I spent 14 years working in a lab, mostly by myself, and I had time to play now and again....
I once experimented with Hot Ice. It is when you super-saturate a solution of baking soda and vinegar (I was able to use more exotic ingredients to make it super fun). Basically mix them, then heat it over the stove to reach super-saturation point, then put it in the fridge and get it cold.... once cold, drop a single crystal into the mixture and it immediately freezes AND gives off heat, which is wicked cool and makes a crystal formation, though not as awesome as the one in the video.
I was watching a video earlier this morning about how spiders survive winter, which mentioned supercooling and thus took a detour into supercooled water demos: https://youtu.be/mzzfJLQGV8A
I don’t know how old they are, but if they’re old enough for full-length SF novels I can recommend Children of Time, which among other things is about the rise of a civilization of intelligent jumping spiders.
When I first worked in parents BAKERY watching the dough rising fascinated me. The dough required a couple of PUNCHING which produced bubbles of yeast gasses. SO being young and curious I had to check it out. DAMN! I almost passed out when it hit me. But that is what YOUTH is for! LEARN NEW THINGS!
Binders are commonly used by those who are no longer breastfeeding. I used a binder after gallbladder surgery. Thunder shirts, compression tanks - those bind breast tissue, too. It’s stupid and hateful and highlights just how fucking desperate the regime is to divert attention from the more than 1,000,000 times Trump is mentioned in the Epstein files.
When OPM dumped our PII, we got credit monitoring for a while. The IRS guy (which I'm now seeing was a "contractor" at the time was being disciplined by the IRS (as an employee?) and may in fact be more liable than charging tax payers for the guy who was banned from running charities because he and the spawn used them as piggybanks. (PS... not appreciating the Victoria's Secret and Rich People ads in the emails.)
Lisa McClain mocks liberals by saying something like "liberals want to release the criminals!". Unironically, apparently, despite all the literal actual for real criminal monsters the president has pardoned and all the unindicted criminal monsters throughout the administration.
Glad to see the article on the bogus enforcement against binders. That was nice and in-depth too, good interviews. Hadn't seen any interviews with recipients of the letters prior, had only seen about the letters existing a few days after they were published.
Yes it's totally BS and transphobia. And these are small fragile companies with big impact. (And maybe it's petty but, if they take out For Them, you also end up without Autostraddle too. So, queer journalism and culture suffers too.)
HuffPost: "In response to statements from Rep. Gerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who criticized the Justice Department for mishandling the Epstein files, U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi pointed out the Dow Jones Industrial Average had just surpassed a 50,000-point milestone:
"He is the most transparent president in the nation's history, and none of them, none of them asked Merrick Garland over the last four years one word about Jeffrey Epstein. How ironic is that? You know why? Because Donald Trump -- the Dow. The Dow right now is over -- the Dow is over 50,000," she said.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the committee's top Democrat, laughed from the dais. "I don't know why you're laughing. You're a great stock trader, as I hear, Raskin," Bondi said. "The Dow is over 50,000 right now. The S&P at almost 7000, and the Nasdaq smashing records, Americans' 401(k)s and retirement savings are booming. That's what we should be talking about." [At the moment of Bondi's statement, the Dow had actually dipped back below 50,000.]"
Then I remembered that this was a major plot point in Robert Heinlein's 1996 novel, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", where freedom fighters on the moon used a catapult to "throw rocks" at Earth in their bid for independence.
One wonders if Musk wants the power to do this....
I am infuriated that it took a 9 year old victim for Lummis to care about the Epstein files. Oh, 12 and 16 year-olds are fine to get raped and trafficked? FUCK OFF!
So what the hell happened, and then unhappened, in El Paso this morning?
Obviously whatever Sean Duffy says is a lie.
Meanwhile, yesterday in Minneapolis, ICE thugs (apparently, they wouldn't identify themselves) disrupted the operations of the Hennepin County Government Center, including the courts, to take down an 18 year-old drug mule appearing on very serious charges. The kid is in the US unlawfully, and got pulled over driving a car with 57 pounds of meth in the trunk. He was facing a long spell in prison, followed by deportation.
ICE spent the afternoon running around making a spectacle of themselves, and then finally made a hash of arresting him.
So they'll fly him to, umm, El Paso? Or maybe Tucson and rent a car and drive 5 hours? Whatever, now he doesn't stand trial for the meth, does he. So he goes home, apologizes to his cartel boss, and he's back here with maybe 100 pounds of meth next week?
But the ICE guys might get a bonus, just in time for Valentine's Day.
It's like the jewel thief who was looking at huge time, and maybe bargaining down if he told the court where he stashed the jewels he stole, whom ICE grabbed and deported. Getting the jewel thief completely off the hook. Now the insurance companies fight over whether it's $80,000,000 or $20,000,000 they have to pay out.
After hearing what great friends the founder of Victoria's Secret and Jeffery Epstein were I've wonder which came first, their friendship or VS? Meaning was VS Epstein's idea, or did did he glom on to the guy who made sexy clothes for young women?
Victoria's Secret originally started out selling glammed-up versions of 19th century women's undies - camisoles, teddys, that sort of thing - hence the name. They went minimalist once they figured out what men wanted.
