December Alternate Perceptions issue

Be sure to check out the December issue of AP Magazine!

How do You Sense Color?

What sense do you use when interacting with a color? Your eyes? Your ears? Or maybe even your sense of smell?

Most humans utilize their sense of sight when a color is involved. But did you know that Dogs can smell color? And Bats can hear color? And there are some humans who can feel color.
But how is this possible you ask?
It is my belief that everything in this world is made up of vibrational energy. Different people, animals, and inanimate objects vibrate at different frequencies. This would also include color. Different colors have different densities and will vibrate at different frequencies. 
Many species have evolved specific senses in order for them to survive. Bats have a highly developed sense of hearing to enable them to locate insects or other edible objects in the dark. When bats use echolocation, they are discerning the difference between something edible and something which isn't edible by the way the sound waves bounce off the object. If their sense of hearing is that acute, then who is to say that they are not able to tell the difference between colors? There is a blind man who is able to use clicking sounds to find his way around in the world.  
Dogs have a highly developed sense of smell and hearing. They 'smell' in color. Because they utilize all their senses when observing their world, they have associated certain smells with certain items. Humans have a tendency to do the same thing though we do not think of it as 'smelling color'. When you take a deep breathe in late Spring, what do you smell? There is a freshness in the air which we humans often associate with the color green. Dogs have taken this talent to an extreme level.
Blind artists are often able to discern the difference between colors simply by feeling them. Different colors will have different textures because of the pigments used to give them their distinctive hue. 
Try utilizing ALL your sense when experiencing the world. You might be surprised with what you discover!

Melting Shadows

Well here is the new look. And a new name.
If you have this blog listed on your website and/or blog, please make note of the name change. Thanks!

I have wandered down another path. 

I have begun writing more seriously. I am actually getting paid for articles, albeit peanuts, but it is pay. I have steered away from the art which once was my creative outlet. I still dabble but not to the extent I did. There is a reason for the term, "Starving Artist". Most artists don't make enough to live off of and I was one of those. So I am channeling my creative outlet in other ways. Hopefully ways in which I will make money. (trying real hard to pay off bills and finish construction on our little abode)
This blog will still have posts about odd and unusual things, the occasional post from Gomez, and thoughts on the esoteric. But the Sunday art feature will be no more. 
I do hope you'll stick around. One never knows where the path will lead. Or what the Shadows will do.

Weird Wednesday ~ Plastic Eating Fungus!

A fungus has been discovered in the rain forests of Ecuador that consumes polyurethane, a polymer that is used in the making of everything plastic and synthetic. And it can do this in an environment which does not contain oxygen!

Every year more than 33 million tons of plastic is discarded every year by Americans! Of that, roughly 6.5% is recycled and 7.7% is combusted in waste-to-energy facilities. This fungus, Pestalotiopsis microspora, may very well be the answer our society has been needing.

Link to various articles - read more!

Weird Wednesday ~ 3D Printing Pen

Now there is a pen (in production) which allows

 you to draw in the air! 

And it looks like a regular pen!

Click Here for more info!

Gothic Alterations

The art of Colin Batty

Wild @$$ Guesses Welcome!

These are some odd photos we found on the trail camera. I am showing the before and after shots along with the actual odd photos. Your guesses are welcome. Hubby & I have our suspicions as to the culprit but we're open to other Wild A$$ suggestions!

The date and time is on the photos so please keep that in mind when making the guesses.

The trail camera we use is activated by motion. There were no branches low enough to produce the shadow.

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Weird Wednesday ~ A House of Spores

Phil Ross is an artist whose work has consisted of  real mushroom side-tables and chairs. He would grow the fungi in a mold so that the growth would form a specific shape.

Ross built a small teahouse from Reishi mushroom bricks. He boiled the bricks which made up the teahouse to make a tea for the museum visitors to drink. It was after that process that Ross realized that he may have discovered the building material of the future. The boiled bricks were so strong that they broke Ross's woodworking tools. The fungi bricks could withstand extreme temperatures, bullets and is totally sustainable as well as compost-able.

The bricks are grown in organic matter like sawdust or agricultural waste. The tiny mushroom grows as it consumes the nutrients in the organic matter and soon fine threads of mycelium form a solid block of cells. Placed two living fungal blocks together and they will fuse together in a matter of hours. Cure the material to stop the growth and create an almost indestructible building block.

Click Here to Read More!

Weird Wednesday ~ Turn off Aging

image source

Scientists at the Salk Institute have discovered an on/off switch for aging. Cells in our bodies are constantly dividing and replenishing our body parts. But most human cells cannot divide indefinitely. Each has a 'timekeeper', called a telomere, at the end of the chromosomes which shortens as division occurs. When this telomere becomes too short, then division ceases.
But some cells produce an enzyme called a telomerase which rebuilds telomeres and allows cells to continue to divide. Controlling the telomerase enzyme would allow for control of cancer cells (which rely on high levels for rapid cell division) or to help control aging or even to help regenerate injured parts of the body.

Click Here to Read More!

Weird Wednesday ~ Glow in the Dark Plants

What if plants could glow, like a firefly, at night and we would no longer have a need for power consuming street lights?

image source

This is the brain child of Daan Roosegaarde, a designer and developer who advocates the use of bio-luminescence as an alternative energy source.  Roosegaarde promotes the technology of Dr. Alexander Krichevsky, who splices bioluminescence properties into the DNA of plants. Dr. Krichevsky has successfully created plants which will absorb sunlight and then glow for approx. 8 hrs at night. The only drawback, so far, is that the plants have a short lifespan.

Click Here to Read More!

Click Here to go to the Bioglow site!

