Bask in the glow

The power of Delta

One of the things I like about learning all the new science stuff that taking on a new degree has facilitated is the additional ammo for humor. It's funny, because while it's freaking funny to watch Ben Stiller dance around in Zoolander there is also something pretty cool about the guy who builds and does this. Science doesn't really make things funnier, it just give you a broader base to work from and a finer knife to slice the irony with. This is why, last night, after the Michigan result were in and the pundits were droning on I kept referring to Mitt Romney as "Delta R." He had been talking all about "change" during the debates in SC and to a lesser degree in his speech. My wife has a science degree so she got the joke, and despite not being sucked into politics the way I am, she pointed out that "Delta O" (or Obama) might reach equilibrium with Delta R. The end result of this quipping was some wasted time and this:

Embrace the darkside of the force

I'm trying to decide how to term this for my christmas list for the wife because by my thinking a redheaded Leia belly dancing would be the shit.

What does a dork do with his free time: Bask in the glow if you dare.

Cross posted from my rarely updated photo blog: I haven't posted here in a dogs age. Part of it is being too busy and part of it is simply not taking a lot of pictures and part of it is just a natural ebb in the flow of the desire to blog. I find that I still have a decent amount to say because I'm still an opinionated jackass but I'm more than a little fatigued with balancing my work persona with my home persona with my spiritual persona with my virtual persona. Any way you slice it, I have about 20 other personas that are in there and that's probably 25 more personas than I need. I know that people pride themselves on being true to themselves and "keeping it real" and things like that. I don't. Too many parts of my personality are perpendicular from each other, they are lines that only intersect at a central point, which is me. To try to even bend them to a angle that is parallel, just so I can minimize the effort and the strain between them is a gargantuan task. Honestly, it's also one that I don't excel at either. As a result, I accept that I generate chaos and disorder and burn a lot of energy because of an unbalanced, unfocused personality. I used to fight against that understanding, thinking that there was a unifying personality of which all of my various diverging interest, tastes, discriminations, preferences and fixations derive from. Instead, I have since some to understand that this isn't the case but that these contradictory and juxtaposed positions are the result of my interaction with the elements around me. In a sense, the nexus of my personality, and the personas that merge to form it, are more like the spatial relationship of the intersection of points, in relation to the opposing forces of these positions. In that, my personality is not a defined trait but rather a variable within a definable position of these stresses. I'll try to post some images below to clarify the concept. Update:Here's a visual description. The 1st figure was my initial perception. In that, I had various roles in my life that I occupy. In the 2nd figure, you could see that when a role required more attention it dominated and forced the other roles into the background. In that example, for some reason, I have to go put on my Daddy hat and do some "Dad" stuff. The problem with that view point is that it didn't really express the consistent tension, alignment or awareness of my other roles. For most people I doubt this would would matter but I found that it was in accurate in expressing to other people the forces I fell acting on my life, and to a lesser degree it effected my ability to grasp the forces on other people's lives. The 3rd figure is what I would term as my current perception. In this, my life is geometrically surrounded by roles/concerns/purposes. Some of the purposes work as direct counter tensional forces but most are non competitive, while effecting the location of my state of being. As all these forces act, the state of my being finds an equlibria between the tensional forces. As a stimulus effects this, as in example 4, the state of my being changes. More stress in one area, effects other points. One desire in one area is counter balanced or guided by seemingly unrelated elements elsewhere. As a result, I don't feel that I have a role dominated personality, as illustrated in figure 1, but instead my personality is actually more of a field of probability defined by the tensional forces exacted on my state at any given time. In that, I feel my personal volatility of thought and nature are best expressed and I feel that I have a better construct for my tendency to embrace contradicting positions with sincerity without suffering from their nature. While this may not effectively describe your condition, I'm curious to know if this construct makes sense to other people because I wouldn't be surprised to find that a person more ordered than I would see this as a sign of a chaotic mind that is nothing like their own personality. In that, my model may now be accurate but it may be limited to a specific type of person, and eventually we might just have to say that it is just me. Additionally, since I have had little to no training in psychology, it would be interesting to know if all I have accomplished is to stumble on something that has been theorized long ago. In that, it would validate my position and provide me a new reading outlet. If not, knowing the competing though structure would be interesting as well. So by all means, cast your two cents and opine.

