Aabol Tabol

Good one. This explains an exam question (Optics in third year) I had many years ago: calculate at what distance you may be able to tell that the light you see coming is not a motorcycle (a single headlight) but a car (two headlights). [Of course everything is related to the concept of optical resolution, and it was actually a pretty easy problem]. I remember that I was wrong by an order of magnitude in wavelength, and the result was obviously (and patently) wrong … the worst is that I tried to justify myself (I knew it was well done, the physics was correct… but I was stuck with the damn order of magnitude) and further suspend, I ended up doing pretty ridiculous. Shit happens!

E D I T

Richard Feynman

It’s very easy, just rehearse these phrases… and try use them with confidence in every conversation.

Use “canonical” when you mean “usual” or “standard.” As in, “the canonical example of talking like a physicist is to use the word ‘canonical’.”

Isaac Asimov

Week 34: CRISPR (mock editorial journal cover) | Cinema 4D, Photoshop

I had a hard time figuring out depth of field and getting the camera in C4D to do exactly what I wanted. I ended up using good ol’ Gaussian blur in Photoshop for the final bits. Because I have pretty simple geometry, my primary focus was colour palette and creating a combination of textures that would be convincing.  Ultimately, I wanted this to be not as ‘editorial’ but more cinematic: as though it could be a shot taken mid-sequence in some sort of scientific documentary.

SPRING CRITIQUE TODAY!

The Agents’ #FridayReads, May edition…

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A Clash of Kings, George R R Martin (Agent Acero)

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'Salem's Lot, Stephen King (Agent Afterthought) 

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Oblivion, David Foster Wallace (Agent Animal)

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The Heir Apparent, Jane Ridley (Agent Bridge)

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The Silent History, Eli Horowitz (Agent Brooklina)

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Something Happened, Joseph Heller (Agent With Cheese)

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The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 1, Robert Caro (Agent Daily Double)

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Dancer, Colum McCann (Agent Eagle Eye)

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Vicious, V.E. Schwab (Agent Jackalope)

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The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien (Agent Keaton)

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The Iliad, Homer (Agent Laundry)

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The Secret History, Donna Tartt (Agent Owlish)

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Swamplandia!, Karen Russell (Agent Neon Sloth)

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How Music Works, David Byrne (Agent Quicksilver)

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This One is Mine, Maria Semple (Agent Scorpio)

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Valley of the Dolls, Jacqueline Susann (Agent Sunshine)

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In Memory of My Feelings, Frank O’Hara (Agent Touchdown)

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The Girl in the Road, Monica Byrne (Agent Velocipede)

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California, Edan Lepucki (Agent Woollysocks)

Barbara McClintock was a Nobel Prize winning scientist and one of the world’s most renowned experts in cytogenetics, the study of the structure of cells, particularly chromosomes. Her work with the model organism maize led to her discovery of transposable elements, meaning DNA sequences that change their positions within the genome.

Eat Your Tardigrades or You Don’t Get Dessert!

You know this little guy, right? It’s the mighty tardigrade, as featured in the new Cosmos. Tardigrades, also known as water bears, also known as FREAKIN’ MOSS PIGLETS, are microscopic eight-legged animals that can withstand temperatures from near absolute zero to boiling water, absorb extreme doses of radiation, go without food or water for ten years, and even survive the vacuum of space. They can even be completely dried out and ride on the wind to a new home, where they rehydrate and go about their tardibusiness. Tardigrade rain, folks.

In other words, they are BAMFs (bad-ass microfauna).

Oh, and you’ve probably eaten them. Thanks to Meg Lowman, I found out that these water-dwelling super-critters live not only on wild mosses and wet plants, but on grocery store produce like lettuce and spinach. Do you think that a mere rinse or shake under the faucet (or even cooking) is enough to dislodge a radiation-eating space pig? Ha! Not by a long shot, according to Lowman.

So yeah… trying to go strictly vegetarian? You’ve almost certainly eaten some tardigrades. Sorry. Don’t worry, though. They’re totally harmless. I like to imagine that when I eat them, I absorb their power, and become a little bit mightier.

New motto: For strength, eat your vegetables and eat your tardigrades.

Well played, Europe.