No Science For You!

 

This is quite sad. Another blow to amateur scientists everywhere:

The United States CPSC has initiated criminal legal action against us and other chemical suppliers. In short, the CPSC would like to ban the public from all access to chemicals. This would mean an end to hobbies such as model rocketry, pyrotechnics and of course chemistry. One by one, our freedoms are slowly being taken away from us – this action must be stopped now.

I suppose that in 15 years people in the US will look around themselves in their high security cities and wonder why all the equipment and technology is being sold to them by Chinese R&D labs. I suppose they won’t care because the call center jobs pay pretty well even if you do have to learn Mandarin to work there.

(There’s irony in there but the fedral government doesn’t want anyone to point it out.)

Boing Boing:US bans sale of chemicals to hobbyists without $1K license

Laughing Gas How-To From 1949

 

Mumm… Old science tutorials are the greatest. Back when the world was a simpler place, little Timmy Citizen was encouraged to explore the world of science via discoveries that he would make in his back yard laboratory himself, and not just by reading boring old facts from a text book. This is an extract from a 1949 issue of ‘Modren Mechanix’ that details the production of nitrous oxide.

But don’t go trying this at home these days kids, just having ammonium nitrate (the prime ingredient in this experiment) without the proper papers will get you jail time. You could be a druggie, or even a terrorist! So be happy to just read about how reactions and decomposition takes place from a book and know that your better off blindly taking their word for it that this is how things work. Think of it like reading a cook book but being forbidden from owning any food. I’m sure all the best cooks in the world got to be what they are by just reading and never touching the ingredients…

[via Boing Boing]

Laughing gas how-to in 1949 Modern Mechanix

Storyboard for “Stimpy’s Invention”

The first time I ever saw Ren and Stimpy was the the short "Big House Blues" at a film festival in 1990. Right then I knew it was a winner. The rest of the evening anyone crying ‘the big sleep!’ would get me and my friends rolling on the floor… Anyway, the folks over at ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project have posted an original story board to a classic R&S episode:

Here is an excerpt from the original storyboard to "Stimpy’s Invention". The board is by Bob Camp; and the last panel, which is a xerox of a layout drawing is by Chris Reccardi. Take a moment and read John K’s notes on how he constucts his stories… and then take a look at how the theories are implemented in this section of board.

Don’t be an eeediot and not see this! 

[via Boing Boing]

John K’s storyboard for "Stimpy’s Invention" episode

f295: The Art of Pinhole Photography

I’ve been taking quite a few photos with my scratch built pinhole cameras lately and in my Internet treks to find out what other people have been doing I discovered f295. In the forums you can find discussions on everything from pinhole design and camera modification to building your own lenses (if your into that ‘glass’ thing). Pretty cool resource. Go read for a while and see if you don’t get bitten by the pinhole bug.

f295: The Art of Pinhole Photography