Complex Blog » science

DNA Portraits Unlock Genetic Art

Joe — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:07:41 +0000

If you're like us, you like one-offs of everything, including your art. But how can you really make sure your style won’t be bitten? DNA 11 is a design house that reworks your genetic formulas and turns them into one-of-a-kind art pieces.

Customers use a “collection kit” to take a swab from inside their cheek, which gives the company the DNA they need. They then isolate a sequence, blow it up and customize the artwork based on your specifications. You can even mix up to four different types of DNA if you're looking to make sentimental “family portraits.” The DNA sequences transform into reasonably priced ($390 per print) wall-candy, but you can also get a personalized fingerprint or lips image for cheaper. After the jump, watch a video about the process and see some more DNA 11 artwork.

[DNA 11 via Baller House]

LSD Inventor Albert Hofmann Dies

bfred — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:22:25 +0000

On April 16, 1943, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann was doing just another experiment on a lysergic acid compound, when he accidentally absorbed some through his fingertips. Three days later, he ingested 250 micrograms of the compound and hopped on his bike to make his way home. That’s when he started to experience the world’s first acid trip:

“In a dreamlike state, with eyes closed (I found the daylight to be unpleasantly glaring), I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors. After some two hours this condition faded away.”

He continued to experiment with hallucinogens, becoming the first person to synthesize psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, in 1958. While he was critical of casual hippie LSD use, he was still a lifelong advocate of the drug he referred to as “medicine for the soul.” Hofman finally died yesterday of a heart attack at the ripe old age of 102. After the jump, watch a documentary about the development of LSD called Hofmann’s Potion.

[Wired]

Study Says Nervous Whites Ignore Black People

bfred — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:56:19 +0000

In this post-Imus, post-Kramer society, white folks are more scared then ever of “saying the wrong thing” and getting Al Sharpton on their case for being racist. But rather than confronting their fears by, you know, talking to actual black people, a new study has found that whitey is more likely to just pretend they don’t exist.

The Northwestern University study called “The Threat of Appearing Prejudiced and Race-based Attentional Biases” asked 15 white students to take a simple computer test showing a black face and a white face with the same expression. The students overwhelmingly looked at the black face first, but would quickly move their attention the paleface, apparently a more comforting sight. They concluded:

Study participants indicated that they worry about inadvertently getting in trouble for somehow seeming biased. As a result, the study suggests, they behaved in a way that research shows people respond when faced with stimuli that cause them to feel threatened or anxious: they instinctively look at what is making them feel nervous and then ignore it.

In honor of everyone someday living in perfect harmony, watch Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder’s “Ebony & Ivory” after the jump.

[EurekAlert]

Japan Creating Whale-Cow Super Species?

bfred — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:15:12 +0000

After sifting through a stack of Japanese research papers from the last 18 years, Australian scientists discovered something a bit off.

Apparently, some strange experiments have been going on within Japan’s whaling community, where they attempted to create test-tube whales. The most bizarre of these entailed trying to create a new cross-breed by injecting minke whale sperm into cows eggs. Perhaps they were trying to create a new money maker for Japanese-style steak houses across the world: 5-ton teriyaki.

[Slashdot]