Lasers

The hours I spend in the physics and chemistry labs of St. Lawrence University make me a bit inured to the optical shenanigans occurring when we take Raman spectra of the materials my students synthesize. Still, the effect is pretty fantastic. The grainy pattern of the laser on surfaces around lab is fantastic, but the fluorescence ink on the post-it note in the foreground fluorescing aggressively is pretty cool, too.

Homebuilt Raman Apparatus

That violet-blue light in the background of the shot above is the 405 nm laser we use to initiate photochemical processes. The beam is poorly detected by the camera’s sensor, but the slightest hint of it is visible in the upper third of the image below.

405 nm

Demon of the Growth

In this image, visitors walk through “Demon of the Growth” in Salm Palace, part of the National Gallery in Prague, Czech Republic. Though this sculpture may look enormous, this portion on the staircase is only a small part of the multistory piece that extends painted spheres (mostly balls for athletics, as far as I could tell) around the museum and even out some of the windows. I’m put in mind most of some kind of gray goo scenario, with out-of-control self-replicating machines on the loose in the museum.

Demon of the Growth

Horse Friend // Winner

Anyone who says animals don’t have individual personalities has been spending time with the wrong animals.

Horse Friend

Walking across the heat-shimmered horse park with a blue ribbon, the ultra-long shot maybe puts me in mind most of… the Mandalorian? That makes Reuben a very large Child.

Winner