Voyage to Inner Space

In 1680, physicist Giovanni Borelli attempts to recycle his own breathing air.

I assume that the date cited is the date of the print, as Borelli died in 1679 at the age of 71.

according to Wikipedia:

Borelli is also considered to be the first man to consider a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus along with his early submarine design. The exhaled gas was cooled by sea water after passing through copper tubing. The helmet was brass with a glass window and 0.6 m (2 ft) in diameter. The apparatus was never likely to be used or tested.

from the vast and fascinating NOAA Photo Library

via unpalombaro

Carbon nanotube sculpture garden

image: Michael De Volder and A. John Hart/University of Michigan/Materials Research Society

The World’s Smallest Puzzles:

This gallery presents the best images from the Materials Research Society’s recent Science as Art competition. Each one depicts familiar objects made from materials with otherworldly properties—and they’re insanely small. This quiz will test how well you understand this tiny, alien world.

more at nanobliss

via roamin

Abe Lincoln’s Life Face Mask

Abe Lincoln's Life Face Mask - Based on a photo by M. Spencer Green

Lopsided Lincoln

gotta gut feeling...

That gut feeling may actually reflect a reliable memory

Considering that some scientists estimate that the human brain can calculate at the rate of 100 trillion bits per second* (some say more), intuition and even ‘psychic’ ability might very well be a product of this immense power of processing.

*Although computers can calculate at nearly the speed of light, they perform calculations one at a time. The brain, in comparison, calculates at a snail’s pace, but makes up for this by performing trillions of operations simultaneously.

Oranged-legged rain frog

Zooillogix: 10 New Amphibians Discovered (with photos)

The Ring of Fire

photo: Dennis L. Mammana (TWAN)

APOD:

Tomorrow, a few lucky people may see a "ring of fire." That's a name for the central view of an annular eclipse of the Sun by the Moon. At the peak of this eclipse, the middle of the Sun will appear to be missing and the dark Moon will appear to be surrounded by the bright Sun. This will only be visible, however, from a path that crosses the southern Indian Ocean. From more populated locations, southern Africa and parts of Australia, most of the Moon will only appear to take a bite out the Sun. Remember to never look directly at the Sun even during an eclipse. An annular eclipse occurs instead of a total eclipse when the Moon is on the far part of its elliptical orbit around the Earth. The next annular eclipse of the Sun will take place in 2010 January, although a total solar eclipse will occur this July. Pictured above, a spectacular annular eclipse was photographed behind palm trees on 1992 January.

Blown away by something new every day - I love the internet.

Painting with ice and light

New Scientist:

The image, (above), is a frizion, and it was created by NASA scientist and artist Peter Wasilewski. Rather than painting on canvas like most artists, he creates his images with polarised light and ice.

To do this, Wasilewski takes a Petri dish of ice in the process of freezing, sandwiches it between two polarising filters and passes white light through. The first filter polarises the light, causing all the rays to vibrate in the same plane. Ice crystals split polarised light into two rays which travel at different velocities through the ice, so when the rays are recombined at the second polarising filter there is a phase difference between them. This causes interference, creating the startling colours in the image. The colours are determined not only by the lattice structure of the ice, but also by its thickness. By controlling the thickness, for example by varying the temperature of the surrounding water, Wasilewski produces a wide variety of different patterns.

See this photo gallery to find out more about how Wasilewski creates them.

Weirdest cat ever

Tetrapod Zoology:

Apparently this animal was photographed in south-eastern Yemen where it was frequenting a building site. The photos were taken by Jim Larsen. He reported that the cat wasn't just hanging around the site, it was also chewing on cables; so much so that they had to take measures to stop the cables getting damaged further....

What is this animal? Of the cat species that occur at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, it lacks the striping characteristic of the African wild cat Felis lybica, and of course looks nothing at all like a Sand cat F. margarita. Apparently there's been some suggestion that it might be a Caracal Caracal caracal, but it doesn't look much like one at all. In fact, if its fat, rounded face and bob-tail are natural features it doesn't match any known species.

I am convinced that there are a large number of strange creatures out there that we haven't encountered yet. It's a big planet.

Cicada molting

File:Cicada molting animated-2.gif

via Projectionist

Solargraph

Suspension Bridge Solargraph

photo: Justin Quinnell

If every picture tells a story, this one might make a novel. The six month long exposure compresses the time from December 17, 2007 to June 21, 2008 into a single point of view. Dubbed a solargraph, the remarkable image was recorded with a simple pinhole camera made from a drink can lined with a piece of photographic paper. The Clifton Suspension Bridge over the Avon River Gorge in Bristol, UK emerges from the foreground, but rising and setting each day the Sun arcs overhead, tracing a glowing path through the sky. Cloud cover causes dark gaps in the daily Sun trails. In December, the Sun trails begin lower down and are short, corresponding to a time near the northern hemisphere’s winter solstice date. They grow longer and climb higher in the sky as the June 21st summer solstice approaches.

