#scientific imaging

[noosphe-re]

Brain Images Just Got 64 Million Times Sharper (Ultra-Sharp Brain Scan, Duke University)

[nemfrog]

"Various urodele amphbians, not all to the same scale." The life of vertebrates. 1962.

Internet Archive

[tiercel]

Giant blue worm (Megascolex coeruleus?)

Photographed by Abhishek Jamalabad

[mouseshift]

oxenfree nd gravity falls crossover because i can do whatever i want

[tkmk]

tag yourself! i'm Verbaln Reçuising

[cult-of-the-eye]

listen horror is supposed to be reflective of the fears of our time, right? tma's big theme was constant surveillance and now tmagp's focus on digital horror has just made this even more apparent, like the different ways people's online activity can be found and collated, its just so weirdly satisfying seeing how relevant it is

[pansyfemme]

i am really so hyped for this one class im taking like. beyond hyped im shaking and crying just thinking about it

[morerichka8]

We are mirrors, reflecting both light and shadows

November, 2024

[spaceadvances]

You may have seen Orion's belt before -- but not like this. The three bright stars across this image are, from left to right, Mintaka, Alnilam, and Alnitak: the iconic belt stars of Orion. The rest of the stars in the frame have been digitally removed to highlight the surrounding clouds of glowing gas and dark dust. Some of these clouds have intriguing shapes, including the Horsehead and Flame Nebulas, both near Alnitak on the lower right.

This deep image, taken last month from the Marathon Skypark and Observatory in Marathon, Texas, USA, spans about 5 degrees, required about 20 hours of exposure, and was processed to reveal the gas and dust that we would really see if we were much closer. The famous Orion Nebula is off to the upper right of this colorful field.

The entire region lies only about 1,500 light-years distant and so is one of the closest and best studied star formation nurseries known.

📷: Matt Harbison (Space4Everybody), Marathon Remote Imaging Observatory

[noosphe-re]

Marmoset brain imaging (Translational Medicine, Monash University)

[nemfrog]

Geologic Time Chart. Guide for beginning fossil hunters. 1959.

Internet Archive

[nuheyenuh]

Dudleya sp. and Philotes sonorensis

[alithographica]

I lied it's not actually new art. Is it new art if it's old art in a new medium? idk but let's do some science to our art, welcome to

ACID TIME

Here's a horseshoe crab I drew in ballpoint pen a while back. I took a short etching class and wanted to use this as my image—I've done a little etching before but not this much detail, so it was a bit of an experiment.

Quick etching explanation: You first cover a flat metal plate in a waxy substance called "ground", then use a sharp tool to carve through the ground to reveal your plate. You then dunk that into an acid bath for like 30 seconds to an hour, depending on how deep/bold you want the line to be. The ground protects most of the plate, but the acid will eat away at anything you exposed. When you put ink on your plate to print it, the ink will sit in those grooves and then transfer to the paper, producing a print!

(If you're interested in the specific chemistry: We used copper plates and a ferric chloride solution (aka iron (III) chloride, or FeCl3). Ferric chloride is an acid with a pH around 2 (strong!) and it reacts with the copper to produce copper chloride. Copper (II) chloride is soluble, so as the copper gets eaten away from the plate, the copper chloride floats away in the solution.)

You can also do multiple passes in the acid to get different line strengths. The next photos are some WIPs of the different rounds of scratching and/or etching I went through. The dark stuff is the ground, and the bright lines are the copper plate I've exposed—in the first photo you can also see where I've transferred lines from my original drawing to the ground that I haven't scratched yet.

(Printmaking reverses the image, so I had to flip the image while I was working so that it would print normally at the end—that's why it's backwards here.)

I ultimately did 4 rounds in the acid—I exposed the darkest lines first and put it in for 40 minutes, then scratched the medium-dark lines and bathed it for 15 minutes, then two rounds of light lines at 5 minutes. However, it's cumulative because the prior lines stay exposed (unless you specifically cover them with new ground) so the darkest lines actually received just over an hour of etch time.

And then here's what the plate looks like once the ground is removed! This is ready to be inked and printed.

Typically you have to re-ink between each print. This involves smearing the ink on, then using a cloth to buff it off of the surface of the plate while it sits in the etched grooves. Takes a few minutes and you can also control how clean or inky your plate is. I personally prefer more ink for a more shadowy print area and darker darks—left-hand is one where I polished it more, right-hand is one where I left more ink.

And there's the print!

🦀

(okay they're not a real crab but that's the only emoji we've got rn, sue me)

[icewindandboringhorror]

examining a seemingly normal image only to slowly realize the clear signs of AI generated art.... i know what you are... you cannot hide your true nature from me... go back where you came from... out of my sight with haste, wretched and vile husk

[mochasucculent]

POV you're a weird bug

[verdemoth]

i cant post Tune without also posting Odyssey. do not separate.

Odyssey is an engineer, formerly the director of Mission Control, and before even that e did field work. Now, e’s supposedly retired from all duties, but Odyssey refuses to leave. E wont let the new owners run the team into the ground. (and e’s still holding onto some distant hope of finding es best friend alive, or at least closure)

-> Originally Odyssey was a field researcher alongside es queerplatonic partner Tune in their 20s, until the risks of such work became apparent. E then went on to develop systems to communicate with and coordinate the research team and monitor the Otherworld from safely on the ‘reality’ side of the portal. E established Mission Control, and led it for decades.

-> Tune and Odyssey were very close for a very long time, having met in their school years. They were best friends, partners for life, two halves of a whole. It’s been some years now since Tune’s disappearance, and Odyssey’s mostly come to terms with it, but still feels his absence keenly.

