Aurora Research Scotland
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Research shows that more than 100 million years ago, molten liquid, heated by the continuous movement of Earth’s crust, flowed upward to the surface. As it cooled, it created fascinating rocky landscapes found in Joshua Tree National Park.
Fungus
I don't have time at the moment to research what type of Fungus this is. Found when I was heading deep into the back corner (no, I still haven't cleaned it up) to get to the Pink Geraniums in the previous image.
A close-up photo of a pile of open books on a table in black and white.
Developed and color graded with Darktable 3.6.0.
I've seen lots of these Tree Swallows in the past but they were always moving too fast for me to get a decent shot. Yesterday I saw a few at the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge and this one was accommodating (thankfully).
Recently the field of theoretical cosmology has been enervated by the suggestion that our universe is the mirror image of another one stretching back in time before the Big Bang (see, for example, www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/icpti-symmetric-uni... ).
Intrigued, I set out to test whether this was observable in practice. After a quick calculation on the back of an old envelope (cigarette packets now being not Politically Correct) I worked out that conditions would be favourable for an experiment in the period around the vernal equinox for my latitude (51N). At this time the angles of the Earth’s gravitational field, the neutrino flux from the sun and a local EM field could be arranged to the optimum.
So, setting a sufficiently powerful Tesla coil in a glass envelope with an inert gas (I used Nitrogen), I tried it out.
And it worked!
Sometimes I could actually see the dim reflection of the alternate universe appear in the glass capsule, but perhaps the best result was this one where I managed to create a wormhole bridging the paired universes.
If you look carefully at the image though you might observe that the energetic feedback created by the wormhole burnt out my coil… such are the sacrifices of science…
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Storytelling idiocy aside, this image was one of the fun results of an evening spent with a local friendly group of photographers taking images of lightbulbs on tablets (and other things but I didn’t get that far :( ).
I used a clear glass bulb on my iPaddle which I set up to show some very colourful graphic images that I had generated using Midjourney (I finally found something useful to do with that toybox… The text prompt for this one, if you are interested, was ‘Close - up macro HDR photograph of the centre of mirrored 3D circle sculptures, overlapping rainbow circular fractal, vivid rainbow colours, graphic abstract’).
The bulb was lying on its side at an angle resting on the bayonet fitting so I made the canvas larger and rotated it. Starting in Capture One I dropped the greys to black using a levels adjustment and played with the Clarity and a little Dehaze. In Affinity I sharpened it with High Pass/Linear blend and a bit of Unsharp mask and enriched the colour. Then quite a lot of work with inpainting to remove the vestiges of the iPad and a lot of dust.
PS I forgot to mention that this was a focus stack of ten images, though I suspect only four or five contributed anything useful. The camera did the focusing and I used Helicon Focus for the stacking, which I've not really done before (it was fast, worked with raws and produced a dng output).
Thanks for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image. Happy Easter and 100x :)
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Edited in Topaz Studio
AI generated image
We have seven species of snow gums on the Australian mainland, only three grow above the snowline at 1600m. These are beautiful trees, their trunk surface so smooth with an amazing assortment of colour.
Unfortunately many are under threat from a native wood borer, one known as Longicorn Beetle and scientists trying to work out why they are now eating away these trees.
Those who frequent the alpine region and if you do see evidence of these wood borers, please report this at www.saveoursnowgum.org to help with the research.
At the southern end of the Earth, a NASA plane carrying a team of scientists and a sophisticated instrument suite to study ice is returning to surveying Antarctica. For the past eight years, Operation IceBridge has been on a mission to build a record of how polar ice is evolving in a changing environment.
The information IceBridge has gathered in the Antarctic, which includes data on the thickness and shape of snow and ice, as well as the topography of the land and ocean floor beneath the ocean and the ice, has allowed scientists to determine that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet may be in irreversible decline. Researchers have also used IceBridge data to evaluate climate models of Antarctica and map the bedrock underneath Antarctic ice.
Read more:http://go.nasa.gov/2dxczkd
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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Macro Monday's and the theme of "Shiny".
While out and about in town I had a little hunt for something shiny and came across this cancer Research pin in a charity shop.
well I had to buy it not just for this week's theme but also for a good cause.
Schlumberger Gould Research Centre at dusk, Cambridge, 13 Jan 2022
Shot at 17:05; Sunset was at 16:13.
Cloudless skies all day after light frost.
Having wasted most of my day on Flickr-y things like slimming down my sets, adding new sets ready for the new year, and other general housekeeping, I decided I needed to keep Ginger company, and ended up sitting on the sofa researching whisky (in the glass) and double decker buses (on the Internet) while Ginger researched wedding dresses, whisky and took her own picture for the day.
