I Woke Up Like This / Shepard Tones

Skirt is DIY | tights from Clear It | shoes c/o Yeswalker | necklace c/o I Love Crafty This is what my DIY suspender skirt that I made the other day looks like without its suspenders! I'm glad I made them removable, because it also looks great as a simple skater skirt. I'm having such a great time sewing and creating things now that I've decided to make most of my own clothes - I've gotten so much better (and faster!) at making dresses and skirts from all the practice! For example, I managed to whip this dress up in a leisurely 4 hours today. For anyone who is scared of sewing or doesn't think they're any good at it - just know that all it takes is practice, practice, practice, rather than any particular smarts or skills! Let's learn about another spooky audio illusion today! In the illusion we talked about on Thursday, a tone which sounded like it was constantly descending was in fact getting higher and higher. Shepard tones are similar, being "constantly descending tones" which actually don't change in pitch at all. The starting tone is the same as the finishing tone - in this way, it can be likened to the "penrose stairs" optical illusion: In a "shepard tone", multiple tones are actually played together, each of which do descend, but when the lowest tone reaches a particular threshold it ends and a new, higher descending tone begins. However, your brain does not perceive the disappearance and appearance of these tones, so instead perceives the entire set as constantly descending.  You could listen to this forever and the tones would never actually get any lower. Have a listen to a Shepard tone and see if your brain is fooled: Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Reflection

In the end, I decided that I did want to do one of these. I got all reflective about the year that's gone by way too late, probably because I refused to believe that another year had passed by so quickly and was in denial about it truly being 2014. I blame this on the large amount of science fiction I've read with stories set around 2014, where things like mind-control implants, artificial computer intelligence or, at the very least, hovering cars, are just everyday conveniences. And we couldn't really be living in 2014 already, because those things don't exist yet. But apparently a whole year has gone by, as I actually came to realise when organising my 2013 outfits page this morning. So here is 2013, represented by my favourite outfits of the year. January February March April May June July August September October November December Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Red Gingham & 2014 / Audio Paradox

Dress is from Bonne Chance | belt, bag and hat are thrifted | shoes no longer for sale | socks from markets 2014. I love living in such a futuristic-sounding year! Looking back, 2013 was a great year for this lady, the highlights being moving out of home, being lucky enough to visit both Japan AND Italy within the space of 6 months and working in a real-life laboratory! I also managed to attain my ridiculous 2012 new year's resolution, which was to be in a magazine - and not only did I do this, but I was on the cover of one, which was probably the coolest moment of 2013 for me! However, I'm also really super looking forward to 2014. This year, I want to learn how to program like a pro, get over my fear of mathematics and bike ride every morning, as well as some other silly new-years resolutions not unlike the magazine one which I'm not going to share until a year from now, if I actually manage to achieve them ;) I'm also going to start off the new year with a psychological illusion that'll make you question everything you hear from now on. Click here for the audio illusion (mp3 file, 41 seconds). image source So the idea of this illusion is that the tones sound like they are constantly getting lower. However, in actual fact, they are constantly going up and up. Don't believe me? Listen to a bit at the beginning, then skip straight to the end, and you'll notice how much higher the tones are at the end of the clip! Why is this happening? While each individual tone gets lower, the tone that comes next is actually pitched higher than the one before it. Yet somehow our brains are tricked into thinking that all the sounds are getting lower and lower. And as I've mentioned many times before, your brain is so easy to fool. I hope you've all had a wonderful end to 2013, and have an even more wonderful start to 2014! Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

