Science and what-not...

Silent Library

2010-11-24T14:32:00.000-07:00

Classic clip.
I dunno why but I get some sort of perverse pleasure when i watch this...sort of like watching clips of bones breaking during sporting accidents, only a bit different :|

California Love

2010-11-18T13:25:00.004-07:00

California Love?!
Except for Earthquakes, the nay-say vote on Prop 19, lack of water, the burgeoning debt and crazy ass nonsense laws...
Nice place to visit though. Good wine too.
I sit in class.
I learn about geophys/Earthquakes etc...
Oakland is due for a major one.
Have fun Cali.(XOXO to friends and family who live there tho)
California...Oakland...Califor-nay-eh. Inglewood, Inglewood always up to no good...even Hollywood tryin to get a piece baby.
California...knows how to party
Keep it rockin' Compton

Hey Chris Tucker.

Snake Plissken jumps into my head.
Escape from New York was better than Escape from L.A.

Right...
Now I have earthquakes, a barrage of post-apocalyptic/sci-fi movies and Fallout on my mind...

Yodagami

2010-11-15T01:01:00.001-07:00

Someone's origami Yoda, not mine. I made some Geisha lookin' Yoda...had a white face and a Japanese flower-esque coat.

Wanna make an origami Yoda? George Lucas may be a complete fucking c#%t-tard but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Of special note is the Thrawn Trilogy (a.k.a Heir to the Empire Trilogy) by Timothy Zahn! GREAT! The Courtship of Princess Leia by Dave Wolverton and Tales of the Bounty Hunters among others...anyways...I digress a little. Yoda is cool as hell so if you wanna make him here are some links to diagrammatic instructions as well as YouTube video instructions.

Yodagami [pdf]

Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt: Pulp Addiction

2010-11-12T01:25:00.003-07:00

The Stone Forests of Madagascar

2010-11-08T22:10:00.000-07:00

Madagascar's "Stone Forest"

Most of us have seen pictures of the limestone pinnacles and stone forests of China, but the mysterious island of Madagascar is home to some fantastic karst formations that rival those in China. These formations are located in the Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park and Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve. The National Park is UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This is an area of karst plateaus (carbonate rock like limestone, dolomite etc.). The carbonate bedrock is soluble and the landscape is shaped by dissolution of the rock when water moves over it and cuts through it creating fissures and caverns. The erosion in Tsingy occurs in vertical as well as horizontal patterns causing the dramatic stone forests.

Water later seeps into karst caves where it then can flow underground in "underground streams". The water can carve out caves by dissolution and fill in other caves by precipitating minerals that are in the water (i.e. can form those cool looking needles and pillars in caves called stalactites and stalagmites). Sinkholes are also common in a karst lanscape and form when the ground above the cave collapses into it. In short, Karst is extremely complex.

LEMURS! Just hangin' out on the stone

The strange and fantastic geology of the area also gives rise to a glorious collection of plants, animals and other forms of life. In many instances most of these species are only found within the stone forest.

Included below are links to a National Geographic article and photo gallery of Madagascar's Stone Forest.
Living on a Razor's Edge: Madagascar's labyrinth of stone (National Geographic Article)
Living on a Razor's Edge Photo Gallery (National Geographic Photos)

Ol Doinyo Lengai: An Active Tanzanian Volcano with a Twist

2010-11-07T21:13:00.006-07:00

The native Maasai people regard this mountain as the "Mountain of God" which is what Ol Doinyo Lengai translates to in the Maa language. Ol Doinyo Lengai is a stratovolcano that is part of the Great Rift Valley located in Eastern Africa where the Nubian Plate and the Somali Plate are diverging (moving away) from each other. The geology of this system is pretty spectacular but I am focussing on Ol Doinyo Lengai because it is currently the only known ACTIVE natrocarbonatite volcano in the world.

Satellite image of Ol Doinyo Lengai aquired July 16, 2004 while the landscape still showed effects of effusive eruptions. Recent lava flows (white/beige areas) are days to weeks old.

Most lavas are rich in silicate minerals (minerals containing silicon and oxygen), hence most of the earth's crust is made up of silicate minerals. However the natrocarbonatite lava that erupts from Ol Doinyo Lengai are rich in rare sodium and potassium carbonate minerals. The lava is erupted at low temperatures (500-600 degrees Celcius), due to these low temperatures (the lowest temperature lava on Earth) the erupting lava appears black in the sunlight unlike other lavas which have that characteristic red glow. Natrocarbonatite lavas are much more fluid that silicate lavas and flow almost as fast as water. When the minerals in the lava react with moisture in the atmosphere they undergo rapid weathering causing the erupted black lava to quickly turn a grey white color within a few hours. The resulting volcanic landscape is unique from any other volcanic landscape in the world. The last known eruptions were in 2007/2008.