Let me add. I would not believe a damn thing coming from the FBI at this point. The release of the ring camera evidence sure looks like an ICE person and I wouldn't put it past them to have kidnapped her and then will blame it on "an illegal" just to take the heat off what they are doing.
It's so bad that my mind is now making up conspiracy theories. THAT'S how much faith I have in this FBI.
Also, they used the work "informed" yesterday to say that Rump "informed" the police. Didn't they try the "informant" excuse before. Is there a box of lies they just pull from. Oh this has been used before. .Yeah well that was awhile ago. No one will "remember".
Your gif info: https://martiniambassador.substack.com/p/crystal-creation
And meme chat: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/04154870-15e8-499d-9465-4a95b76bd9d7?utm_source=share
The Pink Cauliflower Coral
floats around the ocean
looking for a home
where it can glom on
Having watched "The Andromeda Strain" over the weekend, this hits VERY differently.
Still beautiful, though.
This world is a singularly beautiful one. I appreciate more and more as I get older.
About time we heard from the mineral realm, instead of the animal or vegetable!
Nucleation,
Nucleation,
It's making me wait...
I spent 14 years working in a lab, mostly by myself, and I had time to play now and again....
I once experimented with Hot Ice. It is when you super-saturate a solution of baking soda and vinegar (I was able to use more exotic ingredients to make it super fun). Basically mix them, then heat it over the stove to reach super-saturation point, then put it in the fridge and get it cold.... once cold, drop a single crystal into the mixture and it immediately freezes AND gives off heat, which is wicked cool and makes a crystal formation, though not as awesome as the one in the video.
YAY FOR CHEMISTRICIANS!!!!!
I was watching a video earlier this morning about how spiders survive winter, which mentioned supercooling and thus took a detour into supercooled water demos: https://youtu.be/mzzfJLQGV8A
That was a cool video! Thanks! My grandkids love spiders & have 2 as pets.
Ooh, what kind?
Little jumping spiders. They fell in love watching ‘Lucas’, so their Momma bought 2 cute little spiders who are living in spider luxury. Lol!
I don’t know how old they are, but if they’re old enough for full-length SF novels I can recommend Children of Time, which among other things is about the rise of a civilization of intelligent jumping spiders.
Thanks for clarifying, I didn't know what I was looking at 🤣time for more coffee ☕
When I first worked in parents BAKERY watching the dough rising fascinated me. The dough required a couple of PUNCHING which produced bubbles of yeast gasses. SO being young and curious I had to check it out. DAMN! I almost passed out when it hit me. But that is what YOUTH is for! LEARN NEW THINGS!
Nucleation.
An Ode To Glammy's Eyes :
Once one looks quite closely
It's really plain to see
That universal structures
Compose reality
The forms we take for granted
Are present nonetheless
From macro size to micro
There's true orderliness.
And those who have good fortune
Will see this world anew
Though the eyes of someone
Who brings the unique view.
Thanks, sister!
Tiny mighty moes! That photo if the coral looks like it could be one of our “paintings of the day”.
It's all starting to come together!
Right now!
Over you?
Now comes the Fender Rhodes solo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45cYwDMibGo
It's a babby crystalline entity!
If anyone sees Lore hanging around, we may be fucked.
Look out, you ugly bags of mostly water!
This is a pet name my partner and I share.
https://youtu.be/XDl8ZPm3GrU?si=A6VjkP7fC6cxlZQn
Crystal B̵l̵u̵e̵ Yellow Persuasion
☝️☝️☝️
GMTA 👍👍👍
Walter White's latest business creation.
Or maybe Walter Bishop. It's irresponsible not to speculate.
But not Walter Brennan.
I'm sure some real McCoys cooked meth.
Crystal yellow creation. I looked at the linked article, fascinating. But I prefer to photograph stuff that's a little bigger!
🎼Crystal yellow persuasion🎵
I was about to do that one too....
Exactly!
It's the good shit.
I should've read the non-comments already posted before posting mine.🤔
We all do this from time to time. It reflects the excellent quality of the talent here.
Binders are commonly used by those who are no longer breastfeeding. I used a binder after gallbladder surgery. Thunder shirts, compression tanks - those bind breast tissue, too. It’s stupid and hateful and highlights just how fucking desperate the regime is to divert attention from the more than 1,000,000 times Trump is mentioned in the Epstein files.
Fuck off and fuck off from there with your performative outrage Lisa McClain. It's MAGA who poses a clear and present danger:
A Jan. 6 rioter pardoned by Trump was convicted of sexually abusing children
https://www.npr.org/2026/02/11/nx-s1-5711294/trump-jan-6-pardons-child-sex-abuse
Florida Man. Quelle surprise.
When OPM dumped our PII, we got credit monitoring for a while. The IRS guy (which I'm now seeing was a "contractor" at the time was being disciplined by the IRS (as an employee?) and may in fact be more liable than charging tax payers for the guy who was banned from running charities because he and the spawn used them as piggybanks. (PS... not appreciating the Victoria's Secret and Rich People ads in the emails.)
