Heaving Dead Cats » technology

Scanning Electron Micrograph Of My Toothbrush!

Neece — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:21:09 +0000

Last month Johnny posted about an offer from ASPEX. They have desktop SEM (Scanning Electron Micrograph) and will scan a sample of anything you send to them.

The offer still stands. Follow the instructions here to get your dead bugs and rotten food scanned for free.

I sent in my toothbrush and they sent me an email with the results the other day! So here it is:

Pretty interesting, huh? They also put up two other toothbrush scans:

While mine was old, this one looks new. The corners of the top don’t look so worn.

Here’s the third one:

ASPEX also has a contest running. Name that sample for a free 1gb USB stick. Here’s this week’s which will be over soon:

Click the image to go to that page where you can comment with what you think it is. Or go here.

FREE Scanning Electron Micrographs of Just About Anything

Johnny — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:35:45 +0000

An interesting offer from ASPEX
November 10, 2009 2:54 PM – by PZ Myers

I had my doubts about this; I got an offer from ASPEX corporation to let people get free scanning electron micrographs of just about anything. They make a desktop SEM (Scanning Electron Micrograph), and all you have to do is fill out a form and mail it in with your sample of a dead bug or a microchip or bacon, and presto, within a few weeks they’ll have it scanned in and the image available on their website.

I asked them if they knew how many readers I have, and they said no problem, they can handle it.

Huh.

Well, you heard them. Scavenge your trash cans, dig into your local sources of vermin and oddments, and send them in. I’m thinking this could be really fun for any school teachers out there — you could have the whole class looking for interesting specimens to zoom in on. You can see their current galleries for ideas.

Follow the instructions here to get your dead bugs and rotten food scanned for free.

If you do send something in to get scanned be sure to note that you found them via PZ; and be sure to come back here and share your scan with the rest of us!

WolframAlpha and Google “Fun” While Fixing Computers

Neece — Mon, 18 May 2009 22:06:54 +0000

Ok, this will be relatively short because I’m very tired and I really have to go downstairs and devote myself to fixing Butch’s computer today. You know how it happens, one thing leads to another, and suddenly I am doing a clean install of windows xp for him. Let’s hope it fixes most of his problems and he’ll be a happy camper again. (He has no internet connection. That’s just not bearable these days, you know? Everyone needs and deserves fast internet access!)

So, if you haven’t heard, WolframAlpha, the latest, coolest “computational knowledge engine” is out and ready to play with. It still has a long way to go with adding more functionality, but there’s a lot in there. I was asking it questions regarding religions and that wasn’t really an option yet. Go over and try a few questions, watch the video, and see if you won’t at least bookmark the site. It’s geektastic, if you ask me.

One question I asked it was how many people per church are in my town? Unfortunately it didn’t know how many churches were here, so that didn’t work. But it told me the population, so that was a start. Also it has handy links down on the right. One was to Wikipedia which had an even newer figure for my town’s population. So then I went to Google Maps and asked it to tell me where all the churches are in my town. Here is a summary of what I found:

Population: 19,096 people
Area: 8.2 sq. miles
Churches: 6302

That’s 3 people per church. WTF? That can’t be right!?

Now, I think some of those 6,302 churches are in the surrounding area outside of town. So I redefined my search to be near the main street of downtown. I got 6,296 churches. Within 8 miles of downtown, I would say the first 10 pages of results would be a fair estimate. That’s about 100 churches. Whew.. that’s much better. I was freaking out there for a minute.

That still means 191 people per church. That makes more sense, I guess. But seriously, driving through our sleepy little town, there’s a church on every corner, it seems. The major denominations competing for the sheeple are catholic and methodist. We have a pentacostal church near our house too.

Well, now that I’ve wasted an hour of my day, and a few minutes of yours, I’ll go work on Butch’s computer. Which reminds me, if you’re a geek, I’d love to be your new BFF! I know just enough about computers to get myself deep into trouble and not be able to get back out of it again. So wish me luck. I’m diving in headfirst!