The peace was only broken when I exclaimed "Well bugger me!" upon realising I'd accidentally managed to bag a FUTAB as well. For some reason Ginger found this statement amusing.
02 January 2008 | YIP-002 | Copyright © 2009 Gary Allman
Every morning there is the decision of where to go. My choice is limited as I need to be at the office by 8:00. This morning I shot by the Makai Research Pier. Just before departing I noticed the light on the mountain and captured one last shot. 163/365
Happy Bench Monday..HBM!!!
This one is from the Wild Basin hike last week. It's a beautiful area, here in Austin, which is run by St. Edward's University and used for student research. The hike should be called the "Thigh Master."..lol..There's a lot of high stepping..:)
Looks like we're pretty much done with winter around here. I'm looking forward to seeing the wildflowers springing up.
I should probably stop talking about the weather here. I was told that over a 100 people are moving here..per day..Can you believe that. That explains all the traffic.
Hanging out with 75 pages of personality distortion. One day to go.
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Sent from Sony Ericsson x10 mini
Excerpt from Wikipedia:
The Roman wall of Zaragoza is a defensive wall built in the Colonia Caesar Augusta, in the Hispania Citerior Tarraconensis province belonging to the Roman Empire, currently called Zaragoza, being the capital of the autonomous community of Aragon, ( Spain ).
Built under the command of Tiberius in the 1st century and reformed until the 3rd century, the Roman wall of Zaragoza came to have a length of about 3,000 meters and about 120 defensive towers. Two sections have been preserved: the longest, about 80 meters long, at the northwest corner of what was the Roman city of Caesaraugusta, next to the Torreón de La Zuda, and another on the northeast side, which is currently part of the Convent of the Holy Sepulcher.
Its layout, studied by Francisco Íñiguez Almech, must have been regular, with a height of about ten meters and four in width. At intervals of fourteen to sixteen meters were ultra-semicircular towers, with a diameter of between 8 and 13 meters. The wall of the Roman foundation enclosed and conditioned the urban layout for many centuries, as they were reused by Visigoths and Muslims.
The 2008 edition of the Zaragoza Historical Artistic Guide directed by Guillermo Fatás, points out that recent research indicates that the preserved wall was built in the second half of the 3rd century AD. C. and executed with a uniform construction technique: an interior body of Roman concrete covered with ashlars on the outside, 7 m thick except for the eastern section, which would be built in ashlar rigging and would be 6 m thick.
Derby Research Retro liveried 69004 "RIDC Melton" passes Worting Junction on 30/Sept/25 working a lengthy 6Y48 09.01 Eastleigh to Hoo Junction engineers.
Doing some research at the Electricity Factory - the old power station right next to MAAT in Lisbon. She was completely engrossed in her reading, regardless of how many visitors happened by.
Here’s my rendition of the Hammerhead W14 design by Devid VII
flic.kr/p/2hCDLai
I built mine more around scientific sample retrieval, and things like that. I really enjoyed working with this frame, might experiment with it some more in the future!
The minifigure was somewhat inspired by the guys seen in the gameplay trailer for Death Stranding. Really looking forward to when I can play that game, not sure when that’ll be though
Finished all my finals yesterday, so a new trimester starts next week. not sure if it will free up time to post or make it harder, but hopefully you guys will be seeing more of me.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
The nuclear reactor at Reed College is the only reactor in the US staffed by undergraduate students. It was installed in 1968. It provides a neutron source for research purposes. It is a 250 kW reactor.
I will say it is both normal and unnerving to stand at the edge of the 25 foot deep pool of water and see the reactor working in the depths. It is otherwise a typical scientific facility with both hi-tech and low-tech solutions in place. For example, they fish samples out of the reactor with a modified fishing rod. But there is always a Geiger counter clicking in the background. The student who staff the facility are all licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. They are very impressive young people.
I saw out of the corner of my eye, that this poor Monarch had something stuck to its wing. It wasn’t until I checked the photo later, that I saw there was writing on the thing stuck to its wing. Monarch tracking information! Who knew?
This picture was taken at Cash Lake on the South Tract of the Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, Maryland.
I finally managed to grab a half decent phone shot of an experimental electric-drive battery powered bus that is rarely seen on public roads.
RX15HSU is a 'Bristol Superlight' built by the Frazer-Nash Research company based in Farnborough, Hants. The bus was first registered on 28/08/2015 and I've been after a shot of it ever since!
Their concept bus is kitted out to B27D layout and weighs just 3.5 tonnes, its revenue weight listed as 4840kg. It carries a 1.0L engine which is used to recharge the lithium batteries and as such the bus is marketed as ultra low emission / zero emission capable.