DIY Suspender Skirt & 2013 Science in Review

Skirt is DIY | bag and hat are thrifted | top (swimmers) are from Asos (sold out) | shoes c/o Yeswalker Just like I did two years ago, my mum got a sewing machine for christmas! She's decided she wants to start being crafty and learn how to make her own clothes (she also happens to be one of the most stylish ladies I know, so I can't wait to see what she comes up with). After I taught her how to make a dress, which we used an owl-print fabric for and which turned out AWESOME, I used the machine myself to make this blue gingham circle skirt with detachable suspenders! I love the fullness of the skirt, although the wind made it a little difficult to show that off in these photos. I paired the skirt with some retro-inspired Cadillac swimmers for a summer vibe. If you follow any other sciencey-type blogs or news sites, then you've probably seen a lot of "the best science of 2013" posts. Well, this one is a little bit different, and while it may include more stories about 3D-printed prosthetic foots being made for ducklings rather than, say, the oldest human DNA ever being discovered, I feel like it's more representative of the kinds of science that really piques my interest. So, science in 2013 through the lens of the Pineneedle Collective: January: computers learned how to make dad jokes. February: the Mars One project is established, in which the first candidates for Mars colonization will be chosen via the medium of reality TV. March: People don't notice the person before their eyes literally changing into another person. April: I explored the likelihood of alien life being found on Europa, Titan, Enceladus and Io. May: I explained how to become an amateur biohacker and extract DNA at home using household ingredients. June: Scientists took the first ever pictures of chemical bonds between atoms. July: 3D printing continues to impress me, this time by saving the life of a duckling. Image source August: The first cruelty-free lab-grown burger was created for $300,000, and eaten. September: Two seperate studies arose that suggest we're all martians. October: We get a lot closer to trying on virtual clothes in our own houses. Image source November: I gave you all a crash-course in the basics of biochemistry. December: I learnt about 3D-audio illusions, and found the coolest ever video to demonstrate it. Happy New Years! Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Lizards, Mustard and Anamorphic Illusions

Shirt is thrifted | skirt is from Japan (Momo Wonder Rocket) | shoes are from Italy | hat is thrifted The time between Christmas and New Years has got to be the best time of the year. There's nothing that has to be done, I no longer have to stress about making people's Christmas presents, I don't even have to give a thought to university and I can spend days reading in the sunshine and, because I've escaped the city for New Years, going swimming at obscure waterholes in the most beautiful, quiet valleys. And, because it's me, I've also been using this time off to watch endless youtube videos about the psychology of illusions. This is one of the most mind-blowing tricks of human perception I've ever seen. Just watch the video below all the way through. At first you might wonder why the video features a long close-up of a rubik's cube, but you'll soon realise why. The third illusion with the shoe really got me. Oh boy. Which is your favourite? Vsauce explains why brains are fooled by anamorphic illusions really well in this video! I hope you're all having a beautiful day, Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Pastel Pinks & Blue Skin

Top is from American Apparel | necklace c/o I Love Crafty | skirt c/o Faith & Lola | shoes from Ebay There was a time, back when I had the real-life-pink-hair to match, when I would dress almost exclusively in pastels. I still have to stop myself from bleaching my hair and going back to pink ALL THE TIME, reminding myself that if I do this, my hair will go brittle and shrink and I'll have to cut it all off. But I still love at least pretending that I have pretty pink hair now and again. I'll admit, I've even missed the weird looks that having pink hair and dressing like this gets from strangers. I just learnt about this curious condition today. The people pictured below are not merely doing a Tobias Fünke - they are actually blue. The Blue People of Kentucky became famous in the mid-1800s for, as the name implies, being blue. A rare recessive genetic condition called methemoglobinemia caused many members of this family to have blue skin - but were otherwise, essentially, pretty healthy. Methemoglobinemia causes higher levels of methemoglobin relative to hemoglobin (the protein that carries oxygen) in the blood, which reduces the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood of affected individuals, causing cyanosis - or blue skin. As hinted at in my last post, blood does not become blue when it is low in oxygen - in fact, in people with this condition, their blood becomes chocolate-coloured. But because cyanosis develops, these people often have blue-tinged lips and fingers, and in the more extreme case of the Kentucky family, their entire bodies can appear blue. Most people have less than 1% of methemoglobin in their blood, but with this condition levels of methemoglobin can rise to around 20% and cause cyanosis without any other health problems. Exposure to silver can also cause a condition with a similar appearance (but with totally normal oxygenated blood) called Argyria. This isn't generally harmful, but can cause people to be irreversibly blue for the rest of their lives. Dayyy-um. I hope that you're all having a wonderful day so far! Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr