Photographs by Jan Von Holleben

The pic above is from Jan Von Holleben's series entitled "Dreams of Flying." View more of his work here.

I heard about Jan Von Holleben and Tiffany Bozic from the excellent online publication, "Lost at E Minor."

The Philosophy & Art of Tiffany Bozic

"There's always something that I'm trying to lock down and I don't know what it is. It's the same thing in my mind that almost is like music where everything is almost connected by this fluidity."

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"What I always think of first and foremost is just how incredible and ornate every single thing is. Everything just seems so perfect. And then you realize that it's not finished. That it's still evolving. What are they going to look like in a thousand years even? And that to me is really exciting. Seeing these things alive, that's what I'm trying to capture: the life."

See more of Tiffany Bozic's artwork here.

The Daily Mammal

The elephant shrew, above, is more closely related to elephants than rodents.

Jennifer Atkins has an ambitious goal: draw every mammal species on Earth. Since there are 5,000 named mammals, she expects the project to take 14 years if she draws one animal every day.

Follow her progress here.

Top 10 Wildlife Conservation Stories for 2007

Read brief summaries about the work being done by conservationists to save nature's endangered species.

Duelity

At duelity.net, the Vancouver Film School presents a pair of beautiful animations that illustrate two opposing theories of the origins of life, evolution and creationism.

View the videos here.

I want to stress that the theory of evolution is a scientific one, supported by evidence gathered from the natural world. Creationism is a religious doctrine; it is substantiated not by scientific data but by Christian belief.

The conflict between science and religion, I think, arises when one discipline infringes upon the boundaries of the other. Science -- because of its inability to gather data beyond the natural world -- should not make any claims about the existence or non-existence of God. Religion -- because of its inability to discredit scientific theories based on rigorous data -- should not make any claims about the validity of the theory of evolution.

Science can not tell you that you do not have a soul, or that God does not exist. Likewise, religion can not tell you that the world is flat or that humans did not share a common ancestor with other primates. To avoid conflict, keep the areas of expertise between the two disciplines distinct. For I believe there should be room for both science and religion in a moral, rational, and free-thinking human being.

Best Astronomy Photos of 2007

APOD (Astronomy Pic of the Day) has posted its favorite astronomy pics of 2007. The one below is my favorite -- be sure to click inside the pic to view a larger image of it.

Cool Insect Video

Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

They took all the trees
Put 'em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see 'em

Hey farmer farmer
Put away that DDT now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!

Late last night
I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took away my old man

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Cat vs. Crawfish and The Unknown Rebel

Here's a cute video of a pet cat toying with a very well defended crawfish (and a disinterested dog in the background). I love the acoustic version of the Imperial March (Darth Vader's theme song in Star Wars).


The video reminded me of one of the heroes of the late 20th century, the Unknown Rebel.

Watch the video of the Unknown Rebel defying a fleet of tanks here. What do you do when you're staring down impossible odds? Very few choose to stand and fight.

The True Origins of Hip Hop

Did you know that hip hop began in a Mongolian farming village? A funny (but fake) story about the origins of hip hop.

Untidy Beds May Keep Us Healthy

Don't like making your bed? Use science to justify your sloth!

According to the BBC, a new study suggests that unmade beds are less habitable by house dust mites. These pesty dust mites are thought to cause problems like allergies and asthma. The theory is that unmade beds dry sheets and mattresses better than made beds; made beds tend to be warmer and moister, ideal conditions for dust mite habitation.

"Something as simple as leaving a bed unmade during the day can remove moisture from the sheets and mattress so the mites will dehydrate and eventually die," Dr Stephen Pretlove said.

Read the BBC article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4181629.stm

Origami Master

Eric Joisel is a true origami master, able to create life-like sculptures out of single sheets of paper. He is able to simulate the emotions, postures, and movements of people (out of paper, mind you) far better than multi-million dollar Hollywood action movies like Beowulf.

Goethe Quote

Readers of this blog know though that I love poetry and science. So when I see a quote about the two together, my heart skips a beat.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (pronounced Ger-ta) said "Science arose from poetry...when times change the two can meet again on a higher level as friends."

I admire Goethe's work. He's a German romantic who wrote one of my favorite novellas, The Sorrows of Young Werther, and he's one of the most quotable guys around. But I'm not sure what he means here. Science arose from poetry?? When did that happen? How can they meet again? I have some ideas about what he's trying to say -- namely, mind/body dualism -- but, still, I am puzzled. Anyone want to take a stab at interpreting what Goethe means?

Raising Tadpoles

SEM kids --
Here is some info about raising tadpoles. If you have some extra time, please read it! I will look into acquiring the necessary materials this week.

http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/tadpoles/
http://www.fdrproject.org/pages/POtads.htm

A Love Poem...

...written by one of my 8th graders. i think it is beautiful.

i wrote to you about my feelings
but you just put it aside
i told you that i cherished you
but you acted like you didn't care
i see you smile
and that makes me feel pure inside
i see you talking to your friends
i wonder...
"why can't we be like that"
i keep thinking about you
even when you put me down
i try to help you
thinking that something might occur
i say i love you
and you take it...
like someone passing you a ball
catch it and throw it to someone
like nothing...

Confirming a Bias

In a previous post, I warned you of the danger of squirrels. New Scientist, a reputable scientific journal, has published legitimate scientific research to back up my claims!

Relying on data collected from infrared (IR) video taken, scientists have concluded that squirrels use heat-emitting bushy tails to ward off predators! And I quote Jeff Hecht:

It's Californian ground squirrel versus rattlesnake in a potentially lethal showdown. But the squirrel has a secret weapon that until now has remained invisible to the human eye.

The ground squirrel heats up its tail then waves it in the snake's face - a form of harassment that confuses the rattler, which has an infrared sensing organ for detecting small mammals.

What's really amazing is that the ground squirrel will heat its tail when confronted by a rattlesnake, which detects IR light, but will not heat its tail when confronted by a gopher snake, which does not detect IR light.

Don't believe me? See for yourself. View the YouTube videos in the New Scientist article.

Light Writing

Check out the work of these two German artists. I wonder if they are responsible for the light writing in this Red Hot Chili Peppers video.





The Energie Motion website has more pics and a YouTube video.

Mid-Autumn Festival

Notice the moon at all this week? It is at its biggest and brightest today, and the Chinese celebrate this event every year. It's called the Mid-Autumn Festival, and, along with New Year's, is one of the biggest Chinese holidays. During this time, many Chinese people eat a special food called Moon Cake -- it's a sweet pastry with red bean paste in the middle (although it looks delicious, I'm not a big fan...it tastes a bit weird if you're not used to eating East Asian sweets).

The Chinese celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with their family, because the full moon makes you long for home and your loved ones. To mark the occasion, my family went out to dinner on Sunday and enjoyed a delicious seafood meal in Flushing.

Hope you enjoy your Mid-Autumn Festival!

Tree Climbing Goats!

Out in Morocco between Marrakech and Esouria, goats eating in a Argan tree.

It seems goats are attracted to the berries of Argan trees in Morocco. Argan tree branches are generally a bit of reach for the generally short goat, but the berries are so enticing that the goats become adroit tree climbers during berry season.

The Fantastic Voyage of Billy The Bullet