’ll buy a roll of that tape, please.
November 1, 2011
I think you guys will find this interesting!
These are ferrofluids - liquids which become magnetized in the presence of a magnetic field. The video shows their behaviour. These ferrofluids can be used for so many things, which is what makes them so interesting. For example, they can be used as contrast agents for MRIs. Yep, these badass fluids can detect cancer. They’re also used as liquid seals in parts of hard drives - the part is surrounded by magnets, keeping the ferrofluid in place. They are also used in the music video of a song I like, “Watercolour” by Pendulum. Ha :)
This proves to me that science is art.
October 30, 2011
October 29, 2011
Beautifully heartbreaking: Industrial Scars by J. Henry Fair. This project documents the damage caused by industrial pollution, but it also captures how toxic waste can produce unnaturally vivid colors and abstract patterns.
October 23, 2011
Conceptual image of a microsubsaltwater nanorobot in a human artery magnified at
40x
This tiny subsaltwater was made by computer-guided lasers. Laser light caused an acrylic liquid to polymerise, building up the subsaltwater in layers 10 micrometers thick.
Tiny nanorobots such as this could be used for detecting and reparing defects in the human body.
Powered by a small propeller, they could travel to sites of blockage or damage in blood vessels and repair them from within, restoring correct blood flow.
This man tells us some things to know when thinking of dreams. With additional information and media below.
Whatswhat reviews my beard and other stuff
All music by Jake Chudnow
Sleep Related
Lucid Dreaming on the Discovery Channel
Quick info in different dream theories
Incredible documentary on a fatal disease that keeps you from sleeping
(Source: BuzzFeed)
