Henry's Webiocosm Blog

2016 Family Pumpkin Carving Contest

2016-11-19T05:17:00.000-08:00

This year's contest had an unexpected outcome. My younger brother placed 1st with the minimalist approach. His is the one on the lower left. We made fun of him for taking longer than anyone else to do that. I guess it paid off. Second place went to my oldest son, that weird thing on the top row second from left was his. Third went to my sister, who did the clowny pumpkin in the middle on the bottom row. Its the one I would have chosen. My pumpkin is the one on the top row, far left. It came in 5th. My wife did the tiny faced pumpkin on the bottom row, far right. It was an idea she lifted from a friend who had received favorable reviews with a similar effort a few days earlier. Despite our judge's clear lack of credentials, he was able to sniff out an obvious act of plagiarism, and he punished her with a 7th place finish. The judge was a friend of my 12 year old son who is relatively new to the neighborhood. Though he was in over his head with his assigned task, he's a good kid so we still let him come around from time to time.

2015 Family Pumpkin Carving Contest

2015-10-30T04:05:00.000-07:00

This year's family pumpkin carving contest had some pretty good entries. I am a little embarrassed to say that yes, I won again. The bottom pic is from my household. The bottom right was mine, 1st place. Next to it was my oldest son's, 4th place. Top left was my 7 year old son's. It was 6th or seventh, who cares. He got the point though, that he is going to have to man up and learn how to cut a pumpkin. My wife's was the toothy one on the top right. It got third. The big mouth full of teeth is a recurring theme for her, maybe it will work out better for her next year.

The top pic has all the entries. The two on the farthest right that were not very well lit were not officially entered because they were produced by non family. I think that a couple of others could have won just as easily as mine this year. Of note, my sister did the 2 face one, top middle. It looks way better lit up in the dark than it did in daylight. My step mother tried to play on the popularity of the 70's rock band KISS, but the judges were of the wrong demographic to be impressed and she was appropriately given last place. Happy Halloween!!!!!

Memorial Day Weekend 2015 in Chicago, Time-lapse

2015-05-30T11:03:00.002-07:00

I made my yearly trip to Chicago with my children last week for Memorial Day weekend. One of the things I looked forward to was testing out my new Brinno TLC 200 Pro camera. It is made specifically for make time-lapse videos. The great thing about it is that every thing you need is contained in this small camera. It also has weather proof housing that can be purchased separately. This is a compilation of some of the videos we made. The first is from our hotel room at The Wit on State Street. The next one was from the Ferris wheel at the Navy Pier as we made one revolution. We also spent some time kicking a soccer ball at Grant Park while the camera was strapped to light poles and trees getting footage of Buckingham Fountain and the harbor. The last segment was from the Lakefront Trail near Shedd Aquarium. Overall I thought they turned out okay. I think if I had attempted to use the camera's manual focus they might have turned out a little better.

2014 Family Pumpkin Carving Contest

2014-10-30T17:08:00.001-07:00

This year the core group of contestants was reduced by one because my sweet wife was at home sick. My boys both did their own pumpkins by themselves from beginning to end. Our guest judge was a neighbor who is a college professor with a PhD so he knows a thing or two. He correctly chose my pumpkin on the top far right as the winner. My 10 year old's was on the top left and it came in second place. My father got 3rd with his yearly standard pumpkin on the right in the middle row. My seven year old boy did a little too much work around the left eye of his and ended up blowing it out. It is the one on the left in the middle row. He got last place but I thought it was still pretty good.

An Antlion Capturing and Eating an Ant

2014-06-22T05:26:00.000-07:00

My mother collected these "doodlebugs" a few days ago to show my children. I got interested and decided to try to video them in action. They are called doodlebugs because of the doodly patterns they sometimes make in the sand when moving about. They are also called antlions because ants are a staple of their diet. We have fed them so many ants and they always seem ready for more. Antlions are the larval form of an insect in the order Neuroptera, which also includes the green lacewing. They are classified in the family Myrmeleontidae, genus Myrmeleon. I do not know which species this individual belongs to.

It is really interesting to watch them build and use their sand pit traps. They move backwards burrowing into the sand in a circular pattern while tossing the sand out of the pits with rapid jerking of their heads. When the pit is deep enough they sit at the bottom with only their jaws exposed and wait on their prey, usually ants. If the ant is able to gain the footing to get out, the antlion showers it with sand causing it to slide back to the bottom.

Super Bowl XLVIII Prediction

2014-02-02T15:11:00.001-08:00

Not much to say here but that I think Peyton will pull off a win to solidify his status as the best that ever played. Denver 35, Seattle 31.

