Wee Mad Hamish's House of Random Shiny Objects

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Sat, 18 May 2013 16:29:20 -0400

science-junkie: Beautiful ‘flowers’ self-assemble in a...

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:10:19 -0400

Beautiful ‘flowers’ self-assemble in a beaker

With the hand of nature trained on a beaker of chemical fluid, the most delicate flower structures have been formed in a Harvard laboratory—and not at the scale of inches, but microns.

These minuscule sculptures, curved and delicate, don’t resemble the cubic or jagged forms normally associated with crystals, though that’s what they are. Rather, fields of carnations and marigolds seem to bloom from the surface of a submerged glass slide, assembling themselves a molecule at a time.

By simply manipulating chemical gradients in a beaker of fluid, Wim L. Noorduin, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and lead author of a paper appearing on the cover of the May 17 issue of Science, has found that he can control the growth behavior of these crystals to create precisely tailored structures.

“For at least 200 years, people have been intrigued by how complex shapes could have evolved in nature. This work helps to demonstrate what’s possible just through environmental, chemical changes,” says Noorduin.

Read more

Images: [x]

bevsi: sometimes i just Add in a belief that you’re...

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:55:52 -0400

bevsi:

sometimes i just

Add in a belief that you’re telepathic and can read their minds to see just how much they hate you, and you’ve pretty much got why I don’t smoke weed.

mothershiprenton: Mohawk Storm brings the thunder.

Fri, 03 May 2013 16:29:20 -0400

mothershiprenton:

Mohawk Storm brings the thunder.

Nerdlife

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 03:18:37 -0400

Returned from DnD only to have my roommate decide he needed to play Settlers of Catan. Now I’m sitting here with a poor man’s black velvet, watching the dice effing hare me.

taliaitscoldoutside: fyqueerlatinxs: fuckyeahqueerlesque: La...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 08:49:27 -0400

taliaitscoldoutside:

fyqueerlatinxs:

fuckyeahqueerlesque:

La Chica Boom, “Tortillera: Interrupting the racial bondage to hot sauce, tacos and familial domesticity by making tacos with panties topped with Tapatio ejaculate.” Photo #1 by Brian Buck, photos #2-4 by Dave Golden, photo #5 by Miguel Ibarra.

http://www.lachicaboom.com/#/tortillera/

*sw0o0o0o0n*

Umumum *faints because tapatio*

Reblogging for someone who knows who she is.

markingatlightspeed: Popping in from my self-imposed tumblr...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:03:36 -0400

markingatlightspeed:

Popping in from my self-imposed tumblr hiatus to post the finished set of Badlands Logistics Union forum icons I’ve done. We don’t have an Engie, and we’ve recruited a Spy, but he hasn’t made his character yet, so he’ll get one then.

These are our PCs at an awesome scifi post-apoc LARP called Doomsday, and we are a just-reasonable-enough expy.

Scoot - Brien O’Neary Killian, our Terran (Cityfolk) Highwayman. He killed a guy for that hat.
Copper - Assault Cavalry Copper Blitzbot of the Fighting Spirit Division, our Soldier. He’s a robot, and calls us all father. Even Sascha.
Pip - Violence Sunder The Wok, our Mutant Xeno Hunter. He throws fire and emits low level radiation.Boomer - Corc MacBeth, our Terran (not sure what type) Engineer. He’s our leader and doesn’t trust robots (not even Copper).
KGB - Konstantin Gerlukavich Borislavovich, our Terran (Nomad) Juggernaut (played by my fiance). He loves games and doesn’t like cybernetics.
Doktor Fleischer - Dr. Sascha Fleischer, MD, our Terran (Cityfolk) Sickbay (played by me). She’s tsundere for everything except Konstantin.
Oz - Oswin Bitzer, our Elysian (Serpentis Syndicate) Xeno Hunter. He’s a prettyboy who hits on everything.

We’re all horrible people and it’s so much fun. NEXT EVENT IN TWO DAYS I CAN’T HANDLE IT.

