Category: Science

Friday Round-Up: Fish with Feet

So, this week’s Friday Round-Up celebrates one of my heroes, Darwin. The well-known two legged take on the ichthys symbol  is used by fans of evolution (can a scientific theory have fans? Does it matter if it does or not? It’s popularity’s kinda irrelevant; it’s still true…). Darwin Fish (Or Tonys, as all good Feeters know) are rough depictions of Ichyostega, the remains of which are important transitional fossils between tetrapods and fish, since they have a tail and gulls akin to fish but amphibian style skull and limbs.

So, I present to you my ten favourite crafts in honour of both Darwin and Tony…

Continue reading Friday Round-Up: Fish with Feet

I Am Polymethyl Methacrylate

Mooching around Covent Garden between shows on my last matinee day, I came across these gorgeous necklaces and brooches made by Brendan & Ruth from I Am Acrylic. The pair of them design and make all the awesome designs you see here, as well as other jewellery inspired by ‘space and sky and nature and things.’ I really love the simplicity of the icons, and the bold use of colour – the necklaces would look great worn layered together.

Every piece is individually cut on a fretsaw, from acrylic or wood, then hand finished in their Spitalfields workshop. They sell in a number of stores through out the UK, or online at their site and etsy shop.

I Am Acrylic

I Am Acrylic Etsy

Narwhal-made to order

Here are some things you should know about narwhals: 1) Their “tusk” is actually an elongated canine 2) A highly specific diet limits their geographical range makes them vulnerable to climate change 3) They are highly skilled deep-water hunters.

The unicorns of the sea, could there be a classier mammal? Perhaps with a monocle? A top hat maybe? A jazzy silver bow? Check out these super cute narwhal plushies from Ostrich Farm.  I love sparkly tusks. They are made to order in a number of colors, with a variety of stylish accessories.  Also, strictly for the hardcore, there is a narwhal of the month club.

Felted Giant Daphnia

Giant Daphnia

So hine’s work is definitely “aspirational crafting” (I just made that term up).  She is certainly a fiber-textile artist, not your mamma’s felter by any means. I’ve been following her work for-evs (not really as she is probably younger than me) but I haven’t been sure when to “pull the trigger” and post one of her items. The truth is I’m in love with all of them, though some are geekier than others.

This week, I have found the thing I cannot resist posting, this magical daphnia. I remember coming across these crustaceans when I was a kid, pouring through an old biology textbook a much older cousin (sadly uninterested in playing with me) had laying around. The grades she was in “FRESH-MAN” “SOPHO-MORE” sounded so magical to me, a lowly first grader, I was dying to know what difficult, bizarre things a “FRESH MAN” learned about in their science classes. Flipping through her book, I learned that a single drop of water contained an invisible ecosystem of strange little critters, including these see-through cousins of crabs and lobsters!

Anyway, I suspect all of you have memories of your first geek thirsts, and the daphnia is mine (no implication of drinking a daphnia by accident intended!) and hine’s plushie captures that beautifully!

This also confirms my suspicion that these are happy little micro-creatures! Thanks hine :-)

 

Warmth for Science Geeks

I know a number of our American readers are unreasonably warm and toasty in some kind of freakish heatwave, but those of us in the Frigid North (and, one presumes, also in some parts of the southern hemisphere) still have over a foot of snow to deal with. So forgive me, oh sufferers of 80+ degree temperatures, for sharing this awesome thing I found! (Consider it a possibility for very early start on making a Christmas list?)

These scarves, made by Becky Stern (homepage, Etsy) display elemental emission spectra. Silicon, uranium, and mercury are currently in stock, but you can also get a custom one of any other element you like, with some delay and possibly a little extra cost. (I found this applet linked from the Wikipedia page, if you want to choose an element that appeals to you. I definitely want Cobalt, no question.)

Gather ’round children, as I weave you a tale of isotropes and kilowicks…

Developed in 1869 by the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev to help illustrate commonalities in the various properties of elements, the Periodic Table has been both boon and bane to high school chemistry students around the world (my own experiences fell definitely to the “bane” side.)

Fast forward about 140 years, and we have a more modern version, and infinitely more useful, thanks to James the ComputerSherpa. In his first Visual Design class he came up with this little beauty – the Periodic Table of Storytelling.

Periodic Table of Storytelling, by ComputerSherpa

James really did his research, turning to TVTropes.org for inspiration and information on “tropes” –  which TVTropes defines as “devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members’ minds and expectations.” Writers (and Hollywood types) can use these fictional elements to craft endless variations of story lines. Being a wiki, TVTropes has vast quantities of information and discussion threads, so James’ graphical version of the Periodic Table is a real timesaver.

Beyond the concept as a whole, I love the examples at the bottom, illustrating how one might describe certain shows, movies, games, etc, using formulas based on this Periodic Table.  For instance, when you combine:

  •  A Five-Man Band (5ma – made up of a Hero, Lancer, Smart Guy, Big Guy, and a Chick)
  • Conflict (C)
  • The Empire (Emp)
  • Dragon-The Chosen One-You Have Failed Me (DraNeoFai)

…and you get Star Wars. Not sure about the “Dragon” element on this one, but then, I have mentioned my chemistry is not my super power.

James very kindly put the image up for purchase as a poster – it would be fun to sit around with a bunch of geeks and work out formulas for various shows and book storylines. Maybe I’ll have to get one for my son to take to college in the fall, for he will surely find himself a gang of geeks to hand out with, and I wouldn’t want them to run out of things to talk about.

[Via: BitRebels]