A Schooner of Science

More coral crochet (and brief patterns)

// November 25th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Science Art

I’ve got some good blog posts up my sleeve, but they’ll have to wait until after NaNoWriMo, because I’m quite sick of typing at the moment!

Instead, here are some more of my contributions to the Adelaide crochet coral reef over at the RiAus.

The above were made from a huge ball of wool, with probably eight different kinds of yarn rolled up in it. It was fun when the threads changed colour, especially working with the yellow one on the outside, which was quite thick and crinkly. Pattern for the outside: Chain 20, then dc each stitch, but on every third stitch add another dc into it, so it increases. For example: dc stitch, dc stitch, 2 x dc stitch, repeat. Just kept doing that! Then I stitched up the edge to make it a circle, and dc’d in the center with red wool to make the pokey out part.

This one was tricky to work with, especially with my mid-sized hook. It was, basically, just two pieces of rope. Pattern: Chain 10, dc each stitch twice (so you’re increasing every stitch.) At the bottom I used some fine yarn and the same mid-sized hook and just dc’d along the edge really loosely.

My previous post is here with the big orange curly coral. It’s been fun! Happy to talk patterns with anyone who’d like to try it at home. Essentially, it’s just a lot of regular increases to give it the curly, hyperbolic edge. I think it would look good as a hemming on sleeves or pants or skirts.

Alcoholic art, crystals of liquor

// July 12th, 2011 // 2 Comments » // Just for Fun, Science Art

So it’s appropriate that I’m a little bit tipsy while writing this.

Alcohol under a microscope! That’s today’s post. BevShots take photographs of alcohol crystallized on a slide, shot under a polarized light microscope. It can take up to four weeks for the alcohol to dry completely on the slide. It’s art, distilled. And quite magnificent.

Margarita

Mmm margarita. And do you like pina colada?

Pina colada

What pretty rum. I think the citric acid helps. Anyone for a pint?

English oatmeal stout

Bevshots sell the pics (there’s heaps) as metallic prints, on canvas or as merchandise – like hip flasks, for example. Look, I’m not big on promoting items, but these would make a sweet gift for a 21st birthday. They’re stunning, and only $28. It’s a nice personal touch if you know their favourite drink.

Oh, and vodka shot glasses! So cool…

Vodka shot glasses

There’s even an iPhone app, so you can pick your poison and see the bevshots version. I imagine this will increase your popularity and attractiveness with every drink. Kind of like beer glasses.

Isn’t this just the best mix of science, alcohol and art? They should be paying me for this kinda publicity (feel free to send me a gift, guys!)

Ferrofluid patterns and dancing art, fun with magnets

// April 29th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // How Things Work, Just for Fun, Science Art

Ferrofluid, image by @DrSkySkull

Behold ferrofluid, nanoparticles of iron coated in a surfactant and suspended in a solution of oil or water.

The surfactant can be citric acid or soy lecithin, among other things, and is used to stop them sticking together

It’s like magnetic dust.

Put a magnet under some ferrofluid and the particles align themselves in patterns to show the field.

The magnetic attraction is so strong, the ferrofluid will stick to a magnet and then you’ll never get all the iron particles off it. They’re stuck for good.

To prevent that happening, people usually play with ferrofluid inside a sealed container.

And play it is, this stuff is fun.

Usually.

A friend of mine put a magnet above some ferrofluid with the lid off, and was abruptly COVERED in black gunk which stuck to him despite three showers. He wasn’t too happy, I think it smelled pretty bad. Hardcore.

Like most hardcore stuff, it’s been turned into kickass art. This video pretty well blew my mind.

Sachiko Kodama and Yasushi Miyajima created the piece, two ferrofluid sculptures which move synthetically to music. The two towers are iron cores of electromagnets sitting in a pool of ferrofluid. Etched with a helix pattern, the ferrofluid can move up the tower if the magnetic field is strong enough, stretching out in spikes as it goes.

The strength of the electromagnet is linked to metadata in the music controlling the voltage and AC pattern. To correct for the time delay, the electromagnet controls starts early so the maximum size of spikes coincides with beats of the music.