Random Thoughts About Human Impact On Evolution

Neece — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 02:22:14 +0000

Charles Darwin celebrated his 200th birthday February 12 of this year. So of course many of the science podcasts I listen to, as well as many of the science and skeptic sites I visit, have been talking about evolution and Darwin and all that good stuff. Evolution is often paraphrased as the term, survival of the fittest, which is inaccurate. Here is how Dictionary.com defines it, as well as some other terms, just so we’re all on the same page:

Survival of the Fittest
a 19th-century concept of human society, inspired by the principle of natural selection, postulating that those who are eliminated in the struggle for existence are the unfit.
Natural Selection
n. The process in nature by which, according to Darwin’s theory of evolution, only the organisms best adapted to their environment tend to survive and transmit their genetic characteristics in increasing numbers to succeeding generations while those less adapted tend to be eliminated.
Evolution
Biology. change in the gene pool of a population from generation to generation by such processes as mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift.

I’ve been slowly forming some random thoughts regarding the human population and evolution and I thought I’d write them down. Your input would be most welcome, as usual.

I heard on The Naked Scientists ( podcast number or which exact one, I’m not sure) recently that humans aren’t really evolving and haven’t for the last couple of thousand years or so. Chris, the Naked Scientist, was talking about something else so it was one of those explanations for something else, not the topic of conversation. So he didn’t go into detail.

My ears perked up though because I’ve been vaguely wondering about human evolution in the past several thousand years. Mainly because humans seem to do things backwards from the rest of nature. Or we seem to do that lately in our history.

For instance, we take care of the old and sick, to the point that otherwise frail and less than hearty people are able to reproduce, and to reproduce much longer into older age than ever before. This is when a woman’s eggs may have more genetic defects in them. Which is why women who are pregnant over a certain age are encouraged to get tested for genetic defects more than younger women are.

I have an aunt who was born with a serious birth defect – spina bifida. She needed countless surgeries over her childhood, and several in her adulthood as well. She ended up getting married and having a child, which even a hundred years ago would not have been possible.

There are huge differences in child mortality and survival throughout the world even today, based on availability of medical care, basic nutrition and other factors. But even 100 years ago the infant mortality rate was higher, right? What was it 2,000 years ago when medical care was rudimentary at best?

So what does this do to the gene pool and to human evolution?

I was talking to my friend Jeff about this yesterday and he made a comment that we are evolving, just with machines now. But I would suggest that’s not the same thing. It certainly doesn’t fall into the biological definition of evolution. I’m not saying that we aren’t evolving at all. But we seem to have stalled at least. Instead of natural selection within the human race, we have technology of all different sorts to compensate for whatever lack of genetic strength we may have.

This could be as simple as red headed people living in the Mediterranean. They don’t need to get sunburned and get skin cancer because they can wear sunblock and protective clothing and stay indoors more. Or a child can be born with asthma, something that would have shortened her life long ago, perhaps. Instead while she may take medication and change her lifestyle a bit, she can grow up to have children, who may also be prone to asthma.

Did you see that movie, Idiocracy? I didn’t watch it because, well, it looked really dumb. But the concept is interesting and is something I see in my life nowadays, to a small degree. The premise of the movie, from what I gathered, is that smart people stop having children so only stupid people have kids, giving birth to dumber and dumber people, until everyone is idiotic. I don’t know about that idea. Because both my husband and I are way smarter than our parents. But I do see people who can barely function in society having kids while smart people make the decision to refrain from reproducing.

Here’s another point. Let’s talk about fishing. I’ve been hearing about how we fish and hunt. Humans take the biggest and strongest animals and fish from the population in huge numbers. Now, when it comes to cattle and poultry, we raise what we want to eat. But for fish we still get them from the wild in a lot of cases. The impact on those populations has actually caused the fish to evolve, but in a reverse sort of way.

