CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-18 19:37:36 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 24 +1s)

We're officially on DAY EIGHT of REVEALS from the 2013 MARCH round of the +Chrysta Rae  Photography Scavenger Hunt!!!

What is the photography scavenger hunt?
Only the most fun you can have with your camera!!

I host this event every other month for anyone of any level of photography to participate.
I open the game up to 500 Photographers
I give you 10 items to shoot 
I give you one month to shoot and enter your photos.
Then I have them judged by amazing photographers
(this round's judges were +Alan Shapiro, +Lee Daniels, +Brian Bonham, +Barry Blanchard and our winner from last round, +lane langmade

I then open the albums up to the public - which is this stage.
Later today I will be posting the winners from this album.
There are 10 categories: This is "*BUBBLE*", see previous posts on my stream to find the BROWN,L... more »

2013-05-18 19:15:45 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 13 +1s)

per +Allison Sekuler 

#Deceptagoat  

2013-05-18 01:57:14 (8 comments, 2 reshares, 29 +1s)

Warp Drive: Science Fiction to Science Fact? Maybe!

In 1994, physicist Miguel Alcubierre proposed a concept for a real-life warp drive, but calculations found it required prohibitive amounts of energy. Now +NASA physicists say that adjustments can be made to Alcubierre's drive to use significantly less energy, maybe bringing warp drive back from sci-fi to science.

To begin, NASA hopes experiments with a "White-Juday Warp Field Interferometer" will generate and detect microscopic instances of little warp bubbles.

* ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20110023492
* gizmodo.com/5942634/nasa-starts-development-of-real-life-star-trek-warp-drive
* icarusinterstellar.org/daydreaming-beyond-the-solar-system-with-warp-field-mechanics

#startrek #warpdrive #space #exploration #nasa #science #technology

2013-05-18 01:30:30 (11 comments, 1 reshares, 19 +1s)

The tragic beauty of Google+. http://ti.me/YXQ9NS

2013-05-17 14:27:17 (5 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

#earthquake was a 5.0 - 25km NNE of Shawville, Canada according to the US Geologic Survey t.co/IBsRtGHs2h

2013-05-14 22:31:47 (12 comments, 6 reshares, 43 +1s)

Pine Tree

We usually think of pine cones as having the shape of the sculpture in my photo - with the scales open. But the shape of the cone depends on the weather: when the cone gets wet, it closes up, and when it dries it opens up again.

This strategy helps ensure that the seeds contained within the cone can travel further through the air to grow in a wider range of locations. Even after all the seeds are gone, however, the moisture mediated opening and closing can continue, leading to all sorts of fun party tricks if you have a small pine cone at home...

One of the best tricks is to put a wet pine cone inside a bottle. When it dries, the scales will open and (if you picked the right shaped bottle) it won't fit out again. You can, of course, get it out again by adding water.

Recently, engineers were inspired by the pine cone's... more »

2013-05-14 01:40:26 (7 comments, 2 reshares, 30 +1s)

Space Oddity

Just in case there are some people who haven't seen this yet. Love the part where the guitar floats down the hall in the ISS, and there are many awesome shots of Earth and space to go with the music by +Chris Hadfield 

(and in case you haven't seen it yet either, check out this prescient article about a Bowie inspired space mission by +The Onion : https://plus.google.com/112366735963271550830/posts/LTezXTs6fJT?partnerid=gplp0)

And if you'd like to watch the Hadfield, Marshburn, and Romanenko landing live, +NASA is streaming it here: NASA Public


#ScienceEveryday   (when it's not #ScienceSunday  )

2013-05-14 01:46:50 (9 comments, 2 reshares, 17 +1s)

Moonage Daydream

At this point, most G+niuses will have seen +Chris Hadfield 's awesome rendition of David Bowie's Space Oddity (see below if you haven't - it really is a must see). But did you know a Bowie inspired space mission has been in the works for years?

This from America's most reliable news source, +The Onion , back in 2010:

NASA officials announced today the successful launch of the new shuttle Moonage Daydream, marking the beginning of a long-anticipated two-week conceptual mission inspired by British rock star David Bowie.

