For me, it depends on the type of photo and who has taken it. Photos fall into different categories. Some are about what the picture is of, and some are the whole picture, and some are both.I could have gone on a lot longer mentioning many more talented photographers but it was long enough already. I feel so lucky to be able to immerse myself in the beauty that so many people are so freely sharing on Google+.
Some photos allow me to see what friends have been doing, how they've been enjoying themselves and to get to know them a little better even though I'm far away. To see a friend who has been through a bad patch with a natural smile on his face in a photo has brought tears to my eyes (and even thinking about it now, I can see the picture in my mind and it brings a smile to my face and another tear to my eye). Then it's the content of the picture that matters and if it's blurry or badly composed, it doesn't distract from what I see.
Other pictures bring the reality of a terrible situation home to me. I don't like looking at them, but I need to to understand. The photos connect me to the event in a way words can not.
I'm not good at remembering names but I pictures give me a sort of anchor to link information to. I will probably forget the name of the little creature which +Kjetil Greger Pedersen took a picture of, a nudibranch, but I will remember the picture and the information he so kindly provided to go with it.
Some pictures fill me with awe at the beauty around us whether it's a landscape, flower or tiny creature. I've always thought of cities as horrible, dirty places and but then I see the photos by +Trey Ratcliff and realise I've not been looking at them in the right way.
Other pictures teach me to look for beauty in the mundane such as the light on a curtain, the pattern on a floor or just a ball of wool such as those +Jordana Wright takes. They teach me how to look at details instead of the overall scene.
I love to see pictures of people who are real so I can wonder about who they are and what their story is. Faces with characters like in the street photography of +Thomas Leuthard.
I love the underwater shots that +Elena Kalis takes which transport me into a dream world. I've never seen anything like her pictures before.
From a creative point of view, they teach me about composition and colour which I can use to improve my own photos and craftwork. The pictures +Robin Mead has posted of her craft work have given me some ideas of things I'd like to try.
In summary, for me pictures inspire, allow me to escape, relate, connect. They teach me, aid my memory, change my perspective and share moments.
Saturday, 6 August 2011
5th August 2011 - 1 Why I Like Photographs
What I've learnt today has been about myself and how I react to things. On Google+ today, Jessamy Goddard asked what everyone loves about looking at photographs. It made me think and this is what I wrote in response.
Friday, 5 August 2011
4th August 2011 - 3 The Horizon
Assuming the Earth is a sphere leads to simple calculation, based on Pythagoras' Theorem, of the distance to the horizon given the height, h, of the viewer's eye. The details are nicely explained by Phil Plait in his blog Bad Astronomy.
The distance, d (in km), to the horizon is
where h is the height of the eye (in km) and R = 6365 km, an approximation of the radius of the Earth.
For instance, if you eye is at ground level, the horizon is 0 metres away, but if your eye is at 1.65 m (about 5'5"), then the horizon is at 4.6 km (2.9 miles). At the top of Mount Everest, which is 8,848 m high, it would be 335.75 km (208 miles).
The distance, d (in km), to the horizon is
d = square root of h(h+2R)
where h is the height of the eye (in km) and R = 6365 km, an approximation of the radius of the Earth.
For instance, if you eye is at ground level, the horizon is 0 metres away, but if your eye is at 1.65 m (about 5'5"), then the horizon is at 4.6 km (2.9 miles). At the top of Mount Everest, which is 8,848 m high, it would be 335.75 km (208 miles).
Thursday, 4 August 2011
4th August 2011 - 2 Earth's Two Moons
A new proposition suggests that when the moon formed from the impact of an asteroid with the earth 4.5 billion years ago, that it wasn't just one moon formed, but two.
Why would anyone think that? There is a difference between the near and far sides of the moon. The two sides have different terrains, a different crust thickness and different amounts of so called KREEP (potassium (K), rare earth elements (REE), phosporous (P)) elements.
For details see Nature: Early Earth may have had two moons - Richard Lovett
Why would anyone think that? There is a difference between the near and far sides of the moon. The two sides have different terrains, a different crust thickness and different amounts of so called KREEP (potassium (K), rare earth elements (REE), phosporous (P)) elements.
For details see Nature: Early Earth may have had two moons - Richard Lovett
4th August 2011 - 1 Light lost in Reflection
In a conversation with a friend, the loss of light between two mirrors came up. That got me thinking as to why the light was lost. Was it some sort of cool quantum effect? Maybe I've been reading too much quantum stuff that I want something weird and wonderful to be happening. I went on a search for information to see if any of my ideas were in the right direction and this is what I've found so far.
In a metal, and thus mirrors with a metallic backing, light is absorbed by electrons and then re-emitted. I don't know why it's emitted at the angle it is but I think it's to do with waves but that is a question for another day. The following are reasons why the intensity of the beam diminishes.
- Some light is scattered by imperfections in the mirror, so called diffuse reflection
- Some light is scattered by the air
- Even if the mirror were perfect, some energy would be lost due to conduction between electrons
I can see I have a lot more to read up about on this topic so I'll look at it a bit more over the next few days and see if I can make any sense of it.
Sources:
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
3rd August 2011 - 1 Drawing Bunnies
Today it's been rather hot and so I've not felt much like concentrating. A friend linked me to something on the Guardian site and I spotted this when I was there. It's about drawing bunnies in a very simple way. I'm thinking about whether I can use them in my craft class in the autumn.