There was this study published recently which I heard about. Basically they took this population of fish and treated them as if they were being fished as is common practice today – taking the biggest, leaving the smallest. After 12 years they found that the fish had to adapt and start reproducing earlier than they used to. This has a negative impact on the population, which then affects what is available for us to harvest.

In the wild a lion will target the weak and the young, which makes sense. But we don’t do that. We go for the biggest and strongest, leaving the young and weak. We seem to do it backwards. Which seems like it’s bad for the rest of the environment.

The good news is that this reverse evolution can be reversed. I found the fishing study. Here’s a link: ‘Undesirable’ Evolution Can Be Reversed In Fish, By Letting The Big Ones Go

Those are just some ideas I’ve been knocking around in my head. Your thoughts are welcome, as usual.

Let’s Stop Coddling The Ignorant

Neece — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 04:41:26 +0000

You know, this seems to be a serious point of contention these days. The majority of sheeple toddling around on their cell phones, driving their SUV’s, barely doing their jobs, letting TVs raise their kids, all seem to be proud of their ignorance in different areas. Here are just a few:

Philosophy (in this sense I am referring to morality, beliefs, etc)
Science
Math
Computers
Critical Thinking, Logic and Reason
Finance and Banking
The Concept of Responsibility

Now I’m not all saying we need to be Socrates, Einstein, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, a brain surgeon and a rocket scientist all rolled into one. But understanding the world around us is pretty important. Also how we think and what we believe is critical to how we make decisions. It’s also important to understand that even if we’re ignorant of something, we can still be personally responsible for our actions.

My parents weren’t very good at raising kids, to be honest. But my grandparents (on summer vacations) and public school took the time to teach me basic manners, a bit of common sense, the concept of cause and effect, personal responsibility for my behavior, basic money handling, and I got a good foundation in science and math at school as well.

I sometimes deal with younger people and they don’t seem to have any respect for knowledge, information or learning. They seem to refuse to be personally responsible. And the idea of thinking logically is as alien as an 8 track tape player.

When did it become cool to be so freaking ignorant? When did everyone collectively stop thinking for themselves? I’d say it’s just the youth of today, but I know many people my age and even older that refuse to think about their own belief systems or how they see the world. Most people are quite content to let a priest or pastor tell them what their morals are.

And if someone is any older than me, they are proud to eschew technology when it suits them. They refuse to learn to understand their computers. Yet they all still use their cell phones while driving their big SUVs.

Is it all about convenience? The lowest common denominator thinking? I know that’s how TV is these days. It’s the sludge that has settled to the bottom that seems to sell the best so that’s what’s served up and dished out to people. And they eat it up! Then again, I watched Three’s Company and the Dukes of Hazzard, so maybe I can’t talk. But back then that’s all there was. Now what’s our excuse?

I see the way things have gone for the past few years, and then recently with all those ridiculous bailouts. We just keep rewarding people and corporations and CEO’s for failing. We accept their lame blaming excuses and then hand them whatever they want with extra whipped cream on top.

I don’t understand. It seems like a slippery slope of irresponsibility and cultivated ignorance. Can it ever stop? Is it like some perverse form of reverse evolution? How can we become a society of happy, responsible, empathetic, intelligent, thoughtful people?

Ha! I know… I’m crazy for even thinking such radical ideas!

Help Identify This Microscope!

Neece — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:47:28 +0000

I got my microscope! And I need your help. This thing is awesome (I think), but I have no idea what it is. It has no name on it. I have no idea even what the magnification is. I’ve dusted it carefully and now I’m waiting for UPS to deliver the slides and slide covers. I am still trying to figure out how to get a temporary light source to work, then I have to figure out a permanent lighting solution.

Oh… at the end of the technical bits, I need to rant a bit, in case you’re interested.

OK! The slides arrived. I’ve looked up Optical Microscopes and I know more than I did already. Don’t think you’re off the hook though. I still need you.