That would be Violent Fine Sunder The Wok. Violence Sunder The Wok would be an act of sacrilege. Please respect my (imaginary) people’s rich cultural traditions. Also, I was not aware I was emitting radiation, but that’s FREAKING AWESUM!

miss-shiva-adler: fuckyesdeadpool: by むだになります I ship this

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:22:38 -0400

miss-shiva-adler:

fuckyesdeadpool:

by むだになります

I ship this

cosplayingwhileblack: G a n o n o n d o r f - L e g e n d o f...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:41:34 -0400

cosplayingwhileblack:

G a n o n o n d o r f - L e g e n d o f Z e l d a [ T w i l i g h t P r i n c e s s ]

Shots of some of my armor . There is a little bit more but I didnt feel like putting it on . Besides , I really haven’t found a proper way to attach everything ( thus why I am holding it up xD ) . I’ll probably end up using buttons or velcro . I kind of derped in the last picture , but I ended up liking it * shrugs *

Oh and I didnt feel like painting my whole body either thats why its just my face that’s grey xD

Taken from my Facebook: Nerissami

SUBMISSION

strideer: literally becomes url

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:41:32 -0400

strideer:

literally becomes url

I know dinner was going to be good when getting the sauce put together made me wheeze like an...

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:03:18 -0400

I know dinner was going to be good when getting the sauce put together made me wheeze like an emphysema patient.

It was the best plateful of food tasting solely of coconut and hatred for all things good I’ve had in quite some time.

reblog if you want your followers to tell you one thing they secretly think about you.

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:17:17 -0500

hannahcarbons: sciencecenter: The only thing cooler than this...

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:10:16 -0500

hannahcarbons:

sciencecenter:

The only thing cooler than this female orb spider, Gasteracantha arcuata, is her male counterpart below. That’s right, the two spiders are from the same species, and represent an extreme case of sexual dimorphism.

Viking spider and her boyfriend Hellraiser.

onereeler: missleaves: sherrygrrl: Rare Cosplay: Sedusa and...

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 16:29:04 -0500

onereeler:

missleaves:

sherrygrrl:

Rare Cosplay: Sedusa and Him, villains from The Powerpuff Girls

NEW FAVORITE PEOPLE

:O

notisaidthefox: I never knew I needed this until this precise...

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 15:47:54 -0500

notisaidthefox:

I never knew I needed this until this precise moment.

itiscolorfulhere: bearbeards: Life YUM.

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 15:06:46 -0500

itiscolorfulhere:

bearbeards:

Life

YUM.

cosplayingwhileblack: X Characters: 11th Doctor &...

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 14:25:51 -0500

cosplayingwhileblack:

X

Characters: 11th Doctor & Amy

Series: Doctor Who

msjayjustice: Nubia pics! I’m working on a new set of armor,...

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 13:44:42 -0500

Ready to kick some butt.

They asked to see the guns B)

Awww it's WonderDog! :D

Nubia & Wonder Girl

Meanwhile, at Castle Grayskull...

Avery Brooks! He called me Nubia and I nearly died XD

Nicola Scott! So much love. <3

Gail Simone! I can't wait to see her again at MegaCon!

msjayjustice:

Nubia pics! I’m working on a new set of armor, going to be a completely different design based on her Action Comics #9 outfit. Can’t wait til Dragon*Con!! :)

science-junkie: Why trees can’t grow taller than 100...

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 13:03:40 -0500

science-junkie:

Why trees can’t grow taller than 100 metres

TYPICALLY, the taller the tree, the smaller its leaves. The mathematical explanation for this phenomenon, it turns out, also sets a limit on how tall trees can grow.

Kaare Jensen of Harvard University and Maciej Zwieniecki of the University of California, Davis, compared 1925 tree species, with leaves ranging from a few millimetres to over 1 metre long, and found that leaf size varied most in relatively short trees.

Jensen thinks the explanation lies in the plant’s circulatory system. Sugars produced in leaves diffuse through a network of tube-shaped cells called the phloem. Sugars accelerate as they move, so the bigger the leaves the faster they reach the rest of the plant. But the phloem in stems, branches and the trunk acts as a bottleneck. There comes a point when it becomes a waste of energy for leaves to grow any bigger. Tall trees hit this limit when their leaves are still small, because sugars have to move through so much trunk to get to the roots, creating a bigger bottleneck.

Jensen’s equations describing the relationship show that as trees get taller, unusually large or small leaves both cease to be viable (Physical Review Letters, doi.org/j6n). The range of leaf sizes narrows and at around 100 m tall, the upper limit matches the lower limit. Above that, it seems, trees can’t build a viable leaf. Which could explain why California’s tallest redwoods max out at 115.6 m.

Source: New Scientist.
Images: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4.

kadrey: Fogbound Architecture

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 12:22:33 -0500

kadrey:

Fogbound Architecture