Comparing the structure-function relationships in spider silk and a musical composition. Ontology Logs (ologs) connects spider silk and music.
MIT researchers claim that there is a deep relation between the lightweight strength in spider silk and the sonic structure of a melody in a music composition. This may be beneficial for the development of materials with repeating patterns. Spider silk has a repeating structure at nano level. The step-by-step comparison begins with the primary building blocks: an amino acid and a sound wave, and moves up to the level of a beta sheet nanocomposite (the secondary structure of a protein consists of repeated hierarchical patterns of protein assemblages) and a musical riff (a repeated pattern of notes or chords).
Here is another interesting example (olog) of structure-function relationships: the prediction of the protein 3D structure from the aminoacid sequence (including a GPCR membrane protein). The blinded inferences are de novo, i.e., they do not use homology modeling or sequence-similar fragments from known structures. The co-evolution signals provide sufficient information to determine accurate 3D protein structure to 2.7–4.8 Å Cα-RMSD error relative to the observed structure, over at least two-thirds of the protein (method called EVfold, details at http://EVfold.org/). This discovery provides insight into essential interactions constraining protein evolution and will facilitate a comprehensive survey of the universe of protein structures, new strategies in protein and drug design, and the identification of functional genetic variants in normal and disease genomes.
Bennie Jolink, Marike Jager, Anita Meijer, Jan Dulles & Jaap Kwakman, Elle Bandita, Krystl, Ben Cramer, Sabrina Starke, Torre Florim, Jacqueline Govaert, Jan Smit, Ellen ten Damme, Thé Lau, Janne Schra, Mathilde Santing, Felix Maginn, Stevie Ann, Alain Clark.
Extraordinary Off-Grid Hobbit Home only cost £3,000 to build.
Simon Dale's Hobbit House
Simon Dale proves that you don't have to be an architect to design and build a beautiful, cozy, low-energy home. With a few simple tools you can construct an extraordinary hobbit home that has virtually no visual or environmental impact on the surrounding landscape. Using locally-sourced and natural materials taken from the nearby woodlands, a common practice among designers in Wales, alternative energy sources, and a lot of imagination, the self-styled builder has created a gentle, naturally-lit family home that exists in total harmony with nature.
Crystals of golden proportions: Daniel Shechtman received the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of quasicrystals, perfectly ordered materials that never repeat themselves.
The X-ray diffraction pattern reflects the atom positions in a crystal.
"It's all about symmetry".
The Discovery of Quasicrystals: The atoms in the crystal in front of Shechtman yielded a forbidden symmetry. It was just as impossible as a football – a sphere – made of only sixcornered polygons. Since then, mosaics with intriguing patterns and the golden ratio in mathematics and art have helped scientists to explain Shechtman’s bewildering observation.
Einstein Was Right, Neutrino's Do Obey The Speed Of Light.
Neutrino's faster than light (>300,000 km/sec)? The most famous equation E=mc^2 turns out to be incorrect? Travellin' in time might theoretically become possible? Virtually everything in modern physics and fundamental laws of nature would have to be rethought. Don't want to think about the implications. Do hope the experiments are flawed and Einstein was right. The Telegraph: CERN-scientists-break-the-speed-of-light
Marc Lee Pusey: Actually, I hope that Albert is proven wrong on this one. Science needs a major game changing shake-up every now and again, and this one looks to be a possible doorway to a fascinating future of possibilities.
Future possibilities far beyond our thoughts indeed. Uncertain about certainty or certain about uncertainty, that's the question. Our minds have to be shaken up too, once in a while.
Neutrino likes Guinness. Btw, was mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records, broke the universal record of speed.
'Atom interrogation, oh, Science you're so Funny'!
Where were you on Facebook, a million years ago? We have G+ now, TALK! First day at G+. Like!
My apologizes, we didn't have Facebook then. Why are you delayed? Did speak neutrino already 20 years ago. Not on Facebook because that didn't exist at that time either. Neutrino said he did leave at the same time as you did a million years... ago and travelled faster than the speed of light. Your speed was 6000 m/s less than neutrino's. What took you so long? Was it because you thought Einstein's oldfashioned E=mc2 was still valid then? You should have upgraded your engine like neutrino's.
E = NEQ mc2:
Neutrino's can travel even faster than light,
Then Einstein's equation was not quite right,
Scientists confused,
Others pretty amused,
Would it be possible now to book a time-flight?
Marc Lee Pusey: I'll be booking mine in the future to come back to now and help me get stuff done.
You can already order some pints of Guinness in advance in the future and empty them when you'll be back to now. Fresher than fresh. Unfortunately, at least one disadvantage, the price!