The eyepiece is removable and is 16x.
There are 4 objective lenses:
- Red: 4/0.1 160/0.17
- Yellow: 10/0.25 160/0.17
- Blue: 40//0.65 160/0.17
- Creme: Oil 100/1.25 160/0.17

So I’m guessing that the first number is the magnification. 4x, 10x, 40x and the oil immersion is 100x. I assume I need special immersion oil for that. What is the next number though? The /0.1, /0.25 etc. And what is the 160/0.17 part?

The light source is supposed to be powered and has a condenser. The cover is broken and there is nothing to hold a light bulb of any type that I can make sense of. It’s made in China, which is immensely helpful in a not helpful way.

So, any ideas on a temporary or permanent lighting solution? I was thinking LEDs would be best because they don’t get so hot. But they can be expensive. I came up with that when I was looking at new microscopes for sale, because all the new ones seem to have LEDs. But a regular bulb of some sort would be good too. I’m not sure of the bulb to get though. So suggestions are most welcome.

Ooh, I love Wikipedia. I found some links to some neat sites. These links really aren’t for you unless you’re a microscope geek wannabe like me. They’re more for me so I can find them easily.

If you have any resources, please feel free to comment with them because I want to learn as much as I can.

Well, I was about to wrap up, when Butch got up. He noticed some things that I hadn’t yet. Namely the number on the back which seemed unhelpful. It’s the model number: xsz-106. Damn, Google is amazing, because the second link down gave me a helpful page. It seems that it’s the xsz-106bn, Biological Microscope. The bulb was a halogen. Also there’s a dimmer switch on the side. Cool, if I can get it to work!

And now for my RANT: I have been very excited about getting this microscope. I understand that not everyone is interested in microbiology. But isn’t the pursuit of science and learning understandable in and of itself? So far, about 75% of the people I’ve told have replied with the same comment. “Why would you want a microscope?”

Why? Why not! The tiny world around us is amazing, complex and wonderful. It still holds secrets we have yet to unlock. It affects us in ways we take for granted, and is beautiful and fantastic. The total apathy and lack of interest is so disheartening. When someone I know expresses an interest in learning, even if the topic is not my favorite, I am delighted and encouraging. Know what I mean? Ok, so microbiology doesn’t interest you. That’s fine. But wanting to learn should always be encouraged. Don’t you think? Are we that apathetic these days, that people think it’s silly to want to educate themselves?

Ok, I’m done ranting. I have the tiny world around me to discover. Once I figure out how to illuminate it! Have a great day, my friends!

Hate Darwin? Then Give Up Your Luxuries

Neece — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 04:01:03 +0000

So you’re a creationist or a fundamentalist, whatever. You know what? That’s fine. I don’t really care what you believe for yourself. Personally I don’t think you should be allowed to raise your kids in such a way as I think it’s cruel, but whatever. That’s just me being silly, thinking kids should have a fighting chance by teaching them what is real and how best to get along in the world, not teaching them that there was a talking snake and 2 naked people in a garden that screwed everything up for everybody. Oh, and a man died and came back to life and then flew to heaven and that’s why the kid drinks a sip of wine and eats a cracker every sunday. But oh yeah, Santa Claus was just a story his parents told him to keep him in line. Yeah, makes perfect sense.

Anyhoo… back to my issue. If you’re a creationist and/or fundamentalist, basically you believe the bible is the true and literal word of god, right? You believe your god created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th. And if you’re a muslim, you believe whatever the quran says. You think evolution is nonsense. Hey, as long as you keep this to yourself too, I don’t give a damn.

But, if you believe your bible is so perfect and science is so flawed, then you have no need of science. So. After you finish reading this article, turn off the computer and give it to your neighbor. No more electronics. No cell phone, no microwave, no electric light. All of that is here because people… normal everyday people… wanted to make things better. According to you, god made everything perfect and the bible is the be all, end all of knowledge. Stop being a hypocrite and get back to trying to be like christ-like.