The result is a choreographed pattern that dances and winds like a living thing.

You can buy ferrofluid from Emovendo.

Hat tip to @DrSkySkull, who bought some ferrofluid as a classroom demo and supplied the picture at the top of the article.

Science sculptures – art by Steve Tobin

// April 21st, 2011 // No Comments » // Science Art

I recently stumbled upon these stunning sculptures by Steve Tobin. Drawing inspiration from nature, it’s a brilliant example of the intersection between art and science.

Waterglass - A frozen waterfall made from thousands of strands glass fibres.

Syntax - Bronze letters and numbers welded together.

In fact there are several spheres nested inside each other, each separated by a four inch gap.

Bones - A wall of bronze bones which reaches up like the crest of a wave.

Steel Roots

Visit Steve Tobin’s online gallery.

Filming the invisible world – 3D documentaries

// February 28th, 2011 // No Comments » // Science Art, Science Communication, Science in the Movies

We are at a very disturbing point in film production, where we assume the audience has no imagination and no intelligence. Stories are spoon fed and wrapped up with explosions and effects to sell the same tired old plot.

Such is the opinion of Douglas Trumball, who has spent his career in science fiction animation and visual effects. He spoke on Sunday afternoon at the RiAus about the problems with the film industry and how science can save it.

What’s really lacking is immersion, a story that draws people in and the technology to make it hyperreal.

The technology is certainly improving, there’s no doubt about that. Take the infamous Avatar, which I was completely entranced by. The 3D was so subtle and authentic I honestly felt like I was there, and clapped like an idiot when it finished (much to the chagrin of my friends.)

But apparently, that’s nothing compared to what’s coming. Douglas is experimenting with cameras that capture at 120 frames per second (rather than the 30 they do now), and a projector that displays it at the same rate. For the audience he says it’s like opening a window to a different world. It’s a whole different feeling.

He envisions a cinema with a screen that curves around beyond 120 degrees, so it extends past the corners of your eyes.

And what does he want to do with this set up? Explore space. Vast, infinite and complex, space lends itself to immersive film like nothing else. It quite simply matches big content with big delivery. It needs a story to go with it too, something that captures the imagination of the audience, where they can fill in the blanks and have their own “ah ha” moment of discovery.

Truth is stranger than fiction, and science has some pretty cool stories of its own. Tim Baier is a stereographer who worked on feature films like King Kong and Lord of the Rings, and spoke on the panel about his recent work making science documentaries. I watched a preview of his work “Standing in Amazement” on Sunday, and it was breathtaking.

Image by Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary

In 3D, he captured still pictures and stop-motion of Arkaroola and the Flinders Ranges.

The sun rose on mountain tops encrusted with quartzite. Macroscopic photographs showed the indentations on a snakes head which sense heat, and the pads on gecko feet which let them hang upside down on glass.

It wasn’t just a film, it was a presentation. During the movie, Tim talked about the geology of the Ranges and how the mountains had formed.

He described the van der Waals forces that work on gecko feet. It was visually breathtaking AND intellectually stimulating. The full film lasts for 90 minutes, and is playing at the RiAus this week, Tuesday to Saturday. Session times here.

He thinks there is a lot of untapped potential in 3D science documentaries. I’d agree, particularly in talking about geology. I’m thinking right now about David Attenborough’s Cave episode on Planet Earth, and combining it with Sanctum 3D.

Sunday night I watched a doco with Sir Attenborough (he is EVERYWHERE!) and they showed a stadium-sized machine that could see inside fossilized embryos in 3D. Now that’s my kinda movie!

Changing Waters Art Exhibition

// February 16th, 2011 // No Comments » // Science Art

These amazing sculptures are the creation of Nathalie Miebach, a visual exploration of scientific data collected at the Gulf of Maine.

Here’s a quote from her website: “Changing Waters” looks at the meteorological and oceanic interactions within the Gulf of Maine. Using data from NOAA and GOMOSS buoys within the Gulf of Maine, as well as weather stations along the coast, I am translating data that explores the seasonal variations of marine life by looking at the interactions of atmospheric and marine data…

…Elements of the rich New England fishing history are also included. This large-scale installation consists of a large wall installation (33 feet wide) that plots information through the geographic anchors of a map of the Gulf of Maine, as well as a series of large, hanging structures (10 feet high) that look at more specific biological, chemical or geophysical relationships between marine ecosystems and weather patterns.

