The Pineneedle Collective

Monday, 9 December 2013

Sailor Mars / Earth From The ISS

dress is from Clear It (Dangerfield) | bag is thrifted | shoes are c/o Yeswalker | cardigan c/o Sheinside(?) | socks from a market stall

I have had this dress for months now, and I don't know why I haven't blogged about it yet - it's definitely one of my favourites! Maybe it was because I was subconsciously waiting to re-dye my hair, because the dress goes really well with red curls! Always a sucker for sailor-style dresses and twirly skirts, I feel like I'm channeling Sailor Mars a little bit in this outfit. I had had my eye on this Dangerfield dress from about April this year, and happened to find the dress marked down to a ridiculously low price (from the original $88) in Dangerfield's clearance store. My heart broke when I saw that the only one left was a size too small - but I decided that I would just have to squeeze into it, because I couldn't not buy it. I don't regret my decision at all :)

If, like me, you think that Gravity was kinda incredible (I was inconsolable for long stretches of that film - luckily we saw it in a near-empty cinema because I was doing some serious sobbing), or even if you have any passing interest in astronomy, you'll love this video: a gorgeous 3-minute compilation of videos taken from the international space station, looking both down on Earth at night, and up into the rest of space. Enjoy!

I hope you're all having a lovely day,

Thursday, 5 December 2013

Red Locks & Cropped Tops

Shirt is DIY | skirt is c/o Choies | shoes are from JuJu Shoes

Cropped tops are now my new favourite things to make. I've churned out three in the last couple of days - I really like how fast they are to make, how little fabric they require, and how flattering the fit is! Anyway, I was wondering if anyone would be interested in a tutorial on how to make them. Let me know!

Saturday, 30 November 2013

Floral Dresses & Cropped Sweaters | Biochemistry Basics part 2

Dress is thrifted | socks are from a market stall | shoes are c/o Yeswalker | sweater is thrifted | bag is from Asos

When I moved out of home, I left about two-thirds of my clothes at my parent's house. Whenever I go back to visit, I also get to rediscover all these old clothes! Going through my old wardrobe is like visiting my own personal (free) thrift shop, and lets me refresh my wardrobe every few months without having a buy a thing. This cropped sweater is a gem that I've had for years, originally thrifted. And I just got this dress for a couple of dollars at an op-shop the other day, too! I'm really enjoying getting into thrifting again, though it's helped that I've been finding the most awesome stuff lately.

Now that you all know how cells, DNA and chromosomes work (if not, read part 1 of this post first), let's talk about what genes are. Inherited your mum's thick hair or your dad's big nose? It's all got to do with your genes, baby.

The "gene" is the basic unit of inheritance - the stuff being passed down from generation to generation. And a gene is actually just a section of DNA, somewhere on one of your chromosomes, that gives your cells instructions to make a particular protein. Genes that make globin, for example (part of your blood) look like this, and the protein it makes (a stylized image, of course) looks like this.

(If you've forgotten what the letters stand for, read part 1 first.)

So your cells make proteins by reading genes.

Your cells are able to read the DNA sequence of your genes, which each have a little "promoter" - a specific DNA sequence - to let the cell know that it is there and ready to be made into protein. When the cell knows that the time is right (and there is a whole lot of complex signalling going on to tell the cell when the time is right, that I'm not going to go into here), it uses what is called an "RNA polymerase" to transcribe the DNA into a similar molecule called mRNA.

mRNA also uses "bases" and they are just the "opposite" of what is written on the DNA, with T being substituted for a very similar base called uracil ("U").

When mRNA is made, it pairs up with one strand of DNA, and places a U wherever there is an A, an A wherever there is a T, a C wherever there is a G and a G wherever there is a C.

The mRNA is just a code for making proteins - and each group of three bases makes a particular amino acid, which is the basic unit of proteins.

For example, the code "UUU" makes the amino acid "phenylalanine" in the protein.

If you can imagine that all the DNA in your cell is a whole book of instructions, making mRNA is essentially like copying out just one instruction from one page of the book. Then the mRNA sits around in your cell, a code waiting to be translated into the language of amino acids. When it is translated into a series of amino acids, this is called a protein. The protein can then go and do useful stuff - like making your hair a particular colour.

