staceythinx:

You may have seen MRK’s amazing videos, but did you know that you can buy prints of his digital creations? 

milesian:

DNA Chromosome Wrapping - what makes it possible for a six foot long molecule to fit into the nucleus of every cell in the human body! This entire process of forming into the familiar chromosomal shape only happens right before a cell is about to divide. 

You see those ‘hooks’ on the proteins the DNA is wrapping around? They are a part of that ball-protein called the Histone (H3). They help link other neighboring segments together (like what is happening in the 3rd and 4th gifs) because they stick out so far from the histone core allowing them to be covalently modified and effect gene expression.

These histones are also packed with positively charged amino acids because the DNA backbone is negatively charged from the phosphate groups.

You can even see your own DNA pretty easily. Check this video out and let Brian Cox teach you how to see your DNA.

spaceplasma:

Kirlian photography

Kirlian photography is a collection of photographic techniques used to capture the phenomenon of electrical coronal discharges. It is named after Semyon Kirlian, who, in 1939 accidentally discovered that if an object on a photographic plate is connected to a high-voltage source, an image is produced on the photographic plate.

Kirlian photography is a technique for creating contact print photographs using high voltage. The process entails placing sheet photographic film on top of a metal discharge plate. The object to be photographed is then placed directly on top of the film. High voltage is momentarily applied to the metal plate, thus creating an exposure. The corona discharge between the object and the high voltage plate is captured by the film. The developed film results in a Kirlian photograph of the object.

Color photographic film is calibrated to faithfully produce colors when exposed to normal light. Corona discharges can interact with minute variations in the different layers of dye used in the film, resulting in a wide variety of colors depending on the local intensity of the discharge. Film and digital imaging techniques also record light produced by photons emitted during corona discharge (see Mechanism of corona discharge).

Photographs of inanimate objects such as a coins, keys and leaves can be made more effectively by grounding the object to the earth, a cold water pipe or to the opposite (polarity) side of the high voltage source. Grounding the object creates a stronger corona discharge.

Kirlian photography does not require the use of a camera or a lens because it is a contact print process. It is possible to use a transparent electrode in place of the high voltage discharge plate, allowing one to capture the resulting corona discharge with a standard camera or a video camera.

Check out more Kirlian photography here

Reflection and Emission Nebulas
— Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex

Credit: Gerald Rhemann // Astrostudio

science-junkie:

Beautiful ‘flowers’ self-assemble in a beaker

With the hand of nature trained on a beaker of chemical fluid, the most delicate flower structures have been formed in a Harvard laboratory—and not at the scale of inches, but microns.

These minuscule sculptures, curved and delicate, don’t resemble the cubic or jagged forms normally associated with crystals, though that’s what they are. Rather, fields of carnations and marigolds seem to bloom from the surface of a submerged glass slide, assembling themselves a molecule at a time.

By simply manipulating chemical gradients in a beaker of fluid, Wim L. Noorduin, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and lead author of a paper appearing on the cover of the May 17 issue of Science, has found that he can control the growth behavior of these crystals to create precisely tailored structures.

“For at least 200 years, people have been intrigued by how complex shapes could have evolved in nature. This work helps to demonstrate what’s possible just through environmental, chemical changes,” says Noorduin.

Read more

Images: [x]

Let it be known that these are falsely-colored, still awesome tho!

I remember another nano-flower structure made from Germanium Sulfide crystals which is pretty cool looking as well.

astronomy-to-zoology:

Hummingbird Bobtail Squid (Euprymna berryi)

Also known as Berry’s bobtail squid, the hummingbird bobtail squid is a species of bobtail squid found throughout the warm waters of eastern Asia. Like most bobtail squid, berry’s bobtail squid has a light organ in its gill cavity which emits light to help it hide its silhouette from predators. During the day the hummingbird bobtail squid can be found buried in the sediment, at night they will emerge to feed on small invertebrates like shrimp and other crustaceans.

Phylogeny

Animalia-Mollusca-Cephalopoda-Sepiolida-Sepiolidae-Sepiolinae-Euprymna-berryi

Image Source(s)

Cephalopods are awesome