According to NASA administrator Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden, Jr., the highly experimental glam space program— dubbed Project Starman —has been in development for exactly five years.... "Admittedly, this is a very bold and risky departure for the agency," said Bolden, later adding thatBow... more »

2013-05-11 23:40:13 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 27 +1s)

Science Post of the Day!
Theme: #Caturday  

The Science of Cats

Cartoon by Gemma Correll http://www.gemmacorrell.com/

 #ScienceEveryday #SciencePOTD
If you were notified, and would like to be removed, please let me know and I will do so immediately. If you were not notified, and would like to be, let me know here: bit.ly/sciencePOTD or of course +1, share, and let me know in the comments below!

2013-05-09 15:17:41 (7 comments, 11 reshares, 50 +1s)

Composite Image of the Moon Taken from 38 Photos Reveals Solar Corona During a Total Solar Eclipse. See it in much more detail on Colossal:

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/05/composite-image-of-the-moon-taken-from-38-photos-reveals-solar-corona-during-a-total-solar-eclipse/

2013-05-09 03:27:55 (11 comments, 4 reshares, 14 +1s)

Gaming for Science

Did you ever wonder how the x-ray checkers at the airports can tell who has what in their bags? The Airport Scanner game lets you try your own skills at searching for illicit luggage, and my vision science colleague, +Stephen Mitroff , has partnered with the game company to try to figure out what's happening in our brains when we do these sorts of tasks.

Mitroff and his colleagues are interested in understanding how well people can pick complex shaped objects out of cluttered scenes, how performance varies with the rarity of occurrence (more than you might expect or hope, at least in university students who don't do this sort of thing for a living), and how people's performance changes with practice (which might be more relevant to the folks who do this sort of thing for a living). 

I made it through a few levels todaybe... more »

2013-05-09 02:08:12 (9 comments, 3 reshares, 26 +1s)

Swiss Rail

I didn't have any trains handy to shoot in my neighborhood, so I took a page from +Jan McCartney and +Artistic Google to find and alter this shot of the Rhaetian Railway Albula-Bernina Switzerland on Google Streetview for the TrainMeister +Gene Bowker  #happybdaygene  

2013-05-09 01:12:13 (10 comments, 7 reshares, 31 +1s)

Body Crash Illusion

Yesterday, I shared a brain made of people (http://goo.gl/o0Dfm)  - today another friend passed this on to me: A crashed car made of people.   Yes, what looks like a car is really a bunch of artfully arranged people.  It took me a while to see it, but once you know what's going on, you realize how strong this illusion is.

Australian body paint artist Emma Hack and her team painted and arranged 17 people to create the image as part of an ad campaign to highlight the dangerous effects of even low-level speeding. The models had up to 5 layers of paint on them, and, although an accident like this would take only seconds, the shot illustrating the accident took 18 hours. 

Ben Tuffnell, of South Australia’s Motor Accident Commission described the importance of the campaign this way:  _“People think ‘speeding’ is drivers doing 30or 40km/h ov... more »

2013-05-10 00:38:59 (27 comments, 38 reshares, 91 +1s)

We Are Our Brains

A friend shared the image on the left (a brain made from many hands) with me, which reminded me of a post I did back in the early days of #ScienceSunday  about the image on the right (a brain made from many whole bodies). 

Since many of the folks on G+ now might not have seen that original post, I thought I'd share it again. I'm not sure the origin of the hand-brain (sources welcome), but the body-brain stems from TEDxAmsterdam back in November, 2011.

The Ad agency, WE ARE PI, created an amazing campaign for TEDxAmsterdam. Their concept:  "People follow TED to fill their brains with ideas. So, to celebrate TEDxAmsterdam going nationwide with a human nature theme, we are making brains from people."

The brain image below is actually just a still shot from an intricately choreographed dance, featuring the DutchNa... more »

2013-05-08 02:42:49 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Next Meal: Engineering Food

Producer +Gabriela Quirós discusses why genetically engineered food generates so much debate at +KQED Bay Area Bites, and you can now watch the special online. 

