cuttlefish are amazing creatures! here’s some footage of one of the resident australian giant cuttlefish (sepia apama) at bass point, shellharbour. it changes not just colour, but also forms seaweed-like appendages on its back to blend in with its new environment.
these three screengrabs from the video above show how much it changed in less than 30 seconds: [more…]
here are three photos of uluru (“ayers rock”) and kata tjuta (“the olgas”) at sunset. i have seen many perfect pictures and postcards of uluru before finally visiting the place, but it took nothing away from the sense of marvel and appreciation when we were actually standing in front of these massive rock formations!
on our great Great Ocean Road road trip, we happened to visit the cape otway lighthouse. i was actually not very interested in lighthouses when we visited the area (and much more excited about the almost guaranteed koala sightings along the road to the lighthouse), but the entrance fee was included in our accommodation and we decided to checked it out. good decision!
it’s a fascinating piece of engineering, and worth talking to a visitor guide who will explain its history and functioning!
here’s a 360-degree sunset photo taken at wentworth falls in sydney’s blue mountains, a few days ago:
the brodribb and choat lab groups (read: my colleagues and i) are currently at the australian synchrotron in melbourne for an experiment to study what’s going on in the stems and roots of living trees during drought. using x-ray microCT, we can look inside the wood and examine whether vessels are functional (i.e. water-filled) or blocked, without cutting into the tree (which can create a range of problems for measurement).
here’s a time lapse video showing how our eucalyptus trees are mounted onto a high-tech robot arm (0.0001 mm precision movements!), centered, and then rotated during the x-ray scan:
the resulting microCT scans have a resolution of 10 micrometers per pixel and can be reconstructed to 3D models. more about that in a future post…
ever wondered what it looks like to rise from the ground through and above the rainforest? the video below provides a 360 degree view along a ride in the canopy crane at the daintree rainforest observatory at cape tribulation in far north queensland, australia.
the compilation includes the ascent from the ground through the canopy, a ride above the rainforest, the sampling of a branch, and the final descent back to the ground.
vivid is a 3-week winter festival of outdoor lighting in sydney, where landmark buildings and popular places throughout the city are brought to life at night.
here are some impressions from vivid 2016:
