US rivers in the contiguous 48 states, assembled in vector ink from public USGS data by Nelson Minar. It’s like elegant porcelain, made of digital water.
I’m amazed both that so much of the continent is covered by rivers, as well by the fact that there’s enormous regions with nothing. Fascinating. Click the link above to explore more.
Good Dad (photo by Judy Townsend)
This portrait of a good dad took third place in the portrait category of the Inoversity of Miami’s 2013 Underwater Photography Contest. This is a male Banded Jawfish (Opistognathus macrognathus) with his clutch of eggs at the Blue Heron Bridge in Riviera Beach, Florida.
| — | Keith Richards, as quoted in “Rolling Stone Gathers Library Fines” (via schoollibraryjournal) |
Dowling Duncan and redesigning the American Dollar:
Why the size?
We have kept the width the same as the existing dollars. However we have changed the size of the note so that the one dollar is shorter and the 100 dollar is the longest. When stacked on top of each other it is easy to see how much money you have. It also makes it easier for the visually impaired to distinguish between notes.Why a vertical format?
When we researched how notes are used we realized people tend to handle and deal with money vertically rather than horizontally. You tend to hold a wallet or purse vertically when searching for notes. The majority of people hand over notes vertically when making purchases. All machines accept notes vertically. Therefore a vertical note makes more sense.Why different colors?
It’s one of the strongest ways graphically to distinguish one note from another.Why these designs?
We wanted a concept behind the imagery so that the image directly relates to the value of each note. We also wanted the notes to be educational, not only for those living in America but visitors as well. Each note uses a black and white image depicting a particular aspect of American history and culture. They are then overprinted with informational graphics or a pattern relating to that particular image.$1 – The first African American president
$5 – The five biggest native American tribes
$10 – The bill of rights, the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution
$20 – 20th Century America
$50 – The 50 States of America
$100 – The first 100 days of President Franklin Roosevelt. During this time he led the congress to pass more important legislations than most presidents pass in their entire term. This helped fight the economic crises at the time of the great depression. Ever since, every new president has been judged on how well they have done during the first 100 days of their term.The greenback does need a redesign…but switching to coins for the One and five dollar value would save money, as metal outlives paper banknotes…and I’d like to see a rotating design on the Twenty…no presidents, but cultural figures.
Who feeds the Arctic fisheries?
Calanus glacialis, among others. This giant among copepods, (the individual pictured is a whopping 6mm long) is one of the most abundant in Arctic surface waters. This animal is an important food source for cod and herring. The copepods in turn feed on phytoplankton and are believed to be one of the most important grazers in the region.
Food availability is low in the winter, so C. glacialis store up lipid deposits in their bodies while the grazing is good, and migrate to deeper water to pass the winter in a state of diapause (hibernation).
(Read more at Encyclopedia of Life)
Photo: Russ Hopcroft via Arctic Ocean Diversity
