Hannahhaifisch - HH

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Galena and Fluorite - Blackdene Mine, Ireshopeburn, Weardale, Co. Durham, England

2015 Roundup

Previous years: 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010. Cool things hopefully coming to this space in 2016. In the meantime, SCIENCE!

Ghost particles.

The McGurk effect is an audiovisual illusion that works even when you know how it works. It shows that understanding speech is visual as well as auditory.

True-color composite of Pluto and its moon Charon.

Jamais vu, the evil twin brother of deja vu.

A few amusing math terms, including surreal numbers and the Cox-Zucker Machine.

The solar eclipse of March 20, 2015. Wow, has it been that long already?

How many words for snow do the Eskimos have? Answer: not as many as you think.

God’s number and the Rubik’s Cube.

Trading in futures in a feudal Japanese rice market.

Quite a few of you have been messaging me using the new messaging system on Tumblr. I can’t respond to all of you if all you say is “hi”–honestly, what did you expect? But if you have any feedback on what you’d like to see here, feel free to do so. See you in 2016, may it be another great year for science!

Tetrahedrite with Siderite

Locality:  Saint-Pierre-de-Mesage, Vizille, Rhone-Alpes, France

A small Japanese puffer fish is the creator of one of the most spectacular animal-made structures. To impress the female puffer fish, the male labors 24 hours a day for a week to create a pattern in the sand. If the female finds his work satisfactory, she allows him to fertilize her eggs. She then lays them in the middle of the circle, leaving the male to guard the eggs alone.

Life Story (2014)

Adjustable Wood Lamp ‘Goldberg’

The adjustable 'Goldberg’ lamp by Atelier Akerboom is a handmade wooden lamp. By adjusting the 31 openings of the lamp you can control how much light it gives out in any direction. The lamp can be used as a hanging (pendant) lamp or as table or floor lamp. The lamp is available in different colors (see information sheet) and in two sizes (30cm or 50cm diameter).

This special design is named after Michael Goldberg (1902-1990) who described the Goldberg polyhedron – a convex polyhedron made from hexagons and pentagons – first in 1937.

https://www.etsy.com/de/listing/267492092/adjustable-lamp-goldberg?ref=shop_home_active_2

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math textbooks are the best

thanks for the helpful commentary

slope point, the southernmost tip on new zealand’s south island, is hit with such persistently violent southern antarctic winds that trees grow in the leeward direction. (click pic or link for credit x, x, x, x, x, x)