Custom 3D laser cutting

spore_flor_lamp01_showroom_image
Originally uploaded by nancyleb19148

Ponoko sells custom laser cutting for plywood, felt, bamboo, etc. and has online shops if you want to sell what you've made.


I'll experiment a little more with virtuously using flikr for images, but this may not be worth it to me. It seems like it takes five or ten times as long as hot linking. Send image to my computer, send to flikr (this will be easier now that I've recovered my yahoo id, but I'll still need to sign in every two weeks), write the article at flikr instead of at livejournal (change a habit), go back to lj to edit (at least to put in my icon), and lose control of the formatting (or at least figure out how to get away from flikr's default). Oh, and figure out how to manage more than one image per post from flikr.

Custom 3D laser cutting

spore_flor_lamp01_showroom_image
Originally uploaded by nancyleb19148

Ponoko sells custom laser cutting for plywood, felt, bamboo, etc. and has online shops if you want to sell what you've made.


I'll experiment a little more with virtuously using flikr for images, but this may not be worth it to me. It seems like it takes five or ten times as long as hot linking. Send image to my computer, send to flikr (this will be easier now that I've recovered my yahoo id, but I'll still need to sign in every two weeks), write the article at flikr instead of at livejournal (change a habit), go back to lj to edit (at least to put in my icon), and lose control of the formatting (or at least figure out how to get away from flikr's default). Oh, and figure out how to manage more than one image per post from flikr.

DNA "clock" is very unreliable

A fixed mutation rate was easy-- too easy.

This conclusion, researchers said, was forced by the study of many penguin bones that were well preserved by sub-freezing temperatures in Antarctica. These penguins live in massive rookeries, have inhabited the same areas for thousands of years, and it was comparatively simple to identify bones of different ages just by digging deeper in areas where they died and their bones piled up.

For their study, the scientists used a range of mitochondrial DNA found in bones ranging from 250 years to about 44,000 years old.

"In a temperate zone when an animal dies and falls to the ground, their DNA might degrade within a year," Denver said. "In Antarctica the same remains are well-preserved for tens of thousands of years. It's a remarkable scientific resource."

A precise study of this ancient DNA was compared to the known ages of the bones, and produced results that were far different than conventional analysis would have suggested. Researchers also determined that different types of DNA sequences changed at different rates.

DNA "clock" is very unreliable

A fixed mutation rate was easy-- too easy.

This conclusion, researchers said, was forced by the study of many penguin bones that were well preserved by sub-freezing temperatures in Antarctica. These penguins live in massive rookeries, have inhabited the same areas for thousands of years, and it was comparatively simple to identify bones of different ages just by digging deeper in areas where they died and their bones piled up.

For their study, the scientists used a range of mitochondrial DNA found in bones ranging from 250 years to about 44,000 years old.

"In a temperate zone when an animal dies and falls to the ground, their DNA might degrade within a year," Denver said. "In Antarctica the same remains are well-preserved for tens of thousands of years. It's a remarkable scientific resource."

A precise study of this ancient DNA was compared to the known ages of the bones, and produced results that were far different than conventional analysis would have suggested. Researchers also determined that different types of DNA sequences changed at different rates.

We certainly shouldn't reshelve the books, but.....

This brought up what a very bad idea it is to reshelve sf books in the fiction sections of bookstores into the science fiction section.

However, it's still true that it's easy to miss science fiction[1] (like The Ayre Affair that's shelved with all the rest of the fiction.

Are there any lists for such fiction?

[1] I'm using "science fiction" in the colloquial sense-- that book has little or no science, but still feels like science fiction.

We certainly shouldn't reshelve the books, but.....

This brought up what a very bad idea it is to reshelve sf books in the fiction sections of bookstores into the science fiction section.

However, it's still true that it's easy to miss science fiction[1] (like The Ayre Affair that's shelved with all the rest of the fiction.

Are there any lists for such fiction?

[1] I'm using "science fiction" in the colloquial sense-- that book has little or no science, but still feels like science fiction.

When you see a picture in a blog post.....

do you assume it was taken by the poster unless there's other evidence, or that it wasn't taken by the poster?

When you see a picture in a blog post.....

do you assume it was taken by the poster unless there's other evidence, or that it wasn't taken by the poster?

Water drops bounce when they hit

The video has an explanation for why a water drop doesn't fall into a puddle smoothly. Instead, the air under the drop gets compressed, and is enough to support the drop briefly. Enough air gets forced out that some of the drop falls into the puddle. And then the surface tension goes sproing! and bounces what's left of the drop into the air. This repeats a few times until the drop is used up.

I can only hope that someone is inspired to figure out how to get the maximum number of bounces.

Link thanks to Geek Press.

Water drops bounce when they hit

The video has an explanation for why a water drop doesn't fall into a puddle smoothly. Instead, the air under the drop gets compressed, and is enough to support the drop briefly. Enough air gets forced out that some of the drop falls into the puddle. And then the surface tension goes sproing! and bounces what's left of the drop into the air. This repeats a few times until the drop is used up.

I can only hope that someone is inspired to figure out how to get the maximum number of bounces.

Link thanks to Geek Press.

Matrix whimsy

The Meta Meta Matrix

Link thanks to andrewducker.

A silent movie Matrix, with a much more interesting Neo

Link thanks to rozk.

Matrix whimsy

The Meta Meta Matrix

Link thanks to andrewducker.

A silent movie Matrix, with a much more interesting Neo

Link thanks to rozk.