SmallWorld

Latest

  • Visualized: Nikon's Small World microscope photography contest winners

    by 
    Donald Melanson
    Donald Melanson
    10.25.2012

    3D render? The latest submission to deviantART? No, that's a microscopic photo of the blood-brain barrier in a live zebrafish embryo taken by Dr. Jennifer Peters and Dr. Michael Taylor at 20X magnification, and it's the latest winner of Nikon's annual Small World Photomicrography Competition. Not surprisingly, the runners-up in the contest (drawn from some 2,000 submissions) are just as impressive -- hit the links below for a look at all of them. Those interested in having themselves featured next year (and taking home up to $3,000 in Nikon gear) have until April 30th to get their submissions in for the next competition.

  • Yahoo experiment tests six degrees of separation on Facebook, cries out for Kevin Bacon endorsement

    by 
    Christopher Trout
    Christopher Trout
    08.17.2011

    It may not be hard to trace, say, Rhea Perlman back to Kevin Bacon, but what about you? If the age-old theory holds water, we should all be no more than six degrees away from cuttin' Footloose with Hollywood's bygone golden boy -- or anyone else for that matter. Well, Yahoo's determined to put any six-degree doubts to rest with its Small World Experiment, and what better way to do so than on Facebook? Participating users are given a "target person," and asked to "get a message to this person in as few steps as possible." They are then prompted to select a single friend to pass the message on to, who will then be prompted to do the same, and so on. The idea is that if each subsequent recipient of the message continues to send it along, it will eventually reach its desired destination. No word yet on whether or not Mr. Bacon has given his blessing, but you can still sign up at the source link to get in on the action.