So you won’t be needing any other books. No magazines, no television. Sorry, just a bible. Which you don’t even need. The idea that everyone was educated to read and have a bible is rather recent. Oh, and you can’t have paper anymore. So you only get to use clay tablets. You can find your local pastor and listen to him tell you what god wants from you. And it will be a man. Because women need to know their place. So all you uppity women who think for yourselves, who make decisions and have opinions, get back in the kitchen and make your man his dinner. Go birth some babies. Girls, you’d better hope your dad can sell you for a nice dowry, because you certainly can’t fend for yourself.

You don’t get hospitals or medical doctors, of course. Women of childbearing years, you’ll be lucky to survive childbirth, which is natural only. And your kids will be lucky to reach age 5, but hey, god is taking care of you, so that’s just his will. No more antibiotics (which are mostly bad for you anyway), no allergy medicine, no blood pressure or diabetic care. Nothing to dull the pain. No advil, no tylenol, no oxycontin if you break your arm, no plaster casts for that matter, no epidural if you have a kid. I think you get leeches… wait, maybe not even that. Maybe you get some herbs. I’m sure there will be a few commenters who will be so kind as to correct me and tell me exactly what kind of medical care you can have. Whatever was in the bible. That’s what you get.

Sex is only to make babies, and you are a baby making machine if you’re female. So get busy, and don’t you dare enjoy it.

And food? You have to give up 90% of what you eat because it’s all genetically modified and cultivated in one way or another. Tomatoes are cultivated through careful breeding. They used to be wild and poisonous, if I recall correctly. So no tomatoes, no potatoes. Nothing that has been cultivated to become better, hardier, more resistant to problems. You can have whatever was grown in the bible. Because if it was good enough for jesus and his buddies, it’s good enough for you. That’s what was around when Adam and Eve were talking to the snake, so that’s what god thought was perfect. That’s all you need. No refrigeration, no grocery stores open all night to accommodate your every whim, no fresh fruit in winter. No pre-packaged corn flakes, or twinkies, no mcdonald’s, no pizza, no taco bell. Just jesus food. That you make yourself. Because you don’t need anything else, do you?

No car, of course. You’ll need a donkey. And you’ll have to walk a lot. But that’s not so bad. Jesus didn’t seem to mind.

No polyester or rayon cloth, of course. You can have linen and cotton. I’m sure there are a few others, just don’t combine them because that’s against the law in leviticus, if I recall. So, this means only sandals and leather shoes. No synthetic glues to hold them together of course. No rubber soles, either. Sorry. If god wanted you to have rubber soles and good footwear and 24 pairs of black pumps, he’d have given them to the jews and jesus. So you’re out of luck. Get over it.

No air conditioning, no central heating, no running water, no flushing toilet. No insulation for your home, which should be in the middle east since that’s where jesus lived and you probably want to go be in the holy land like him. No bug spray or even mesh nets to cover your bed for the summer months. No glass for anything, including windows. Like I said before, if god wanted you to have windows, he would have given glass to Noah.

You’ll have to live in tents that you make yourself. Because the people in the bible were nomadic. No home. No meat unless you catch it. Only local species of food. No oven. Open fire cooking only.

On the bright side, you get to stone anybody you like, basically, for any small slight. How convenient. Men, women will know their place. and you can marry as many women as you like. Afraid of gay people? Well then you can stone them. See someone wearing 2 types of cloth together? Reach for some big stones. Crush in their head in the name of god. How wonderful. Oh and your god loves the smell of burning flesh, so I hope you can afford goats. They’re his favorite.

Well, I’m sure there are a million more big and small things you need to forsake, because you wouldn’t want to be a hypocrite, would you? jesus wouldn’t approve. So start getting rid of all the things that man in his humble search for knowledge and a better life has invented and made better. Your Iron Age god is all seeing, all knowing, so whatever was back then is what you get, because the rest of it was done by humankind, for humankind. You don’t need it if god didn’t make it himself.

Heaving Dead Cats » technology

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