Be sure to RSVP for the +Google+ Hangout on Air she'll be moderating tomorrow morning at 11AM (PST): goo.gl/yNVD1

2013-05-07 03:54:28 (16 comments, 0 reshares, 15 +1s)

Geek Question of the Day: I had this discussion earlier with a coworker and figured you guys might like to take it for a spin; What life lessons have you learned from video games? Good, bad or indifferent they'e likely shaped us all to a certain extent...=)  #gqotd  

artwork source: http://bit.ly/17IPjVA .

2013-05-07 00:59:43 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

Mystery On

Where did the time go tonight?? I was (am) knee deep in work so almost missed it! 

Guesses ahoy!!  And remember, things are not always as they seem. Unless they are.

#MysteryMonday  

2013-05-06 02:54:17 (7 comments, 26 reshares, 66 +1s)

Statistics Aren't Scary...

one last post for #ScienceSunday   (this one courtesy of my old grad school buddy, and fellow stats lover, Johanna Weber via that other social network...)

2013-05-05 23:05:58 (6 comments, 9 reshares, 31 +1s)

Little Brawny Man! Lol






#knit #knitting #ideas #creative #brawnyman #brawny #kids #children #Halloween #costume #homemade #boy #adorable #funny #hats #winter #DIY

2013-05-06 06:24:01 (328 comments, 614 reshares, 1483 +1s)

The (Knit) Art of Biology

As someone who can barely knit a scarf, I'm amazed by the skill and patience people have in attempting projects as complex as this one. Here, +shanell papp created much more than a scarf... it is a knit skeleton, complete with knit versions of all the internal organs, designed to scale of the real things.

In an interview with the Order of the Good Death, Papp says: "The greatest part of the work is that it is a conversation starter, it gets people to comfortably talk about uncomfortable subjects ... they always wanna put their hand into the intestines, it is very strange, like some kind of a dissection urge?! Some see it as a playful and jokey piece….but when I made it I was pretty serious about making a very exacting replica of the human body. There are parts of the work that nobody sees–the brain has gray and white matter, the bones havemarr... more »

2013-05-05 20:00:03 (5 comments, 3 reshares, 22 +1s)

Google Glass Revealed

It's that easy!

Posting for folks in +Canada  who are blocked from seeing the NBC version, although, as Canadians, we welcome everyone to view the clip, and we apologize in advance if you don't think it's funny....

2013-05-05 01:02:27 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 18 +1s)

A Horse is a Horse

Unless, of course, you look through all the versions of "horse" in +Chrysta Rae 's scavenger hunt from times past. Chrysta makes you think about the most ordinary objects in the most extraordinary ways, and that is what makes her so extraordinary.

Long after each hunt is done, I find myself still looking for new images from hunts past, so it seemed fitting to give Chrysta this horse for her birthday today - I just found it in Caledon, ON yesterday, even though we finished "hunting" horses in October.

Chrysta, you've such had a huge, positive impact on the G+ community, and I just wanted to add my thank you and my #happybirthdaychrystarae to the chorus.

2013-05-04 18:25:35 (7 comments, 6 reshares, 26 +1s)

Cat Flea ( Ctenocephalides felis )

With the warm weather upon us, it's flea season again. The images below (from Eye of Science and the Museum of Science: http://legacy.mos.org/sln/sem/flea.html) show little critter that annoys your cat magnified hundreds times so you can see why it's so annoying to your cat!

And you dog lovers shouldn't feel left out - although the Cat Flea's primary host is the cat, it enjoys annoying dogs as well.

You can see a great video of this bloodsucker here: http://goo.gl/4QMyd

Some fast flea facts:

• the larvae can lie dormant for a year or more in a protective cocoon

• the flea has limited eyesight (as you can infer from the images below) - instead, fleas use movement and increased levels of carbon dioxide to detect potential hosts

• the flea can jump 150 times itsbody l... more »

2013-05-04 17:14:25 (6 comments, 6 reshares, 20 +1s)

A Boy and His Atom

IBM relies on manipulating individual atoms for its atomic level memory systems. Here the scientists/movie directors at IBM manipulated individual atoms magnified over 100 million times - to create the world's smallest stop-action movie (yes, it was verified by the folks at the Guinness World Records !)