Ol Doinyo Lengai 1966 eruption

Carbonatites contain niobium, a metallic element used in the production of steel alloys, superalloys, and superconducting alloys. The unique properties of niobium make it ideal for construction of jet engines, rocket systems and airframes. Carbonatites may also contain tantalum (used as a capacitor in electronic equipment and as a substitute for platinum), uranium, thorium, copper, iron, titanium, vanadium, barium, fluorine, zorconium, anomalous concentration of RRE (rare earth elements) and other rare elements. Some of these elements are of economic importance for obvious reasons and therefore carbonatites are valuable resources.

Industrially important minerals associated with some carbonatites are apatite, barite and vermiculite.

Lave appears black and very fluid when it erupts

Some sources:
Ol Doinyo Lengai (Wikipedia)
Carbonatite (Wikipedia)
Under the Volcano: Roger Mitchell's Geological Research has Economic Implications for Canada and Beyond (AGORA Online)

Hello Weekend

2010-11-07T03:32:00.006-07:00

Oh the weekend...what can I say...except time for some comedy movies and rage+contemplative music for the soul :P

Alright, so I really want to see the movie Due Date. I could care less if it was the most terrible, I want to poke my eyes out and eat shit movie there ever was. The pure fact that it has two of my favourite actors in it will more than make up for it. Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis I love you guys. I mean shit...even that dog is cute as fuck. Honestly, they could just run around like retards (which is probably what they do) and I would be happy.

Now for another random movie...

The Big Lebowski! Hilarious as shit (good shit)!

"THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FUCK A STRANGER IN THE ASS!"

"Has the whole world gone crazy!? Am I the only one here who give a shit about the rules?! Mark it zero! MARK IT ZERO!"

Hell yeah Walter.

I had a nostalgic Fifth Element moment today as well.

Leeloo Minai Lekarariba-Laminai-Tchai Ekbat De Sebat.
Cheekan Goot!
Aziz light!
Green?

It's music time!

Had a bit of a foo fighters time...

Still then reminded me of Teardrop

Then I was reminded of Highway of Endless Dreams

Happy weekend!

No Durian on the Train!

2010-11-04T23:30:00.005-06:00

I was sitting on the train today making my way home listening to my music, just pondering and relaxing when all of a sudden...*sniff sniff*...I think to myself "NO IT CAN'T BE!"...a double take...*sniff sniff*...that smell! It's...It's...IT's...[look towards asian lady sitting across from me]...DURIAN! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. That container...on her lap...will she open it again...I turned off my music...she is chewing loudly...I am still safe. What's this?! The chewing has stopped?! Oh god no...don't open the conta...NOOOOOOOO.

Yes. Sorry to those who love Durian (榴莲)...but it smells like someone shart in an old pumpkin. It also looks and feels like uncooked chicken when you open it...or alien spawn in some sort of freaky spiked egg sac.

NO DURIANS! Punishment...unmentionable!

I have the final solution.

I LIKE BEAVERS!

Electronic implant allows blind to see

2010-11-03T00:23:00.000-06:00

This technology is nothing new, but it has progressed quite a bit in the last few years. Eberthart Zrenner and colleagues at the University of Tübingen have developed a microchip carrying 1500 photosensitive diodes that slide into the retina where photoreceptors would usually be. Individuals with retinal dystrophy become blind due to the degeneration of photoreceptors and this new implanted microchip allows them to see. The diodes respond to light sending signals to the brain via an external power source connected to the eye by a wire.

The New Scientist Article with video below:
Electronic implant allows the blind to see

How to Eat Watermelon

2010-11-02T19:59:00.000-06:00

Classic video with Petey Greene.

Yousuf Karsh

2010-11-01T21:22:00.002-06:00

Yousuf Karsh was an outstanding Canadian photographer and one of the best portrait photographers of all time. I adore his work. He was a master of studio lighting and used many different techniques to make his pictures just right. Below are samples of some of his portrait work.

Alfred Hitchcock

Andy Warhol

Anita Ekberg

Betty Low

Fidel Castro

General Dwight Eisenhower

George Bernard Shaw

Hellen Keller with Polly Thompson

Humphrey Bogart

Mother Teresa

Muhammad Ali

Nelson Mandela

Audrey Hepburn

John F. Kennedy

Albert Einstein

Pablo Picasso

finishing with what is possibly Karsh's most famous portrait, that of Winston Churchill

Happy Halloween

2010-10-30T21:47:00.005-06:00

Classic Halloween movie.

