Coccolithophores
Tiny coccolithophores have had a big impact on the planet over time. Though they are single-celled, these photosynthesising organisms are enclosed in a mosaic, or cage, of microscopic plates that make many very beautiful to look at. The plates are made of calcium carbonate, which the coccoliths pull from the surrounding water. As these small organisms live and die in their trillions, they bequeath their tiny plates to the ocean floor where they form rocks such as chalk. Over geological time, coccoliths have removed significant amounts of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to keep Earth cool as the sun grew hotter. from bbc.co.uk
Salmon DNA Embedded with Nanoparticles Leads to a Novel Memory Device
Links, news, commentary and ramblings on Singularitarianisms and the coming changes to our future world through the explosion of technological singularity. Covering topics and their relation to the... from spectrum.ieee.org
Dangerous Beauty
A Supercell Thunderstorm Cloud Over Glasgow, Montana
A Supercell Thunderstorm Cloud Over Glasgow, Montana
DT Azurite w/ Cerussite & Malachite
A very fine and showy Tsumeb combination specimen from the Rob Smith Collection, a noted Tsumeb specialist. A 2.5 cm cluster of glassy, adamantine lustre, cyclically-twinned cerussite crystals is jauntily set on the front a highly lustrous, doubly terminated, flattened, azure-blue azurite crystal. The intense stepped-growth faces, multiple terminations at one end and rich scattering of contrasting malachite really add character to this excellent small cabinet. Complete all-around, nearly a floater and very nearly pristine. The upper termination is pristine. Slight bruising is noted on the basal termination. The contact points were at the small broken azurite with the cerussites on the front (barely noticeable) and at the clump of malachite on the back. Classic, uncommon and most excellent older combination material from this renowned mine. Valued at $750-950 FROM: mineralauctions.
New "Super Earth" Found at Right Distance for Life
A new planet—probably a rocky super-Earth—has been found squarely within its star's habitable zone, making it one of the best candidates yet to support life, its discoverers say. FROM: news.nationalgeographic.com
Quadruple fluorescence image of the mouse retina, showing optic nerve axons and glia stained red and green, respectively, actin in endothelial cells of the blood vessel walls stained blue and nucleic acids stained orange. By Thomas Deerinck/ NCMIR/ Cell. goo.gl
10-Year-Old Accidentally Creates New Molecule in Science Class
Clara Lazen is the discoverer of tetranitratoxycarbon, a molecule constructed of, obviously, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon. It's got some interesting possible properties, ranging from use as an explosive to energy storage. Lazen is listed as the co-author of a recent paper on the molecule. But that's not what's so interesting and inspiring about this story. What's so unusual here is that Clara Lazen is a ten-year-old fifth-grader in Kansas City, MO.
Beautiful Ijen (by tropicaLiving - Jessy Eykendorp)
Ijen Crater is a nature reserve Ijen Park is located between Banyuwangi and Bondowoso District, East Java, Indonesia. This crater exactly located at the top of Mount Ijen which is one of a series of volcanoes in East Java such as Bromo, Semeru and Merapi. Another uniqueness of this crater has a level of acidity is very high with almost close to zero and the temperature of the water is 20° Celsius. In addition to elevation 2,799 m (9,183 ft) Posis crater is located in the middle of the largest caldera on the island of Java. The caldera size about 20 miles. The crater size is about 960 meters x 600 meters with a depth of 200 meters. This crater is located at a depth of more than 300 meters below the caldera wall.
Hydrogen bonding is a common “force” in nature, it’s what holds your DNA and proteins together and what makes water so weird and wonderful. Without it you wouldn’t be you, in fact you probably wouldn’t be anything. Hydrogen bonds are both inter and intra molecular forces in that it can act between different molecules (in the case of DNA bases) or within the same molecule (such as single chain proteins). Hydrogen bonding arises from polarity within a molecule, for this to happen a hydrogen must be bonded to an electronegative atom such as oxygen, fluorine or nitrogen (or be part of something like CHCl3). This causes the probability of an electron being around the hydrogen to decrease thus leaving it with a partial positive charge whilst the electronegative species has a slight negative charge. The slightly positive hydrogen is then attracted to other electronegative atoms that neighbor it.
How Long Does It Take for Earth's Magnetic Field to Reverse?
As end of the world scenarios begin to ramp up with 2012 now in play, I figured it would be timely to post one of the debunk facts about the switching of our magnetic field reversal which some believe to occur in a matter of days. Most of the folks who believe this we’re likely duped by another 2012 site.
Inner Space is a lovely series of photos by London-based Owen Silverwood that depicts miniaturized spacecraft blasting through confined aquatic landscapes. owensilverwood.com
Everywhere in a Flash: The Quantum Physics of Photosynthesis
By hitting single molecules with quadrillionth-of-a-second laser pulses, scientists have revealed the quantum physics underlying photosynthesis, the process used by plants and bacteria to capture light’s energy at efficiencies unapproached by human engineers.
The newly discovered yeti crab found living at the Dragon Vent in the south-west Indian Ocean
Happy New Year!
A year is a unit of measure used to describe the revolution of a planet around its star-in our case this is usually given as 365 days or occasionally as 365.2429 days and some years (2012 for example) we actually say a year is 366 days. But first, the history: the word year comes from Old English gē(a)r, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch jaar and German Jahr, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek hōra meaning year, season, any part of a year, also any part of a day, hour, and the Latin word hornus meaning of this year. The root probably came from the verbal root *ei- meaning to do or make a complete cycle.
Orionid Meteor Shower to Peak This Weekend
Although the meteors may be modest, the Orionid shower has a claim to fame: The sky show is the product of Halley's comet. FROM: news.nationalgeographic.com
Gene Cernan test-driving Lunar Rover, December 11th, 1972, Apollo 17
my favourite minerals, they look just beautiful to me!