"The Crystal's Cave" or "Giant Crystal Cave" is a cave connected to the Naica mine in Mexico.Geologist Juan Manuel García-Ruiz of Granada's University calls this cave with stunning crystals "the Sistine Chapel of crystals". The cave at a depth of 300 m is extremely hot with air temperatures reaching up to 58 °C with 90 to 99 percent humidity. This is due to an underground magma chamber below the cave. The magma heated the ground water and it became saturated with minerals, including large quantities of gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O). The hollow space of the cave was filled with this mineral rich hot water and remained filled for about 500,000 years. During this time, the temperature of the water remained very stable at over 50°C. This allowed crystals to form and grow to immense sizes. The main chamber contains giant selenite (crystallized gypsum or CaSO4.2H2O) crystals. The cave's largest crystal found to date is 11 m in length, 4 m in diameter and 55 tons in weight. The floor of the cave is covered with perfectly-faceted crystalline blocks. Huge crystal beams jut out from both the blocks and the floor.
At the same level two other caverns were discovered, "The Queen’s Eye Cave" and "The Candle's Cave".
"The Cave of Swords" is located at a depth of 120 m, above the Cave of Crystals, and contains spectacular, smaller (1-2 m long) crystals.
"The Ice Palace" is at a depth of 150 m and is not flooded, but its crystal formations are much smaller, with small 'cauliflower' formations and fine, threadlike crystals.
An optical or visual illusion can be created by fooling the brain. The explanation for this phenomena is that the information obtained through the eyes is used for only 20% by the brain to form an image. The rest is complemented by the brain through past experience, expectations and other senses. The resulting image is only an extrapolated interpretation of reality. Therefore, reality can be interpreted differently and result in an optical illusion. The brain can be considered as a bit sloppy in this respect, most likely for reasons of 'efficiency' at the cost of accuracy. Unfortunately, the failure must be taken for granted. Nevertheless, optical illusions can be fascinating, enjoyable and awesome. Enjoy!
Spinning Dancers
'Visual illusions: Dissociation between perception and reality'.
"Visual illusions are defined by the dissociation between physical reality and subjective perception of an object or event. When we experience a visual illusion, we may see something that is not there, or fail to see something that is there, or even see something different from what is there. Because of this dissociation between perception and reality, visual illusions demonstrate the ways in which the brain can fail to recreate the physical world" (by Martinez-Conde)
Silencing illusion
'We see things as we would like to see things'. There's an analogy with the above mentioned influence of a past event or experience on the brain. Our brain determines our view based on our experience and in this way our thoughts and views are mostly formed on the basis of prejudice and therefore free thoughts on a particular subject will be blocked. If we experience something it will be imprinted in our brain together with our expectation and view in view of a possible recurring occurence. As a consequence, our thoughts and view won't change easily, our thoughts about the subject are 'stuck'. If this is the case we then should feed our brain with a renewed vision by forcing ourselves to have a look at it from the other side. In this way a negative view or opinion can be changed in a positive one (Avatar). However, we see things as we would like to see things. The conscious and unconscious observations of reality will pass several 'filters' of our brain and will be incomplete and/or transformed into distorted reflections of 'reality'. Our views are to some extent coloured by our mind. The world around us will be interpreted differently by each of us. This is why we experience life differently. A positive or negative attitude matters a lot and in fact will result in different views on the world. We experience reality only as an approximation of reality. The phenomena of visual illusions is a nice example that our brain can fool us. Be aware and stay always on guard, you can and you will be cheated. Again, reality will only be experienced as an approximation of reality and will never be complete or real!
"The events of September 11th, 2001 affected the entire world".
9/11-2001
Then, 10 years later there's a Memorial and Museum consisting of two enormous pools set within the original footprints of the Twin Towers, surrounded by a tree-filled plaza. The mayor of New York Time believes that time has come to rename the well-known Ground Zero area in 'The World Trade Center and The National September 11 Memorial and Museum'. In my opinion, naming it 'WT2CM' for example would be a better choice.
10 years later: "National September 11 Memorial & Museum"
"The National September 11 Memorial is a tribute of remembrance and honor to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center site and at the Pentagon, as well as the six people killed in the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993".
A musical project, designed to deliver scientific knowledge and philosophy in a musical form.
Releases:
1. A Glorious Dawn 2. We are All Connected 3. Our Place in the Cosmos 4. The Unbroken Thread 5. The Poetry of reality 6. The case for mars 7. A Wave of reason 8. The Big Beginning 9. Ode to the Brain! 10. Children of Africa 11. The Quantum World!
Symphony of Science - The Quantum World! (Subatomic Science Songified)
A musical investigation into the nature of atoms and subatomic particles, the jiggly things that make up everything we see. Featuring Morgan Freeman, Stephen Hawking, Michio Kaku, Brian Cox, Richard Feynman, and Frank Close.
Subatomic Science Songified - The Quantum World!
Lyrics: [Morgan Freeman]
So, what are we really made of?