Short Thriller.

and then there is Indian Thriller...

and then there is German Techno Indian Thriller...

When zombies take over...

Bill Murray you are awesome!

I laughed so hard when I first saw this. Well...good bye ghostbusters.

Happy Halloween people! Oh, I watched "How to Train Your Dragon" last night. I thought it was pretty good...I love toothless (the black dragon).

Speaking of black...one of my favorite clips from the boondocks.

now for something mildly Halloween related...one of my favourite Venture Bros. clips

Vlad the Astrophysicist

2010-10-27T16:49:00.000-06:00

Business Time

2010-10-26T10:01:00.001-06:00

Awww yeeeeah. LOL

Friends

2010-10-23T23:49:00.000-06:00

One of my best buddies sent me this. Made me smile. Awesome.

Also...do not trust fireproof curtains.

Sherlock Holmes

2010-10-21T21:16:00.000-06:00

I really liked the "recent" Sherlock Holmes movie (I know a lot of people didn't but meh that's fine), so I felt like posting a couple of my favorite scenes. Robert Downy Jr. is one of my favourite actors too so I am a little biased, but nothing wrong with that ;)

As shitty,lonely and/or frustrating as my days may get these scenes always bring a smile to my face.

Sherlock Holmes fight scene. Link below since embed disabled.

Sherlock Holmes Fight (YouTube link)
The fight scene is great. The fighting is superb and it shows the clever, calculating intellect of Holmes. Also I like the scence right before this where Holmes analyzes Mary only to end up eating steak by himself.

The bed scene (for kicks)

I always liked casually reading the Sherlock Holmes stories as a child, there was always something about them that brought me back. There are many times it seems I can relate to Holmes, perhaps this is what brings me back to reading the stories or watching the shows/films (as terrible as some of them may be).

I can appear to be a melancholic, cold, aloof asshole but if I am in the middle of a grand adventure or into something I truly love then I am beaming and passionate...regardless of what mood I appear to be in. I am observant, perceptive, precise, deductive, knowledgeable, and logical. I like to learn many particular skills as long as I deem them useful. Logic and science are my life and anyone I have trusted has betrayed me or left me in the dust, usually at the worst possible time. I am very weary of the opposite sex and even of the same sex so therefore I am a loner who divulges in my own self interests to ease /shield the pain and make life more enjoyable and interesting. I can still be decently appealing and charming to the opposite sex (even though I am a little eccentric), but time has told me I have bad luck and should remain alone. There is that one however, there is always that one. I love the intrigue and espionage involved in the adventure. Oh yeah, can't forget Canne de combat (French cane fighting), don't know that one yet but its fucking awesome.

Of course there is always a needed "side-kick", even for a loner. Someone who keeps me going even though they may not know it (because I can be an arrogant, stubborn ass who doesn't admit it). I may be moody and cold but there is always a strong bond between my Watson and I. My Watson calls me when I sleep in or when I do not show up when I am supposed to. My Watson kicks me in the ass when needed and tells me to get my act together, but at the same time is also calm and encouraging. We go on great adventures together and have quite a grand time. All in all I love my little Watson.

Oh yes...and the dog...well there isn't quite a dog yet...or I have accidentally done away with the thing...maybe it's time for a new dog.

Nut-cracking Monkeys and Random Creatures of the Deep

2010-10-18T23:23:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite scenes of the BBC Life Documentary shows the Capuchin Monkeys of Boa Vista, Brazil using stones as tools to crack open a nut.
Also:Nut-cracking monkeys find the right tool for the job (New Scientist Article)

I love the Blue Planet, Planet Earth and Life documentaries. Enjoyable study/work breaks.

Deep sea stuff is crazy too and at least directly related to what I am studying.

Diamagnetic Levitation

2010-10-16T01:53:00.000-06:00

An oldie, but I love it. Apologies for short, sporadic posts in the next few weeks. I tad bit busier than usual I'm afraid.

Diamagnetic Levitation. High Field Magnetic Laboratory. Nijmegen

Levitating Frog

Levitating Strawberry

Yeah leviating frogs and strawberries with diamagnetic levitation is fucking cool, but it actually is quite useful/important. They can test the effects of weightlessness on living things. Pure, large protein crystals grow much better in a microgravity environment so diamagnetic levitation is also useful in this regard.

New Scientist: Magnetic gravity trick grows perfect crystals [Article]

Also, I have just been informed as I am writing this that Benoit B. Mandelbrot (The father of fractal geometry) has passed away (1924-2010). At least he lived a decent and relatively long life.

