As Conspiracies Unwind,

wynndy: Following the path on a chilly morning.

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:42:44 -0400

Following the path on a chilly morning.

matthen: In 1952 Alan Turing, a british mathematician,...

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:42:13 -0400

In 1952 Alan Turing, a british mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist, wrote a paper which remains influential in computational biology today. He explained how stripes might form on a snake’s skin [and other patterns on animals], using the dispersion of two chemicals; an activator [red] and an inhibitor [yellow]. The activator causes the colouration, and the inhibitor inhibits it. Turing wrote a pair of equations which say that concentrations of the activator cause creation of more inhibitor, but that the inhibitor diffuses and spreads out more quickly than the activator. As shown in the animation, this causes the activator to form peaks with surrounding basins of inhibitor. The concentrations of the two chemicals quickly converge to a stripey pattern where the red activator is periodically in higher concentration than the yellow inhibitor. [video] [more] [code]

spaceplasma: Tesla Museum To Be Built At Recently Purchased...

Sat, 04 May 2013 01:39:44 -0400

spaceplasma:

Tesla Museum To Be Built At Recently Purchased Wardenclyffe Laboratory

The last remaining laboratory of scientist, visionary and inventor Nikola Tesla has been sold this week by the Agfa Corporation to Friends of Science East, Inc. dba Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe. Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe is a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit corporation dedicated to saving and restoring Wardenclyffe, with the aim of turning it into a science learning center and museum.

Wardenclyffe is a 15.69 acre site in Shoreham, New York, where Tesla planned to build his wireless communications and energy transmission tower in the early 1900s. The tower was completed, but only one test was made in July 1903. Shortly after, Tesla suffered some financial reversals, and in 1917, the tower was taken down and sold for scrap metal.

Tesla was one of the most influential scientists of the late 19th and early 20th century. His contributions to commercial electricity, radio, magnetism and the invention of the AC (alternating current) motor helped to usher in the Second Industrial Revolution. He also made contributions to the fields of robotics, remote control, radar, computer science, ballistics, nuclear physics and theoretical physics. Nikola Tesla was one of the most famous scientists of his time in the United States, “but because of his eccentric personality and somewhat unbelievable and bizarre claims about scientific and technological developments, Tesla became disliked and was regarded as a mad scientist.”

Tesla is perhaps best known today for the controversy over the invention of the radio. A debate still rages between Tesla supporters and those who favor Guglielmo Marconi over who truly invented the first radio. According to the US Supreme Court in 1947, it was Tesla.

Newsday reports Friends of Science East, Inc. partnered with online comic Matthew Inman of TheOatmeal.com in August 2012 to host an online crowdfunding project on Indiegogo.com. They raised $1.37 million towards the purchase price of the Wardenclyffe site. The campaign reached the $1 million mark in just over a week, with the help of 33,000 contributors from 108 countries.

“This is a major milestone in our almost two-decade effort to save this historically and scientifically significant site. We have been pursuing this dream with confidence that we would eventually succeed,” said Gene Genova, Vice President of the organization, in a recent statement. “We are very excited to be able to finally set foot on the grounds where Tesla walked and worked.”

Friends of Science East, Inc. isn’t done yet, though.

“Now begin the next important steps in raising the money needed to restore the historic laboratory,” said Mary Daum, treasurer. “We estimate that we will need to raise about $10 million to create a science learning center and museum worthy of Tesla and his legacy. We invite everyone who believes in science education and in recognizing Tesla for his many contributions to society to join in helping to make this dream a reality.”

The organization is planning many fundraising events in the future to raise the capital to restore and run the site as a museum. You can find more information on these events on their website, at the Facebook page, and via Twitter.

arpeggia: Phillipe Decrauzat - Untitled, 2011, acrylic on...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:30:44 -0400

arpeggia:

Phillipe Decrauzat - Untitled, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 200 x 119 cm | More posts

contemplatingstardust: vector fields duuuude.

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 01:03:03 -0400

contemplatingstardust:

vector fields duuuude.

thenewenlightenmentage: Detecting Autism from Brain...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 08:36:21 -0400

thenewenlightenmentage:

Detecting Autism from Brain Activity

Apr. 17, 2013 — Neuroscientists from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the University of Toronto have developed an efficient and reliable method of analyzing brain activity to detect autism in children. Their findings appear today in the online journal PLOS ONE.

