The architecture of Minneapolis

Starting with Philip Johnson's acclaimed IDS Tower in 1972 (which is still, perhaps, one of the best looking skyscrapers in the country) Minneapolis has seen architecture play an increasingly important role in the fabric of the city...

John Comazzi, a University of Minnesota Architecture professor, guides us around these Minneapolis landmarks, revealing some of the more interesting architectural details, facts and marvels. We start at the Walker Art Center's new addition by Herzog & de Meuron and conclude, fittingly, backstage at the new Guthrie Theatre building..."

As a kid I walked across those skyway bridges, and last summer I visited the new Guthrie and stepped out on that "endless bridge" which juts out over the riverfront.  It really is magnificent.

A thank-you to Anything and Everything for discovering and posting this.

Shattuckite and Cetineite

The shattuckite - Cu₅[(OH)₂|(SiO₃)₄] - from Namibia, and the cetineite - (K,Na)₆[Sb₂O₃]₆[SbS₃]₂[(H₂O)_6-x(OH)_x] (x = 0,5) - of Italian origin.

Photosynthesis in vertebrates !

It's done by algae in salamanders, but still...

Occasionally, researchers stumble across something extraordinary in a system that has been studied for decades.  Ryan Kerney of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, did just that while looking closely at a clutch of emerald-green balls — embryos of the spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum). He noticed that their bright green colour comes from within the embryos themselves, as well as from the jelly capsule that encases them.

This viridescence is caused by the single-celled alga Oophilia amblystomatis. This has long been understood to enjoy a symbiotic relationship with the spotted salamander, which lays its eggs in bodies of water. However, the symbiosis was thought to occur between the salamander embryo and algae living outside it — with the embryo producing nitrogen-rich waste that is useful to algae, and the algae increasing the oxygen content of the water in the immediate vicinity of the respiring embryos.

At a presentation on 28 July at the Ninth International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology in Punta del Este, Uruguay, Kerney reported that these algae are, in fact, commonly located inside cells all over the spotted salamander's body. Moreover, there are signs that intracellular algae may be directly providing the products of photosynthesis — oxygen and carbohydrate — to the salamander cells that encapsulate them. 

I must have some of these algae-containing cells - that's why I like to be outside so much.

The rest of the story is at Nature News, via Reddit.

p.s. - "viridescence" - good word

Entrance house at Sandringham, 1896

Found at Bygone Years, which has lots of interesting photos.

Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome, 1880s

It always startles me to see photos of public places, city streets, etc with so few people present.  Things were different then.

Found at Bygone Years, via.

Belle Époque dress

This is a very beautiful example of a Belle Époque dress emphasizing the aesthetic for pastel colors and light materials. The cutout work of the chiné applied to the lace is an outstanding feature which adds liveliness to the flowers, as if they were growing. Chiné is expensive to make as the pattern is printed on the warp before the weft is woven in, thus producing the blurred effect, reminiscent of a Claude Monet painting. (Met Museum)

Found at Defunct Fashion, which also has a view of the dress from behind.  Via.

Figures sculpted from pencil graphite

Created by Dalton Ghetti.  Selections from an impressive gallery of seventeen photos at The Telegraph, where there are details re the technique.