Science of Life

sciencesoup: Golden Tortoise Beetle Though it looks exceedingly...

Thu, 09 May 2013 23:25:28 -0400

Golden Tortoise Beetle

Though it looks exceedingly pretty and jewel-like, this little beetle is actually incredibly metal. At just 5 to 8 millimetres long, the Golden Tortoise Beetle (Charidotella sexpunctata) is native to North America, found on plants such as sweet potato and morning glory. But upset one of these little guys and things change very quickly—they are the first known insect species to have the ability to rapidly change colour, not only when agitated but also during copulation (which, according to the very dedicated Edward M. Barrows of Georgetown University, can last anywhere from 15 to 583 minutes). The beetle has been observed to turn a variety of shades, from liquid gold to purplish to greenish gold to brownish to bright red. These colours are produced by an optical illusion: the beetle’s outer cuticle is transparent and it reflects light through a layer of liquid, and the beetles can alter the reflectivity of this liquid by using microscopic valves controlling moisture levels under their shell. Such reversible colour change is extremely rare, especially since the change is controlled: it’s elicited in response to specific events in their environment, whether it’s finding a mate or being annoyed by curious humans. Researchers speculate that it serves some interesting purposes, from defence (perhaps by mimicking ladybugs, which aren’t as tasty to their predators) to sexual signalling to mates. Be warned, though: if you catch one of these beetles, it will quickly turn a dark, dull brown, losing all the brilliant gold it had in life. To finish on an incredibly hardcore note: as larvae, the beetle has a fork-like structure hinged to its rear end, and will stick old skin and their own faeces to it, creating a shield for defence—otherwise known as a faecal parasol. Told you these little guys were metal.

(Image Credit: 1, 2, 3)

I can’t find the original post to reblog so here it is...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:00:08 -0400

I can’t find the original post to reblog so here it is anyway. How I feel whenever I try to convince myself to do work.

He hits her. She goes to the hospital. He gets arrested. She...

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 15:17:08 -0400

He hits her. She goes to the hospital. He gets arrested.

She kicks him out. Vows to never let him come back.

He comes back.

He hits my sibling. He gets arrested.

She kicks him out. Vows to never let him come back.

He comes back.

She defends him.

One leaves for California.

The other, for another place to call home.

I think my family just broke.

I don’t know who to blame. Maybe I should just move on with my life.

All my life, I’ve always believed that I should never make someone my priority if I’m only their option. I think I can safely say that I have become an option.

Vivid Dream

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 10:07:07 -0400

I come to noticing some guy trying to motion for me to come by his side. He has a gun. Why does he have a gun? Where am I?

I look around and I am surrounded by light shrubbery, hot concrete and palm trees. I must be in some tropical country, huh. It’s probably noon as I am blinded by the dazzling rays of the sun. Gentle and unimposing, the warmth I am feeling was comforting. It was then when the guy with the gun caught my attention once again.

He was motioning for me to come, this time he is. Hiding behind a wall rather than standing out in the open. For some reason I can’t point my fingers to, I followed him. We were waiting for a long time. I took in the gentle breeze that passed by and the heat of the sun, which right about now, intensified and stung like a bed of needles. My vision became hazy, and that is when I heard a loud bang. The next thing I realized was that the gunman was lying dead next to me and a bunch of men were dragging me with them.

I opened my eyes once more. This time, I was outfitted with a red glider. Kind of like the ones you use to glide down hills as a a sport. Only I was not standing on top of a hill, but situated on a ledge located at a dam-like structure. On one side of the dam was a vibrant, resort-like place complete with swimming pools and bars, and people having fun in them. On the other, the ocean stretched out for as far as the eye can see. For some reason, the resort side was depressed about a couple of hundred meters from the ledge I was standing. I though I was to glide down the dam ledge and land in one of the pools. In my peripheral vision, I am made aware of some individuals staring at me. Once they caught my attention, I stared right back at them. Why do they look so down? What’s with the long faces, guys? No words were exchanged between us, and then I see my cousin D outfitted with the same red glider suit I have on.

“Hey, D, why do you have those on?” Is what I wanted to ask him. Like the others, however, no words were uttered between us two, much to my dismay. He looked at the depressed individuals sitting on another ledge located a little bit below ours, then looked at me. He seemed happy and content. As he fixed his gaze on the ocean at the other side of the ledge, I began to feel an overwhelming sense of loneliness. It feels as though I was about to part with something dear. Without hesitation, D jumps from the ledge. He glides across the ocean. He glides continuously, out into the distance.

I looked back at the people frowning and sighing on the other ledge, took a deep breath, and jumped as high as my legs would take me. At the peak of my jump, I spread my wings. Suddenly, I was gliding. I was gliding across the surface of the ocean. Raising either my left or right hand caused me to soar above the crystal mirror below me. I did this for a couple of times. I soared and glided along the face of the ocean until I felt no more. I stopped thinking about a lot of things. Maybe it was because of how long I was flying/gliding? I wouldn’t know.

After some time, I saw D gliding ahead of me. In front of him was solid land. “These are huge mountains!” I thought. But it remained a thought. I began to get scared. Where am I now? Where’s home? I want to go home. It was no use, for we kept inching towards the island that appeared in front of us.

We eventually reached the island. We took off our gliders as we landed. It was then that we found ourselves in the middle of a barren, decrepit land. As much as I wanted to fear, the feeling wouldn’t come. Instead, I felt a sort of nostalgia as I looked around, like I have been here a few times already (I suspect that I’ve seen the same place in my other dreams). Everything around us was old and decrepit: the grass at our feet, the trees that lined the plains. There was no sign of life, and if there was, it was nearly obliterated.

Something stood out in this grim, barren wasteland. A door. What’s a door doing here? It didn’t seem like a door as much as it did a gate. All I knew was that it had to lead somewhere. Where that somewhere is, I don’t know.

Afternoon crossing through the gate, I now found myself in a more unfamiliar place. In contrast to the dying plains I came across, this place was lush, vibrant. Well, not too vibrant. This plain was green. It’s like looking at the boundless ocean, except green. D and I kept walking, and we eventually ended up at a house in the middle of the plains. Some people came out of the house and greeted us.

These people were apparently part of the “Brown” team. Groups of individuals are assigned a color for their team. After conversing with one of D’s friends from the brown team, I learned I was part of the red team. How and why I ended up as part of the red team I don’t know, but apparently, I was.

The brown team’s function was to drive around the city (there’s a city?) To pick people up and drop them off at a location of their (the passenger’s) choosing. As I had no clue where the red team is and what they do, I ended up following the blue team around driving people to their intended destinations. I remember arguing with the blue team on which team did better work: the blue or the red team. This errand was nothing to write home about, and at the end of each day, we’d go back home to that house in the middle of the green plains. How the brown team ended up becoming the blue team, I do not know.

As we came through the gate, D and I naturally knew how to get back to the desolate wastelands. We did this using the other gate located on the plains we ended up at. One day, when we crossed over to the barren plains just to check out what was in it, we found a yellow bus-like vehicle (not exactly a bus) and right beside the bus-like thing stood my family. It seemed like we talked, but I don’t know what we talked about. The only thing I could notice was how dejected their expressions were. Anyway, we trekked through the barren plains, through the gate, and went home to the house in the middle of the green plains. The next day…

—————

I woke up.

“Now I understand what your voice was saying back then.”

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:29:56 -0500

“Now I understand what your voice was saying back then.”

yetanothergamingblog: Whatever happened to the third Valkyrie...

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 17:03:03 -0500

Silmeria

Lenneth

Hrist

yetanothergamingblog:

Whatever happened to the third Valkyrie Profile? Valkyrie Profile: Hrist?

I suppose a man can dream…

Where’s my Valkyrie?!

Photo

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 16:52:20 -0500

artkitty-litterbox: This game!!! I wonder if the remasters have...

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 16:51:09 -0500

artkitty-litterbox:

This game!!!

I wonder if the remasters have new voice acting…

Best Valkyrie of the three.

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 16:44:57 -0500

Best Valkyrie of the three.

starspangled1x1: easily one of the best female game characters...

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 16:43:38 -0500

starspangled1x1:

easily one of the best female game characters ever

Now you’re just some bitchwhore that I used to know You...

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 23:08:00 -0500

Now you’re just some bitchwhore that I used to know

You know what I hate? Bitches who hop on your cock the whole night expecting you to buy her rounds of drinks whenever she pleases like I’m a gullible motherfucker. No, bitch, you just brought your boyfriend and he’s standing two feet away from me. Stop grinding my cock and ask him to buy you drinks. You think I’m some gullible nigga? You’re wrong. Suck a cock, I’m buying rounds of drinks for my friends and you can go get your chick drink fix somewhere else. Not on my watch, bitch.

