To construct this fort we cut open 5 large trash bags and taped them into an approximate teepee shape (original plan was a large tube, but we ran out of tape so we improvised). After attaching a small fan and checking for leaks we inserted a table lamp (and loads of toys) to brighten the space up.

This fort is a perfect little hideaway. Despite being a small dark plastic cave, the fan fort is very soothing. The constant whir of the fan drowns the world outside, and it's the perfect place to read books or pretend with a friend.

Carl Sagan popularized the idea of compressing the entire history of the universe since the beginning of time into a single calendar year as a way for us humans to better relate to the vast numbers involved. Here is a nice version of that calendar (each month is equivalent to a little more than 1 billion years):

You can see a more detailed example, with all of the various eras and more human-scale events, here.

First, the relative sizes of our planets and various stars. The largest celestial body in the previous pane is the smallest in the next pane:

Second, our place in the universe (click to make gigantic). The previous panel will always be in red in the next panel:

Now go out and have a great day, you teeny tiny speck of carbon on a minuscule rock floating midway down one spiral arm of a typical galaxy among billions.

Platypus are also the only mammals known to have a sense of electroreception: they locate their prey in part by detecting electric fields generated by muscular contractions.

The platypus: proof that, if God exists, he has a weird sense of humor.

This past weekend we went to pumpkin fest - it was a gorgeous, perfect day to spend sliding down a hay slide and playing in some corn pits. Near the end of the afternoon we came upon a large bug which the kids loved to (carefully) play with and investigate:

We did not know at the time, but that bug was a Wheel Bug (Arilus cristatus):

The [wheel] bug plunges its beak into its victim, pinning its prey with its front legs. It then injects enzymes into the victim, paralyzing it and dissolving its insides, and proceeds to drain all of the victim's bodily fluids. The bite of a wheel bug is painful and may take months to heal (sometimes leaving a small scar), so caution is highly advised when handling them.

Yikes! Guess we won't be handling these bugs in the future (at least not with kids ).

Rendering Synthetic Objects into Legacy Photographs from Kevin Karsch on Vimeo.

Under magnification and illumination our eye's iris really does look like the tiny sphincter that it is (aka the pupillary sphincter).