A Psa

me, to my friend, out of no where: You know whats fucked uP? the volcanology scale. Have i told you about the volcanic explosivity index?

my friend: no? What?!

me: Isnt it fun how catastrophic is only the halfway point on this exponential scale of eruption severity

Let me tell you about my panda mini-washer

As an apartment dweller, this is a game changer. My current apartment doesn’t have a laundry facility and the closest Laundromat about a 30 min bus ride which is just not practical. The mini-washer is a life saver

The panda mini washer hooks up to the sink, is incredibly lightweight (about 28 pounds, so light even I can lift it) and easy to use. 

It has a surprisingly large capacity. The basket from the first picture represents about one and a half loads. The jeans took up a whole load while the rest filled the bin only half way. 

Here’s the inside. The left is the washer the right is the spin dryer. Yes, it even drys.

Basically you shove your cloths into the washer, fill it up with water and let it go. I use my shower head to fill it up so it goes faster, the sink hook up took about five minutes to fill the whole tub, with the shower head is is down to a minute an a half. I do it in three wash cycles, a five minute rinse with baking soda, a five minute wash with soap and a three minute rinse with water. You have to drain and refill between each cycle so it’s a little more labor intensive than a traditional washer. 

That’s the spin dryer. It’s about half the capacity of the washer so one wash takes about two loads to dry. The spinner is much more effective than I was expecting. A three minute spin gets my cloths about 90% dry. I hang them up to air dry for that last 10%. 

The machine cost me about 150$. When you factor in two dollars for the bus, five for the machines (per week), the mini-washer pays for its self after only about six months worth of laundry. 

I’m not great at expressing emotion, but I’m hoping you can tell how excited I am.  Let me just say that the panda mini-washer is great and I highly recommend it to anyone currently using a Laundromat.  

The Black Falls (by Matt Purciel)

I miss doing microscope work. Can we make a thread of our favourite thin section? This is mine

Actinolite Schist

On one side this may look like just a ordinary clam shell but when you flip it over it contains beautiful golden calcite crystals. The crystals formed when the clam died and a cavity formed allowing the crystals to develop. Took over two million years to do this. Found on the east coast of Florida in Brevard County.

capturing_the_cosmos

i found a book about cats from 1873 and i’m absolutely losing my mind

Happy Earth Day! Let’s take good care of this beautiful planet we call home, today and everyday 🌿

palaeoart

Finally made it to the legendary Stuttgart Museum of Natural History and it was worth the wait. Many people have described this as the single best paleontology Museum in the world and I can see why. There is so much to see, all beautifully preserved and presented. Over the next few days I’ll share my top picks from the museum but to whet your appetite, here’s an entire wall of giant Ichthyosaurs specimens from Holzmaden including Temnodontosaurus trigonodon and Eurhinosaurus longirostris.