Moon Night Mushroom (Tsukiyotake) - Omphalotus Japonicus

Flower Mushroom Coral - Ricordea yuma

Ricordea yuma (Corallimorpharia - Ricordeidae) is a species of soft coral belonging to a group commonly referred to as mushroom corals. These soft corals are very popular among aquarists due to their vibrant and varied color patterns. 

Ricordea yuma is found in the tropical Pacific. Like other Corallimopharians, this one has the ability to rapidly colonize available substrate.

References: [1] - [2] - [3]

Photo credits: [Top: ©Felix Salazar | Locality: nano reef tank, 2008] - [Bottom: ©Scott Cohen | Locality: reef tank, 2009]

This week is Antibiotic Awareness Week – learn more about the different types of antibiotics with this graphic!

I Recently read About these amazing glow in the dark creatures in the newspapers and thought it was worth sharing 1. Saprobe Panellus Stipticus, Fungi:

Found in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America, the bio-luminescence emitted by the Saprobe fungi that grows on decaying wood...

Successful people dare to fail but refuse to be defeated by failure

(via aslam1)

Calcium Carbide: Playing with Acetylene flames

Calcium carbide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula of CaC2. Its main use industrially is in the production of acetylene and calcium cyanamide. 

The pure material is colorless, however pieces of technical-grade calcium carbide are grey or brown and consist of about 80–85% of CaC2 (the rest is CaO (calcium oxide), Ca3P2 (calcium phosphide), CaS (calcium sulfide), Ca3N2 (calcium nitride), SiC (silicon carbide), etc.). In the presence of trace moisture, technical-grade calcium carbide emits an unpleasant odor reminiscent of garlic.

Applications of calcium carbide include manufacture of acetylene gas, and for generation of acetylene in carbide lamps, manufacture of chemicals for fertilizer; and in steelmaking.

The reaction of calcium carbide with water, producing acetylene and calcium hydroxide, was discovered by Friedrich Wöhler in 1862.

Reaction with Water:

CaC2+ 2 H2O → C2H2+ Ca(OH)2

possible incomplete combustion occurring:

3C2H2 + 4O2   →2C + 3CO + CO2 + 3H2O

Giffed by: rudescience  From: This video

Aurora - Nutirwik Creek, Brooks Range, Alaska | by Fred Wasmer

Beautiful Winged Insects Made of Discarded Circuit Boards by Julie Alice Chappell

Corrugated Liomera - Liomera rugata

This ultra-pinkish crab (actually magenta) is scientifically named Liomera rugata (Decapoda - Xanthidae), a species which inhabits in coral reefs of the Red Sea, Tahiti, Hawaii, Philippines, China Sea, Japan, India and French Polynesia. It is also commonly known as Corrugated Crab due to the visible granules that cover the surface of carapace.

References: [1] - [2]

Photo credit: ©Todd Aki | Locality: Hilo, Hawaii (2014)

COFFEE STAIN UNDER A MICROSCOPE

Vin Kitayama, an artist and environmental researcher, created this image from something fairly mundane: an evaporating drop of espresso. Kitayama placed the drop on a microscope slide and then snapped pictures through a polarized light microscope at 4× magnification. As the coffee dried, solid compounds that were dissolved in the coffee, such as caffeine and chlorogenic acid, started forming small crystals. In the polarized light, these crystals shimmered different colors. The image won 9th place in the Nikon Small World photomicrography competition.

Credit: Vin Kitayama

More Chemistry in Pictures and C&EN content:

U.S. Senators Push for Ban on Caffeine Powder

Caffeinated Cocrystals

Tweaking Coffee’s Flavor Chemistry

maybe if im under enough blankets, the Responsibilities wont be able to find me