In memory of Benoit Mandelbrot here are pics of the Mandelbrot set (each image is a magnification of the image before it)

Chinchillas!

2010-10-15T21:11:00.000-06:00

I would love to have a chinchilla. Cuteness overload. They need dust bathes to keep their fur nice and soft, otherwise it can get gross and patchy.

The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition

2010-10-12T15:21:00.000-06:00

I will likely be MIA for the next week or two and although I may not have time to be postin' daily I will still read/support your blogs.

For now I have Youtube links (since embedding was disabled by the user) to one of my favorite documentaries. If you are into early 1900's expedition history, more specifically the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, you will probably like it. It is about one of the most epic stories ever told, The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-1917) a.k.a "The Endurance Expedition". Also, looks like those trapped Chilean miners are to be released today...I really hope they come out at night because after not seeing daylight for a couple of months I am sure it would be quite painful if they were brought up during daytime in the Atacama desert.

Endurance, Shackleton and the Antarctic (2 of 11)

Endurance, Shackleton, and the Antarctic (3 of 11)

Gravity Wells

2010-10-12T00:10:00.000-06:00

I know this is old but I still like it. (Yes some of the quotes are a little off but oh well, still good).

Gravity Wells

I have no idea why but this comic also makes me think of the novel Dune, part of a song by BT and part of a song by Boards of Canada. Weird.

Kuwaiti Oil Fires

2010-10-11T04:31:00.000-06:00

Kuwaiti Oil Fires block out the sun

In 1991 I sat with my father watching news clips of the Kuwaiti oil fires started by the Iraqi military forces as a final act of defiance against UN coalition forces as they retreated from Kuwait after the Persian Gulf War. I was just a kid so I didn't really know what it all meant but I knew it was serious by the look on my fathers face even though I did not understand why at the time. The world was changing drastically around this point. The Cold War had just ended, the USSR was in the process of dissolution and the Berlin Wall had just come down a year earlier. Apartheid was being dismantled in South Africa while the Yugoslav Wars were about to begin.

Over 500 oil wells in Kuwait's Burgan oil field (which was the 2nd largest oil field in the world) were set on fire by Iraqi troops under Saddam's scorched earth policy. These fires could have burned for over 100 years if humans had not intervened. Even with human intervention it was initially estimated that the fires would still take 5-10 years to put out. However, professional oil firefighting units from a multitude of different countries came together as a team to help Kuwait and showed us the compassionate, innovative and resilient side of human nature. These specialized firefighting units were able to put out the fires in 9 months, 4 years behind initial estimates, which was an amazing feat accomplished because the people of this planet were able to put aside their differences and work as a single cohesive unit with a shared goal.

Aerial view of well fires taken by fleeing Iraqi Troops

In order to get to the wells the surrounding desert first had to be cleared of mines and new roads had to be made around the newly formed lakes of oil. The many pipes that led away from the oil wells eventually reached the ocean. Saddam had initially planned to pump the oil to the coastline and light a huge line of fire preventing the coalition troops from landing. In a reverse case the firefighters used the pipes to instead pump water from the ocean into the desert around the oil wells so it could be used to put out the fires. The ground had to be initially cooled so the firefighters could get close enough to the well to work. Many different techniques where employed to put out the fires as each well fire was unique and responded differently. A very innovative technique by the specialized team from Hungary involved pumping water through twin turbo-jet engines from Mig-21 jet fighters mounted on old tanks in order to put out the fires.

C4 was used to try and snuff out the fires. It was quite effective as the explosives would use up the surrounding atmospheric oxygen in the explosion causing the flame to be extinguished. If the well fire was really bad they would use a massive Venturi tube to help put out the fire. It concentrated where the fire could go and directed it higher up. Firefighters were then able to either bend the Venturi tube a certain way as to cut off the oxygen supply or they were able to shoot water or liquid nitrogen at the base and top of the tube to try to snuff out the fire. Once the fires were out the high pressure oil would still come out of the damaged well. Capping stacks would be added on to the new wellheads in order to regain control of the flow of oil out of the well.


Mummified bird, in the hard top layer of an oil lake.