I grabbed a shot of it when it was out on a demonstration run on 22/09/2016. And no, it was nowhere near Waterloo!
A collection of cracking photos of this bus in St.Moritz is here: www.fotoswiss.com/-/galleries/reports-reportagen/ebus-by-...
A 6-minute video of the bus in St.Moritz is here: www.enjoystmoritz.ch/index.php/2016/03/23/frazer-nash-bri...
"Henry Stacy Marks, R. A., was a founder of the St. John's Wood Clique, a group of artists who painted very popular and well-researched historical, scriptural and literary scenes in a highly finished style. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1853 to 1897. Animal subjects, painted realistically and without sentiment, dominated his later work."
"The word of the Muad'Dib will penetrate deep within their hearts... one way or another..."
Built for the Burgomeister "R&D Lab" category of DA4, supporting General Farok. The embedded image in the comments meets the A&B criteria of designing LEGO inspired box art.
The research and development lab staff include:
- Master Administrator (main floor); oversees the overall running of the research institute, as well as the data analytics.
- Master of Chemistry (top floor); leads research in spice production, refinement, and weaponized usages. Controls the refining column that rises through the building.
- Master of Resources (in vehicle); procures all resources needed by the lab. Also the primary driver of the desert track ATV stored in the bottom level. The grand staircase in front of the building lifts up for the vehicle to pass through.
- Master of Arms (bottom level); tests all weapons for combat worthiness.
- Master of Communications (bottom level with headset); researches sonic weapons, specifically attuned to the "weirding way".
Gloster Meteor T.7(MOD) WL375 displayed at the Dumfries & Galloway Aviation Museum. Two non standard modifications are a photo nose and F.8 tail assembly. Painted in the last known scheme applied when in service at RAF West Freugh southwest Scotland.
Delivered to the RAF 5 June 1952 and in service up until 1969 it would seem mostly for research/trials work at West Freugh, the twin jet was semi derelict and abandoned in the long grass at that airfield in 1996.
The museum volunteers have done a grand restoration job on this classic early jet fighter design.
"Masterpiece"
Spending so much time at the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum, one will really begin to appreciate everything in their collection, not to mention the facility itself. Everything from the extraordinary to mundane will find its way into your mind and heart. I must admit that in my years of steam locomotive research and enjoyment, the Nickel Plate 700's did not strike me. For whatever reason, they just didn't click with me. I'm not sure what it was, but obviously, that's changed now.
Cale and I modeled 765 way back in 2017 when we were still figuring out Brick Model Railroader. It took some convincing, but we eventually decided that Nickel Plate Road 765 would be our first collaborative steam locomotive model. We had a running model that needed some adjustment, but quickly became disinterested in the project due to external factors. We were never quite happy with where we left this project, and vowed to each other that we would return to the model some day to do it again, properly.
Several years later, in late October 2021, and on a whim, I laid out a scaled wheelbase in stud.io, just to see what it would look like. I left the file alone for a couple more months until the Holiday season of 2021. I began thinking about a Nickel Plate Berkshire running around a Christmas tree, inspired by the amazing "Travel Refreshed" speculative project:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2mU6jVcv4w&ab_channel=FortWa...
This set my mind racing with thoughts of the late 1940's when large mainline superpower led "hotshot manifest" trains through the heart of America. If there was ever a perfect depiction of postwar steam railroading, it was this, and the Nickel Plate Road was the poster child.
The Nickel Plate Road connected the farms of the Midwest in St. Louis and Chicago to Buffalo in the east. The road took a fast, level route along the southern edge of the great lakes. A direct competitor to the New York Central, it was purchased by the Vanderbilts in an effort to remove competition. As such, the line was never optimized and operated with older and slower equipment. The Nickel Plate was purchased by Oris and Mantis Van Sweringen, brothers from Cleveland who had controlling interests of several other roads including the Chesapeake & Ohio, Wheeling & Lake Erie, Pere Marquette, Erie, and more. The "Vans" would lead efforts to completely transform the Nickel Plate into the powerhouse bridge road it is remembered as today.
One of those efforts included the creation of the Advisory Mechanical Committee (AMC), which served as a design bureau for the roads under control of the Vans. One of the first projects for the AMC was the design of the C&O T-1 class 2-10-4 engines, the largest two cylinder steam locomotives when built. Continuing in efforts to rejuvenate the Nickel Plate, president John Bernet assigned AMC officer William Black the task of designing a super-power locomotive. The result was the Nickel Plate S class of 2-8-4, built by ALCO Schenectady in 1934. The AMC, capitalizing on their winning formula for the T-1, maintained the factor of adhesion just above 4 while scaling down the rest of the locomotive: eliminating the fifth pair of 69" drivers and creating a locomotive with 70% of the tractive effort and 70% of the weight. Unbeknownst to Bernet, Black, and the AMC, they had just captured lightning in a bottle.