Ouch....That's Gotta Burn

iPhone early adapters everywhere have experienced a first rule of the mobile phone; new technologies are costly until the manufacturing company decides it isn't going to reach a particular sales goal. Analysts said quick discounts are typical for the cell-phone industry, if not the computer industry. The world's best-selling cell phone, the Motorola Razr, for instance, debuted at $499 but now can be had for less than $100. "This is about Apple learning how to become a cell-phone retailer," said Jeff Kagan, an independent telecommunications industry analyst based in Atlanta. "All of a sudden it's in the cell-phone business, and everyone is trying to figure out how to measure it, and we don't know yet." Anyone buying the iPhone that didn't expect to see the price come down quickly is a bit on the daft side. Only last year, when I bought my Motorola RAZR v3i the cost was about $399 for an unlocked version. Today the same phone sells for all of $100 on Amazon.com. What has to burn the most though, and I mean burn, is that the new iPod Touch looks just like the iPhone, so the posers can have their cake and eat it too. So much for the tech uniqueness of the iPhone, and so much for the romance. Apple announced that the iPod is the golden child, not the iPhone. A big "f-you" to the fan boys from Steve Jobs.

I want one ....

For those with humor

This is an excerpt from the uncyclopedia on the entry for the occupation of geologist. The Great Geologist-Engineer Controversy Geologists, secure in their vague estimates have forever conflicted with engineers and their need for a definitive, quantifiable answer since the building of the pyramids. The ancient Egyptian engineers had determined that the Great Pyramid would require 16.356732519874886510 metric tons of stone blocks to construct. The ancient Egyptian geologists yawned and disagreed. When it turned out that only 16.356732519874886509 metric tons were required, the geologists sneered and said, "I told you your calculations were wrong." The geologists, having been proven correct and superior, have been envied by engineers since that fateful day. Geology, being an art as much as a science, has always baffled and worried engineers, hence the engineers' defensive weapons of pocket protectors, slide rules, black socks, and eventually computers. But these have been no match for the geologist's rock hammer, hand lens, and Brunton compass (Note that the Microsoft software engineers did not even include Brunton in Word's spellcheck dictionary). While geologists have provided mankind with massive sources of energy such as coal, gas, and flatulence, engineers have been relegated to merely designing tanks to hold these natural resources. It's actually a pretty funny entry.

Why college is fun

Random things I find on the net

For our pal Gail: with comtemporary "Final Fantasy video game youtube" reference included I'm all about the juxtaposition today

Men's Health Study: Sex is good for your heart

Need another good reason to have sex? Well, Irish researchers believe they have one: It's good for your heart, according to a report in Psychology Today. Researchers from the University of Bristol and Queen's University of Belfast studied 2,500 men ages 45 to 59 for 10 years and found that men who have three or more orgasms a week are 50 percent less likely to die from coronary heart disease. The findings also suggested that sex can be used to help prevent heart attacks and strokes as a means of fulfilling the recommendation for sustained physical activity for at least 20 minutes, three times a week. Other suprising data that they uncovered in thier studies: ~ Watching football (soccer) will make men better fathers and husbands ~ Drinking Guiness and Harp will cause men to be romantic ~ A daily regiment of recieving multiple blow jobs from their wife will make men extra alert and attentive to thier wives. (Seriously guys, I keep telling you women aren't going to buy our whole "Science/health" angle. We need to go with the "shoe sale" idea or the "exteme nightly drinking kills fat and increases boob size" angle if we really expect to score more sex. Those scientist are cracked. Besides, they're scientist, like they're authorities on getting laid?)