Dig deep inside the atom and you'll find tiny particles
Held together by invisible forces
Everything is made up
Of tiny packets of energy
Born in cosmic furnaces
[Frank Close]
The atoms that we're made of have
Negatively charged electrons
Whirling around a big bulky nucleus
[Michio Kaku]
The Quantum Theory
Offers a very different explanation
Of our world
[Brian Cox]
The universe is made of
Twelve particles of matter
Four forces of nature
That's a wonderful and significant story
[Richard Feynman]
Suppose that little things
Behaved very differently
Than anything big
Nothing's really as it seems
It's so wonderfully different
Than anything big
The world is a dynamic mess
Of jiggling things
It's hard to believe
[Kaku]
The quantum theory
Is so strange and bizarre
Even Einstein couldn't get his head around it
[Cox]
In the quantum world
The world of particles
Nothing is certain
It's a world of probabilities
(refrain)
[Feynman]
It's very hard to imagine
All the crazy things
That things really are like
Electrons act like waves
No they don't exactly
They act like particles
No they don't exactly
[Stephen Hawking]
We need a theory of everything Which is still just beyond our grasp We need a theory of everything, perhaps The ultimate triumph of science (refrain)
[Feynman] I gotta stop somewhere I'll leave you something to imagine
This year the Dutch Rock Band Golden Earring from Den Hague exists already for 50 years, which is most probably a world record for a band. This milestone (50 years Alive and Kicking) reminds me of the fantastic performances and albums they made. The members George Kooymans, Barry Hay, Rinus Gerritsen and Cesar Zuiderwijk managed to be 'the Stones of the lowlands'. The breakthrough came with their hits Back Home launched in 1970 after their tour in the States and Radar Love in 1974. Not only these but also other hits were fabulous such as Another 45 Miles, Yellow And Blue, Eight Miles High, Long Blond Animal, She Flies On Strange Wings, Long Blond Animal, When The Lady Smiles and Twilight Zone are some of my many favourites. They toured together with Janis Joplin, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Santana and The Who.In 1992 Bill Clinton chose Radar Love for his campaign and Hillary chose When The Lady Smiles for her campaign for the US presidency of 2008. The video for this song, shot by Dick Maas (movie The Elevator), was controversial. In one scene, a man attempts to rape a nun. This particular scene was quickly removed from the video (the full cut was only shown after midnight). Eelco Gelling from Cuby & The Blizzards, another favourite blues band of mine, shortly joined the band and the Dutch Rock singer Anouk was actually discovered by Barry Hay. After 50 years The Earring is still Alive and Kicking.
The Earring: 50 years Alive and Kicking
The Wall of Dolls period: George, Cesar, Rinus, Barry
Not all favourites of mine are still alive and kicking: Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones from the Rolling Stones, Syd Barrett and Richard Wright from Pink Floyd, John Lennon and George Harrison from the Beatles, Sandy Denny from the Folk Rock band Fairport Convention and Jim Morrison from The Doors.
Selection of my favs: Sandy Denny & FairportConvention, LedZeppelin, Dido, PinkFloyd, NeilYoung, GoldenEarring, Apocalyptica, RollingStones
The plan: building a mountain in the polder. Worktitle: "De Nederlandse Berg" (DNB) changed to "Die Berg Komt Er". Location: The Flevopolder. Crazy idea to build a "2000 m high mountain" in the Netherlands. 'HIL(L)'arious? Do we have to take this seriously?
Virtual reality or reality in the nearby future?
The peak under construction almost approaching sealevel....
Apparently virtual reality?
It started as a joke, like pie in the sky. Actually, the idea is not very unique/original, because there have long been plans to transform the old Tempelhof airport in Berlin into a mountain of one km height. In The Netherlands we plan, we build, we stole land from the sea and built dikes to our territory to protect nature and ourselves. What started as a crazy idea of journalist Thijs Zonneveld is starting to take shape quite seriously. Recently, the project to build a mountain in the polder was launched. Imagine. Skiing and snowboarding with a view of the bulb fields. Experts said that there are many drawbacks/snags/pitfalls for such a project. One of these is the substrate of the soil, the support, and not to mention the funding. We will be informed about the progress of the 'Dutch Mountain': the opportunities, the obstacles, the solutions, the pros and cons, the building materials, whether or not the mountain should be hollow, the financing, the flight paths at Schiphol airport, Chinese investors and the consequences for the climate.
It's a dream, a fantasy. But will it ever be realized? One of the few comparable examples so far are the artificial climbing rock "Monte Cervino" or "Matterhorn" in Outdoor Valley Bergschenhoek and the numerous ski runs like "SnowWorld". Will the natural 323 m high Vaalserberg remain the highest mountain (i.e. hill) in The Netherlands?
Nevertheless, these kind of initiatives are innovative and should not be nipped in the bud, or be ridiculed immediately like in the broadcast of KB. Even if the mountain would never be realized, the idea itself is valuable on its own. And it's not even unthinkable that it will trigger other brilliant ideas. We need to nurture creative ideas, cherish people with creative ideas and encourage others to come up with creative ideas. We must, we can and above all we have the obligation to ourselves to come up with creative initiatives, in particular in a prosperous and democratic country like the Netherlands. Our knowledge can be our strength. That's how a small country can distinguish itself. We should always aim to improve and innovate our environment and society.
