This image of “Nano-Explosions” won first prize in at the November 2007 Materials Research Society (MRS) “Science As Art” competition.
“Nano-Explosions Color-enhanced scanning electron micrograph of an overflowed electrodeposited magnetic nanowire array (CoFeB), where the template has been subsequently completely etched. It’s a reminder that nanoscale research can have unpredicted consequences at a high level. (Image: Fanny Beron, École Polytechnique de Montréal, Montréal, Canada)”
Everything you ever wanted to know about gastropod respiration but were afraid to ask. This is expecially engrossing:
“If you watch a slug long enough, you will notice that its pneumostome rhythmically opens and closes, in other words, you will witness the slug breathing. The rate of breathing of a slug is probably determined by the metabolic rate and the state of hydration of the slug as well as the ambient temperature and humidity.”
If you watch a slug long enough.
Too much coffee today? The Wikipedia entry on caffeine has a great picture showing what can result from sharing your morning cup with a drowsy spider:
Think about this next time you reach for another pot of joe to help you muddle through a particularly complex problem.
Of course, people are different from spiders, so the worst you might experience from coffee is
…restlessness, nervousness, excitement, insomnia, flushed face, diuresis, muscle twitching, rambling flow of thought and speech, cardiac arrhythmia or tachycardia, and psychomotor agitation, gastrointestinal complaints, increased blood pressure, rapid pulse, vasoconstriction (tightening or constricting of superficial blood vessels) sometimes resulting in cold hands or fingers, increased amounts of fatty acids in the blood, an increased production of gastric acid…mania, depression, lapses in judgment, disorientation, loss of social inhibition, delusions, hallucinations and psychosis….”
Then again, how bad can it be for you if your company brews it and your boss encourages you to consume all the free coffee you want?
Drink up!
From CNN.com right now:
Much of the Northeast is under a winter storm warning with freezing rain, sleet and snow making roadways dangerous. A National Weather Service advisory warns that conditions “will make travel very hazardous or impossible.” In the Southeast, freezing rain in Georgia and the Carolinas snarled traffic Thursday and today. “Ice is our greatest nemesis, much worse than snow,” said a power company spokeswoman.
Schoolkids romp around a small twister created by a bonfire at Tularosa High’s homecoming in Tularosa, New Mexico. Courtesy SF Gate’s Day In Pictures.
An advance-guard for Hurricane Charley, a waterspout drops out of the clouds over the Gulf of Mexico near Florida’s Sanibel Island. Courtesy SF Gate’s Day In Pictures.
Thursday, January 3rd, 2008 - 2:20pm |
art + disasters + other worlds + phenomena + science |
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