Lisa McClain mocks liberals by saying something like "liberals want to release the criminals!". Unironically, apparently, despite all the literal actual for real criminal monsters the president has pardoned and all the unindicted criminal monsters throughout the administration.
Glad to see the article on the bogus enforcement against binders. That was nice and in-depth too, good interviews. Hadn't seen any interviews with recipients of the letters prior, had only seen about the letters existing a few days after they were published.
Yes it's totally BS and transphobia. And these are small fragile companies with big impact. (And maybe it's petty but, if they take out For Them, you also end up without Autostraddle too. So, queer journalism and culture suffers too.)
Stupid donny gonna die someday. I have champagne waiting. Come on don, drop fucking dead already, I want my bubbly.
Geoffrey Deihl has a unique way of combining climate science and politics:
https://open.substack.com/pub/geoffreydeihl/p/the-degenerate-cabal?r=zdhun&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
https://open.substack.com/pub/geoffreydeihl/p/2025-a-collapse-pandemonium?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
FWIW I am in near total agreement with him.
At the Bondi hearing:
HuffPost: "In response to statements from Rep. Gerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who criticized the Justice Department for mishandling the Epstein files, U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi pointed out the Dow Jones Industrial Average had just surpassed a 50,000-point milestone:
"He is the most transparent president in the nation's history, and none of them, none of them asked Merrick Garland over the last four years one word about Jeffrey Epstein. How ironic is that? You know why? Because Donald Trump -- the Dow. The Dow right now is over -- the Dow is over 50,000," she said.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the committee's top Democrat, laughed from the dais. "I don't know why you're laughing. You're a great stock trader, as I hear, Raskin," Bondi said. "The Dow is over 50,000 right now. The S&P at almost 7000, and the Nasdaq smashing records, Americans' 401(k)s and retirement savings are booming. That's what we should be talking about." [At the moment of Bondi's statement, the Dow had actually dipped back below 50,000.]"
Trump and his minions will start taking credit for USA Winter Olympics medals any day now ....
I saw a clip of that. She is so awful.
Nuff said.
At first I laughed at this:
"𝐄𝐥𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐤'𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝑇ℎ𝑒 "𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟" 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒"
Then I remembered that this was a major plot point in Robert Heinlein's 1996 novel, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", where freedom fighters on the moon used a catapult to "throw rocks" at Earth in their bid for independence.
One wonders if Musk wants the power to do this....
I am infuriated that it took a 9 year old victim for Lummis to care about the Epstein files. Oh, 12 and 16 year-olds are fine to get raped and trafficked? FUCK OFF!
WHAT?? No Real Housewives tab??
So what the hell happened, and then unhappened, in El Paso this morning?
Obviously whatever Sean Duffy says is a lie.
Meanwhile, yesterday in Minneapolis, ICE thugs (apparently, they wouldn't identify themselves) disrupted the operations of the Hennepin County Government Center, including the courts, to take down an 18 year-old drug mule appearing on very serious charges. The kid is in the US unlawfully, and got pulled over driving a car with 57 pounds of meth in the trunk. He was facing a long spell in prison, followed by deportation.
ICE spent the afternoon running around making a spectacle of themselves, and then finally made a hash of arresting him.
So they'll fly him to, umm, El Paso? Or maybe Tucson and rent a car and drive 5 hours? Whatever, now he doesn't stand trial for the meth, does he. So he goes home, apologizes to his cartel boss, and he's back here with maybe 100 pounds of meth next week?
But the ICE guys might get a bonus, just in time for Valentine's Day.
It's like the jewel thief who was looking at huge time, and maybe bargaining down if he told the court where he stashed the jewels he stole, whom ICE grabbed and deported. Getting the jewel thief completely off the hook. Now the insurance companies fight over whether it's $80,000,000 or $20,000,000 they have to pay out.
Good work, boys.
After hearing what great friends the founder of Victoria's Secret and Jeffery Epstein were I've wonder which came first, their friendship or VS? Meaning was VS Epstein's idea, or did did he glom on to the guy who made sexy clothes for young women?
Victoria's Secret originally started out selling glammed-up versions of 19th century women's undies - camisoles, teddys, that sort of thing - hence the name. They went minimalist once they figured out what men wanted.
Let me add. I would not believe a damn thing coming from the FBI at this point. The release of the ring camera evidence sure looks like an ICE person and I wouldn't put it past them to have kidnapped her and then will blame it on "an illegal" just to take the heat off what they are doing.
It's so bad that my mind is now making up conspiracy theories. THAT'S how much faith I have in this FBI.
Also, they used the work "informed" yesterday to say that Rump "informed" the police. Didn't they try the "informant" excuse before. Is there a box of lies they just pull from. Oh this has been used before. .Yeah well that was awhile ago. No one will "remember".
The first thing that I thought of when I heard about the kidnapping was "ICE did this so they could pin the rap on some poor immigrant."
A strong argument for changing the way we vote. It doesn't require a constitutional change.
https://theconversation.com/proportional-representation-could-reduce-polarization-in-congress-and-help-more-people-feel-like-their-voices-are-being-heard-270411