Another reason to hate the enviromental alternitive fuel movement

I've alwyas know that the alternitve fuel crowd was full of sketchy chemistry and snake oil salesmen but now they are dealing with thier own problems: Internet driven greasy bastards. A local company has employed for many years a former Texas Ranger and a former Texas cop to track down criminals stealing a valuable substance - restaurant grease. Their job has gotten busier. The rising price of ethanol and increasing popularity of biodiesel fuel have spurred more people to take grease from traps behind restaurants to convert it to biodiesel or sell it on the black market. Cold Spring-based Griffin Industries Inc. employs former Texas Ranger Al Cuellar and former San Antonio cop Larry Findley to work with law enforcement all over the country to curb the thefts that can cost Griffin thousands of dollars each week. The company is an animal rendering and recycling company that renders restaurant grease and either sells it or manufactures it into useful substances, such as biodiesel and animal feed. The company keeps grease containers at many types of restaurants throughout the United States. Robert Griffin, president/CEO of Griffin Industries, wouldn't say how much grease thefts cost the company, but said the crime is increasing. "It has grown everywhere," Griffin said. "Many want to convert it to biodiesel. They think it is there for the taking." Grease thieves will often sneak behind restaurants at night, break the locks on containers and spill grease everywhere, said Findley, who has worked for Griffin Industries for 16 years. Thieves will often make off with 1,500 pounds of grease in one haul and sell it for between 10 and 15 cents a pound, Findley said. Texas and Oklahoma have been the hotbed of grease thieves for most of the past 20 years, Findley said. When Findley started with Griffin 16 years ago, there would be as many as 30 to 40 grease thefts in the Houston area each night. "We would make as much as six arrests in a night," Findley said. As the company and law enforcement made progress in Texas, about two years ago grease thefts started to increase elsewhere in the country, Findley said. A new type of grease thief has emerged in recent years. Average people concerned more about fuel efficiency than the street value of grease have been caught pilfering grease traps, Findley said. Biodiesel conversion kits have encouraged people to steal grease to run their car on it, he said. Many think they are entitled to the grease. "This is a recent phenomenon. These people are the worst kind of thief," Findley said. "They don't know they are stealing. The Internet is replete with how to make this stuff. They have no idea what they are doing." But these people can find themselves behind bars with serious theft charges, Findley said. The damage is both environmental and financial. "Our goal is environmental protection and neatness. Their goal is stealth and speed," Findley said. "They take grease out of containers by dipping it out. They spill the grease all over the place." The cost to restaurants and companies can be thousands of dollars, Findlay said. Few restaurants in Northern Kentucky have fallen victim so far. No members of the Northern Kentucky chapter of the Kentucky Restaurant Association have said they experienced this, said president Ted Vonden Benken. Griffin Industries is working to keep grease thieves away. "They think they can get this stuff," Findley said. "They are stealing from us. It is outright theft. They are causing an environmental risk hazard. They spill stuff all over the parking lot." A travesty, they should know better. Folks, leave the spilling of chemicals to us oil and gas types. For God's sake, we're professional we know what we're doing. (h/t mom)

Friday's mineral porn

Chemistry: Al 2 SiO 4 (F, OH) 3, Aluminum silicate fluoride hydroxide. Class: Silicates Subclass: Nesosilicates Uses: gemstones and optical properties are useful in industry. Topaz is a common gemstone that has been used for centuries in jewelry. Its golden brown to yellow color is classic but is confused with the less valuable citrine, which is sold under the name topaz. The blue topaz that is often confused with aquamarine is rarely natural and is produced by irradiating and then heating clear crystals. Topaz is the November Birthstone.

For JR and Hood

World of Whorecraft star Mia Rose has been banned from World of Warcraft. Mia Rose is a hardcore gamer as well as being a pornstar, who appeared in several episodes of World of Whorecraft. Rose told the website Kotaku.com that she was banned from the World of Warcraft over the weekend after a fan recognized her and mentioned her website in a public chat area. Yeah, God knows that Blizzard needs to protect the sanctity of their gaming brand from porn stars and porn because there couldn't be any possibility of a marketing demographic crossover there. Right guys?

Bridging the gap with some very "sexy" engineering

and, it's right in my back yard! Well, close enough that I can wander through the park behind my house to watch. Tonight's replacement of the Island Park bridges will make Canadian highway history, save millions of dollars, and give the public a look at adventurous engineering. For the first time in Canada, a highway bridge will be replaced overnight using rapid-lift technology known as self-propelled modular transporters. The new technique will reduce two years of traffic tieups to a mere 15 hours and save $2.4 million in traffic detour costs. It will also save time and money for motorists. ... The "live cam" is up and working. The process is supposed to start tonight at 8pm EST and finish by noon tomorrow. There's an animation of it here. I'm taking my lawn chair, my camera and my cooler! "If you build it, they will come!" UPDATE: Sunday 1PM ... It's in the bag.

Why video games can be a parents best friend.

When I was born they had Pong. By the time I was a kid they had Atari. In my teen years it was Nintendo. By college we had Sega. By late college we had the PlayStation. I'm living right in the wheelhouse of the video game generation. I was a master of both Pac-man and Tekken Tournement. I wasted time with both Galaga and Grand Theft Auto. As I have grown, video gaming has been a constant influence in my life. Now, as a dad, I have to weigh that influence again from a different perspective. The cons of video games get a lot of popular press. It's not too hard to find a story linking video games to obesity, anti-social behavior or violence. Honestly, I am typically critical of these stories for the fact that most make rather loose leaps between the correlation and the causality of social ills. For example, if I had research that said that "By their 15th birthdays, close to 100 percent of males have masturbated to orgasm." and I have data that says "95 per cent of the teens surveyed said they had access to either a video game machine or home computer and a similar proportion (90 per cent) said they owned at least some video games." Does that mean that video games makes boys by age 15 masturbate? No, it's a correlation. However, the media rarely takes the time to explain the methodology of their comparative data or it's collection in the inferences that it makes when blaming social ills on video games. I can honestly admit that as a result of my childhood, I'm jaded about the validity of these results because I belonged to several "at risk" groups of my adolescent time. I was a single parented child. I also listened to heavy metal rock. I played D&D. I had dyslexia. We were, for most of my life, below the poverty line. My parents didn't have a college education. Somehow, through all of that statistically proclaimed "adversity" I managed not to become a drug fueled, Satanist who was kept down by socio-economic underpinnings of a corrupted upbringing. Who knew? The truth of it is, a lot of that so-called study done at the time was conducted to blame a social phenomenon that people didn't understand or like or correlated with an event that they would accept either happened for a different reason or no reason at all. Like the kid that killed himself while listening to Ozzy. His parents wigged out and blamed Ozzy, and heavy metal, for their sons death. In the process, they actually sued Ozzy for causing their sons death. The court killed the case but the standard of people blaming external events for an issue that would have more than likely been tied to the home was set. Additionally, I never forget that the media is generated not by experts in relevant fields but by people with journalism degrees. They can write about science but are rarely scientist themselves. On the other hand, the positive effects of video games are rarely ever discussed. In passing we are told that these games are horrible things that teach our children horrible things. Really? If they teach horrible things, then is it possible that they can teach good things too? For example, some video games teach children problem solving abilities dictated by logic and memory. Not only are children given objectives, but they are given limitations in multiple areas that govern the problem, that must all be managed, simultaneously, in order to solve the problem. All of this is done in an environment that rewards success, promotes learning, increases hand eye coordination, has consequences for failure and works within a construct of fair play. For example, the "Lego Starwars" video games are ones that my kids love. In them you have to solve puzzles, both short and long term. Achievement is rewarded. Mistakes have an immediate cost but the option to retry and learn from mistakes is available. It forces players to make logical problem solving steps while under character constraints, physical constraint and chronological constraints. Most importantly, it's fun. This is a game that my four year old can play at a totally different level than what my six year old does or for what I do. The complexity increases the reward of play while not governing the game play itself. The Shrek and Spiderman3 video games are similar but for older players, due to plot complexity. Most sports games fit under this mold, as well. In this, parents who are willing to take the time to research and pay attention to game play can find that some video games are great learning tools that create their own reward while giving the parent the open forum to show the real life benefit of the lessons learns in the virtual world. Even this morning, as my son sat, stuck in a part of the Ratatouille video game, he was frustrated with his ability to pass the level. I pointed out that sometimes multiple attempts have to be made to correctly time any event in order to pass the level. If that fails, back tracking and reevaluating the steps you made to get there and looking for a missed part of the level sometimes helps to show another path to progress. However, I stressed, there is always a way to get over any objective because the game is governed by it's design so that once you truly have all the options the answer will present itself. Sure enough, before I left he had passed it and in that exchange he was reminded of the same qualities that make real people succeed in the real world. Of course not all games are suitable for all kids and some games are just crap but the same can be said of books, TV or ,in some cases, parents. The point I am making is that video games, out of hand, are no worse than any other tool that a parent has for teaching, yet offer a somewhat unique way to allow for an interaction that mimics the real world in the tasking that one must acquire in order to solve real world issues.

Fighting the burn

Politics has me a little torched out. I'm glad I'm not in class right now because work has gotten a little weird. I have a new "above me but not my boss" person to break in. (I'm sorta the community bitch in my office.) Mostly, over all I just feel weird. SO, I'm going to post a little random. It might suck, but then you guys don't have to read it. I figure that it's better than nothing and a lot better than just wigging out. So here is a video to a song that I made out with a girl to once. I'm not sure why but it's just one of those things that sticks with you. I think it's because the girl looked a lot like Bjork and the song was Bjork. She was a really short girl, like 5'2'. For the record, I'm like 6'2". In the end we only went out twice because her dad was Thai and he didn't want his daughter to date white guys. Great plan moving to Dallas, Einstein. Here is a video of my favorite group doing what was their best song in the Early 90's. It was the song we were playing the night that we were throwing water balloons into the lowered pickups of all the "cool kids" outside of the Taco Bell. They, of course chased us, but when they are in a lowered truck and I am in a jacked up truck "terrain" is the name of the game. Not the smartest thing i ever did, but damn fun. Here is the song that I danced to the night that I went to an episcopal camp and was "the guy" to dance with at their dance. Was I a good dancer? Hell no. I'm baptist, I can't dance to save my life. But as the "baptist guy" there, I was the poor mans substitute for the "bad boy" at a church camp full of Episcopal girls who had gone to the same camp with the same guys for years. A lot of those girls felt it was their destiny to rebel against their parents by kissing "the baptist guy" at camp, so who was i to stand in the way of progress and rebellion and the like? Finally, this was the song, or at least the music, that made me wish that I played guitar. It's from the movie Crossroads. This scene is at the end where Ralph Macchio plays (actually Ry Cooder plays the guitar for his parts) against the Devil's guitarist (Steve Vai) for the soul of his friend who had traded it to the Devil way back when at the crossroads for a "mojo hand." So now, you've had a small exposure to musically odd Rob. I'll cap this with a song that I want to dedicate to all the ladies.

More "catch up"

Talc is an important industrial mineral. Its resistance to heat, electricity and acids make it an ideal surface for lab counter tops and electrical switchboards. It is also an important filler material for paints, rubber and insecticides. Even with all these uses, most people only know talc as the primary ingredient in talcum powder. Mineral specimens are not very common as it does not form very large crystals. However, it often replaces other minerals on an atom by atom basis and forms what are called pseudomorphs (false shape). The talc takes the form of the mineral it replaces. A specimen of what looks like milky quartz is quite a surprise when it not only has a soapy feel but can be scratched by a fingernail. (As an aside, don't use talcum powder on babies, especially little girls, or on any part of your body that is near "soft muscle or mucus membranes. Talcum powder has been linked to cancer under those circumstances. Numerous studies have shown a strong link between frequent use of talc in the female genital area and ovarian cancer. Talc particles are able to move through the reproductive system and become imbedded in the lining of the ovary. Researchers have found talc particles in ovarian tumors and have found that women with ovarian cancer have used talcum powder in their genital area more frequently than healthy women. Talc poses a health risk when exposed to the lungs. Talc miners have shown higher rates of lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses from exposure to industrial grade talc, which contains dangerous silica and asbestos. The best thing to use is corn starch.) Magnetite is a natural magnet, hence the name, giving it a very nice distinguishing characteristic. Explaining the magnetism is not easy but here is a go at it. Remember, electricity produces magnetic fields just as magnetism produces electric fields. Magnetite is a member of the spinel group which has the standard formula A(B)2O4. The A and B represent usually different metal ions that occupy specific sites in the crystal structure. In the case of magnetite, Fe3O4, the A metal is Fe +2 and the B metal is Fe +3; two different metal ions in two specific sites. This arrangement causes a transfer of electrons between the different irons in a structured path or vector. This electric vector generates the magnetic field. Hornblende is actually the name given to a series of minerals that are rather difficult to distinguish by ordinary means. The iron, magnesium and aluminum ions can freely substitute for each other and form what have been distinguished as separate minerals. The minerals are given the names Magnesio-hornblende, Ferrohornblende, Alumino-ferro-hornblende and Alumino-magnesio-hornblende. These minerals are obviously named for their chemistries although there is little to distinguish them in the field. The iron rich members of the series are a darker black and less likely to be translucent. Hornblende is not often a collection mineral because good crystals are somewhat difficult to find even though the mineral is widespread. It is almost always opaque and black and not very attractive. However a few specimens are extraordinary and make for valuable specimens. Some crystals can grow to a fairly large size of several feet long and nearly a foot across. Other specimens of hornblende can be acicular clusters or needle thin crystal aggregates. Many times a specimen of a more valuable mineral will be accented by the opaque black crystals of hornblende.

