Science-- I feel very unintelligent in comparison. These people understand this stuff.

#scifunonfilm


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https://plus.google.com/u/0/s/magnetic%20putty%20

Cool stuff. They sell it at thinkgeek.com. It's called Smart Mass magnetic black hole. 15.00 for a tin of putty and a magnet.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/5ac8/?pfm=Search&t=magnetic%20putty








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A ferrofluid is just a suspension of nanoscale particles of a magnetic metal in a solvent. The magnetic particles are so small that they won't settle out of solution, and spread evenly through Brownian motion. Now place a ferrofluid in contact with a magnet and things quickly get interesting.

Lionbrand Co. article - Yarn Dying with dyes you create from natural products.

http://blog.lionbrand.com/2013/11/19/kitchen-safe-dyeing-part-2-using-skins-of-yellow-onions/

Sister and brother duo, Elizabeth and Robby Miracle, first created this dyeing series for a Lion Brand newsletter several years ago. Although that newsletter is no longer around, we loved the idea of making kitchen-safe dyes so much, that we’ve updated it and reprinted the series here.

Kitchen-Safe Dyeing, Part 2: Using Skins of Yellow Onions | Lion Brand Notebook

Creating your own dyes can be a fun and exciting way to personalize projects. This month, we show you how to make all-natural dyes and use them with different cotton and wool yarns.

We used only edible items purchased at our local market, boiling water (and in some cases, salt or vinegar) to make beautiful, all-natural dyes.
After trying our dyes, you will probably want to experiment with other natural food dyes of your own. Start by using fruits or vegetables that stain and experiment! You can mix dye baths to make different colors. You will probably find, as we did, that the colors are all — surprise — “earth” tones!( Read more... )

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 19th, 2013 at 9:00 am and is filed under Crafting,

It all started with wondering about Russian Easter Egg dyes - Seeking Galileo made me, She did too.

Russian Easter Eggs
http://natashaskitchen.com/2011/04/20/russian-easter-eggs/

Prep time 10 mins
Cook time 17 mins
Total time 27 mins

Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com
Skill Level: Easy

Serving: 12 eggs

Ingredients

dry outer peels from about 10 yellow onions
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dozen white eggs.


Instructions
Place eggs in a bowl with warm water. Eggs are more likely to crack if they are placed in boiling water when they’re cold.

Fill a small saucepan about ⅓ with water (or enough to cover the eggs). Add onion peel and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 to 10 minutes until onion peels release their color.

Remove eggs from warm water and place them in the pot, making sure they are fully submerged in water. Add more boiling water if needed. Boil 7 minutes, turning the eggs occasionally.

Remove eggs to a bowl of cold water. Once they are cooled, dry with paper towels and Tada!! You can also rub some oil on the shell to give them a nice shine.

And then there's:( Read more... )

Oh my

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/2013/11/22/flashback-friday-ever-wonder-test-condoms-behold-laboratory-coital-model/

It’s probably not surprising that condoms are put through rigorous testing by their manufacturers. And it probably makes sense that the machines used would look…realistic. Here, the makers of Durex condoms report the results of this testing, along with evaluations of returned broken condoms (eww!), over a period of 7 years. They found that most of the breakage that was not due to misuse was due to “blunt puncture,” where “the tip of the thrusting male penis progressively stretches one part of the intact condom wall until it ultimately breaks.” They are careful to note that this is not a manufacturing defect, but simply due to “the circumstances that arise during an individual act of intercourse.”
Male condoms that break in use do so mostly by a “blunt puncture” mechanism.

“BACKGROUND:
Published condom breakage studies typically report the percentage of failures but rarely provide any evidence on the mechanism of failure.

METHODS:
Over a period of 7 years, broken condoms returned to a supplier (SSL, Durex) via consumer complaints were examined to determine the cause of failure. Also, some consumers who reported breakage but did not return condoms were sent a questionnaire on the causes of breakage. Finally, theories proposed for the mechanism of breakage were investigated on a laboratory coital model.

RESULTS:
Nearly 1000 (n=972) returned condoms made from natural rubber and polyurethane were examined. Visible features on those that were broken, were classified. Evidence combined from examining returns, questionnaire responses and the coital model strongly suggests a single predominant mechanism of failure we named “blunt puncture,” where the tip of the thrusting male penis progressively stretches one part of the intact condom wall until it ultimately breaks.

CONCLUSIONS:
Blunt puncture appears to be the mechanism of breakage responsible for more than 90% of condom breakage not attributable to misuse. Knowledge of the main mechanism of breakage should help develop better user instructions, better test methods and, ultimately, better condoms.”

Fig. 1.
Coital model at SSL Cambridge Technical Centre.