Crocheted Caffeine Molecule by Javelin Chi
Javelin Chi was trained as a chemist and now works as a research technologist at Agilent technologies in California . She first started crocheting in graduate school to relieve the stress of lab work. She eventually turned her hobby into a professional sideline, selling her crocheted molecules on her Etsy shop, Prim and Plush, and at craft shows. Continue reading “The Art of Science – Crochet Caffeine Molecule”
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Day is an official holiday in my house, and apparently in the UK this year (though they are claiming its for some chick named Elizabeth). According to the calculations of Larry Granillo, the inaugural Ferris Bueller’s Day Off occurred on 5 June 1985..
In honor of the 27th anniversary, I give you Ferris Club*:
I tried to shorten the quote, but this is just to rich to abbreviate. The New York Times: “Craig Venter’s Bugs Might Save the World”:
In the menagerie of Craig Venter’s imagination, tiny bugs will save the world. They will be custom bugs, designer bugs — bugs that only Venter can create. He will mix them up in his private laboratory from bits and pieces of DNA, and then he will release them into the air and the water, into smokestacks and oil spills, hospitals and factories and your house. Continue reading “To be added to the annals of overwritten science journalism”
With a candle in my hand and squeezed onto a picnic blanket full of friends, I’ll soon be spending another August weekend at the Edmonton Folk Festival. Tickets sold out in an hour on Friday morning, and I’m pretty pleased to have a pair. One of the acts I’m most looking forward to this year is Bahamas, the stage name of Toronto guitarist and singer Afie Jurvanen. Once a regular supporting player for Feist, his second solo album Barchords was released in February, much anticipated after his Polaris Prize nominated debut.
As Bahamas, he has created fascinating mix of breezy light songs that pulse with an undercurrent of melancholy. They seem almost forgettable at first and then grab hold of something and don’t let go. Part of the appeal is his rich soft voice. There’s also his attention to detail in how every plucked string sounds, often using vintage guitars from the 50s and 60s to get just the right tone. This week’s song, though, is even more clever than that. Continue reading “Bahamas’s Caught Me Thinking and the Shepard Tone”
My local library system, to make room for never-ceasing influx of new sci-fi, frequently discards rarely read gems which I pick up for a quarter. I’ve managed to snag a half-dozen books from David Pringle’s famous mid-80’s list of the 100 best science fiction novels, and a volume of first-rate C.L. Moore stories, among others. Here’s another gem that might be easy to miss: Deep Space, a collection of mostly 1950’s stories about, you guessed it, deep space. Despite the lackluster cover, this collection has some first-rate stories, including early ones by Harlan Ellison and Gordon Dickson, and a psychedelic planet story from Jack Vance that is even better than the Dying Earth stories. Continue reading “Classic Adventures in Deep Space”
The Finch and Pea 