The Sciences
A Fibonacci Cèilidh
by Nick Glossop on April 5, 2013
The mathusiasts at Numberphile go all Braveheart with a Fibonacci sequence tartan and accompanying skirl.
Dance (wee, sleekit, cow’rin, tim’rous) critters!
Fun fact: At the Battle of Stirling Bridge, William Wallace arranged his defensive shiltrons in Fibonacci sequence. The numerous but innumerate English invaders were baffled as well as defeated there. …
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Paul Root Wolpe – Ethical Boundaries For Bio-Tech
by Nick Glossop on March 29, 2013
Paul Root Wolpe, of Emory University, does not spend much time making an argument for clear ethical boundaries for the conduct of bio-technology, rather he just lists off some of the more startling greatest hits of the field, and the argument more or less makes itself: bio-luminescent monkeys, bug-bots, robo-rats, animals as donor part farms (mouse ears), computer chips comprised of self-aggregated rat neurons, creatures with neural implants that …
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Walking With The Beast
by Nick Glossop on March 24, 2013
c/o Charles Fréger < < Wilder Mann Image of The Savage
The bear is the wild man’s close counterpart—in some legends the bear is his father. A beast that walks upright, the bear also hibernates in winter. The symbolic death and rebirth of hibernation herald the arrival of spring with all its plenty. For festival participants, says Fréger, “becoming a bear is a way to express the beast and a way to control the beast.”
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Top 10 Most Powerful Nuclear Bombs In History
by Nick Glossop on March 23, 2013
Via Democratic Underground…
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Magnify/Shrinkify The Universe
by Nick Glossop on March 11, 2013
Copyright 2012. Magnifying the Universe by Number Sleuth.
This interactive infographic from Number Sleuth accurately illustrates the scale of over 100 items within the observable universe ranging from galaxies to insects, nebulae and stars to molecules and atoms. Numerous hot points along the zoom slider allow for direct access to planets, animals, the hydrogen atom and more. As you scroll, a handy dial spins to show you your
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Viewing Alberta’s Tar Sands: A Canadian Catastrophe
by Andrew Loewen on March 4, 2013
Business Insider commissioned photo journalist Robert Johnson to fly over the largest industrial mega-project on earth, Alberta’s Tar Sands, and document the process: from untrammeled boreal forest to strip mines, refineries, and tailing ponds. The results are spectacular and richly informative. A bird’s eye view of a made-in-Canada project. The scale of destruction and irrationality is staggering. Here’s part of a statement from Chief Adam (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation) in …
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Russian Meteor Photoshoot
by Nick Glossop on February 21, 2013
Fifteen minutes before the event. Copyright: Marat Akhmetvaleev
There is no shortage of video footage of the meteor explosion over Chelyabinsk, Feb. 15, 2013. Marat Akhmetvaleev’s photographs may, however, be the only high quality stills. He was out that frosty morning capturing images of the sunrise in the south Urals from a favorite vantage point when the small asteroid appeared in the sky.
This shot shows the trails of two …
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Post-Soviet Post-Meteor Humor
by Nick Glossop on February 20, 2013
1. Chelyabinsk before the meteor shower.
2. Chelyabinsk after the meteor shower.
h/t Alexandr Evstr…
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Space Flight And The Big Awe
by Nick Glossop on February 20, 2013
OVERVIEW from Planetary Collective on Vimeo.
On the 40th anniversary of the famous ‘Blue Marble’ photograph taken of Earth from space, Planetary Collective presents a short film documenting astronauts’ life-changing stories of seeing the Earth from the outside – a perspective-altering experience often described as the Overview Effect.
The Overview Effect, first described by author Frank White in 1987, is an experience that transforms astronauts’ perspective of the planet
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Meteor Strike In Russia
by Nick Glossop on February 15, 2013
A meteor that exploded over Russia this morning was the largest recorded object to strike the Earth in more than a century, scientists say. Infrasound data collected by a network designed to watch for nuclear weapons testing suggests that today’s blast released hundreds of kilotonnes of energy. That would make it far more powerful than the nuclear weapon tested by North Korea just days ago and the largest rock crashing
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Folding And Cutting The Space-Time Continuum (with things you probably have around the house)
by Nick Glossop on February 11, 2013
With paper, felt pens, scissors and some unspecified power tools, the charming mathemusician, Vihart, plays Grinderman with the fabric of reality. Dance, critters!
via Open Culture…
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