Chemical Tentacles

Link Scroll down for today's pictures & links. Chemical Tentacles This is perhaps the most bizarre chemical reaction that exists - it involves a piece of mercury thiocyanide, which while decomposing produces bizarre, seemingly never-ending tentacles. Warning! do not attempt - the reaction byproducts are highly toxic url Today's pictures & links: Close-up of a wet leaf (image credit: Sophie) Just one of many fascinating macro-photography images in this Wired' collection. ------------ More whimsical book art (or art out of books) Following up our last article on this subject, here are a few more good examples: Ads for the Anagram bookstore in Prague, image via "Biografias - Buechersturz" installation at the OK-Centrum: And then these rolls of chopped used paperbacks we discovered in the store window in Carmel Plaza, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California: (image by Avi Abrams) ------------ Best Science Images of 2008 Some incredible scientific imagery at this National Georgaphic gallery: "Squid Suckers: The Little Monsters That Feed the Beast" (image credit: Jessica Schiffman) This is actually an array of suckers found on the tentacles of a long-finned squid. Each sucker (a little smaller than the width of a human hair) is surrounded with "fangs" of chitin, a hard organic material. The squid keeps these guys under control, don't worry. From the 2007 Honorable Mentions: Glowing Insect? No, this is actually a CT image revealing the delicate structures underlying the human nose. (image credit: Kai-hung Fung) ------------ Mixed fresh links for today: Before Music Dies: 1 hr documentary - [thought-provoking] Abandoned Chanute Air Force Base - [abandoned] Six Deadly Insects - [wow nature] Top Futuristic Cell Phone Designs - [gadgets] The Hills Have Eyes (in the flavelas of Rio) - [urban art] Riding the Ekranoplan - [cool tech] Top Ten Modernist Gas Stations - [design] Smoke Eddies in Water (w/music) - [cool video] Dork plays with extinguisher - [fun video] Chameleon - [cute animation] Chemical Tenticles - [wow video] ------------ Russian Strategic Bomber Tu-160 Russian pilots call them "White Swans" and Americans call them "Blackjack" - either way, this graceful plane looks somewhat like B-1A American bomber, but is actually larger, has better range and is significantly faster. Since their first introduction in 1987, "White Swans" were a source of pride in Russian (and Ukrainian) Air Force: "On 17 August 2007 President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia was resuming the strategic aviation flights stopped in 1991, sending its bomber aircraft on long-range patrols. On 25 December 2007, two Blackjacks came close to Danish airspace, and two Danish Air Force F-16s scrambled to intercept and identify them." Looks like this impressive plane is going to see more action... and is nowhere near retirement. ------------ The eyes tell the story (Photo by Subhasish Karmakar, National Geographic) "Holi is a very popular festival in India. It's a festival of love, joy and life. People of all ages come out on the street with vibrant colors on their face, and apply colors to others on the street. This little girl was standing in one corner, her face full of colors but her eyes telling a different story. She was in her own world. This contrast in her physical colorful appearance and inner thoughtful soul captured my attention" Another great collecion of photographs from India (Kashmir) can be enjoyed here: Houseboat on Dal Lake: Selling Fruit of Lotus: (image credit: Basharat Shah) ------------ Share! (original unknown) ------------ China... more than a little surreal See more landscapes like this on this DRB page. (original unknown) ------------ Army's hardest (and more peaceful) moments: ------------ Mystery Photo Does anyone recognize this? UPDATE: This is a Hundertwasser Building in Vienna, Austria, designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser. The U-shaped building's unique facade does not follow a regular grid organization, and the diagonal roof — planted with grass, shrubs, flowers and trees — rises like a ramp along the U-form. Of the 1,000 windows, no two windows are the same, and trees grow out from many of them. (more info) ------------ READ THE PREVIOUS ISSUE Permanent Link......+StumbleUpon ...+Facebook