Is probably how I’d write the post, but lemme reword that a bit:

To the woman who kept hopping on my cock, please stop trying to make me buy you drinks when your boyfriend is two feet away from me. It’s blatantly obvious and sad when you seem so desperate to get your drink fix. Your sugar daddy isn’t here, it’s that guy who just walked in the bar and isn’t paying attention to you (and who might even be in on this because he’s so cheap). I don’t mind chicks wanting guys to buy them drinks. I do mind when it’s blatantly obvious you’re going around sucking every guy’s cock just so they buy you drinks. That’s more shameless than being a prostitute. At least hookers are feeding someone. You, on the other hand, are just a whore.

/endrant

I don’t like going to bed late when I know I have to wake up...

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 02:14:41 -0500

I don’t like going to bed late when I know I have to wake up early in the morning. Reddit is getting old, and I find myself becoming highly cautious when it comes to tackling a new show, so there goes my two main time sinks.

Looking forward to my last college semester makes me think about what’s coming up ahead. I keep telling myself that I’m taking a gap year to clear my head. I tell myself it’s to prepare myself physically and mentally for what’s to come - in reality, this break is only the byproduct of my own lack of foresight. That is not to say that I won’t be enjoying that year for what it is - a free year, but rather, I wanted to reconcile with the fact that it wasn’t what I originally wanted. Who knows? Taking this one year off might work out better for my own sanity in the long run than just plunging right into the next phase of my education.

I also find that I am dealing with prominent adults now more than ever. While this is good on paper, each day I come home and find myself in shock and awe of the events that transpired during that certain day. Never have I ever imagined myself being able to stand my ground while dealing with directors of hospitals, head of departments and Nobel laureates, even. I somehow manage, but at the end of the day, I feel drained and exhausted and in dire need of good company.

I guess what I’m truly getting at is that I’m genuinely amazed at how big the world is. People keep saying that “it’s a small world, after all,” but after putting myself out there and experiencing different things, there’s just so much more than I can handle. So many things and people have made me felt so much I don’t even know where to start. Somewhere down the road, I want to go back to the Philippines just to see how it has changed and to see the people I was acquainted with. Some of my past friends now have families while some are still exploring the world like I am. I guess one thing I can definitively say is that I can no longer call that place my home. As much as I’d want to, it is no longer a place I can see myself settling down in.

As much as I have accomplished during the past couple of years, I also begin to think of my shortcomings. The one thing I might not be able to live down is the fact that I let my mother get hurt. I had the power to, and the responsibility at the time, yet I froze in fear - irrational fear. Was I afraid of repercussions? Of personal injury, perhaps? All I know is that my whole existence was moot at that one moment, and I felt a certain serene apathy which I soon after despised.

My greatest fear is that nothing of all the things I do will ever amount to anything. However, growing up a little bit has taught me that this is such an irrational fear. I now know that anything I follow through will amount to something. It’s just that what it will amount to depends on how much time I put into it and how much I want it. This is true for anything - desires, goals and relationships alike.

Stolen from reddit: My dream: It featured a small person...

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 23:23:00 -0500

Stolen from reddit:

My dream: It featured a small person standing on the rim of an eyeball, like he was on the bottom lid looking up. and the iris is looking down at the person with the pupil reflecting galaxies in it’s depths.

-Ruthlawliet

And this is how Delivery_of_Rule_34 imagined the scene would be like, drawn by him(her)self.

Plasma Ball Physics isn’t exactly my forte, but let me try...

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 17:33:00 -0500

Plasma Ball

Physics isn’t exactly my forte, but let me try and give this a go.

Plasma balls are really cool gadgets that demonstrate the wonderful property of plasma called filamentation.

To start off, think of the middle electrode (bright pink object in the center of the globe) as a surface that contains an energy source. This energy source consists of high-energy radio waves that is directed into the space inside the globe.

—-

Explanation of the electromagnetic (E/M) spectrum. Skip if you want to carry on to the explanation of how the gas filaments are created.

An aside as to the energy source produced by this electrode in the middle of the globe: you might have heard of the electromagnetic spectrum. This is a spectrum that shows the form energy takes at various frequencies, and it includes visible light we see in everyday life that consists the colors of the rainbow. The visible spectrum is just a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Waves with frequencies below the visible spectrum are classified as infrared waves, microwaves and radio waves going down in frequency values. Waves with frequencies above the visible spectrum contain much higher energy and these are classified into ultraviolet, x-rays and gamma rays, going up in frequency values.

A good idea of what the E/M spectrum classification looks like is shown here.

—-

Now the “empty space” inside the globe is actually filled with noble gases, which are elements that are very stable under normal conditions and will not react with any other compounds, as well as with each other. As energy is pumped into the sphere, the gases immediately around the electrode are ionized (electrons are stripped away from the gases like this).

