Beautiful Chemistry

Beautiful Chemistry: Amazing Chemical Reactions Filmed with a 4K UltraHD Camera Beautiful Chemistry is a new collaboration between Tsinghua University Press and University of Science and Technology of China that seeks to make chemistry more accessible and interesting to the general public. Their first project was the creation of several short films that utilize a 4K UltraHD camera to capture a variety of striking chemical reactions without the usual clutter of test tubes, beakers or lab equipment.   Medieval Book Historian Erik Kwakkel Discovers and Catalogs 800-Year-Old Doodles in Some of the World's Oldest Books For the past few years, medieval book historian Erik Kwakkel has been poring over some of the world's oldest books and manuscripts at Leiden University, The Netherlands, as part of his ongoing research on pen trials. These small sketches, used to test the ink flow of a pen or quill, can occasionally reveal some information about the scribe that leaft them.   Polyphonic Overtone Singing Demonstrated by Anna-Maria Hefele This is a great video of polyphonic overtone singing by Anna-Maria Hefele, where she precisely demonstrates the almost inhuman ability to create a harmony of two notes at a time using a single breath.   Meredith Woolnough's Embroideries Mimic Delicate Forms of Nature Australian artist Meredith Woolnough creates elaborate embroideries that mimic delicate forms of nature like leaves and coral. Woolnough uses a special embroidery technique that involves a domestic sewing machine and a base cloth that dissolves in water after the piece is complete leaving just the skeleton. In a way, her process also mimics the natural process of leaves dying and drying up which, in turn, become the subject of her work.   Yoga Joes: Plastic Green Soldiers Practicing Yoga We've seen plenty of modern takes on classic green army guys as of late, from skateboarders and surfers over at Toy Boarders, to an array of plastic breakdancing people. Yoga practitioner and entrepreneur Dan Abramson now joins the fray with Yoga Joes, a collection of green army figures doing popular yoga poses like the warrior, cobra, and downward-facing dog.   Notebooks Adorned with Hand-embroidered Blood Vessels, Insects, and Geometric Patterns Athens-based Fabulous Cat Papers offers a wide range of hand-made notebooks with embroidered Japanese paper covers featuring anatomical, floral, and geometric designs, all stitched by hand.   New in the Colossal Shop: The Daring Designs of Nicole Porter New York based designer Nicole Porter is a designer for today's world. Her designs take familiar everyday objects and give them a little bit of something special. And now her bold mixture of vivid colors and patterns is bringing that something special to the Colossal Shop too. We are so excited to announce that the Nicole Porter collection is now available from the Colossal Shop.