-> Odyssey’s a generally kind individual but not particularly nice. E’s gruff, immensely stubborn, with a mean sarcastic streak. Some coworkers might describe em as cantankerous. But at the end of the day e’s well-intentioned and altruistic.

-> Odyssey is very, VERY bitter about the investors who bought ownership of the team from the original founders a couple years back. E hates them. E’s just WAITING for the chance to prove there’s something unscrupulous happening, e can FEEL it. E hasn’t had results yet but the vibes are rancid.

-> Though formally retired, Odyssey continues to do much of the same work e’s been doing for decades, out of spite and because e trusts few people with the systems e built. E adamantly refuses to cooperate with anyone associated with the company, which is probably directly related to es early ‘retirement’. Odyssey’s not happy about it and won’t do them any favours.

-> Odyssey is only middle aged but e feels so much older. E’s so tired. And so worried. E hopes for the best but is always prepared for the worst.

-> Odyssey’s role as director was succeeded by Maven, who e mentored. Odyssey treats them as a ward and as a friend. E respects and trusts them, but…… When the Storm hit, it was one of Maven’s first missions directing with little input from Odyssey. It was supposed to be that, anyway, before that disaster. Odyssey doesn’t blame them for what happened, but but can’t seem to talk them out of beating themself up over it. Directing the EEG is no longer Odyssey’s job so e tries to step back and let Maven make their own decisions, but they’ve obviously not dealt well with the pressure, and Odyssey can’t leave well enough alone. E has a tendency to step in and take over es old duties at the first sign of trouble in a misguided attempt to shield Maven from the trauma of handling another crisis. E doesn’t mean to imply that they’re not capable, but unfortunately they are not helping Maven’s shattered confidence and fear of making mistakes by taking control from them.

-> Odyssey is legally blind, and though es glasses can help em make out some shapes in the right conditions, in unfamiliar spaces and bad lighting e utilizes a cane to get a feel for es surroundings. While es poor eyesight is likely hereditary, e became an amputee following a severe injury on es last field mission. E opts not to use any prosthetics, finding them uncomfortable and unwieldy. E’s often accompanied by one or both of the spider shaped robots e designed and programmed to assist the exploration team, which have been retired from the field as well since suffering some damage in the Storm. Odyssey is very fond of them.

-> The larger robot, Marie, was named after Odyssey’s cousin Mariner, who also worked for the EEG for a time. The two used to be close, but have had a falling out coinciding with Tune’s presumed death and Mariner’s retirement. Xe pushed for Odyssey to quit as well, but despite xer desperation xe wouldn’t confess why xe was so adamant about it.

-> The loss of Tune hit Odyssey very hard, and e’s become quite reclusive. E tends to stick to es room when not doing other work, and would spend a lot of time alone if not sought out by the other people who are close with em.

-> Spirit, Tune’s sibling, can probably best understand what Odyssey’s going though. The two have always gotten along well, having met through Tune. When Odyssey was injured, they requested Spirit join the team in es place, providing a glowing recommendation to the then owners. E’s always thought highly of Spirit, as a skilled and reliable member of the team (and someone e could trust to keep an eye on Tune where e couldn’t).

-> Spirit’s been different, recently. Odyssey has slowly tried opening up to them to talk about their shared loss, after es initial attempts to distance emself from the team in es grief. But any attempt seems stilted and awkward, so usually Odyssey never gets around to that part, and sticks to shallow small talk and talking At them about other problems. Honestly e just wants their company, and e feels they could use it, too. Odyssey worries for Spirit’s physical wellbeing in the Otherworld, and their mental wellbeing in the wake of losing their sibling. But they’re still capable of looking after themself, so e doesn’t push too hard. E just figures… well. Spirit probably needs the same kind of help e does, and e’s trying to be that for them.

-> If there’s a coworker that Odyssey really Does Not get along with, it’s Curiosity. In the past they’ve had a standard and respectful relationship. But with Tune M.I.A. and the EEG’s new ownership, Odyssey’s being phased out of the team though circumstance and es own actions and e’s feeling quite frustrated. E projects a lot of those frustrations into Curiosity, the new de facto leader of the field team and symbolic of the changes Odyssey rejects. Curiosity, for her part, isn’t keen on sitting around and taking flak from Odyssey.

-> Mostly they try to avoid each other, and that turns out fine. But when they do interact, Odyssey is… difficult about it. E will nitpick any plan of hers to test how it holds up, always double-checks her work, tries to pull rank/seniority regardless of relevance.. all in all, nothing malicious, but instead unreasonably hypercritical. E claims e’s only making sure she’s up to handle whatever the Otherworld throws at them next.

-> Phoenix on the other hand is a long time friend of Odyssey and Tune, having also met them through school before he dropped out. They’ve been a sturdy pillar of support for Odyssey through es grief, and regularly checks up on em to make sure es looking after emself. Though Phoenix, like Curiosity, is ambivalent about the new ownership, he is unlike Curiosity in that he is in good standing with Odyssey and is privy to sooo many rants about it. They talk often. Phoenix is really the only other person Odyssey trusts with maintaining the systems e built.

-> Phoenix and Odyssey had a brief romantic fling as young adults, which Odyssey now finds very amusing. Even moreso because Phoenix is kind of embarrassed about being ‘something of a headstrong dumbass’ at that age, in their own words. It’s one of the few things Odyssey and Curiosity (who also once dated Phoenix) can agree upon. It’s all in good fun.