From the movie's YouTube site: The ability to move single atoms — the smallest particles of any element in the universe — is crucial to IBM's research in the field of atomic memory. But even nanophysicists need to have a little fun. In that spirit, IBM researchers used a scanning tunneling microscope to move thousands of carbon monoxide molecules (two atoms stacked on top of each other), all in pursuit of making a movie so small it can be seen only when you magnify it 100 million times.

You can see the whole movie, rather thanthi... more »

2013-05-04 02:22:45 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 18 +1s)

Bombylius sp, Diptera, Fam. Bombyliidae:)

2013-05-04 03:29:30 (17 comments, 5 reshares, 33 +1s)

When the Rose is Faded

-- Walter de la Mare

When the rose is faded,
Memory may still dwell on
Her beauty shadowed,
And the sweet smell gone.

That vanishing loveliness,
That burdening breath,
No bond of life hath then,
Nor grief of death.

'Tis the immortal thought
Whose passion still
Makes the changing
The unchangeable.

Oh, thus thy beauty,
Loveliest on earth to me,
Dark with no sorrow, shines
And burns, with thee.


for #FloralFriday +FloralFriday curated by +Tamara Pruessner +Eustace James  and +Beth Akerman 

2013-05-01 03:54:23 (7 comments, 12 reshares, 58 +1s)

The wonder of electronic microscope... at the end, we can see the single bacteria. #microbiology  

Via: www.twitter.com/microbiology

2013-05-01 03:52:43 (6 comments, 5 reshares, 16 +1s)

Why It's Awesome to Be a Nerd

+Wil Wheaton shares his views with a daughter in the future, and encourages everyone to love the things they love, even if it's not what everyone else loves.

#nerdsruletheworld  

2013-05-01 01:22:28 (13 comments, 3 reshares, 7 +1s)

Beyond Labs and Libraries: Career Paths for Doctoral Students

Our new study on career paths for graduate students, and what Universities can do to ensure student success, came out today - linked below.


In the old days, most PhD students went on to become professors. Nowadays, that's definitely not the norm. In Canada, we estimate that only about 25% of PhDs end up in the tenure-track, which means most students are moving into #alt-ac or #post-ac careers.


In our study, Barbara Crow (York University), Rob Annan (Mitacs) and I discuss the real and perceived obstacles for PhD students in adapting their skills for the "real world," and we provide 30+ recommendations for Universities to help ensure graduate students can be successful regardless of their career paths.


The results are not specific to my University, Canada, or even... more »

2013-04-30 01:05:20 (29 comments, 1 reshares, 45 +1s)

Happy Bugs Day +Chris Mallory !

Chris was one of the people who infected my brain inspired me to take pictures of bugs instead of squashing them (or, more often, catching them and letting them outside - I'm sort of a softy). I still am not brave enough to do macros of jumping spiders, but I'm getting closer every day, and I have Chris to blame thank for that.

So here's to another great year on G+ and IRL to +Chris Mallory 

#happybugsdaychrismallory   #bugseveryday  

2013-04-30 00:52:38 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Mysteries Abound

In honour of +Chris Mallory 's birthday, we are back with another #MysteryMonday  . Since it is Chris's bday, he automatically gets to be überCaptain, and he can use that position to lead people down proper or improper gardenpaths, unless, of course, he has something better to do on his birthday in which case he's not even here. In that case, people should feel free to exclaim: "I am +Chris Mallory " and then give whatever useless or useful clue they wish to give on his behalf.  For those of you playing as a drinking game, which, for the record, I do not condone, everytime someone says "I am +Chris Mallory " that would count as a cue to drink, although, as I've said, I do not condone that. Unless you are drinking water because it is important to stay hydrated, which might actually be a clue. Or not.