2013 Family Pumpkin Carving Contest

2013-10-28T18:53:00.003-07:00

This year I had a hard time making the effort because I was so fatigued after taking my kids camping. We had a good time though. Somehow we let my teenaged sister talk us in to letting 2 of her best friends judge the competition and believe it or not her kitty cat took the prize.

2012 Family Pumpkin Carving Contest

2012-10-25T03:54:00.000-07:00

We had another good year for our annual family pumpkin carving contest. The smack talking was at an all time high, while the quality of work may be in question. We again did not allow the judge to know which pumpkin belonged to whom before judging in order to make it as fair as possible. In addition to the immediate family, we had 2 entries from relatives visiting from out of town. The top pic shows all entries. On the bottom are my household's entries. Mine is on the top right, it got 1st place. My wife got 3rd, it is in the top left spot. My oldest boy came in dead last. He actually made his design and cut it by himself this year for the first time, his is on the bottom. My youngest boy made the design and mom cut it for him, his is top middle and it earned the next to last spot. The judge somehow thought he was going for the R2D2 look and gave him a small break.

Baby Rabbit Decomposition in Time-Lapse

2012-05-10T12:45:00.000-07:00

This young rabbit was found at my dad's doorstep several weeks ago. We believe it was killed and delivered by his cat. I had been thinking about doing a time-lapse of a decomposing animal for quite a while and figured that I would make the best of this fresh carcass. I built a box using a wooden frame and chicken wire to allow smaller animals and bugs in while keeping out the larger animals that might just drag it off. Here is the "rot box". Since the lid is removable to allow full sunlight, I may call it the "grow box" for future projects.

Here is the box after this project was completed with the lid open and the camera in place.

For the filming I used my new Pentax Optio WG-1 which is really durable and versatile. I started taking 1 picture every 12 minutes, but as the action sped up over the last two days I increased the frequency to once every 5 or six minutes. On the last day when I went out to check the progress, I was disappointed to see the whole rabbit was gone. There were no bones or anything left, so I thought a snake or something had gotten in and carried it off. However, after watching the playback, I realized that the maggots had devoured the entire rabbit. I was expecting a skeleton to stay together for several weeks and had planted some grass seeds to grow up and eventually beautify the whole gory scene, but it went way faster than I expected. The entire process took only 4 days.

Springtails in a Mud Puddle - Collembola

2012-02-23T18:19:00.008-08:00

A couple of weeks ago my father, a farmer who shares an interest in biology with me, told me that he had seen a bunch of springtails in the ditches around the fields on our farm. When I got free one afternoon, I went down with my camera to see for myself. I stopped at a large puddle of water in the middle of a gravel road after a big rain. This is what I saw. Click the pics to enlarge.

If I hadn't been prepared, I would have thought it was just a puddle with some light debris around the edge, but a closer look revealed the prize I was searching for, an abundance of springtails.

Springtails are hexapods that were previously considered by most to be insects that have now been reclassified by many as having a separate lineage from the insects. Springtails (Collembola) have been classified as an order within the class insecta, or as a subclass of Entognatha alongside insects in the subphylum hexapoda, or if considered to be a basal lineage of hexapoda then they are elevated to a class.

Springtails are small, usually less than 6mm, with these shown being 1-2 mm and are very abundant. Many species are known to be agricultural pests in some cases but beneficial in others.

The name springtail is derived from their spring-like abdominal appendage, the furcula, which is tucked underneath the body and held in place by small appendage called a tenaculum (or retinaculum). When threatened, the springtail rapidly and forcefully extends the appendage, forcing it into the air making it very difficult to catch for closer observation or as a quick meal. Shown below is a video I made of these tiny creatures using my iPhone 4S and olloclip macro lens(both are awesome). You can see the tails extending rapidly, but even under my microscope, I haven't clearly identified the tenaculum which is supposed to hold the furcula in place while tucked under the body. **these creatures had not been harmed or injured when I made this video, they just could not handle the smooth texture of the surface on which they were placed. I quickly released them back to nature after the video was made.** Sources Wikipedia - Springtail and bugguide.net

Don't forget to check out Modulator's Friday Ark!!!

Super Bowl XLVI Predictions

2012-02-01T03:31:00.000-08:00

I have never been much of a New York Giants fan, and I have doubted them all the way to the conference championship this year. However, it now looks like time for me to give credit where credit is due. I think that NY has too much momentum at this point for New England to stop them. I couldn't really believe that Eli Manning was that great after their terrific upset of NE in Super Bowl XLII, but now I will say that he ranks among the best. Now on to the game prediction. I don't have much personal interest in these teams but I am looking forward to a close and very exciting game. The current line is Patriots winning by 3. I am going to flip that and say that the Giants will win by 3 with a final score of New England 27 - New York 30.

