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aamukherjee A Slice of Entropie -
alchymista Alchymista -
crownedrose Fading Like A Dead Star -
expose-the-light Quarks to Quasars -
kenobi-wan-obi CWL -
abluegirl A Blue Girl -
perscientiamlibertas A Matter of the Most Pleasant Fraternal Confidence
Dino-DNA Art Honors the 20th Anniversary of ‘Jurassic Park’ Today
“DINO-DNA: A tribute to Jurassic Park” is an online art tribute to Michael Crichton’s novel and Steven Spielberg’s movie masterpiece, which premiered 20 years ago on this date in 1993. The show is curated & presented by Chogrin (Facebook.com/chogrinart), who’s love for Jurassic Park was born in a movie theater back in 1993.
All of the art above (and on the Dino-DNA blog) can be purchased through the Dino-DNA exhibit site where you’ll find artist information and e-mail addresses to contact them and purchase a print.
(via FirstShowing)
kenobi-wan-obi
During the Jurassic period, between about 200 million and 145 million years ago, some meat-eating dinosaurs began evolving birdlike skeletons and sprouting feathers on their bodies.
One group of these creatures eventually split off to become birds, although researchers have long debated which one it was and when it actually happened. Now, a team of scientists claims to have found the earliest known bird, a discovery that could finally put these questions to rest.
But critics question whether it really is a bird, and some are not entirely convinced that it’s an authentic specimen…
Continue to WiredScience: Earliest Bird Claim Ruffles Feathers
The Superficial Lymphatics and Glands of the Head, Face and Neck.
Drawn by Henry Vandyke Carter, for Henry Gray’s Anatomy: Descriptive and Surgical.
alchymistaIf your love life is less than ideal, don’t worry — your hat is awesome.
Further reading: Dr. Lewis’ A General Theory of Love
This comic is an introduction to some of the ideas in A General Theory of Love. We highly recommend the book — it’s a great mix of poetry and science:
“The journey we embark on here is by no means complete: the science of our day hints at structures but cannot define them. The castle of the emotional mind is not yet grounded in fact, and there is ample room left within its domain for conjecture, invention, and poetry. As neuroscience unlocks the secrets of the brain, startling insights into the nature of love become possible. That is what this book is about — and if that’s not the secret of life, then we don’t know what is.”
ucresearch
Buzzsaw Jaw Helicoprion Was a Freaky Ratfish
Of all the vexing fossil mysteries that have confounded paleontologists, few have been as persistent as that of Helicoprion – the name given to petrified whorls of elongate teeth that look like 270 million year old renditions on the theme of buzzsaw.
What sort of animal did this Paleozoic remnant belong to, and where did the circular blade actually fit on the animal? Today, Idaho State University paleontologist Leif Tapanila and coauthors announce the answer to a conundrum that has puzzled paleontologists for over a century.
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Tapanila and Pruitt concluded that the Helicoprion whorls really did have their buzzsaw shape in life, but they didn’t stop there. Along with their colleagues and input from Ray Troll, the researchers launched a new, detailed investigation into the museum’s Helicoprion stores.
The fossil Bendix-Almgreen described, in particular, seemed to have the potential to yield new clues through CT scans that could visualize the internal secrets of the specimen. The scans, taken at the University of Texas High-Resolution X-ray CT Facility in Austin, “came out brilliant” Tapanila says.
Not only was the fossil in better shape than expected, but the specimen elucidated two critical facets of the animal – that Helicoprion didn’t have an elongated jaw, and that it wasn’t really a shark.
That’s definitely one heart warming way of looking at our anatomical system:
Hugs Keep Us Alive - Print by Lim Heng Swee
The Animal Kingdom
Looking for a whole new way to appreciate the wonders of the animal kingdom? Check out this retrospective of Charley Harper’s stunning illustrations for Gerald Fichter’s 1967 edition of The Animal Kingdom (available in book form via this art collection).
These blew me away. There’s such richness of life in our natural world, such stunning variety and beauty (and even a bit of ridiculousness). These illustrations capture it all. I could hug them.
Trust me, check out the full retrospective gallery at Codex 99. Tip of the page to Jim Coudal for the link.
Biggest Thing in Universe Found—Defies Scientific Theory
Quasar cluster is “challenge to our current understanding,” astronomer says
In the image: A quasar jets energy in an illustration. A newfound quasar cluster is the universe’s biggest known object.
expose-the-light
