Smallist

A flickr photoset of just that.

Did Stegosaurus toddlers make these little tracks? I hope so, because the Stegosaurus is my favorite dinosaur, and I like small things. The tiny footprints were discovered close to larger stego tracks, right near the Denver metro area. Unfortunately, the jury is still out, and not of the “satan planted those tracks to trick you into thinking the earth is older than 5,000 years” variety. Ken Carpenter of the Denver museum said, “There were a lot of other dinosaurs running around at that time, certainly with these with these three toes and small, wide feet. It could be one of those other types. Let’s just say the verdict is still out.”

Others, like paleontologist Robert Bakker (who is mentioned in Jurassic Park, and possibly something of a showboat), agreed that they’re Stego babies. Nifty.

Sometimes, the fates reward the tardy druid. Today’s display of Manhattanhenge (or, as we must vociferously add, Manhattanhedge) was the real deal, despite being a day late. Clear of haze, Mr. Sun went right down to the Jersey horizon.

A word on these so-called HDR images: HDR doesn’t blend moving items very well, and I still haven’t really mastered the levels yet. So after merging several pics, I had to resort to layers and feathered selections to make this composite image.

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First, this has nothing to do with small things. As many of you know, I am a huge fan of the phenomenon called “manhattanhenge”, or as some game show hosts will call it, Manhattanhedge (more on this later). It’s when the sun sets directly in line with the grid pattern in Manhattan, and it’s gotten enough press lately that the corner of Park and 34th was swarming with amateur astronomers and sun worshipers. Well, actually, bloggers and photographers. Every time the light turned red, they’d put themselves in jeopardy by running into the intersection to snap some shots.

I went one step further, I hope, by taking several bracketed shots and combining them into an HDR image. The best is above. I took a few other shots as well, below. The last one is just a standard photo.

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Purple running lights and flame decals will not make your car go faster. Very tiny tubes, on the other hand, can increase the speed of chemical reactions by up to 10 times.

A Chinese research team has found that inside a carbon nanotubes, metal catalysts perform that much better. And it’s not just the size of the tube — the carbon nanotube is unique in this regard, prompting the researchers to theorize that it’s the configuration of electrons that creates the effect. This could make ethanol fuel production faster and cheaper. The speed increase works for other reactions as well.

This team has a thing for tiny tubes. In 2004 they set the record for the smallest test tube.

At a town called Orchomenos, ancient greek pottery and statuettes have been found. And the best part? They’re miniature! You know how in Goonies, Mikey feels a bond with One-Eyed Willy over their love of intricate booby traps? Yeah, I’m feelin’ that.

The pottery is dated to the 5th through 3rd centuries BC, which puts it smack dab in the golden Age of Athens, from Pericles to Plato. It’s said to be offerings to the Three Graces, popular fertility goddesses at the time. I guess the Greeks didn’t feel that super sizing the offering would bring them more fertility. Or maybe they were just scared of getting stuck with a fat baby.

The Rome Zoo has some tiny new residents, hatchlings of endangered Egyptian tortoises (called “Testudo Kleinmanni”) found in a smuggler’s suitcase. More pics here. And the full story is available here.

To clarify, this doesn’t involve mini-potatoes. It uses a potato “slug” the diameter of a pen. And the fuel is hairspray, so you’ll need to carry some into battle with you. You’ll also ruin a perfectly good butane lighter. But if you’re really bored and not worried about losing your eyebrows in a freak accident, this might be the project for you. View the video here.

Via BoingBoing.

SciAm reports on a DNA-based computer developed by Harvard bioengineers. The DNA can be injected into a cell, make a calculation based on which chemicals are present, and then prevent certain proteins from being manufactured. Ideally, it could be used to detect disease and then trigger a treatment.

A short interview with the creator is available here.

This tungsten needle takes the title. The dots are individual atoms.

Via Metafilter.