Trail Cam Anomaly Inquiry/Response

This post is in response to a comment on the original post, Trail Cam Anomaly? 

PickledAliens ask me to post the sequence of photos from the time the unknown glowing orb enters the camera's range to the time it exits. I would also like to give info on the trail cam which we use.

The trail camera is a Simmons Whitetail Trail Camera with Night Vision . "The motion-activated sensor has a range of up to 30 feet, and after dark images are captured from up to 40 feet, with infrared night vision LEDs that are virtually invisible to game. It doesn't flash, but the LEDs light up red when the motion sensor is activated, but it's not like a bright flash."

The date/time stamp will appear on the bottom of the photo and the moon phase also appears at the bottom of the photo. I have included the photo before and the photo after the three odd night time shots.

We recently spent a few nights at the property and I tried to pay attention to what night time flying critters were around. I saw only a few small moths, about half the size of a dime. And since the camera doesn't flash (per se) whatever the orb is I would guess must reflect the light like the deer's eyes. (?) Unless it is self-illuminating.

Weird Wednesday ~ Vampire Plant Talks to Its Victims

image source

It has been discovered that a parasitic plant named Strangleweed actually 'communicates' with its victims as it feeds on them. Strangleweed wraps itself around its host and punctures the plant's stem with appendages and then absorbs nutrients from the host. 

It is at this point that the Strangleweed sends ribonucleic acid into the host giving instructions to the host plant's DNA. These instructions tell the host plant how to grow, thus changing the host plant's DNA to make it weaker and to lower its defenses. These changes allowed the Strangleweed a better opportunity to feed on the host plant.

Click here to read more!

Trail Cam Anomaly?

Over the course of the summer, on visits to our property, hubby and I would discover our bird feeders raided of food and often laying on the ground. On one occasion the wire feeder was mangled and the hummingbird feeder had a puncture hole in it.

To find the culprit, we installed a trail cam. Our first batch of photos, taken over the course of a week, provided us with lots of images of blue jays at the feeder and a lovely visitor.

[Date and Time stamp is in the bottom right corner of each pic]

But we had a couple of night photos with an odd image. A deer - we think it's the same doe because of the notched ear. But the glowing image which moves from left to right is odd. There was nothing in the tree which could reflect any light and if it was a bug, then why weren't more seen? 

What do you think? 

Weird Wednesday ~ Thought Controlled DNA

There is a commonly held theory that a person's DNA determines that person's looks, behavior, and thought processes. 
Stem-cell Biologists, Bruce Lipton, PhD has found evidence to the contrary. He states that, "It's actually our beliefs that select our genes, that select our behavior."
Lipton has found that cells can survive without the nucleus, which contains the DNA. He also states that in every cell there are genes whose sole purpose is to rewrite and adapt genes to specific purposes; a person's perception of their environment helps to rewrite their genetic code. Thus a positive environment (or what is perceived as one) will encourage growth and blood flow, allowing a person to think clearer, be healthier and happier.
Remember, You ARE what you THINK!

Click Here to Read More!

Weird Wednesday ~ Geckos See With Their Skin

Same Gecko placed against a light background (L) and a dark background (R)

It has been discovered that Moorish Geckos have skin that can see! 
There are light sensitive proteins called opsins which trigger chemical reactions that send signals to the brain. Opins are generally found in the eye which allows animals to see. The Moorish Gecko has opsins in its skin. Some species of fish also have their own form of opsins in their skin - tetras being the one most people are familiar with.
The next step is to prove that these opsins are actually responding to light and that signals are being transmitted to other parts of the body.
Click Here to Read More!

Weird Wednesday ~ Skin's Sense of Smell

image source

Surprise!

Your skin has scent receptors similar to your nose. But instead of triggering memories, alerting us to danger or causing us to relax, the skin's scent receptors can cause the skin to repair itself. 

Scientists in Germany have discovered that the scent of Sandalwood can cause the skin to repair damage. Aromatherapy anyone?

Click Here to Read More!

Weird Wednesday ~ Precious Metal Weight Loss

Inspired by research which utilizes GOLD nanoparticles as a cancer treatment, scientists are applying the same principle to melt fat cells. In cancer treatments, gold nanoparticles collected near tumors are 'excited' by shining an infrared laser light on them. These gold particles become so active that they destroy some of the malignant tissue.

By injecting the same type of gold particles in the desired fatty area and then heating it up with an infrared laser, the fat cells will melt. The 'liquid' fat, along with the gold, is then sucked out with a small needle.

Read More Here!

Weird Wednesday ~ Earth Songs

Ever wonder what songs the Earth sings? 

Below is a recording made with sensitive recording equipment at the deepest accessible hole in the world which is located in southern Germany.

This recording was made by Dutch artist, Lotte Geeven with the help of National Geographic. The hole is estimated to be over 9000 meters deep - that's over 5 1/2 miles!

Click here to read more! 

Weird Wednesday ~ Semi Synthetic Life

Scientists have created the first "semi-synthetic" life form - a genetically modified E. coli bacterium.  Researchers feel that this is the first step towards creating new life forms with unique industrial or medical properties.
This microbe has six "letters" in its DNA molecule instead of the usual four and is able to function and replicate in laboratory conditions. The four "letter" DNA code is thought to have existed ever since life first evolved more than 3.5 billion years ago.

Click Here to Read More!

Weird Wednesday ~ Fountain of Youth

Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered a secret which vampires have known for centuries. That young blood rejuvenates. 

When older mice were infused with the blood of younger mice, the older mice grew more nerve cells in their brains and became more adept at navigating mazes.

This has huge implications for those who have Alzheimer's.

Click Here to Read More!