The Kuwaiti oil fires are an economic and environmental disaster of monumental proportions. It was not just a problem for the people of Kuwait, but a problem for the people of this entire planet. Had these fires been able to burn unaffected for over a 100 years or even for 5 or 10 years every single human around the world would have felt its effects, but thankfully the fires were put out before long term atmospheric effects could set in. However, the oil fires had a devastating effect on the local environment. Sulphur dioxide, soot, carbon dioxide, unburned hydrocarbons, and heavy metals were a few things that polluted the surrounding environment. Desert oases were now under lakes of oil, while birds dropped from the sky. The smoke coloured the sky black as 75-80% of the sun's radiation was initially absorbed by this smoke. However, there is hope for recovery as vegetation started to recover after a few years and over time the oil will eventually sink below the sand, although the effect of this on groundwater is unknown.

On one end of the spectrum humans are capable of being such terrible, selfish creatures while on the other end we are capable of such marvellous, innovative and compassionate things. Hopefully one day we can learn from our mistakes instead of repeating them and not give in to our, at times, overly selfish nature.

Our Pale Blue Dot.

As a side note, here is a little info on oil:

Black gold, or Crude Oil, is hydrophobic (water loving) but soluble in organic solvents. It has a high carbon and hydrogen content and is a nonpolar substance. Crude oil essentially started as a mass of dead animals and plants. This organic matter was usually zooplankton, cyanobacteria, freshwater algae and land plant resin. Over time this organic matter was heated to produce something called kerogen. Once this kerogen is heated to the point where it reaches the "oil window" (60-120 degrees Celsius) it is then transformed into petroleum. The crude oil eventually migrates from its source rock into a more porous and permeable reservoir rock where humans then extract it from.

Also, Here is an IMAX Original Documentary called Fires of Kuwait(35 minutes):

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend Canada

2010-10-10T02:58:00.000-06:00

and a big hello to everyone else ;)

Picture of my thanksgiving meal for one. Looks like shit, but tasted great.

Yeah, so the meal looked much better off camera...it was one of the best tasting meals I have ever made actually, which surprised me quite a bit.
Cornish Game Hen with Double-Cranberry and Thyme Sauce
Kind of followed the recipe but I made my own adjustments. I put the butter mixture under the skin first so it was extra delicious once cooked. Wine was used instead of grape juice because wine tastes sooo much better. I also used whole berry cranberry sauce instead of the seperate cranberry juice then whole cranberries. As sides I had stuffing and roasted garlic mashed potatoes. For the roasted garlic just throw garlic cloves and olive oil in a pyrex dish with some aluminum foil over top and let it cook for 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Gokujō Parodius and Sexy Parodius

2010-10-08T21:25:00.000-06:00

The games of the Parodius Series have the weirdest bosses.

Turkey: The Crossroads between Europe and Asia

2010-10-07T22:54:00.000-06:00

It would be nice to travel to Turkey. Such an interesting place full of so much history and wonders. I was seriously thinking about travelling to Turkey in this last year if I wasn't so poor and if getting there wasn't so expensive.

Turkey has such a diverse and beautiful landscape that it would be very difficult not to travel into the countryside. From the extensive coastlines along the Aegean, Black and Mediterranean seas across the Anatolian Plateau to the Pontus and Taurus Mountains there is so much to experience .

Earthquakes are a slight concern but well worth the risk of seeing such a beautiful, eclectic and somewhat controversial country.

Travelling along the legendary walls of Troy, seeing the glorious facade of the Library of Celsus, and visiting the massive Sutlan Ahmed Mosque would be one of many thing to do in Turkey.

Personally one of the top places for me to see would be Pamukkale where hot springs in the area have developed beautiful travertine terraces.

It would be imperative to take in the culture by wondering the streets and Bazaars of Istanbul, Ankara and other great Turkish cities haggling for a bargain on jewellery, pottery and carpets all the while taking in the sounds of foreign music and the smell (and taste) of spices, tobacco and fuck awesome food.

Ohhh god food...god damn Turkish cuisine why do you have to be so delicious?!?! Where to start...if your on the go grab a kebab and some fresh ayran. If you want to satisfy your sweet tooth grab some baklava or lokum. Yaprak Dolmasi is fucking great. So are other dolmas and sarmas. There is a ton of variety of meat dishes especially lamb...YUM!

Fuck, there is a wide variety of any type of dish. Pasta, meat, veggies, everything. God there is so much delicious food I would need a whole blog dedicated to it.

.

In terms of drinks I don't think Turkish beer is all that great from what I have heard although I would be willing to try it. Local Turkish wine wouldn't be too bad depending on the region. The traditional alcoholic beverage Raki flavoured with anise would probably be pretty tasty and I would be quite willing to try it (unless I already have and I don't remember). In terms of non alcoholic beverages I would definiately go for black tea, turkish coffee, sharbat and perhaps some boza or sahlep.

I'm hungry, time for a snack.