smoot

raginggerbils: Alien Chick by Raging Gerbils

Sat, 25 May 2013 07:17:55 +0200

raginggerbils:

Alien Chick by Raging Gerbils

happydorid: Tea Spirit of the Month / April / Ambrosia...

Sat, 25 May 2013 07:17:12 +0200

happydorid:

Tea Spirit of the Month / April / Ambrosia Plum

it’s an olpakapi (alpaca/okapi)

pdvmorris: Liquid Lunch ~ Caro Emerald Haling from the...

Sat, 25 May 2013 07:14:58 +0200

pdvmorris:

Liquid Lunch ~ Caro Emerald

Haling from the Netherlands with a Jazz Vocals degree under her belt Ms. Emerald found her way onto my radar a few years back while attending Jools Holland’s big New Year’s Eve bash…..and this new album is a treat to listen to! It’s mostly just riffin’ and rippin’ good fun — something music is supposed to be to — and perfectly turned by Ms Caro too in a tongue in check Pop mode! It’s the Friday Fresh Outta the Box selection from the Flimwell Papers! Peace y’all….one two three….

the-daily-robot: MetroPixelated These are the first 3 entries...

Fri, 24 May 2013 22:51:25 +0200

the-daily-robot:

MetroPixelated

These are the first 3 entries in what I hope becomes a continuing series of designs depicting actual cityscapes in the graphical style of NES/Famicom games. The first 3 - Boston, Chicago, and Seattle, are available now as prints at my Etsy store, and will shortly be available on shirts and device cases at my RedBubble shop. Each has a daytime/sunset version, so you can pick your preferred magic hour.

I want to make more pieces like these, so if you want to see your city in 8-bit glory let me know, since I’m open to suggestions!

MetroPixelated by The Daily Robot. Prints available at Etsy.

normaltd: s-o-n-g-o-f-t-h-e-d-a-y: The Ray Gelato Giants -Tu...

Fri, 24 May 2013 22:46:41 +0200

normaltd:

s-o-n-g-o-f-t-h-e-d-a-y:

The Ray Gelato Giants -Tu Vuo’Fa L’Americano?

─═ڿڰۣڿ☻ڿڰۣڿ═─

col1n: A construction of the logarithmic spiral (following M....

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:10:22 +0200

col1n:

A construction of the logarithmic spiral (following M. Vygodsky)

petermorwood: Todd Lockwood’s amazing animations of dragons in...

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:09:37 +0200

petermorwood:

Todd Lockwood’s amazing animations of dragons in flight. The red dragon is conventional - if any dragon can be considered conventional - but the gold dragon with that extraordinary wing and helix-ripple, not at all…

dvdp: 130523

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:09:16 +0200

dvdp:

130523

Video

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:07:29 +0200

mathani: 60 frames, 190 kb (with 120 frames, 365 kb)

Wed, 22 May 2013 19:59:16 +0200

mathani:

60 frames, 190 kb (with 120 frames, 365 kb)

kidsneedscience: The system for measuring temperature on a...

Tue, 21 May 2013 19:40:02 +0200

kidsneedscience:

The system for measuring temperature on a decimal scale was introduced by Anders Celsius, a Swedish astronomer with many accomplishments in a short life. The Celsius scale was originally called the centigrade scale, from the Latin words centus for one hundred and gradus meaning degree. The eponym Celsius wasn’t adopted by the scientific community until 1948 and remains the only scientific symbol in the upper case (°C), to distinguish it from the lower case c (constant) famous from Einstein’s energy equation.

Despite his obvious genius, the centigrade scale originally proposed by Anders Celsius had 100 as the freezing point of water and 0 as the boiling point. In 1744 and shortly after his death, the great Swedish scientist Carl Linneaus reversed the scale making hot temperatures have higher numbers than cold temperatures.

Today the Celsius scale is the most widely used scale for measuring and reporting temperature. In addition to his interest in a better scale for measuring temperature, Anders Celsius participated in expeditions to confirm Isaac Newton’s theory that the Earth is not a perfect sphere but rather ellipsoid, and also was the first to use colored glass plates to try to analyse and catalog magnitude and differences in stars. He supported the formation of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (along with Carl Linneaus and several others) and was elected to the Academy in its first meeting. He died of tuberculosis in 1744 at the age of 42.

Image of Anders Celsius from the portrait that hangs in his honor at the Uppsala Astronomical Observatory which he founded shortly before his death. Image in the public domain.

ichthyologist: The Complex Structure of Bucket Orchids Orchids...

Tue, 21 May 2013 19:39:05 +0200

ichthyologist:

The Complex Structure of Bucket Orchids

Orchids of the genus Coryanthes have evolved along with orchid bees, and depend on each other for reproduction.

