ptable (13. 922)

Via Quantum of Sollazzo, we are redirected towards a suite of interactive data tables in development since 1997—quite a change log to keep apace with increasing sophisticated user interfaces and scientific discovery— that cleverly lets one explore the chemical elements by any number of parameters of properties and then, as an encore, applies the data visualisation and organisation to taxonomy to survey the entire Tree of Life, every Kingdom, Phylum and Class down to families and species, accessible and with links to Wikipedia articles for the whole inventory. The resources and network is maintained by Michael Dayah.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica

one year ago: a banger from Baccara (with synchronoptica), the fantasy maps of Ursula K Le Guin, Dial-a-Poem, an abecedary of British folklore plus more AI christo-fascist propaganda

two years ago: Bezos’ owned Washington Post declines to endorse a US presidential candidate, a temporary monument for the January Sixth rioters, a seasonal treat from Louie Zong plus assorted links worth revisiting 

three years ago: outsider artist Robert Martiensen, more links to enjoy plus the discovery and development of the petroleum industry presented as the Bayeux Tapestry

four years ago: another MST3K classic plus further adventures in Crete

 

five years ago: Antarctic outposts plus a funicular escalator to revitalise a historic resort

six years ago: an experimental solar sail, artist Mary Moser, a smart safety helmet plus a commemorative camera styled after Bond’s Q

seven years ago: toying with time

eight years ago: a counter-march in Wiesbaden, AI Halloween costume ideas plus Yoko Ono’s Warzone

 

blinded me with science (13. 796)

With everything else going on the world, we managed to miss the thirty-sixth first annual Ig Nobels held in Zürich at the beginning of the month. A little late to the party, we still enjoyed reviewing the laureates and their award-winning studies. Top honours were handed out in the Biomechanics category to a multinational team for devising a more precise definition of the act of kissing as “non-agonistic interactions involving directed, intraspecific, oral-oral contact” in ants, birds, polar bears and humans, to a finding that cockroach milk has three-fold the proteins than that of bovines for chemistry and the vaunted peace prize was presented to a group documenting how individuals value the friends most who are vicious to their enemies. Learn more about the awards show and contenders from the Annals of Improbable Research at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: a resumption in nuclear weapons testing (with synchronoptica) plus a high-concept music video from OK Go

two years ago: Dresden’ Kulturpalast mural and Soviet Realism, outsider artist Gottfried Mind, Mexico’s new president, Saks Fifth Avenue (1924) plus generating a podcast based on one’s notes 

three years ago: assorted links worth revisiting 

four years ago: Our Lady of Sorrows plus more links to enjoy

five years ago: forest mascots (1971) plus a Star Trek: TAS classic

six years ago: more Trek with “Amok Time,” illustrations from the children of Charles Darwin, rousing public sentiment following the Gunpowder Plot, life signs on Venus plus a COVID movie-night

seven years ago: more on Jupiter’s moons, a hot Colonel Sanders, public crucifixes, Lovecraft in the style of Dr Seuss plus Graphis Press

eight years ago: an AI names apples, the Ig Noble Awards, the Great Recession’s Lost Decade plus legalising marijuana confounded by travel regulations

 

splendor solis (13. 751)

The earliest version of the illuminated manuscript appearing in Augsburg around 1530, the alchemical guide with allegorical instructions on transmutational experiments is attributed to legendary Renaissance natural philosopher Salomon Trismosin and features rich illustrations by Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach and Hans Holbein with a format comparable to a book of hours. According to the author’s own lore as laid out in a brief autobiography in a second volume attributed to him, Aureum Vellus (the Golden Parchment), Trismosin set out on a quest to find the true Philosopher’s Stone after observing a miner called Flocker transform lead into gold but took the secret to his grave. Encountering only charlatans during his search, Trismosin finally met a genuine alchemist in Venice, a fellow German seeker called Tauler, who taught him the rudiments of preparing the Stein der Weisen (Lapis philosophorum). Producing precious metals, however, was a rather basic trick when it came to wielding its power, which was said to be able to imbue bodily rejuvenation as the panacea or even immortality, and Trismosin is said to have then travelled East to unlock its further secrets. Early Renaissance surgeon Paracelsus encountered Trismosin in Constantinople where he was mentored in the arts of alchemy himself. The text does not contain the recipe but rather the process of discovery that one has to be willing to submit to comprehend humanity’s place in the natural world—the symbolism of the imagery is unknown, perhaps lost on us novices—but may, read with the text provide a key to esoteric alchemical reaction. Much more from Open Culture at the link above—which although most appreciative of the introduction, the way on the main page it bleeds into the previous article about how AI companies are buying and shredding antique books without a break gave us a little scare that The Splendour of the Sun had already been consigned to the woodchipper as well.