Ocean: An Illustrated Atlas

Underwater Discoveries:

This brown algae and its cousins love coastal waters that are cool or cold. Some form wispy clusters of filaments, while others resemble delicate ribbons or leafy, golden-brown shrubs. One of its relatives forms the kelp forests that thrive off the California coast. It can grow as much as a foot a day, producing what are considered the largest of the sea's photosynthetic organisms.

Photo: Sylvia Earle/National Geographic

Mapping the Sea and Its Mysteries

Basimycetes

Haeckel Basimycetes

The Magic of Mushroom Spores

Perigee 2009

photo: CytecK

Tonight's perigee moon in photos

Core of the galaxy in hi-res

Science News:

This false-color panorama of the central 300 light-years of the Milky Way shows the glow from ionized hydrogen gas and a multitude of young stars. The infrared portrait is the sharpest ever taken of our galaxy core. The mosaic combines images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope’s Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer with lower-resolution images from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.

Such a mystery. I wonder what it's like in there.

James Burke - Connections, ep.1 (clip)

See what your answers would be to these questions. I didn't like the answers I had.

Lick Observatory Moonrise

photo: Rick Baldridge

APOD: As viewed from a well chosen location at sunset, October's gorgeous Full Moon rose behind Mount Hamilton, east of San Jose, California. Captured in this lovely telescopic view, historic Lick Observatory is perched on the mountain's 4,200 foot summit, observatory and rising Moon momentarily sharing the warm color of filtered sunlight. Of course, tonight those blessed with clear skies can also enjoy a glorious Full Moon. In fact, tonight's Moon reaches its full phase at 1637 UT, within only a few hours of perigee, the closest point in its elliptical orbit. The close approach really will make December's Full Moon the largest Full Moon of 2008, even when it rises high above the horizon.

Why does the moon seem bigger near the horizon?

diatom

Best Pictures of Microscopic Life, 2008:

This micrograph by Montana psychiatrist Stephen Nagy magnifies, by 40 times, a 20-million-year-old fossil of an extinct breed of algae.

Nagy dug up samples of this microscopic diatom in Maryland, then carefully sliced one open like a tiny pomegranate. Using a specialized microscope that uses different colors to represent depth and density, Nagy took five images and stacked them atop one another.

Snow crystals

Snow crystals:

Snow flakes highly magnified by a low-temperature scanning electron microscope (SEM). The colours are called "pseudo colours", they are computer generated and are a standard technique used with SEM images.

via kung fu grippe

stray bullets

Cannibal call not a hoax: The woman, known only as Anthea from Guisborough, rang up the Breakfast Show after DJ Graham Mack asked listeners about the most unusual thing they had eaten. The topic sparked a flurry of calls from Teessiders who had eaten sea urchins, monkey brains and play doh. But nothing prepared him for Anthea who calmly said: “I’ve eaten human being”. A shocked Mr Mack replied slowly: “Oh my goodness. Right, all bets are off. You can’t beat that. How come you were a cannibal?” (listen to the call) I believe her. What do yo think? (via)

also:
Terry and Harry Gilliam: being and having a famous parent (via)
Malcolm Gladwell Talks Sports (via)
Cryptome Eyeball: Obama Chicago Home Security Zone
dublab podcast: David Axelrod interview

60-Second Science: Broken Windows Crime Theory It’s called the "broken windows" theory and it says that in a neighborhood where buildings have broken windows, people are more likely to engage in bad behavior. Broken windows are contagious.

Word Spy: "mug me" earphones n. The distinctive white cord and earbuds associated with the often-stolen Apple iPod digital music player. Also: mug-me earphones.

viddy:
The most outrageous day on The Price is Right
Japanese Man Makes Mexico Airport Home

Wow, this is the first stray bullets since the day before the election. I'll be getting more of these up as I get some traction. The November Debacle really threw me off my game.

asteroid trail

On the Trail of 2008 TC3 Credit: Mohamed Elhassan Abdelatif Mahir (Noub NGO), Dr. Muawia H. Shaddad (Univ. Khartoum), Dr. Peter Jenniskens (SETI Institute/NASA Ames)

APOD: On October 7, the early dawn over northern Sudan revealed this twisted, high altitude trail. Captured in a video frame, the long-lasting persistent train is from the impact of a small asteroid cataloged as 2008 TC3. That event was remarkable because it was the first time an asteroid was detected in space before crashing into planet Earth's atmosphere. In fact, after astronomers discovered 2008 TC3, the time and location of its impact were predicted based on follow-up observations. Later, the impact predictions were confirmed by sensors, including a Meteosat-8 image of a bright flash in the atmosphere. Astronomers are now hoping for more reports of local ground-based observations of what must have been a brilliant meteor streaking through Sudan's night sky. Additional reports could improve the chances of recovering meteorites.