Sunday 10 May 2009

Daily Link Splurge

Daily Link Splurge

Flickr Photo Download: mite infestation - 1:1 life size

Posted: 10 May 2009 07:15 AM PDT

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hooked_on_macro/2585294864/sizes/o/

M31: The Andromeda Galaxy

Posted: 10 May 2009 06:06 AM PDT

M31: The Andromeda Galaxy Andromeda is the nearest major galaxy to our own Milky Way Galaxy. Our Galaxy is thought to look much like Andromeda. Together these two galaxies dominate the Local Group of galaxies. The diffuse light from Andromeda is caused by the hundreds of billions of stars that compose it. The several distinct stars that surround Andromeda's image are actually stars in our Galaxy that are well in front of the background object. Andromeda is frequently referred to as M31 since it is the 31st object on Messier's list of diffuse sky objects. M31 is so distant it takes about two million years for light to reach us from there. Although visible without aid, the above image of M31 is a digital mosaic of 20 frames taken with a small telescope. Much about M31 remains unknown, including how it acquired its unusual double-peaked center.

AJ Fosik at JONATHAN LEVINE GALLERY

Posted: 10 May 2009 05:47 AM PDT

http://www.jonathanlevinegallery.com/?method=Artist.ArtistDetail&ArtistID=ED58BBC0-3048-28EB-92CE275F482A4B5E&GalleryID=82C33C59-3048-28EB-92DB386C8C733405

AJ Fosik's Wood, Paint & Nails - a set on Flickr

Posted: 10 May 2009 05:46 AM PDT

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36098170@N06/sets/72157616130161986/

2945_1066335374463_1108384193_30209622_371580_n.jpg (361×500)

Posted: 10 May 2009 05:41 AM PDT

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs014.snc1/2945_1066335374463_1108384193_30209622_371580_n.jpg

Stock market herd behavior visualized

Posted: 09 May 2009 06:54 PM PDT


(19 votes - 0 comments - 391 views)
Plotting a large collection of stock prices on the same timeline (the last two quarters of 2008) reveals the sudden shift in behavior of the market. Before October 2008 there prices were not very correlated. After October 2008, a majority were moving in lockstep indicating fearful value conservation behavior - most traders were looking to see what everyone else was doing. According to the voiceover, the end of this lockstepping in price movements would signal an end to the financial crisis.

Fibonacci Sequence Illustrated by Nature

Posted: 09 May 2009 06:50 PM PDT

The Fibonacci sequence is an amazing bit of numbers that ties nature and mathematics together in surprising ways. From deep sea creatures to flowers to the make-up of your own body, Fibonacci is everywhere.

Attenborough: The Biggest Flower in the World - Titan Arum

Posted: 09 May 2009 06:14 PM PDT


(28 votes - 0 comments - 384 views)
It only flowers once in 3 years, and has the largest unbranched inflorescence (cluster of flowers) in the world. Some Titan Arums bloom every 7 or even 10 years.

"The Titan Arum grows in the Sumatran rainforest and first appears as a single tall shoot that rises like a pole out of the ground. When it is 10ft tall it branches out into three leaves.

After a year it dies down but the following season it sprouts again, and does so year after year, building up a huge tuber in the ground. Then it dies down for a longer period, the stem rots away and after a few weeks all that is left is the tuber, hidden beneath the surface of the soil. it remains like this long enough for everyone to forget the exact place where the leaves once stood.

Then, unpredictably, the tip of the spadix begins to emerge from the ground, and grows at extraordinary speed. When it is five or six feet tall the spathe is apparent, it then unfurls and spreads out like a wide trumpet – remaining like this only for a day or two. During this time it is pollinated, although no one knew how or by what."

-http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/3320607/David-Attenborough-a-wild-life.html

African tribe populated rest of the world

Posted: 09 May 2009 05:30 PM PDT

The entire human race outside Africa owes its existence to the survival of a single tribe of around 200 people who crossed the Red Sea 70,000 years ago, scientists have discovered.

Mental Math Linked to Eye Motion, Brain Scans Show

Posted: 09 May 2009 05:10 PM PDT

When you do math in your head, you're using a recycled product.Structures in the human brain once devoted only to visualizing spaces are now also involved in performing simple mental math, according to a new study.