The ionized gas (now a plasma) becomes hot and subsequently heats up the surrounding gas so that the gases expand and direct the plasma from the immediate vicinity of the electrode to the glass surface. The trail of plasma is visualized as the filaments we see emanating from the electrode to the glass. The various noble gases in the ball (argon, neon and xenon) give off different properties as plasma: neon gives off the diffuse red color, argon forms the filaments and a tiny amount of xenon creates the “flowers” seen at the surface of the glass.

The filaments are made up of similar charges, and as such, you will never see two filaments crossing each other. Like charges repel so these filaments will stay away as far as possible from each other.

Now you touch the plasma ball with the tip of your finger. The plasma congregates into one filament that is now bridging the gap from the electrode from your finger. Why is this? The answer has to do with the conductance difference between your finger and the air around the plasma ball. Your finger is more conductive (it can pick up charges more easily) than the air around you. This is also the reason why you get that static shock during the winter when your skin rubs on a lot of wool clothing and then you touch something metallic.

For this reason, the plasma, which is full of ions (read: positive and negative charges), will be more attracted to your finger than just randomly hitting the glass. The focused plasma filament will be more energetic than the number of random filaments individually, which explains why it is brighter than the normal filaments. The higher energy contained in this single filament also creates a unique phenomenon where a magnetic field is created around the filament itself. This magnetic field compresses the filament, which explains why the electrode-to-skin, brighter filament is thinner than the duller electrode-to-glass filaments.

Keep note that because the electrode in the middle is emitting energy in the form of radio waves, putting a plasma ball in close proximity with wireless devices may impede their function. Wi-Fi may be disrupted slightly if not fully, and other devices, such as touchpads might be affected as well. Moving the plasma ball away from these sources will remove the interference and will not really cause any lasting damage.

Now for a question someone might be interested in: what happens if the plasma ball breaks? Would the plasma arc out of the ball and into a near object, dog, food or person and kill them? The answer is no. The moment a plasma ball breaks, the noble gases inside the sphere will be released into the atmosphere. Normal stuff in the atmosphere (oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen, among others) will flood into the sphere, displacing the noble gases that were there initially. These atmospheric molecules are not as easily ionized as the gases that were in the sphere, and will not form the filaments that can be seen in a normal operating plasma ball. The noble gases will simply leak out into the environment, the electrode will still release energy into the surrounding space in the globe, but the filaments will not appear as there will be no ionization taking place.

Fun Fact: try touching a plasma ball while having earphones in with music playing. You will be able to hear a high pitched ringing noise. This is the interference the radiowaves emanating from the electrode in the middle are exerting on the device in its vicinity.

Stuck in a five day-long (and counting), blackout, I’ve come to...

Sat, 03 Nov 2012 00:59:32 -0400

Stuck in a five day-long (and counting), blackout, I’ve come to realize a couple of things:

- I thrive when I have friends to talk to
- Being in the same place as someone you don’t like for five straight days is horrible
- Light is a precious commodity
- 40 degrees is REALLY cold
- Blackouts aren’t bad, if there are other things to do besides stare at logs burn (which there aren’t at the moment, unfortunately)
- I still have trouble chopping a perfect piece of wood for the fireplace

…among other things. It actually feels good to sing along as my brother plays the guitar to familiar songs, something I don’t get to do much when I’m too busy surfing the net or playing video games. I’d really love to pick up the violin now, again. Then maybe next time I’m in a blackout, I can provide the people around me with (even) a little chunk of humanity as they sing along with me.

Few things feel better than knowing you’re far away from...

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 09:12:55 -0400

Few things feel better than knowing you’re far away from familiarity (ok, I lied, it’s just AC) and have to be responsible for yourself.

I think I’d like to go to Canada, or visit the homeland next time. I can see why people would like traveling - it’s extremely freeing. You can be as silly as you want, do things you know you’d be judged for, but still don’t give a single fuck about it. I mean that’s something I do on a daily basis, but being at a foreign place makes it much funner to do. You can take a walk outside when you’re traveling and it’d feel like an adventure waiting to happen. It’s a nice feeling.

Traveling with friends is nice, too. The company, the camaraderie is all real and there when you’re out in the middle of nowhere. It feels like being in Survivor except less Survivor-y. There’s an endless amount of stuff to do, and they’re all up for grabs. It’s just a matter of whether or not you want to explore something new.

Time to save up money for that next trip!

Placeholder pic Back in high school, I used to do elaborate...