The Changing Waters Exhibition is open from January 15th till September 25th 2011 at the Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA, USA.

Hat tip from SaCrit

Microbes, photographic film and a self portrait

// November 4th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Science Art

Image by Erno-Eric Raitanen

This art is made of film degraded by bacteria.

It’s a self-portrait of the artist Erno-Eric Raitanen. The bacteria was harvested from his own body and cultivated on the gelatin surface of photographic film.

It’s a similar process to growing bacteria on a plate of agar. As the bacteria gnaw away at the gelatin, the film starts to degrade and creates some interesting patterns. He calls them bacteriograms.

I recommend you flick through his online gallery. I like to think I could make some myself one day, except with added science. Maybe add some antibacterials to part of the film and influence the pattern. OR add a mild antibacterial to the whole surface and make a picture of antibiotic-resistant bacteria!

I know I’ve got some scientist readers out there who are into bacteria. What would you make a bacteriogram of? What about virologists, how could you get some viral action happening on film?

New blog features animated MRI’s of fruit

// July 24th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Science Art

I have stumbled across Inside Insides, a blog of fruit and vegetables as seen through an MRI machine. Each fruit or vege has an animation, so you can see inside it from one end to another. Pictured is a screen shot of the latest entry – celery.

Me favourites be the broccoli which looks like fireworks and the artichoke which looks like a kaleidoscope.

Is this another example of art and science? The line is so blurry now we pirates get confused.

Art in a plate of agar – designs made with bacteria

// December 27th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Science Art

Bacteria and fungi are not generally thought of as attractive pieces of art, indeed I know the times I have lapsed in used-by-date judgment I have beheld them with disgust. Disgust, followed by destruction – straight to the bin or a boiling hot death.

Still, they have a certain something… especially when dressed up like this.

These two piratey concoctions were created by the Gregory Lab at the University of Guelph. They were made with e-coli plated onto green agar. I’m not 100% on the process, but if it was me I would print out a design and place a plate of green agar over it – then with an inoculator (sterilised wire loop on a stick) trace the outline onto with e-coli culture, then let it grow for a while. It might not smell great (blegh, e-coli always smells like ass), but at least it LOOKS cool.

Niall Hamilton counters with a range of plates made using fungi and bacteria. I particularly like the way the texture of the grass vs the mushroom head, either the different varieties grow at a different rate or he plated the grass a few hours after the mushroom. Using fungi gives you a range of colours to choose from (I think the pink is Aureobasidium pullulans), for e-coli to grow in different colours you need to genetically engineer them.

Speaking of genetically engineering bacteria, here is Salmonella typhimurium made to express fluorescent and carotenoid pigments. This was created by iGEM Team Osaka, who work on a range of projects, including art of an almost-alcoholic bacterial cocktail. Yum!

These images were found at Microbial Art, and they have plenty more on show. As the role of microbiology becomes larger in society, I think we’ll be seeing more and more microbial artwork. I hope we do, anyway.

Nanoart – scientific art on the smallest scale

// December 14th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Science Art

These raunchy bunnies make up in style what they lack in size – each one is about a quarter of a millimeter in size, and the bow is the width of a human hair. Made by nanobliss which specialises in carbon nanotubes and silicon, and holds various exhibitions (they also have a nanobama). Find out how it’s done here.

A nanorose made of crystalline wurtzite indium nitride, synthesized via molecular beam epitaxy using pure indium and a high efficient nitrogen source, hydrazoic acid by these guys. And if you know what this means, tell me!

It’s a creepy looking Santa, just in time for Christmas! This guy is definitely small enough to fit down your chimney, or through your keyhole if you don’t have a chimney. Welded over your keyhole? He can fit through cracks in the walls or vents in the ceiling, there’s no escaping nanosanta. He’s been coloured artificially for added creep-out effect.

These images are from the MRS website which runs competitions twice a year. There are plenty more on their website, but these were my favs.