Diary of a Mad Natural Historian

Shipping Containers Redux

dr.hypercube — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:17:39 +0000

Tangentially via a tweet from @snarky_malarkey, a slide show of shipping container dwellings. My earlier musings on containers are here. The tree house slide show that led me to the containers got me thinking – my Goff/Bavingeresque cable and phone pole hack ought to include a nice big beech or oak at the center. Another thought: not sure how to integrate it, but a waste container based aquaponics rig should fit in somewhere (ground level, obv).

Tomato Bob’s Heirloom Tomatoes

dr.hypercube — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:58:35 +0000

Tomato Bob’s Heirloom Tomatoes.

Cosmonaut Volkov

Medium round red fruit named after the first Russian Cosmonaut. Shoulders are a yellow/orange color. Russia

Black Seaman

Good producer of 8-10 oz. Dusky brown fruits with green shoulders. Similar to Cherokee Purple but has a different flavor and a more pronounced color when sliced.

NASA Finds Shrimp Where No Advanced Life Should Be: 600 Feet Beneath Antarctic Ice

dr.hypercube — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:53:14 +0000

NASA Finds Shrimp Where No Advanced Life Should Be: 600 Feet Beneath Antarctic Ice | 80beats | Discover Magazine.

There’s a lot more going on beneath those huge sheets of Antarctic ice than you might think. NASA researchers say they uncovered a major surprise in December: The team drilled an eight-inch hole and stuck a video camera 600 feet down, hoping to observe the underbelly of the thick ice sheet. To their amazement, a curious critter swam into view and clung to the video camera’s cable [Washington Post].

Geyser!

dr.hypercube — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:56:32 +0000

As mentioned in the previous post, we’ve seen a bit of rain (as best I can tell, something like 5 inches[update - 7.4" in Dover]) over the past couple days. Rivers are in flood and storm drain systems are overwhelmed:

March NH Media Makers

dr.hypercube — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:58:58 +0000

The weather today leaves a lot to be desired – cold, windy, pouring rain – as a result, attendance this morning was a lighter than the SRO+ that has been the rule at recent HMM meet-ups. No matter – lots of cool projects…

Angela’s drawdio jellyfish puppet:

Update - Angela has posted more drawdiofish info.

Dan Freund had a rig for his phone that he used to record his pitch which was then uploaded to/streamed from his site:

I was not the only person taking pictures of someone videostreaming themselves (you can see Roger Goun’s lens on the right side of the shot), but I think I was the only one snapping away with my cell phone, thus completing the cell phone media takeover.

Our meeting spot – Crackskull’s in Newmarket – is both a coffee shop and a bookstore. I went browsing and found this bit of awesomeness – a wunderkammer cookbook!

Tibetan Pop Surrealism

dr.hypercube — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:16:49 +0000

Rossi & Rossi – Gade.

Via D&R.

Betta brooding

dr.hypercube — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:49:57 +0000

Not all bettas are bubble-nest builders (in fact, not all bettas are the long finned fish you see in little tiny bowls at the pet store). I have a trio of Betta macrostoma; they are, like many stream-dwelling bettas, mouthbrooders. Yesterday the female went from having a rounded belly to being quite slim – at the same time, the dominant male’s throat expanded. Keep your fingers crossed – this is attempt #2 for them and I wouldn’t be surprised if it took a couple more attempts for the male to get it right.

Apologies for the poor picture quality. I was trying to just snap a couple quickly; I didn’t want to raise too much of a ruckus.

Regretsy – Wing Flapper

dr.hypercube — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 11:07:33 +0000

The etsy hat – not my fave.

This one, that illustrated the Regretsy post though – great!

Regretsy – Wing Flapper.

Drag Waye

dr.hypercube — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:09:29 +0000

As long as we’re on the subject of wild@ss drag bikes, here’s Clive Waye’s VW powered slingshot(s), the Drag Waye:

Pucker-inducing.

dr.hypercube — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:57:56 +0000

I wonder what the front fork looks like?!

More pix from around the web:

Via Ride the Machine.