deep blue something (13. 574)

Via Quantum of Sollazzo and deliciously reminiscent of the harried and hued colour profiles appearing in the Paris Review and the Awl right before folding, we are directed to this delightful project chasing down the paper trail of pigments, one colour per day with its chemistry, provenance and poison. There are over two-hundred fifty already indexed, like the pale jade glaze originally from ancient Chinese ceramic-making techniques, this greenwear copied by Korean and Japanese artisans (the greyish shade comes from oxidising iron during the firing of kilns, Fe₂O₃→FeO, and the Western namesake is from a character in a popular seventeenth century French pastoral novel, L’Astrée by Honoré d’Urfé, who dressed in light green garb—no relation to the Celadons Ovid’s Metamorphoses or International Klein Blue, a synthetic ultramarine with connections to the Nouveau réalisme movement and among the first pigments to be successfully patented. Each entry has adjacent palettes and new specimens are posted Sundays. I feel like this is site I will return to often.

9x9 (13. 382)

aegis: a unique monumental statue of Athena uncovered in western Türkiye (ancient Laodicea) whose breastplate is follows the description of Book VIII of Virgil’s Aeneid  

alien abduction: conspiracy theorists connect spate of missing US nuclear scientists to UFOs—see more  

big tree stories: a hunt for the world’s tallest firs and imagining prehistoric forests studded with such giants—via MetaFilter  

₂he: although the second most abundant element in the Cosmos, the noble gas is hard to come by on Earth—via Web Curios  

frozen conflict: like the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Trump’s war of choice likely to be a simmering, unresolved stalemate 

wishful hinking: an 1987 edition of the Collins Dictionary contains a trap word (see also), presumably to counter plagiarism 

paper theatre: home entertainment flourished during the Regency Period for lack of sufficient live venues  

νεῶν κατάλογος: golden tongued (so they can speak in the afterlife) Roman era mummies found in Egypt’s Minya governorate, whose tomb contains a manuscript of Book II of Homer’s Iliad, the Catalogue of Ships—via Kottke

renatured (13. 338)

Although from childhood until recently, my only exposure to instant coffee, a topic not given much regard in the interim, was using Sanka decaffeinated crystals for a school project to make a poster illustrating the massive meteorite strike that wiped out the dinosaurs—it was a good medium for the rocky texture for the volcano and for the ominous asteroid streaking through the sky, H and I have really started appreciating the dehydrated beverage for camping, the outdoors seeming to imbue it with a certain aroma and flavour profile that we suspect wouldn’t cut it at home for the convenience. Courtesy of Web Curios (lots more to explore there and well worth your time), we found this thoroughly researched history on the development and triangulating factors behind the improvements in reconstitution, global trade, spinoffs from R&D in photography and keeping an army sufficiently caffeinated of course playing a role quite fascinating and illuminating. Advances in the understanding of chemistry and preservation, freeze-drying grounds, led to a more palatable cup, though beggars couldn’t be choosers and the earliest versions of the potable, soluble brew were savoured as well. Much more from The Works in Progress newsletter at the link above.

half-möbius (13. 241)