Let the guessingbegin... more »

2013-04-29 03:10:25 (17 comments, 3 reshares, 48 +1s)

They're on to us

2013-04-29 02:20:51 (7 comments, 3 reshares, 24 +1s)

From Mars, With Love

This valentine from Mars is actually a pit formed by collapse within a straight-walled trough known in geological terms as a graben. Graben are formed along fault lines by expansion of the bedrock terrain. The heart-shaped pit is about 2.3 kilometers (1.4 miles) at its widest.

Source: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01342

#ScienceSunday #SciSunRR  

2013-04-29 02:08:12 (6 comments, 10 reshares, 17 +1s)

J.S. Bach - Crab Canon on a Möbius Strip

The enigmatic Canon 1 à 2 from J. S. Bachs Musical Offering (1747), The manuscript depicts a single musical sequence that is to be played front to back and back to front.

#sciencesunday  

2013-04-29 02:06:44 (6 comments, 8 reshares, 30 +1s)

How Strong Is This Pole Dancer?

"Just because it’s pole dancing doesn’t mean it isn’t art. In this case, pole dancing also means “requires strength”. When I see something like this, I automatically ask the question: what kind of forces would this guy have on his arms? And my second question: where can you get shorts like that? Ok, forget about the shorts, let’s look at the physics."

Read more on Wired: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/04/how-strong-is-this-pole-dancer/

#science #sciencesunday #scienceeveryday #physics  

2013-04-29 00:24:25 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

Going Viral

In case you missed today's #SciSunHOA  featuring +Vincent Racaniello talking about viruses versus bacteria, how he got into his field of science, HIV versus ebola, and much more. Check out the YouTube video below, and tune in again next week when +Buddhini Samarasinghe and +Scott Lewis will bring you a panel discussion on viruses with +Vincent Racaniello and others,

Coming up later in May.... we'll tackle the topic of DeExtinction in a   Hangout Scientifique    - details coming soon (and will feature a wooly mammoth bone!)

#ScienceSunday  

2013-04-28 18:34:10 (7 comments, 2 reshares, 13 +1s)

Navzdory mému očekávání fakt výborný :)

2013-04-28 17:52:42 (23 comments, 7 reshares, 13 +1s)

Drop.Notch.Net

In case you have some minutes/hours/days to spare with +Notch Persson 's latest addictive game. I'm celebrating beating +Ryan Bennett 's score with a quick run, so in the meantime, if anyone beats me - 156 - just let me know. Not that I'm at all competitive....

Check out the game here: drop.notch.net

2013-04-26 20:56:02 (9 comments, 20 reshares, 59 +1s)

Wonder what their stairs look like? M.C. Escher lizards parquet floor: http://j.mp/17kB88K

2013-04-26 20:16:55 (7 comments, 10 reshares, 53 +1s)

Via +Ian Mosley

#forscience

2013-04-26 14:39:16 (9 comments, 2 reshares, 7 +1s)

This is Your Thesis, In Just 3 Minutes...

Take a few minutes to watch the McMaster finalists and vote for your favourite for the People's Choice award.

http://graduate.mcmaster.ca/current-students/3mt/peoples-choice

Voting ends on Monday!

2013-04-24 02:49:27 (21 comments, 2 reshares, 29 +1s)

Here is my latest finished piece, Albert Einstein which was commissioned by +Genius+!

2013-04-24 01:58:11 (6 comments, 1 reshares, 31 +1s)

A Flower for Vincent

+Vincent Dale shares a lot of beautiful flowers in his stream, along with a lot of really positive thoughts. So I thought I'd share a beautiful flower with him for his birthday, along with this positive thought: 

Happy Birthday +Vincent Dale !

2013-04-24 01:51:53 (16 comments, 5 reshares, 20 +1s)

2013-04-22 02:38:01 (6 comments, 11 reshares, 28 +1s)

One Earth

"This planet, this... mote of dust... captures us in its sway, its beauty inspiring us, reminding us of what goes unexplored... on our own tiny world.... and of our unity as a species, all of us born on the same point of light...."

