Roban H K

Data Scientist, Ex-astrophysicist, Freediver http://roban.github.io Baltimore / New York @robanhk

[startorialist]

In light of the "wardrobe malfunction" that some of us witnessed during ESA’s live-stream of the Rosetta/Philae comet landing, we here at startorialist thought we should highlight some alternative (non-traditional but still work-appropriate) menswear options for future scientists and engineers who might be in the spotlight one day as role models for young people interested in STEM.

From top to bottom, left to right: Bobak Ferdowsi, Michael Collins, Robert D., Rahul Patel, Ricky Nilsson, and Christian Ready. 

All of these designs are being modeled by real live scientists, engineers, educators, and/or astronauts (!!!), proving you can be smart and fashionable. Fancy that! 

Lots more can be found in our archive. 

- Summer & Emily

[patgavin]

Yo-Landi Vi$$er wheatpaste by SORTA, Greenmount Ave., north Baltimore, Md.

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

This surrealistic timelapse doesn’t show an ocean in the sky. These are undulatus asperatus clouds rolling over Lincoln, Nebraska. Also known simply as asperatus, this cloud formation has been proposed as but not yet recognized as a distinctive cloud type. Their speed is much slower than shown in the animation, but the wave-like motion is accurate and is the source of the cloud’s name, which comes from the Latin word aspero, meaning to make rough. Though they appear stormy, asperatus clouds do not usually produce storms. They form under conditions similar to those of mammatus clouds, but wind shear at the cloud level causes the undulations to form. (Maybe some Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities going on there?) You can check many more images of asperatus clouds at the Cloud Appreciation Society’s gallery. (Image credit: A. Schueth, source video; submitted by leftcoastjunkies)

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

In the dark of the ocean, some animals have evolved to use bioluminescence as a defense. In the animation above, an ostracod, one of the tiny crustaceans seen flitting near the top of the tank, has just been swallowed by a cardinal fish. When threatened, the ostracod ejects two chemicals, luciferin and luciferase, which, when combined, emit light. Because the glow would draw undesirable attention to the cardinal fish, it spits out the ostracod and the glowing liquid and flees. Check out the full video clip over at BBC News. Other crustaceans, including several species of shrimp, also spit out bioluminescent fluids defensively. (Image credit: BBC, source video; via @amyleerobinson)

[robanhk]

During the Cold War, America’s bipartisan commitment to protecting and expanding a community of nations devoted to freedom, market economies and cooperation eventually proved successful for us and the world.

Hillary Clinton reviews Henry Kissinger’s ‘World Order’ Everything you need to know about Hillary Clinton's worldview in one sentence.

[pleatedjeans]

At 29, Patrick is the oldest living wombat. [x]

[candlelightisfire]

So tiny! So cute!

[robanhk]

Nice medium-length sequence.

[fastcompany]

Ka-Pow: Watch These Fish Cannons Shoot Salmon Safely Over Dams

Salmon have serious swimming skills—some travel thousands of miles to return to their original homes to breed. But even though they can jump as high as 12 feet in the air, they can’t manage to get over massive concrete dams that we have built to block their journeys back to their homes. Now one new idea could give them a boost. The plan involves whisking the fish through a long vacuum tube at speeds up to 22 miles per hour and then shooting them out the other end like a cannon.

Read More>

[robanhk]

This is hilarious reasoning, coming from a libertarian:

But when sex­ual norms are too per­mis­sive, it cre­ates mat­ing mar­ket collec­tive action prob­lems and harms the peo­ple who are most ill-equipped to han­dle sex­ual anomie.

-- Pamela J. Stubbart

I wonder what happens when economic regulation is too permissive?

[robanhk]

Looking at our photos from Catalina Island, I realized that we've seen Chromis species in three seas.

Blacksmiths (Chromis punctipinnis) in the Pacific off California,

Brown Chromis (Chromis multilineata) in the Caribbean off Bonaire, and

Chromis chromis in the Aegean off Milos.

[rachelfershleiser]

The bottom line point is that Looking for Rights is an important work by a talented young scholar that will both change how we talk about American constitutionalism and offer numerous fruitful paths for more creative thinking about the entire American constitutional experience.

Balkinization

"My best friend from summer camp 1994 is a fucking genius and don’t you forget it."

-- rachelfershleiser

Aww!

[americasgreatoutdoors]

How hot is it in Death Valley National Park? So hot that this coyote pup decided to cool off in this bird bath! Photo: National Park Service

[digitalurbanisms]

I really love Tim Maly’s account of Mapbox’s process. It shows us the power of combining computation power with human creativity in the production of perception. Even maps, are socially and mathematically constructed. Here’s a large chunk from his article, which should be read in its...

[machistado]

[conservationbiologist]

African Wild Dog photographed with #beetlecam in Hwange, Zimbabwe

[robanhk]

Fast & Slow Barley, our greyhound/labrador mutt, was fascinated to encounter two Eastern Box Turtles this morning in Cylburn Arboretum.