Male bees are attracted to an pheromone laced wax produced under the orchid’s helmet. The wax is stored by the male and are used in courtship. However, the helmet is slippery and bees sometimes fall into the fluid filled bucket below.

Once in the bucket, their wings are wet, which prevent them from flying. The walls of the bucket are smooth and lined with downward pointing hairs, preventing the insect from escaping through climbing. A small opening towards the front of the flower is the only way out.

As the bee climbs through the narrow opening, they must press their bodies against sticky pollen packets. These are essentially glued to the bee’s body as it tries to escape. In order for fertilisation to happen, the pollen from one plant must be transferred to the stigma of another plant.

After the bee flies off and visits another flower, it goes through a similar ordeal. This time, as it exits the bucket, the pollen packet on its back brushes past the stigma of the new flower, thus achieving pollination.

dwittkower, dogtooth77, Alex Popovkin on Flickr

kqedscience: A humbling map of real-time wind patterns in...

Tue, 21 May 2013 19:37:59 +0200

kqedscience:

A humbling map of real-time wind patterns in Tornado Alley

“Wind Map” is a stunning interactive data visualization that presents wind patterns across the continental U.S. in real time. Picture above is what it looked like last night at 10:59 CDT, in the aftermath of yesterday’s devastating Oklahoma tornado.”

Read more here from io9.

nevver: Moore, Oklahoma

Tue, 21 May 2013 19:35:35 +0200

nevver:

Moore, Oklahoma

musicalmathemagician: AMS poster

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:33:30 +0200

musicalmathemagician:

AMS poster

Photo

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:32:32 +0200

intothecontinuum: An even number of (at least 8) tetrahedra can...

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:21:38 +0200

intothecontinuum:

An even number of (at least 8) tetrahedra can be connected along their edges to form a ring in a way that allows them to be continuously rotated “inside-out” without disconnecting. Such configurations are commonly referred to as kaleidocycles. Shown above are kaleidocycles with 8, 10, and 12 tetrahedra exhibiting 4, 5, and 6-fold rotational symmetry, respectively. There has to be at least 8 tetrahedra, because any less would result in the tetrahedra colliding into each other at certain instances of the rotation. You can even make your own paper model using this guide.

Mathematica code:

v1[t_] := 
{Cos[t], 0, Sin[t]}

v2[t_, a_] := 
 1/Sqrt[1 + Sin[t]^2 Tan[a]^2] {-Sin[t], -Sin[t] Tan[a], Cos[t]}

v3[t_, a_] := 
 1/Sqrt[1 + Sin[t]^2 Tan[a]^2] {-Sin[t]^2 Tan[a], 1, Cos[t] Sin[t] Tan[a]}

P[t_, a_] := 
{v3[t, a][[2]]/Tan[a] - v3[t, a][[1]], 0, -v3[t, a][[3]]/2}

Q[t_, a_] := 
{v3[t, a][[2]]/Tan[a], v3[t, a][[2]], v3[t, a][[3]]/2}

vertices[t_, a_] := 
{P[t, a] - Sqrt[2]/2 v1[t], P[t, a] + Sqrt[2]/2 v1[t],
 Q[t, a] - Sqrt[2]/2 v2[t, a], Q[t, a] + Sqrt[2]/2 v2[t, a]}

Tetrahedron[T_, t_, a_, o_] :=
 Table[
  {FaceForm[White], Opacity[o], EdgeForm[Thick],
   Polygon[
    Table[
     T[vertices[t, a][[1 + Mod[i + j, 4]]]], {i, 1, 3, 1}]]},
  {j, 0, 3, 1}]

Kaleidocycle[pr_, t_, n_, o_, A_] := Graphics3D[
  Rotate[
   Table[
    Rotate[
     Table[
      Tetrahedron[T, t, 2 Pi/n, o],
      {T, {TransformationFunction[IdentityMatrix[4]], 
        ReflectionTransform[{-Sin[2 Pi/n], Cos[2 Pi/n], 0}]}}],
     r*4 Pi/n, {0, 0, 1}],
    {r, 0, n - 1, 1}],
   A*Sin[t], {0, 1, 0}],
  PlotRange -> pr, ImageSize -> 500, Axes -> False, Boxed -> False, 
  Lighting -> "Neutral", ViewPoint -> {0, 0, 2}, Background -> White ]

Manipulate[
Kaleidocycle[pr, t, n, o, A],
 {pr, 1.5, 50}, {t, 0, 2 Pi}, {n, 8, 16, 1},{o, 1, 0}, {{A, 0}, 0, 2 Pi}]

Photo

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:19:06 +0200

reginasworld: Fulvio Di Piazza

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:16:15 +0200

reginasworld:

Fulvio Di Piazza

reginasworld: Mandarin Duckies All in a Row

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:14:16 +0200

reginasworld:

Mandarin Duckies All in a Row