Example: Red hair genes

A gene that can determine whether or not you have red hair is a sequence with the name MC1R. It is located on chromosome 16, and one particular variant has this DNA sequence.

MC1R makes a protein that attaches to hormones in cells which make skin and hair pigment, and influences the rate and type of pigment being made. We all have the MC1R gene, but if you have a particular version of this gene (meaning that the letters in the DNA are slightly different from someone with brown or blonde hair), you will have red hair! I unfortunately do not have this gene myself, and have to dye my hair red instead.

This map shows where many of the genes are on your chromosomes that are responsible for determining the thickness, colour, growth rate and curliness of your hair.

We all share a lot of the same genes with one another - you are 99.9% identical at the DNA level to any other random human on the planet. But the differences inside many of the genes, and the insanely large number of combinations that you can make out of all of them, is what makes us all individuals.

Read biochemistry basics part one here.

Friday, 29 November 2013

Bows and Polka Dots & 3D-Printed Selfies

Dress - Thrifted | shoes - c/o Yeswalker | hat - Thrifted

So a bonus of the rise of online shopping which slightly negates the frustrating amount of waste is that half of it ends up in the op shops, brand new with the tags still on, because it clearly didn't fit people! This is a brand-new asos dress I thrifted the other day, because I couldn't walk past the cute polka-dot-and-bow print. I actually altered it by bringing the collar together, as there was no button on the original dress, and I really like how it looks.

Hahaha, this is so silly (but I kind of want one...). You all know how I'm obsessed with 3D-printing? Well, if you ever wanted to, you can have a miniature 3D version of yourself printed out and sent to you. If you have a kinect, that's all you need (or, if you live in the UK, simply visit an Asda). The kinect scans your body from multiple angles, turns you into a computer file and prints you out using a 3D-printing machine.

Artists have also recently used this technology in Japan to create 3D family portraits. Yeah. Thanks to 3D-printers, there is going to be even more unnecessary plastic crap in our worlds. 3D-printed stuff is going to be the new kitsch.

But increased interest and innovation in 3D printing is also leading to some amazing things such as 3D-printed prosthetics and organs. Which is just too cool. So I guess we'll have to put up with all the weird plastic crap that'll come along with that (which, I have to admit, is kinda cool on its own anyway).

Wednesday, 27 November 2013

I'm back!

Whew! I went nearly two whole weeks without posting a thing here. I hope you haven't all forgotten about me. But I am happy to announce that I have officially completed my second year of university!

Lessons learnt while being a study hermit - my hair is naturally curly! I can't believe that I haven't let my hair to be its natural self in more than 2 years, always blowdrying my hair straight after my shower every single day, whether or not I was going out that day. Which sounds crazy, but I guess it was just part of my normal morning routine. However, one day, in the middle of some intense studying I actually wasn't bothered to blowdry my hair for once and that's when I discovered that my hair was wildly curly. It wasn't always this curly when I was younger, and I'm not sure what's made it go this curly now but I'm sure not going to complain, because now I don't have to put any effort into doing my hair, haha.

I thrifted this blouse and hat yesterday to reward myself for finishing my studies for the year. Aren't they pretty? I was so lucky to find them. A tip for any aspiring thrifters - get out of the city. I went more than an hour out of the city into the western suburbs to find this stuff. When you try to op-shop right in the middle of the city, all the good stuff is either gone or way overpriced (though I have a few secret favourites in Sydney - and no, I'm not going to share because then they'll be raided for all their good clothes ;) ).

Regular posting shall now be resumed. I hope you're all doing really well, I've missed you guys!

Thursday, 14 November 2013

Bambi and a Baby Panda

cardigan is Thrifted, skirt is c/o Sheinside, bag is DIY, top is c/o Choies, shoes are c/o Yeswalker

Photos by Ashley Dy.

I can't remember if I have ever posted my DIY panda backpack on this blog before! But anyway, here it is. I was kind of distraught about having to cut his brains open to make him into a bag, but I sewed him up real good and now he can fit a phone and a wallet!

No science post today - I'm too busy studying it instead (in fact, I'm posting this from the library at uni which I went to today to force myself to study. Oops). But I wanted to post this outfit up at least! I don't like going days and days without blogging something - I feel all disconnected from the world, haha.

I hope that you're all super well! And thank you for your kind comments on yesterday's post :)