And you thought your cats were just randomly knocking things off tables!
Cartoon by Jack Ziegler for The New Yorker. You can order a print of it here.
Author: michelebanks1
Artist and blogger
The Art of Science: Sticks and Swells
When I came across a photo of a Marshall Islands stick chart on Tumblr, I had no idea that it was anything other than an elegant piece of modern art. I was very surprised to discover that the stick chart was an important piece of navigational equipment that was in active use for thousands of years.
The Marshall Islands are a group of over a thousand small islands in the northern Pacific, which were settled in the second millennium BC. Stick charts were an ingenious way to navigate among the islands by canoe. The charts, made from coconut fronds tied together in an open framework, depicted major ocean swell patterns and the ways the islands disrupted those patterns. Shells were sometimes tied to the framework to represent the position of islands. Reading and interpreting the charts was a crucial skill handed down through generations.
The Marshallese continued to use canoes and stick charts for navigation until the mid-20th century, when they gradually switched to motorboats and electronic navigation systems. The charts survive not only as history, but as an art form deeply imbued with the values of an ancient, ocean-centric culture.
Science Caturday: Electrikitty
OK, this one works for both Caturday and Punday.
photo via Cheezburger.com
The Art of Science: The Crafty Creatures of Hiné Mizushima
She describes herself as a “slow crafter”, but Hiné Mizushima has managed to pack a lot of projects into the last few years. A native of Japan, Mizushima started out there as a painter before moving first to Europe, then to the US, before settling in Vancouver and starting to create adorable needle-felted creatures. Not the usual bears and mice, though – she prefers offbeat creatures like squid, slugs, daphnia and even ectoplasm, which she shows in galleries and sells in her etsy shop. I love the combination of humor, smarts and beautiful craft in pieces like this needle-felted squid knitting a squid. If you’re not in the market for a gorgeous woolen cephalopod, this Unnatural History Museum postcard set should fulfill your needs for sweet, quirky science on a budget. (Note the detail: each little “ectoplasm” carefully sealed in its own labeled test tube)
Mizushima recently began creating stop-motion animations using her felted creations, and has been commissioned to make several music videos for the ultimate geeky band, They Might Be Giants. I especially love the “Insect Hospital” video, where sick and injured bugs get fixed up with various computer parts. She has also been making super-short animated gifs, including this amazing self-extinguishing firebug.
You can see lots more of Hiné Mizushima’s work on her website and follow her on twitter @hine_art
Science Caturday: Pavlov’s Cat
Everyone knows about Pavlov’s dog and Schrodinger’s cat. But what about Pavlov’s cat? This illustration suggests that cats are better at conditioning humans than vice versa. Like it? You can get it on a t-shirt at SnorgTees.
The Finch and Pea 