Crazy pics that go up to 18,000x with some interesting notes about the construction of a snowflake. Click the pic for more. Read More...

University of Zurich researchers have created a spray that can relieve people of shyness, and help them socialise with others.

The spray is very easy to use, and an individual can boost self-confidence just by squirting it up the nose.

The researchers say that the spray harnesses the powers of a feel-good hormone called oxytocin, a neurotransmitter in the brain that is involved in social recognition and bonding. Read More...

Made from 720 half square sheets of 7mm thick corrugated cardboard, stacked in 360 layers, this cavernous sound space is set within a 2.5m cube. As a space for listening to and experiencing music, the initial concept for the design developed from the architect’s ambition to create a strong spatial intensity and a distinct internal atmosphere. With an irregular free-form interior set within a regular cubic volume, the object has a profound duality. Made from one material it also has an implied solidity that strengthens the architect’s distinction between inside and out – a distinction that is heightened when the full acoustic ambience is experienced from within.

Cutting the cardboard took three working days, and assembly just one. The structure sits under its own dead weight, without any fixings or glue. And, for those of a technical persuasion, a simple calculation reveals that the combined compression of the 360 layers of cardboard is 20mm over the 2.5m height, or an average of 500ths of a millimetre per sheet. All services are integrated within the stack, including cable runs and apertures for the six-speaker surround sound system. Read More...

A liquid below its freezing point will crystallize in the presence of a seed crystal or nucleus around which a crystal structure can form. However, lacking any such nucleus, the liquid phase can be maintained all the way down to the temperature at which crystal homogeneous nucleation occurs. The homogeneous nucleation can occur above the glass transition where the system is an amorphous—that is, non-crystalline—solid. This is a video of supercooled water which is recrystalizing as it hits a new surface.

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Discovery DNA Explorer Kit allows kids to discover that you are not the real parents. kidding... It sounds made up, but this is the real deal, the kit allows kids to study and map DNA in a variety of experiments. Pretty cool. Click the pic to see more at Amazon.com
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This i exactly what it says it is... a science project by design students that is creating jewellry made from bone cells harvested from you... the doaner and then grown in a petrie dish until the piece is finished


Focussing on advances in tissue engineering, our project began with an investigation of implantable technologies: we discovered that scientists were not only using metals and bioplastics to repair damaged bone tissue but developing a method of growing actual bone outside the body to transplant into patients. Our intention was to create an object that would allow these technologies to be considered in relation to a familiar experience. Could design be used to construct an open-ended and provocative statement, in contrast to narratives found in the media which focused on threatening or fantastic representations of the technology?

We were fortunate to strike up a partnership with Dr Ian Thompson, who worked in the Department of Materials at Imperial College. Headed by Professor Larry Hench, the department developed the first generation of bioceramic material in 1969. With their support we were able to start thinking about a collaborative, public communication project.

By situating bone tissue engineering within the framework of a relationship between two people, the Biojewellery project aims to create public dialogue with emphasis on communication and the accessibility of the scientific processes involved.

We aim to document the couple, using interviews to give an impression of their motives, create time-lapse film of the donated cells as the tissue develops and record the making of the rings in the studio. By showing bioengineering processes in this way we hope to encourage ethical debate, and raise critical, constructive questions over how advancements in science relate to our identities and desires.
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The Government takes pictures with Satellites and you can have them for free after they photoshop out the aliens. Shown here is the Colima Volcano. click the pic for more. Thanks Jon! Read More...

Selenite Crystals

Deep below the surface of an isolated mountain range in Mexico sit two rooms of splendor: translucent crystals the length and girth of mature pine trees lie pitched atop one another, as though moonbeams suddenly took on weight and substance. In April 2000, brothers Eloy and Javier Delgado found what experts believe are the world's largest freestanding crystals while blasting a new exploration tunnel deep in the silver, lead and zinc Naica Mine of southern Chihuahua. After discovering a small opening about 300 metres down, Eloy squirmed inside and found an 8 metre cavern full of immense crystals. One and a half months later, another team of Naica miners happened upon an even larger cavern adjacent to the first one.

Selenite (chemical formula: CaSO4·2H2O) is a hydrous calcium sulfate, meaning it is composed of oxygen, sulfur, hydrogen, calcium and water. It is a glassy, well-crystallized form of gypsum and is often referred to as satin spar. Read More...