Making up for lost time

I realize that I've really dropped the ball on the "mineral porn" so here's some catch up work. Sulfur, which is given a bad reputation because of its odor, can make a very beautiful mineral specimen, and fine quality examples are much sought after. The unmistakable deep yellow color is not matched by any other mineral and the nicely shaped crystal forms of sulfur add to its attractiveness. As for the odor, this occurs when water mixes with the sulfur and a small amount of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas is produced. Although only small amounts of H2S form from just moisture in the air, it is a powerful odor producer and is the dominating contributor to the odor of rotten eggs. Rest assured, though, that most specimens of sulfur, when kept dry, do not emit a strong odor and this is not difficult for collectors of fine sulfur specimens to ensure. When someone lists the most famous gemstones such as diamond, topaz, aquamarine, emerald and garnet, corundum does not usually get mentioned. However, its two varieties are sure to be on any list of gemstones. The red variety of corundum is known as ruby and all the other colors of corundum are known as sapphire. Corundum is the second hardest natural mineral known to science. The hardest mineral, diamond is still four times harder than corundum. The hardness of corundum can be partially attributed to the strong and short oxygen-aluminum bonds. These bonds pull the oxygen and aluminum atoms close together, making the crystal not only hard but also quite dense for a mineral made up of two relatively light elements.

Paging CVThesis !!!

Wunderkraut has a challenge for us.

Uh, oh ...

Now they've gone and done it. The mud at the bottom of B.C. fjords reveals that solar output drives climate change - and that we should prepare now for dangerous global cooling. Climate stability has never been a feature of planet Earth. The only constant about climate is change; it changes continually and, at times, quite rapidly. Many times in the past, temperatures were far higher than today, and occasionally, temperatures were colder. As recently as 6,000 years ago, it was about 3C warmer than now. Ten thousand years ago, while the world was coming out of the thou-sand-year-long "Younger Dryas" cold episode, temperatures rose as much as 6C in a decade -- 100 times faster than the past century's 0.6C warming that has so upset environmentalists. Well .... that settles that! Interesting reading, though.

Now that Hood is going to get hitched

....i feel safe posting this.

Nano! Nano!

Microsoft is now officially out of control. Still ... it is pretty cool. Think of the possibilities for ...say ... hmmm ... Scarlett Johansson!