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 10:35:19 -0400

Placeholder pic

Back in high school, I used to do elaborate science research projects and gave talks about what I did. Now that I look back on those years, I now realize I have no idea wtf I’m talking about. It’s crazy because I really thought I had the world (or at least most of it) in my hands when I stood up in front of the podium to give a talk about my project on the aminosomethingsomething protein and its implications in Alzheimer’s, or CdSe (Cadmium selenide) quantum dots. It’s extremely easy to give myself an eargasm listening to all the scientific jargon being thrown around during presentations, but it is also important to ground oneself among the world of men. Most people who wanted to hear what i had to say did not have a clue what Ganglial cells are.

Where am I going with this? Well, how do I make the disconnect between nerd talk and expressing myself to the lay person? Enter Elvis.

I love Elvis. That’s a fact.

I remembered this one time I went for the ACS competition. Usually, when you go to a scientific presentation competition, it’s not exactly an event that warrants inviting your friends over for to watch. I mean, it’s one of those nerdy pursuits that your friends know you do for the good of mankind, but isn’t something they’d really go out of their way for to come watch you do. But you have to realize, reader, that science was the only thing keeping me going back then. If I didn’t do what I did, I don’t know what else I would’ve done with my life.

Now being the awkward science-y guy that I was, I invited my friends to come watch me present (with their only motivation being free lunch!). I didn’t know what got into me because now that I look back on it, me being the only competitor with a posse was extremely embarrassing. But like I said, that was the only thing I had at the time so I didn’t know better.

Funny thing is, my friends actually showed up. They showed up at the premise of a grand lunch buffet being there, but really, all they got were cookies. Probably Entenmann’s too. You know, the stuff you buy from the deli.

I was really nervous, firstly because I was going to present at a big competition and second, because I was worried my friends wouldn’t be there on time. They did make it though, after a slight train mishap, and now I have to practice my speech. “Hey guys, can you be my guinea pigs and act like you’re listening?” Everyone hesitantly agreed, but were willing, so I started. I mean, what else can you do while waiting for the actual judging with cookies in your hand, expecting that grand buffet plate?

As I thought, I almost lost everyone after the first five minutes of me talking (except for the fact that they found that quantum dots sounded extremely cool). Except Elvis. This guy seemed geniunely interested in what I was doing. I really appreciated that. I loved it. I wasn’t sure if he trudged on because he was genuinely interested about my research, or that he did it for me. Either way, I got the practice I needed, and got the confidence to tackle this whole competition business.

Oh and guess who got first place? That’s right. Yours truly.

I’m glad I was the only one who invited friends over to watch some random science competition. I think that them coming and being there for me helped a lot. I felt like I had to give them a show. I gave them a show on the only thing I had going on for me at the time, and I gave them one hell of a show. Parents drove us home after that and pizzas were had. Good times.

Thank you. Thank you very much friends. Thanks Darren. Thanks Audom. Thanks Elvis. I really miss you man.

Today I spoke with a good friend I haven’t heard from in a while. It was funny because I imagined...

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 08:59:14 -0400

Today I spoke with a good friend I haven’t heard from in a while. It was funny because I imagined all this time would put a certain kind of strain in our relationship to the point that it’d be hard to maintain a conversation with him. I guess I’m just awkward like that.

Oh, but I was wrong. Very wrong. It felt like I just told him, “Later!” yesterday and then we were picking up from where we left off today. Should I feel lucky? I think so. I’m lucky there are people like him who exist and so happen to be one of my friends.

I’m happy. That’s about it. That single conversation just about made my entire day.

6/7/12 I forgot her name. All I know is, she’s also trying...

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 04:21:00 -0400

6/7/12

I forgot her name. All I know is, she’s also trying to get into med school, and I salute her for that. She definitely has more hospital hours than I do, and is a cool person in general.

Maharlika is amazing. I need to bring more people to that place. Their appointment system sucks, and it messed up my plans last time, but the hassle was well worth it. Their meals are close to home-cooked, and the deserts are amazing. Who wants to make Maha Blanca?

Sake bars exist in underground basements.

The next bus after the 1:35 a.m. bus arrives at 6:30 a.m., had to learn that the hard way.

6/4/12 Did you know that fate is full of irony, penguin man? Or...

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 03:19:00 -0400

6/4/12

Did you know that fate is full of irony, penguin man?

Or that what you dish out will come back for you, Puu?

Like, say, eating all that chicken. How ironic would it be if a rooster killed you in a freak accident by pecking your guts out?

That’s right. Moral of the story is: do not eat meat if you do not prefer to be eaten by meat.