Continue Reading

ikenbot: In the Whirlwind of the Aurora & Constellations

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 08:35:20 -0400

ikenbot:

In the Whirlwind of the Aurora & Constellations

Photo

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 23:29:26 -0400

10knotes: This post has been featured on a 1000notes.com blog.

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 23:26:43 -0400

10knotes:

This post has been featured on a 1000notes.com blog.

i-heart-histo: The Seamless Gut by i-heart-histo Each region of...

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 22:11:58 -0400

i-heart-histo:

The Seamless Gut by i-heart-histo

Each region of your digestive tract is histologically different.

Specialized in its own unique way to impart a specific function. When the different regions of these tubes work together they function as a seamless system that protects, absorbs and secretes. Ensuring that we digest the products we ingest, remove the nutrients that we need and dispose of those that we don’t.

Students of histology frequently meditate on the differences between these regions in an attempt to correlate structure with function and categorize regions based on appearance.

The seamless gut tube demonstrates these differences in a single image allowing junior histologists to compare and marvel in the functional specializations of each region.

1. Esophagus (middle third)

Non-keratinized stratified squamous epithelium provides protection against the abrasive forces encountered as the bolus is transmitted toward the stomach.

A muscularis externa composed of a unique smooth and skeletal muscle mix.

2. Stomach (fundus)

Large folds of mucosa and submucosa form rugae, which allow the stomach to distend as it fills with food.

Glandular epithelium composed of gastric pits opening into deep gastric glands. These contain numerous cells each with their own role to play in the digestion process through secretion of either hydrochloric acid, pepsinogen, mucous or hormones.

3. Duodenum

The mucosa becomes heavily folded to form villi, finger-like projections that increase the surface area across which absorption can occur.

Each simple columnar epithelial cell has a highly folded apical membrane forming microvilli, which still further increase the surface area for absorption.

The distinctive Brunner’s glands in the submucosa release a bicarbonate rich secretion into the duodenal lumen to neutralize the acidic contents released from the stomach and help prevent formation of a duodenal ulcer.

4. Jejunum

Villi, microvilli and plicae circulares (circular folds of the mucosa) are evident in the jejunum. It lacks any submucosal features which makes it easy to distinguish from duodenum and ileum.

5. Ileum

The final section of the small intestine also contains villi and epithelial cells with microvilli.

Large lymphoid aggregates known as Peyer’s patches reside in the submucosa, breach into the lamina propria and making this a clear feature of ileum.

6. Appendix

Surrounded by lymphoid nodules (similar to the ileum) but this vestigial region of gut tube has no villi or microvilli. Instead its mucosa contains deep crypts of Lieberkuhn lined by goblet cells that secret mucous.

7. Colon

Distinctive because of its large crypts of Lieberkuhn lined by goblet cells that produce large volumes of mucous. The mucous facilitates the passage of feces which become increasingly drier as more water is absorbed from them as they pass through the large intestine.

The muscularis mucosa has a distinctive arrangement in the colon also. The outer longitudinal layer of muscle no longer forms a sheet of smooth muscle around the tube, but is organized into three thin, evenly spaced bands called teniae coli.

Something to think about the next time you take a bite of your sandwich?

i-heart-histo

"I found that every single successful person I’ve ever spoken to had a turning point and the turning..."

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 23:13:50 -0400

“I found that every single successful person I’ve ever spoken to had a turning point and the turning point was where they made a clear, specific, unequivocal decision that they were not going to live like this anymore. Some people make that decision at 15 and some people make it at 50 and most never make it at all.”

- Brian Tracy (via missslily)

dnamylove: Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) is the language used for...

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 21:28:49 -0500

dnamylove:

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) is the language used for the blueprint of an organism. It is a digital code, in some ways similar to the sequence of 0s and 1s used in binary computer code. For example, in binary coding, the sequence 0-1-0-0-0-0-1-0 represents the letter “B” whereas 0-1-0-0-1-1-0-1 represents the letter “M”. DNA, on the other hand, makes use of 4 different chemicals called nucleotides, which code for a vast multitude of organic compounds which make us.

holymoleculesbatman: DNA and RNA have similar structures in...

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 21:25:29 -0500

holymoleculesbatman:

DNA and RNA have similar structures in that each has a sugar-phosphate backbone with one organic base bound to each sugar. However, there are four differences between RNA and DNA:

The sugar in RNA is ribose, not deoxyribose

RNA uses uracil instead of thymine. The common bases in RNA are adenine, uracil, guanine, and cytosine.