Fiona Conn won +NASA 's  2011 Earth Day contest with this beautiful entry. It's just under 3 minutes, and the combination of Fiona's voice, the music and the images is simply stunning and hypnotic.  

A wonderful way to welcome this #Earthday  this year.

To see other contest winners (2nd, 3rd, and runners up), check out +NASA 's Earth site here: http://goo.gl/pQEcG

#ScienceSunday   #Earthday  

2013-04-22 00:32:27 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Join hosts +Buddhini Samarasinghe and +Scott Lewis for another “SciSunHOA”, a live Google+ Hangout On Air broadcast, brought to you by +ScienceSunday. This episode, Professor +Vincent Racaniello joins Buddhini and Scott to discuss his work in virology. Vincent is a professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia University. His research includes the study of poliovirus (Polio), rhinovirus (Common Cold), and other RNA viruses. His work focuses on how our immune systems interact with these viruses, how they cause disease, while also discovering new viruses in wild animals.

Outside of the lab, Vincent is involved in many science outreach efforts, including hosting the excellent podcast series This Week in Virology (TWiV). You can read more on his website here (http://www.virology.ws/) We’re all very excited for this episode of “SciSunHOA” as Vincent is not only a brilliant scientist,but also ... more »

2013-04-22 00:29:34 (6 comments, 3 reshares, 19 +1s)

The Mantis Shrimp: From Rainbow Vision to Death Claws

The Oatmeal calls these guys "Genghis Khan bathed in sherbet ice cream," and for good reason.  http://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp

As a vision researcher, I find the eyes of the Mantis Shrimp really interesting. Whereas we have binocular vision (2 eyes, each with 1 focal point), the Mantis Shrimp has hexnocular vision: 2 eyes, each with 3 focal points. This means that theoretically a Mantis Shrimp can see in 3D using just one eye. The Mantis Shrimp also can see and discriminate a much wider range of colours than we can, including wavelengths all the ways from ultraviolet to infrared.

What gets most people excited though, is the way Mantis Shrimp seem to be the master predators of the sea.  There actually are two kinds of mantis shrimp: the spearer, who use their barbed front  to spear prey; andth... more »

2013-04-21 21:33:43 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 18 +1s)

Lizards. Animals from the underground. 3D street art by Gregor Wosik.
Check 15 unbelievable 3D chalk artworks ➜ http://goo.gl/XIeMi

2013-04-21 21:08:08 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 0 +1s)

Make Your Vote Count! People's Choice Award for the 3 Minute Thesis

Could you present years of research in just 3 minutes? These 9 finalists from +McMaster University School of Graduate Studies did (http://goo.gl/tnFbD), and now we are looking for your help to crown a winner.  

The graduate student who gets the most votes will win the inaugural People's Choice Award and a cash prize, and along the way, you can hear about research from the fields of communications, nuclear physics, biomedical engineering, music perception, and health sciences. 

The challenge to each student was to describe his or her research using just one static slide in just 3 minutes. Having tried this myself, I know how hard it really is (you can view it here: http://goo.gl/t8Odg), but our students make it look so easy.

Now we need your help to see who made itlo... more »

2013-04-22 02:13:43 (16 comments, 53 reshares, 127 +1s)

Art meets Science: Rebuilding the Coral Reefs

On #Earthday  , don't forget that more than 70% of the Earth is covered by water, and under that water, coral reefs play a critical part in our ecosystems.

Coral reefs are the largest living structures on Earth - home to about 25% of all marine species. Coral reefs bring about $9.6 billion dollars per year into the global economy from tourism and recreation, and another $5.7 into the economy from fishing, and it's estimated that about 500 million people worldwide have some dependence upon coral reefs.

But coral reefs also are one of our most threatened ecosystems, due to a number of factors including over fishing, sedimentation, pollution, and climate change.  It has been estimated that if remediation efforts aren't put into place now, we will lose up to 70% of our coral reefs withint... more »