Via Slashdot, we learn that IBM’s quantum computing laboratory along with a consortium of European technical universities have created a synthetic molecule C13C12 which demonstrates, a phenomenon never observed or even predicted, a unique electronic topology wherein a pulse of electrons travel through the structure in a corkscrew-like pattern. Assembled at Oxford atom by atom, the q-bit component comes in when it comes to understanding the near endlessly complex entanglement engineered of all possible states and superpositons of the particle flow, which quickly would overwhelm classical computers, increasing exponentially with each twist and turn, which can be expressed with certainty rather than projection and approximation. The chirality (see also here and here) can be switched and alter the material and chemical properties of the system.

snake-charmer (13. 145)

Having covered the mistaken medical caduceus (from the Ancient Greek κηρύκειον for “herald’s wand”) and the iconography of the intertwined serpents representing the fleet-footed messenger of the gods Hermes / Mercury and also the brilliant corporate logos of graphic designer Paul Rand previously, we enjoyed this brief missive from the Daily Heller revisiting the two topics. This deviation and arguable misuse as a symbol for healing, rather than the Rod of Asclepius, the deity associated with the medical arts and whose staff only has a single snake with no wings, dates back to a well-documented adoption of the insignia by the US army surgeon general and the decision of a single officer over the objection of scholars and badge bearers in dated to 1902. The abstract corporate logo, one of Rand’s first, is from 1945 and reflects that misapplication (likely also a choice for symmetry though the caduceus is also associated with alchemy) for client Smith, Kline & French, pharmaceutical company specialising originally in geriatric drugs—now part of Glaxo Wellcome.

synchronoptica

one year ago: US tariffs and shipping restrictions for China (with synchronopticæ) plus chromatic wood type

twelve years ago: monuments men plus improving clinical Wikipedia 

thirteen years ago: self-hypnosis plus an abdication in the Netherlands

fourteen years ago: Star Wars abstract art 

sixteen years ago: geometric dreaming 

 

personally, i’ve always wondered why alchemists didn’t think that through a little more (12. 957)

Via Kottke, we are directed to a thoughtful essay by Josh Collinsworth comparing the quest for the Philosophers’ Stone (previously here and here) with the present obsession of spinning straw into gold through creating art with artificial intelligence—with parallels to other useful commodities precious by medieval standards yet now considered nearly disposable for their ubiquity and effortless extraction, like salt and spices or clean water—like how aluminium foil was once such a rarity until the refinement process was perfected, thanks in large part to this forerunner of chemistry. Making the valuable commonplace for the temporary enrichment of a few is nothing sustainable.  The value of creative expression is derived by the work that goes into it, the artist and their motivation, not the output itself, derivative, uninspired and only glancingly aesthetic (with diminishing returns) in application. It’s a doomed venture—this approach—but perhaps like these earlier pursuits will eventually yield useful results re-directed towards turning a real scarcity into something abundant, or maybe getting rid of something we have too much of.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the literature of Prairie Dawn (with synchronopticæ), a pirated television signal plus Macquarie Dictionary’s Word of the Year

thirteen years ago: the Pope’s biography of Jesus plus PfRC goes social

fifteen years ago: tuition rate hikes in the UK plus seasonal traditions 

 

 

congrès solvay (12.838)

The preeminent series of annual alternating conferences organised by philanthropist and industrialist Ernest Solvay hosted in Brussels started in 1911 to address unsolved problems in physics, biology and chemistry, concluded its fifth and most notable session on this day in 1927, captured with this class photo (see also, referred to as the most intelligent picture ever taken) of attendees. With some tension over the participation of German scientists lifting, Albert Einstein, Max Born, Erwin Schrödinger, Werner Heisenberg and Max Plank were able to join colloquia and workshops with Niels Bohr, Auguste Piccard, Paul Dirac, Marie-Skłodowska-Curie and others to explore the topics of electrons and protons, hammering out the finer details of the newly formulated discipline of quantum mechanics. The congresses continue (on the legacy of Solvay’s fortune derived from an improved process for carbonating beverages) to this day with latest iteration on biology in scheduled for next month with talks on the subject epigenesis.