This is my attempt.
This is my attempt.
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
2nd August 2011 - 4 Echinacea
Recent research shows no link between the self-reported length of a cold comparing those who took echinacea to those taking a placebo.
Source: Science Based Medicine: Belief in Echinacea - Harriet Hall
Source: Science Based Medicine: Belief in Echinacea - Harriet Hall
2nd August 2011 - 3 Shield Bug
Yesterday, an insect was flying around the room. It settled on my desk. Its body was about the size of my thumbnail. I didn't know what it was. This is it.
Today, on twitter, Bug Girl linked to an article in the LA Times (1) about a severe insect problem they have there. Stink bugs, as they call them, are gathering in their millions and destroying crops, filling houses and generally making a nuisance of themselves. Squashing them isn't a good option as they, apparently, release an unpleasant smell.
I googled for stink bug and found that in the UK they are called shield bugs. This particular one is Pentatoma rufipes, the forest bug or red-legged shield bug.
Winter: Larval form.
July-November: Adult.
Note: Sometimes they are found in early spring suggesting a secondary breeding cycle is possible.
The adults also eat caterpillars and other insects as well as sucking the juice from fruit leaving the skin damaged and corky brown regions inside.
I googled for stink bug and found that in the UK they are called shield bugs. This particular one is Pentatoma rufipes, the forest bug or red-legged shield bug.
Habitat & Distribution
At least throughout the UK and Scandinavia in woods, orchards and gardens.Life Cycle
August: Eggs are laid.Winter: Larval form.
July-November: Adult.
Note: Sometimes they are found in early spring suggesting a secondary breeding cycle is possible.
Food
The nymphs feed on tree sap, mainly of oak, but also of other deciduous trees such as alder, hazel, apple and cherry.The adults also eat caterpillars and other insects as well as sucking the juice from fruit leaving the skin damaged and corky brown regions inside.
Sources
2nd August 2011 - 2 Cigarettes & Vitamin Tablets
Source: EurekAlert!: Licence to smoke: Taking vitamin pills may undermine motivation to reduce smoking - Jean O'Reilly
In two dummy health food tests, participants, who were all daily smokers, were given a placebo. Some were told it was a vitamin tablet, and some knew it was just a placebo. The smokers then took an unrelated one hour survey where they were allowed to smoke. Those who thought they had taken a vitamin tablet smoked almost twice as much as the other group. The more positive the smokers were to the health giving properties of vitamins, the more they smoked. It may be that the perceived health giving properties leads to a false sense of invulnerability to the diseases associated with smoking.
Some other examples of people using this virtuous choice followed by a poor choice later is, the so-called 'licensing effect', are
In two dummy health food tests, participants, who were all daily smokers, were given a placebo. Some were told it was a vitamin tablet, and some knew it was just a placebo. The smokers then took an unrelated one hour survey where they were allowed to smoke. Those who thought they had taken a vitamin tablet smoked almost twice as much as the other group. The more positive the smokers were to the health giving properties of vitamins, the more they smoked. It may be that the perceived health giving properties leads to a false sense of invulnerability to the diseases associated with smoking.
Some other examples of people using this virtuous choice followed by a poor choice later is, the so-called 'licensing effect', are
- to binge drink at the weekend having not drunk all week.
- to do one 'green' thing and then feel we've done our bit so we can ignore the consequences of our next action.
Another side effect of this 'virtuous' behaviour can be selfishness later on. In a study people could choose to order from an eco-friendly site or elsewhere. They then played a game where they had to split an amount of money with others. Those who had ordered from the eco-friendly site shared less of their money.
2nd August 2011 - 1 Placenta absorbed to protect brain in mice foetuses
Source: Naturenews: Placenta to the rescue - Zoë Corbyn
When a pregnant mouse is starved, the placenta breaks itself down to provide a steady supply of food to the foetus. The stage of development studied was crucial for hypothalamus development, and this uninterrupted supply of food protects it from damage. This part of the brain controls primal instincts, including maternal instincts.
Is this result paralleled in humans? It is unknown and it would be unethical to carry out similar research on people but it is possible that some information may be obtained by studying the placenta after birth.
When a pregnant mouse is starved, the placenta breaks itself down to provide a steady supply of food to the foetus. The stage of development studied was crucial for hypothalamus development, and this uninterrupted supply of food protects it from damage. This part of the brain controls primal instincts, including maternal instincts.
Is this result paralleled in humans? It is unknown and it would be unethical to carry out similar research on people but it is possible that some information may be obtained by studying the placenta after birth.
2nd August 2011 A Change
I've decided that having this public means that I don't want to write because it puts too much responsibility on me to not spread incorrect information through my misunderstanding or poorly chosen words. There are so many amazing bloggers out there, who are specialists in their fields that I can not hope to produce anything that is useful from someone else's point of view.
I found my approach changed completely when it became public. I felt I could not longer use it to jot down notes about different topics I was reading about, but needed to produce a structured document. Instead of being something for me, it became something for other people, and those people quite likely don't exist.
Things are going to change. I am going to use this to note down three things that I've learnt each day, or at least I'm going to try to.
I found my approach changed completely when it became public. I felt I could not longer use it to jot down notes about different topics I was reading about, but needed to produce a structured document. Instead of being something for me, it became something for other people, and those people quite likely don't exist.
Things are going to change. I am going to use this to note down three things that I've learnt each day, or at least I'm going to try to.
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