2011 Family Pumpkin Carving Contest

2011-11-01T15:03:00.000-07:00

We had another successful pumpkin carving contest this year. We had no injuries, no fights, and fair judging. There were only eight entries, all are pictured above. The youngest 2 entrants, both my children had to draw their design and my wife cut the pumpkin from that design. Everyone else did all their own work from start to finish. As always no foreign props were allowed and stencils could not be used either. Members of my household made a clean sweep (below). My wife came in first place with the blazing head (top right). I had the second place pumpkin seen on the bottom with the arms and the crown. My 7 year old came in third with the scowling vomit look on the far left and my 3 year old's was fourth with the sagging left eye (top middle). Thanks to our judges who are new to the neighborhood and are now glad we select different guest judges to help us out every year.

DIY Time-lapse Dolly

2011-09-27T07:33:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased a Pico Dolly so I could attempt to make a self-contained time-lapse dolly that I could take anywhere.

Here is the Pico Dolly with the first step complete. I used the rim of a lid that went to an old pill container and attached it to the inside of the wheel. I had to take the wheel off and then replace it using a small hex key.

I used fishing line tied through the spokes of the wheel to attach the lid so I wouldn't damage the wheel with glue or drill holes.

Next I took 2 pieces of plywood and attached them to the dolly using 1/4 inch bolts through the predrilled standard tripod screw holes in the dolly.

Then I attached the pulleys from a motorized pulley set from Hobby Engineering.

The miniature metal gear motor I purchased separately from Hobby Engineering came next.

Finally I connected a rubber bands to the pulleys, a battery pack, and a potentiometer to use as an on off switch and to modulate the speed a little further as needed.

Ultimately I had to attach another rim to the front wheel because I had some trouble getting traction with just one wheel and with the elasticity of the rubber band, the motion needed to be a little smoother. Here is the first video I made with this setup.

The biggest draw backs to this rig are that despite gearing down the rpms, it still moves a little too fast for most natural outdoor scenes. Also it has to be on a relatively smooth and level surface.

UDATE: 11/21/11 - Here is my second version using a chain and sprocket system

Termites and Their Pests, Mites and Nematodes (Roundworms)

2011-09-09T03:27:00.000-07:00

I found some little termites living large on the fringe of my compost heap so I put one under my Celestron digital LCD microscope and this is what I found. These are mites and nematodes (roundworms) which are both known to parasitize temites (or it may be commensalism in the case of the mite). The roundworms were living in the head of the termite.

Here is a study from Florida Entomologist on "Mites and Nematodes Associated with Three Subterranean Termite Species (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)"

My best guess based on the the above paper and not much else is that the organisms here are as follows:
Eastern Subterranean Termite - Reticulitermes flavipes
Mite - Family Acaridae, Genus Australhypopus
Nematode - Family Rhabditidae, Genus Rhabditis

Anyone with more knowledge of these species please feel free to offer corrections in the comments.

And don't forget to check out Modulator's Friday Ark!

Head Louse: Pediculus humanus capitis

2011-08-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

I previously posted pics of these human head lice about 6 years ago.

Now I have a new toy sitting in my office waiting for an opportunity to get some better pictures of small critters of this sort. Today I plucked this head louse from the head of a little girl who was brought in to my office to see me for a cold. My astute nurse pointed out the fact that she had lice so I grabbed one to view under my new microscope. The first part is at the lowest power then the final two parts are at a higher power. The final part was done when it was still alive and its innards were still moving. I used a Celestron LCD digital microscope for the video.

And don't forget to check out Modulator's Friday Ark!!

An Aphid Live Birth and Predation Time-lapse

2011-07-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

I have previously posted some pictures and info on the mutualistic relationship between ants and aphids, but I hadn't really given any thought to the reproductive cycle of aphids. Neil Bromhall has made an excellent time-lapse video of aphid live birth and subsequent predation of the aphids by hoverfly larvae.

I was surprised to learn that aphids give live birth so I read the Wikipedia entry on aphid reproduction. It is far to complex and variable for me to try to summarize here. I will just say that it is quite amazing an worth a read.

A Sci-Fi Movie Recommendation - Pandorum

2011-07-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

Last night I watched a sci-fi thriller called Pandorum (official movie site). I don't recall ever hearing anything about it when it was out in theaters, but it was recommended to me by Netflix based on movies that I had previously rated highly. The movie is set in a 60,000 passenger sleeper ship that is fleeing from the earth as a last attempt to save humanity from a dying earth. The ship is on its way to an earth-like planet, Tanis. Various crew members are awakened from hypersleep to encounter other crew members, awakened at different stages of the mission, and some grotesue huminoid creatures. A full synoposis of Pandorum is available on the Wikipedia, but I don't recommend spoiling the exciting final turn of the plot by reading it. Apparently the movie received poor critical reviews from general audiences but did much better among sci-fi enthusiasts. I for one thoroughly enjoyed it, and would love to see a sequel.