of laureates and laurels (12. 740)

The winners of the annual Ig Nobel prizes (see previously) were recently announced and there are, across several categories and disciplines, a host of ridiculous and thought-provoking studies to ponder. Several of the experiments were alcohol related, such as research into the effects of lowered inhibitions on language proficiency—outside of one’s mother tongue, garnering top prize for the peace division—and the effects of naturally occurring ethanol consumption on the ability of bats to navigate and echolocate. There were quite a few examples of culinary chemistry as well—plus a peer-reviewed field trial on the efficacy of dazzle camouflage as repellant for biting insects—previously here and here. See all the laureates at Ars Technica at the link above.

wasserstoff (12. 555)

Having always been fascinated by the depth and breadth of the German language and the seeming disconnect in scientific terminology, as with the above hydrogen (waterstuf in Dutch) or Sauerstoff (zuurstuf) for oxygen. While there is good reason for maintaining plain language in scientific parlance and keeping it accessible for all, there’s also compelling arguments for fossilising something eternal and universal in dead languages, augmented by Latin and Greek roots, hedging the unchanging against the malleability and evolution of a living tongue. We enjoyed this illustration of the matter from science fiction writer of Danish extraction Poul Anderson in his 1989 essay Uncleftish Beholding attempting to relay atomic (and quantum) theory using only Germanic words and berefting English of its other influences. The text begins: “For most of its being, mankind did not know what things are made of, but could only guess. With the growth of worldken, we began to learn, and today we have a beholding of stuff and work that watching bears out, both in the workstead and in daily life”—going to define uncleft (atomic elements) with firststuffs (those lighter ones created in the cauldrons of stars that fuel stellar fusion) and the heavier ones like ymirstuff (uranium) synthesised from supernova, as well as bulkbits (molecules) and bindings , bindings (compounds) that arise through chemical reactions. There’s an outline of the periodic table drawn the Norse rather than the Greco-Roman pantheon as well as Old English derived terms for isotopes (samesteads) and other nuclear states and particulars. The conlang element of the exercise with similar ones constructed since—the glosses referred to as “Ander-Saxon”—and is a special class of constrained writing, much in the spirit of recognising pantheons and nomenclature outside mainstream Western traditions. Click through at the link for Futility Closet above for much more.

synchronoptica

one year ago: visiting Carmine and Cannobio (with synchronopticæ)

twelve years ago: the EU and Club Med 

fourteen years ago: the problems with packaging 

fifteen years ago: bees and bailouts 

chrysopoeia (12. 443)

Although the aims of alchemists of transforming base metals into gold has been previously achieved through synthetic transmutation first in 1941 by heavy bombardment of mercury with neutrons—though the resulting isotopes were extremely radioactive and again in 1980 by Glenn Seaborg at Lawrence Livermore labs by surgically removing protons and neutrons from bismuth atoms, these demonstration projects were prohibitively expensive and would need to be scaled up a trillion-fold in order to produce a microscopic speck of the precious metal. We learn, however—via tmn—that researchers working on the ALICE programme at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the acronym somewhat disappointingly only standing for A Large Ion Collider Experiment designed to study conditions immediately after the Big Bang with by creating exotic plasma phases of matter, have recently detected the mass albeit very short-lived conversion of lead into gold as the extremely hot and close-packed conditions cause dissociative reactions that can cause the target element to eject a small number of protons and neutrons, producing gold (the similar densities probably what inspired the study of alchemy in the first place). The above quick-silver and thallium were also temporary by-products of nuclear transmutation. Related to the title term, χρυσοποιία, ἀργυροποιία (argyropeia) refers to artificial silver-making, usually trying with copper.

spaghettification (12. 323)