Securing my nerditude for future generations

Well, well, well. Check this out. This is my birthday present from my mom. Here's a better look at it. Sweet, huh. What? You want to know what it is? Ok. It's a carbonado diamond. Carbonado or "black" diamonds, are the exotic diamonds found in Brazil and the Central African Republic. They are unusual for being the color of charcoal and full of frothy bubbles. These diamonds can also have a face that looks like melted glass. A research team led by Stephen Haggerty of Florida International University in Miami has presented a new study that the odd stones were brought to Earth by an asteroid billions of years ago. The findings were published online in the journal "Astrophysical Journal Letters" on December 20, 2006. The scientists exposed polished pieces of carbonado to extremely intense infrared light. The test revealed the presence of many hydrogen-carbon bonds, indicating that the diamonds probably formed in a hydrogen-rich environment-such as that found in space. The diamonds also showed strong similarities to tiny nanodiamonds, which are frequently found in meteorites. Astrophysicists have developed theories predicting that nanodiamonds form easily in the stellar explosions called supernovas, which scatter debris through interstellar space. Haggerty maintains that the deposits in the Central African Republic and Brazil, probably come from the impact of a diamond-rich asteroid billions of years ago, when South America and Africa were joined. So even though the two diamond fields are now thousands of miles apart, they're remnants of a single, original deposit. Haggerty estimated that the asteroid must have been about half a mile (one kilometer) in diameter. The unusual bubbles seen in specimens of carbonados probably came from fizzing gases when the diamonds were forming, Haggerty added. This adds further credence to the extraterrestrial origin theory, since conventional diamonds form under immense pressure deep beneath the Earths crust, where gas bubbles simply couldn't form. Carbonado diamonds also contain a mineral called osborneite, which has been found only in meteorites and comet dust recovered by the recent Stardust mission. Additionally, adding to the evidence for an extra-terrestrial origin, carbonado diamonds have never been reported among any of the other 600 tons of "conventional" diamonds mined, sorted, graded, traded, cut, and polished in the last century. Hopefully, researchers will eventually identify a carbonado parent body in the Asteroid Belt." You know you're jealous.

I couldn't help it.

From "Better off Dead"

Hey, since I have to study, you do too

Bask in the greatness of the Class Cephalopoda!!!! ARRRRGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!

A salute to "SteamPunk" nerdery!!

If your a nerd, like me, and you've never heard of it, you need to take a little time to aquaint yourself with the realm of steampunk. What is steampunk, you ask? Well, according to wikipedia, this is "Steampunk": Steampunk is a subgenre of speculative fiction which came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era when steam power was still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. It is often associated with cyberpunk and shares a similar fanbase but developed as a separate movement. Their main difference beyond the chronological differences in settings is that Steampunk settings tend to be less obviously dystopian. So think, heavier sci-fi meshed with H.G. Wells "Time Machine." So what has steampunk inspired, aside from the fictional books? How about cool stuff like this, from Eric's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Idea That, by the way is art for a "Steampunk" Star Wars.

Friday's mineral porn

Pyrite Chemistry: FeS2, Iron Sulfide Class: Sulfides Group: Pyrite Uses: A very minor ore of sulfur for sulfuric acid, used in jewelry under the trade name "marcasite" and as mineral specimens. Pyrite is the classic "Fool's Gold". There are other shiny brassy yellow minerals, but pyrite is by far the most common and the most often mistaken for gold. Whether it is the golden look or something else, pyrite is a favorite among rock collectors. It can have a beautiful luster and interesting crystals. It is so common in the earth's crust that it is found in almost every possible environment, hence it has a vast number of forms and varieties.

Friday's Mineral Porn

Pyromorphite Chemistry: Pb5(PO4)3Cl , Lead Chlorophosphate Class: Phosphates Group: Apatite Pyromorphite shares the same structure with apatite and therefore crystals of the two will have similar shapes. Pyromorphite also forms a chemical series with two other minerals; Mimetite (Pb5(AsO4)3Cl) and Vanadinite (Pb5(VO4)3Cl). This series is a little different than most chemical series which involve substitution of cations such as calcium for magnesium. Instead, this series substitutes its basic chemical units the anion groups; phosphate (PO4), arsenate (AsO4) and vanadate (VO4). Green Mimetite or yellow Pyromorphite can make identification between the two difficult, but usually pyromorphite is green and mimetite is yellow. Vanadinite is usually red. Pyromorphite's main characteristic is its unique crystal habit of stacked barrel shaped crystals that branch out in a way that is reminescent of some branching cactus varieties.

Nano ... Nano ...

All I can think of are crabs and whoopee cushions. Anti-virus hardware? Photos from the "Lloyd's Market" Open wide ... swallow quick! Emerging technologies pose some rather tricky questions for the insurance industry. How do you insure something that you cannot see ... let alone, find?