Here is the trailer:

Time-lapse of the Beach in Destin, Florida

2011-07-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a nice HD time-lapse of the beach in Destin, Florida. It was filmed by napnet a couple of months ago.

From Crabby at The Destin Sandpiper.

Wool Sower Gall Wasp - Callirhytis seminator

2011-05-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago my neighbor showed me these interesting growths on one of his white oak trees.

I thought it probably was some type of gall so after a few minutes research I found that it was a gall produced by a small wasp called a wool sower gall wasp, Callirhytis seminator, which only makes its galls on white oak trees. The female wasp lays her eggs in the plant and after hatching, the grubb induces the gall formation.

In the center of these galls are tiny seed-like structures, which is why this type of gall is sometimes also called an oak seed gall. Each one contains a larva which is protected and nourished by the tree.

I cut of a few of the galls from the tree and brought kept them in my garage. After about 2 weeks they had all made their way out of the gall leaving these neat little holes in the side of the galls.

Here are some close-ups of the tiny wasps.

For More information:
Galls on Oaks - NC State University
Springfield Plateau Wool-sower Gall
Wikipedia - Gall Wasp

And don't forget to check out Friday Ark #340!

Super Bowl XLV Predictions, 2011

2011-02-01T13:36:00.000-08:00

For this year's Super Bowl predictions I will keep it simple. I think the Steelers will slow down the Aaron Rodgers offensive machine just enough to win by a touchdown, with a final score of 28-21. My favorite players in this game are Troy Polamalu and Hines Ward. As for how many times the Fox team will mention Brett Favre during the broadcast, the line at Bodog.com is 2 1/2. I think it will be much higher so I am taking the over.

The Setup for the Decaying Berries Time-lapse

2010-11-27T02:54:00.000-08:00

For my recent time-lapse of a strawberry, blackberries and raspberries decomposing in a petri dish I used a Pentax Optio W90 which seems to be a great camera for shooting time-lapses. It has a built in intervalometer with lots of flexibility in settings. Also it is weather resistant and can be used outside or underwater. It has two macro settings with one of them for use at 1cm. The intervalometer function can be used with multiple settings such as auto flash and macro. To get around the camera's limited battery life, I ordered an extra Pentax D-Li88 rechargable battery that allows me to switch them out periodically and let one charge while the other is being used. Charge time is about 2 hours or less. With my setup, I attached the camera to a sturdy block, with the opening for changing batteries off to the side so I could change the battery every 3-5 days without moving the camera at all. The camera automatically took one picture every 20 minutes and it is played back at 30 frames per second. I used Quicktime Pro to make the movie from all the still shots. I made the music using Sony ACID Music Studio 7.

Time-lapse of the Week #9

2010-11-14T04:45:00.000-08:00

Here is another great time-lapse from neilbromhall of some germinating beans up close and personal and even underground.

And from mtainfo we have some interesting footage of the NYC marathon.

Since I didn't do a TLOTW last week I am posting a bonus video that I found today that is not even a time-lapse and wasn't posted during this week. It is a stop motion video with post it notes from bunliu and it is very cool.

Enjoy and have a great week!

Time-lapse of the Week #8

2010-10-31T14:32:00.000-07:00

Since I have been preoccupied with halloween preparations, I haven't really looked for any good time-lapses to feature. Therefore I will gratuitously only show my latest time-lapse which I just posted today. It was a 39 day project. I took one picture every 30 minutes of my compost heap and it is played back at 30 fps. With this being October, halloween is the obvious theme. Enjoy.

2010 Family Pumpkin Carving Contest

2010-10-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

This year's pumpkin carving contest was a lot of fun. We had eleven entries. Our original guest judges had to cancel so we ended up getting a couple of different neighbors from down the street to help out. These are the entries from my household. The top left one was my six year olds. It won top honors this year, the design was all his own and he drew the outline but my wife cut it for him. The second devilish Jack-O-Lantern was my entry, it got second place. The top right one was my 3 year old's. He had the marker in his hand and I helped guide his hand for the outline. It was eleventh and last place. Next year he will be all own his own with the drawing. My wife's is the bottom pumpkin, it came in fourth.

Time-lapse of the Week #7

2010-10-24T19:22:00.000-07:00

Wow. I almost forgot to post a TLoTW this week and I checked in on YouTube just before going to bed and I got a message from schizzecazzechea to check out this video. All I can say is freaking WOW! I just kept watching over and over and kept on smiling. This just makes me happy.