RNA is much smaller than DNA. The molecules of RNA range in molar mass between 20,000 and 40,000 g/mol instead of as much as 10⁹ g/mol.

RNA is usually single-stranded, not double-stranded

Images taken from wikipedia.org

pappubahry: Spokes in Saturn’s B Ring; in forward-scattered...

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 21:23:55 -0500

pappubahry:

Spokes in Saturn’s B Ring; in forward-scattered light, the spokes are bright. Several moons are visible in these wide-angle shots. Starting near the top and zooming off to the left of screen is Dione; it doesn’t re-appear down near the bottom of the frame – that is Tethys. Mimas is the large moon that we see completing an arc until it leaves the frame on the right-hand side; Janus is the little moon just visible early on outside the F Ring, and if you watch closely for it, you’ll also see Epimetheus, which is co-orbital with Janus, a little ahead of it. Pandora, very close to the F Ring, is also just visible. At the end of the gif, we see Enceladus moving across the top half of the frame.

Photographed by Cassini.

theoverworld: The Wow! Signal Late one night in the summer of...

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 21:22:18 -0500

theoverworld:

The Wow! Signal

Late one night in the summer of 1977, a large radio telescope outside Delaware, Ohio intercepted a radio signal that seemed for a brief time like it might change the course of human history. The telescope was searching the sky on behalf of SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, and the signal, though it lasted only seventy-two seconds, fit the profile of a message beamed from another world.

Despite its potential import, several days went by before Jerry Ehman, a project scientist for SETI, noticed the data. He was flipping through the computer printouts generated by the telescope when he noticed a string of letters within a long sequence of low numbers—-ones, twos, threes and fours. The low numbers represent background noise, the low hum of an ordinary signal.

As the telescope swept across the sky, it momentarily landed on something quite extraordinary, causing the signal to surge and the computer to shift from numbers to letters and then keep climbing all the way up to “U,” which represented a signal thirty times higher than the background noise level. Seeing the consecutive letters, the mark of something strange or even alien, Ehman circled them in red ink and wrote “Wow!” thus christening the most famous and tantalizing signal of SETI’s short history: The “Wow!” signal.

"I got entangled in my own data, and my conclusion directly contradicts the original idea I start..."

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:23:24 -0500

“I got entangled in my own data, and my conclusion directly contradicts the original idea I start from. Starting from unlimited freedom, I conclude with unlimited despotism. I will add, however, that apart from my solution to the social formula, there is no other.”

- Dostoevsky-Demons

spaceplasma: Feb. 12, 1809: Happy Birthday to Charles...

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:10:47 -0500

spaceplasma:

Feb. 12, 1809: Happy Birthday to Charles Darwin!

On this day in 1809, the English biologist Charles Darwin was born. Darwin transformed science through his voyage on the HMS Beagle and his book “On the Origin of the Species.”

Darwin developed his theory of evolution based on the process of natural selection. His theory stated that organisms with characteristics more suited for their environment were more likely to survive and pass it on to their fertile offspring. Organisms with unfavorable characteristics would slowly die off.

Keep learning about Darwin and his contributions to science with NOVA.

Image: Naturalist Charles Darwin, in an undated photo near the end of his life. (Library of Congress)

"Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great..."

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:26:01 -0500

““Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.””

- ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment (via danshim)

sciencenote: A fractal is an object or quantity that displays...

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:08:37 -0500

sciencenote:

A fractal is an object or quantity that displays self-similarity, in a somewhat technical sense, on all scales. The object need not exhibit exactly the same structure at all scales, but the same “type” of structures must appear on all scales. A plot of the quantity on a log-log graph versus scale then gives a straight line, whose slope is said to be the fractal dimension. The prototypical example for a fractal is the length of a coastline measured with different length rulers. The shorter the ruler, the longer the length measured, a paradox known as the coastline paradox.

freshphotons: The image above shows a 1.2-cm (0.47-in)...

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:12:27 -0500

freshphotons:

The image above shows a 1.2-cm (0.47-in) aluminum sphere striking a seven inch (18 cm) thick aluminum plate at a velocity of 6.8 km/s (4.2 miles per second), giving some idea of the destructive power of hypervelocity impacts. Via.