Friday's mineral porn

This has almost become a friday tradition. Not that it's a bad thing. Chemistry: SiO2 , Silicon dioxide Class: Silicates Subclass: Tectosilicates Group: Quartz Uses: silica for glass, electrical components, optical lenses, abrasives, gemstones, ornamental stone, building stone, etc. Quartz is the most common mineral on the face of the Earth. It is found in nearly every geological environment and is at least a component of almost every rock type. It frequently is the primary mineral, >98%. It is also the most varied in terms of varieties, colors and forms. This variety comes about because of the abundance and widespread distribution of quartz. A collector could easily have hundreds of quartz specimens and not have two that are the same due to the many broad catagories.

"Shift happens" ...

I need to go shopping for an EasyBakeTM oven.

A political admission

Whenever someone uses the word "Draconian" to describe something the first thing that pops into my mind is this: SO... I'm a nerd. Deal.

Friday's Mineral porn

Native Silver Formula: Ag System: Isometric Colour: Silver-white, tarnishes ... Lustre: Metallic Hardness: 2½ - 3 Name: From Old English "seolfor", original meaning lost; Latin "argentum", silver. Copper Group Silver is used in jewelry, tableware, coins, scientific equipment and in photographic processes. Silver tarnishes black with a surface layer of Acanthite, especially when placed in proximity to sulphorous compounds. It is primarily found as a constituent of hydrothermal veins. It is often found associated with copper. Unlike Gold it is soluble in any oxydizing mineral acid.

A PROCLAIMATION !!!

AS A SIGN OF FIU'S POWER, THIS WEEKEND I WILL USE OUR TRAFFIC TO BLOCK THE MOONS LIGHT FROM THE SKY. ALL SHALL FEAR ME AND TREMBLE. (Of course, I might be dissuaded if I get $100,000,000,000 by Saturday.)

Things that I learned in school that are only good for Trivial Pursuit but still kinda cool

Europe's largest mushroom coveres about 35 football fields and is calculated to be about 1000 years old. Here's a 2004 BBC story on it. Wierd.

Friday's Mineral porn: It's a double shot

Today's mineral porn is being simualcast into Asia so we have a double shot. A veritable "East meets West" set up. First, for our Asian visitors we have Azurite. Chemistry: Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2, Copper Carbonate Hydroxide Class: Carbonates Uses: ornamental stone, pigment, minor ore of copper, and jewelry. Azurite is a very popular mineral because of its unparalleled color, a deep blue called "azure", hence its name. Azure is derived from the arabic word for blue. The color is due to the presence of copper (a strong coloring agent), and the way the copper chemically combines with the carbonate groups (CO3) and hydroxyls (OH). Azurite has been used as a dye for paints and fabrics for eons. Unfortunately, at times its color is too deep and larger crystals can appear black. Small crystals and crusts show the lighter azure color well. Azurite is often associated with its colorful close cousin, malachite Green malachite is closely associated with azurite in many ways. Not only do they frequently occur together, they also have very similar formulae. Malachite can also replace azurite, making a pseudomorph, or an exact copy of an azurite crystal (only now instead of being blue, it would be green). Compare their formulas: Azurite's formula: Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 Malachite's formula: Cu2(CO3)(OH)2 The oxidation is persistent and actually ongoing, although very slow. Azurite paints made centuries ago have undergone the transformation much to the imagined horror of artists whose paintings of beautiful blue skies now have a most unusual green hue! Thankfully for mineralogists and collectors, this transformation is one of the most asthetically pleasing in the mineral kingdom. Although the malachite may soften the sharpness of the azurite crystal, it generally leaves the specimen intact and a whole range of transformations from pure azurite to pure malachite can be obtained. There really is no comparison to any other mineral to mineral transformation in terms of overall beauty. (BTW, the picture. I know. But I searched "Asia" and "Sexy Girl" and google spit that out so let's just give em' what they want.) Our western contrabution is one of my favorites, and a slight nod to a certian biochemical person that visits here, Halite Chemistry: NaCl, Sodium Chloride Class: Halides Uses: Major source of salt and as mineral specimens. Halite, better known as rock salt, can easily be distinguished by its taste. Since taste is an important property of salt, there is a right way to taste a specimen of halite (or an unknown mineral that is similar to halite) and a wrong way. The right way is to first lick your index finger, rub it against