One might be familiar with the above transformation when one wanders too close to a black hole but there’s more physical properties to ponder in pasta that touch on the broader mysteries of the Cosmos. Noting the expertise required to produce the finest and most delicate varieties of angel hair, researchers applied science to create a matrix of nano-noodles to study the limits of dough and starch, inadvertently finding the resulting pasta to have enhanced stiffness and with possible applications as a biodegradable substitute for plastic. Enduring conundrums also present themselves in the form of the slurping problem—and variants—and Richard Feynman’s obsessive quandaries (previously) over why dry spaghetti always snapped in two and the physics behind stress and tension, which after a quarter of a century yielded a three way fracture with some mechanical finesse. More from BBC contributor Joseph Howlett at the link above.

synchronoptica

one year ago: World Puppetry Day (with synchronoptica), the Loyalty Order (1947) plus a Disneyland Dream (1956)

seven years ago: Karl Marx pedestrian signals, Tanglewood Tales plus Lewis Carroll’s logic game

eight years ago: assorted links worth revisiting 

nine years ago: pixelated palettes plus artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder

ten years ago: Russian disinformation campaigns, the Reeperbahn and the Order of the Garter, more links to revisit plus Frida Kahlo in Detroit

natronlokomotive (12. 194)

From the archives of Amusing Planet, we learn about a variant of “fireless” trains, running off a reservoir compressed air cycling through a reciprocating engine as opposed to steam-power derived from burning coal—cheaper, more energy efficient and safer without the risk of boiler explosion but with a limited range, called soda locomotives. Invented in the early 1880s by engineer and chemist Mortiz Honigmann, the engine was loaded with five tons of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide), generating heat when the substance came in contact with water, enough to propel the car forward with exhaust from the pistons in the closed-system passing again through the soda to perpetuate the cycle. After about four to five hours of use, the chemical reaction ceased being self-sustaining, at which point the boiler jacket would be swapped out for a refresh one at a station, the spent soda “recharged,” re-concentrated by dehydrating it, evaporating the excess water with an injection of ultra hot steam, that sourced from municipal heating surplus. Trialled as street cars for the public transit systems of Berlin and Aachen, they proved reliable and were well-received by passengers due to their silence and lack of smoke and soot. The demonstration project, however, was abandoned due to logistical problems, owning to the weight of the tank and liability for explosion (which fortunately never occurred) and whilst a forgotten juncture in rail and metro development, such an thermo-chemical exchange system has found new applications in recent years as a storage cell for renewable energy.

synchronoptica

one year ago:  a sixty year old chatbot (with synchronoptica), Sierra On-line games plus assorted links worth revisiting

seven years ago: an exceptional flaneur, LEGO Day plus an online museum of ephemera

eight years ago: Trump’s national security council, feeding livestock subpar candy plus American Carnage 1.0

nine years ago: underwhelming fossils, Barbie origins, seasonal trappings and stereotypes, UFO cults plus road sign typefaces

ten years ago: the history of US-Mexico relations, the Duma to rule on German reunification plus more links to enjoy

11x11 (12. 118)

nuclear dawn: a 1984 mural in Brixton, part of the Londonist tour of great public art in the city  

winterval: a spot on take of the week between Christmas and New Year’s  

tedium’s tedium awards: celebrating the protest songs of Jesse Welles, beating Tetris and more  

omnibus: more year end lists from Miss Cellania—this one focussing on science  

designated checkpoint: document-free travel being trialled, the passport replaced by one’s phone biometrics  

holiday helper: repurposing classic cocktails for the festive season  

encomnia: remembering the celebrities and artists lost in 2024  

pizza day: recreating a school cafeteria staple with pourable crust—via Boing Boing 

h-1b visas: requested immigration carved-outs for the tech sector pit Musk against MAGA  

post-holiday blues: anticipating returning to work can evaporate that time off peace of mind  

our century hasn’t been as free with words of wisdom as some others: Kurt Vonnegut Jr’s 1988 address to people living a hundred years later

synchronoptica

one year ago: a banger from Andrew Bird (with synchronoptica) 

seven years ago: the aphorisms of Syrus, vintage London Underground posters plus a compendium of dark magic

eight years ago: celebrating the life and career of Carrie Fisher plus reflections on post-truth

nine years ago: feudalism and engaged citizenry, remote human settlements plus a look back at phony outrage

ten years ago: Pangea with current geopolitical borders, space-time fossils plus a Grumpy Cat Christmas

now chitans are a type of molluscs that nature uses to bedazzle things like rocks and shells (12 059)