To truly appreciate why the 700's were such good locomotives, the operating mentality of the Nickel Plate must be understood. The road was a masterpiece of engineering, maintaining a very flat right of way along the mainline, running shorter but faster trains handling bridge traffic over the line. Operating conditions like these coupled with the high-horsepower 700s, there has hardly been a more perfect match of locomotive and railroad. The Berkshires were so effective and loved, the Nickel Plate laughed away EMD diesel demonstrators multiple times until the end of steam in 1958. Even still, several of these locomotives were stored serviceable in anticipation of a traffic spike that never occurred.
763, part of the third batch of Berkshires in total (S-2 class) and second batch from Lima (Works #8671), was one of these locomotives. Officially retired a few years after the end of steam, it stayed in Conneaut, Ohio until 1966 when it was purchased by the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia. 763 remained in Roanoke for several years until it was towed to New Jersey for inspection to pull the American Freedom Train, but other locomotives were selected., and 763 returned to Roanoke. Ohio Central and Age of Steam founder Jerry Jacobson purchased the locomotive from the museum in 2007, returning the engine home to Ohio. It is currently stored inside the Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum in stall 4, a regular favorite part of any regular public tour.
All that to say: I never expected to have such a deep, genuine understanding and appreciation for these engines. It says a lot when someone can connect with a piece of machinery in such a way, and gain understanding of its purpose and reason for existing. The 700s were truly magnificent machines.
So, in deciding that I was going to model one of these amazing locomotives, I began working in stud.io, and over the course of several months, I came up with what must have been at least a dozen iterations of the rough shape of the engine solely to achieve "the look." With 765 currently operating and with countless fans of the locomotives, the 700's are well recognized and people are going to be able to pick out the details, so any model of one has to be done properly. Once I had the correct shape and proportions, I filled in gaps and rebuilt section after section until I had a completed digital model in June of this year. By then, I had just seen 765 operate in person for the second time and was feeling inspired, so work on the custom wheels and connecting rods progressed alongside. Refining, trial, failure, adjustment, and testing continued until December 2022 when I completed the physical model. Naturally, I had to model 763 specifically, being the preserved example at Age of Steam.
Under the hood this model is identical to my Mohawk: a pair of Power Functions L motors geared 1:1 driving the third axle, each operating from its own Power Functions IR receiver, and powered by a Tenergy 7.4v 2200 mAh battery. 763 operates smoothly and without issue thanks to the drive train design and high-quality printing of the wheels, rods, and valve gear. Drivers and trailing wheels designed by me and printed by Rob Hendrix, all rods and valve gear designed by me and printed through Shapeways. All artwork was faithfully recreated by Cale Leiphart. Decals printed by OKBrickWorks and UV printed number boards and bearing caps are from Richard Glatter. Thank you all for your help with this project.
Having completed and published Buffalo Creek & Gauley 13, Morehead & North Fork 12, and now Nickel Plate Road 763, my Age of Steam collection grows. Those who know me personally understand that I'm not one to brag about my work. However, I feel I must say that I think I've outdone myself with this model. I would say this is the most new, ground-up design of locomotive I have built in a while. I've achieved detail and accuracy that I haven't seen on even some traditional scale models, and it all works together to make 763 perhaps my best model yet. A masterpiece of a masterpiece, if you will.
As 2022 winds down, I'm elated to publish this locomotive and check it off the list. As I mentioned earlier this year, I've had a lot in progress recently so wrapping something up feels fantastic. There's a bit more in store for the immediate future, but we'll get to that later.
As always, thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone for their support of my work through comments, questions, and compliments. It is always sincerely appreciated and I am thankful to be a part of such a fun community.
Video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6utq-QdMlnk&ab_channel=GlennH...
Glenn
The Territory Wildlife Park is located at Berry Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia, some 75 kilometres south of Darwin. It is owned and operated by the Northern Territory Government and was opened in 1989. Situated on 400 ha of natural bushland, it contains native animals and plants representative of Northern Territory, and especially Top End tropical monsoonal, environments. It contributes to their conservation through research programs as well as through public education. The three main habitats represented are woodland, wetland and monsoon vine forest.
Build for my article on New Elementary all about the latest wave of parts added to Pick a Brick this month.
I only had one of each seed part to play with so I went for an asymmetric vehicle using the transparent curved corner panel (5925). It turned out to be a bit of a slog to complete but I got there in the end - thanks to some Lime green frying pans of all things.