Friday, February 5, 2010

Look Closely

Nanobubbles

Screen shot from video, (color added by me).

Tiny Bubbles

The scientists used lasers to make "nanobubbles" by zapping gold nanoparticles inside cells. In tests on cancer cells, they found they could tune the lasers to create either small, bright bubbles that were visible but harmless or large bubbles that burst the cells.

Read complete story and watch the video at Livescience

Pluto

When I first saw
this story about some enhanced images taken by Hubble, I expected little grainy pictures of a fuzzball. Was I ever surprised! This is the best video I have seen of any distant planet, (planetoid?).

Amazing video of Pluto rotating, HERE.

Read
the article, HERE.

Roomba Rider

Screen shot from texasgirly1979's youtube channel.

I got a forwarded email
from Marian that had a video of a cat riding a Roomba. I liked it. Thank you, Marian.

If you haven't seen it, (or want to see it again), and would like to smile, click HERE.

Bamboo or Rayon?


The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, wants you to know that the soft “bamboo” fabrics on the market today are rayon. They are made using toxic chemicals in a process that releases pollutants into the air. Extracting bamboo fibers is expensive and time-consuming, and textiles made just from bamboo fiber don’t feel silky smooth.

There’s also no evidence that rayon made from bamboo retains the antimicrobial properties of the bamboo plant, as some sellers and manufacturers claim. Even when bamboo is the “plant source” used to create rayon, no traits of the original plant are left in the finished product.

I guess I wont be spending $200 for fancy bamboo cotton sheets, after all.

Danes Deter Pirates


Ariella image from vesseltracker.com

The Ariella was plowing at top speed through one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world with a cargo of 30,000 tons of steel and no one at the wheel.


Denmark's elite Frogmen bounced across the waves in a dinghy and scaled the sides of the cargo ship using grappling hooks. They secured the bridge, released the crew and then launched an hours-long search for the pirate the crew had seen. They found no one. Read story, HERE

More Pirates At Phil's Place


The blogger search box is located on upper left of the page.

For more stories I have written about pirates, just type "pirates" in the search box and press enter/return.

To The Store


Today, I made it a point to go take advantage of sales on a couple of items I probably need. Shopko has a sale on shower curtains, the internet indicated that Target has an XLR to USB microphone adapter, and I have been putting off picking up a prescription at Walmart. I budgeted $30 for this endeavor.

The shower curtains
marked down from $42 to $18, turned out to be one curtain with flowers called, "romance". It was not what I had in mind for my spartan bathroom decor.

Off to Target
to get the MXL Mic Mate XLR to USB Mic interface with phantom power.

I read, somewhere on line, that this was available at Target. It actually costs more than my $30 budget, but I figure I might be able to save substantially if I don't have to pay for shipping. It is an experimental item and I might want to return it should it not function as I would like it to, so it would save me 2x the shipping if I got it locally. The sales kids at Target didn't know what I was talking about, but after describing what it looked like and it's function, we went looking and didn't find anything remotely like it. It can wait.

Last on my list,
Walmart. We are in the midst of the big upgrade, here in Redding, from a big box Walmart, to a "Walmart Super Store". The new super store is open, but they are still finishing it. I have been finding many reasons to put off going there, although I did go there once after Christmas to look at cameras. It's a popular place around these parts, and I generally let the availability of an up front parking space determine whether I go in or not. Today was a "not".

I saved $30 shopping today.


Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;

Sleepwalk - Jeff Beck


Go Saints

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