Courtesy of Ms Cellania, we are afforded the opportunity to to catch up on our intrepid science presenter Ze Frank (see previously) with his surprise invitation to join the taxonomical committee of Frankfurt’s Senkenberg Ocean Species Alliance and his humorous tour (to find out if the offer was legitimate or a hoax) of the facility with an introduction to its scientific mission to describe and catalogue the overwhelming understudied forms of life under the waves. Frank will serve on the committing naming newly discovered species and certainly brings a lot to the table and reminded us of this impressive oratory feat in classifying the sea shell of North American beaches.

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synchronoptica

one year ago: The Final Countdown (1986—with synchronoptica) 

seven years ago: a private spy network, medical marijuana in Italy plus the philosophy of ikigai

eight years ago: the Château d’Aubiry plus repurposing love-locks

nine years ago: Æsop’s Fables

eleven years ago: non-English tongue twisters, Snowden’s home town plus infographic native advertising

10x10 (11. 983)

chonkus: a cyanobacterium discovered in a underwater volcanic vent gobbles up CO₂ at prodigious levels—see previously  

attentat im bürgerbräukeller: the meticulously planned attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler and other Nazi principals, foiled on this day in 1939—see also here and here  

off-course: an Emperor Penguin recovering after a epic trip from Antarctica to Australia  

for unlawful carnal knowledge: the various folk etymologies of a famous and satisfying swear—see also  

files’s done, goodbye: Elwood Edwards—who voiced AOL’s “You’ve got mail” greeting—passed away, aged 74 

bj blazkowicz: Wolfenstein franchise is enjoying a resurgence among those wanting to smash Nazis right now  

the tiktok electorate: Facebook got the blame for Trump’s win in 2016 so it follows that P’Nut the Squirrel’s influencer status might be in part responsible for 2024—via tmn  

🦘: when the last 747 of Quantas’ fleet departed Australia for retirement, its flight path drew its logo  

mauerfall: juxtaposing photos of Berlin then and now thirty-five years after the Wall came down  

cells and organelles: thousands of professionally made vector illustrations and icons from the US National Institutes of Health—via Web Curios

to honour achievements that make people laugh and then make them think (11. 840)

The laureates of the Ig Noble Prize (see previously) have been announced in a competition organised by the scientific humorist society Annals of Improbable Research since 1991 and hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who arrange the ceremony with awards in ten categories, celebrating the best in unusual or seemingly trivial studies, presented by their Noble-winning counterparts. The botany prize was awarded to a team of researchers that found that the leaves of the parasitic chameleon vine (Boquila trifoliolata) will imitate an artificial host plant in order to blend in. Building on the effects of the placebo and the nocebo, the award for medicine went to an experiment demonstrating that fake drugs with painful side effects can be more effective than real treatments with none, and as has been widely reported, the prize in demographics was awarded for research that helped debunk some of the mystique of the so called Blue Zones, areas famous for having supercentenarians, also excel in bad record keeping.

8x8 (11. 746)

divi recap: the obfuscating vocabulary of finance and corporate take-overs 

ch₄: methane removal may prove as the most effective way to curb the climate collapse  

anima and archetype: an overview of the thought of Carl Jung—see previously  

mamala: Maya Rudolf returning to the cast and reprising her role as Kamala Harris for the fiftieth season of Saturday Night Live—via Miss Cellania  

v. to remove monks from: demonachise and other infrequently used words  

wall flowers: increased appreciation of complex and nuanced botanical behaviour leads a new branch of plant philosophy  

rewiring: if billionaires truly wanted to save the planet, they’d buy heat-pumps for every home—via Kottke 

big brother and the holding company: the spiteful origins of Berkshire Hathaway and corporate hard-pivots