If you have any interest in magnets then "Rare earth magnets for fun and profit" will keep you busy for hours. I especially like the link to the magnet so strong they won't sell it to you. There are also some very great ferrofluid photos and even a movie of ferrofluid in action.
comment?
permanent link
email this
I've been running across some strange things lately. Last week there was an odd looking road-kill, which (thanks to Carl's identification) turned out to be a yellow spotted salamander. Over half a foot long and freaky looking even in death.
But the real freaky sighting of the week goes to this multi-legged bug. Measuring about four inches long, with very large mandibles, it gave me the willies even though it was close to dead. For a sense of scale the head was about the size of a dime. I don't know where to start searching for its identity, maybe one of my nephews knows? It looks like a bug from MIB.
Speaking of bugs, thanks to Pam for posting a link to this groovy Tick info. Walking to work through the woods inevitably leads to ticks. Usually while debugging some nasty bit of code I'll feel a nasty ol' tick scurrying amongst leg hairs or spot one traversing Zeke's ear. How reassuring is it to find that they can live 500 days without a meal? And once they get that meal will lay, oh, 10,000 eggs.
Aren't they disgusting! Everytime I see a brown spot now I think it's a tick (and I have a lot of freckles). The one I pulled off of me the other day was right in the spot they use when I give blood. That bugger was mainlining me! Glad you liked the tick link. : )
Reading the entry on your weblog I realized that it's surely a bad sign when you find out that the inventor of a tick removal device lives next door. We have one of those but I usually just use fingernails unless they have been in for a while.