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

Harajuku / False Science 3

Dress is Chicabooti (last worn here) | socks are from Daiso | shoes are c/o Yeswalker | bag is DIY | hat is thrifted Lately I've been getting super nostalgic for Japan, rereading my Japan travel posts, stalking the website Tokyo Fashion and exclusively reading Zipper magazine every night. My outfits have been a reflection of this, with this outfit in particular being inspired by Harajuku girls and this Zipper model. A trip to a new Daiso Japan in Sydney (mainly to look around and pretend I was in Japan, although I did also buy the socks in this outfit) only made my longing for Japan even stronger! As a consequence, Luci and I have been eating all the Japanese food that we can, including frequenting a ramen restaurant called Ichi Ban Boshi - has anyone else been there? There is inevitably a queue every single time we go, and we always make sure to get the quintessential Japanese drink - melon soda! If you live in Sydney, and have never been, you absolutely need to go. It's also right next door to Kinokuniya, where you can get a bunch of different Japanese fashion magazines (but don't anyone dare buy the Zipper magazines! Those are mine ;) ). So, as is the case at many an extended-family gathering, Christmas being no exception, someone will invariably spout some kind of ridiculous received wisdom, a so-called "fact" which they have entirely neglected to think critically about, such as "we only use 10% of our brains" or the wonderful "water has memory". Things which would be fantastically interesting - if they were actually true. In these occasions, Luci or my immediate family often literally have to restrain me from going "UM ACTUALLY THAT'S NOT TRUE, THIS IS WHY" and making everyone feel bad by being the science grinch (I feel a stong affinity with Tim Minchin in Storm). So posting this video today may possibly be a way of releasing some of this frustration without causing a family drama. But it's also an awesome video.  Did you know that the Great Wall of China certainly can't be seen from space, and that even though veins are blue, the blood in your veins is actually red? I also wrote about a bunch of scientific misconceptions back in this post if you want to have a re-read! I hope you're all having an absolutely gorgeous day, Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Obligatory Christmas Outfit Post & 3D Audio Illusions

So it's been about 50 bajillion degrees (accurate scientific measurement) in Sydney for the past week or so, which has made me somewhat hesitant to take photos of my outfits for this blog. And let's face it - outfit posts of me in a stained singlet top and underwear sitting in front of a fan with messy hair and a red face (my stunning daily attire for the past week) wouldn't be particularly inspiring, anyway. To make up for the lack of outfit posts over the last week, here's not one, but two Christmas outfits (my oh my, it's a Christmas miracle!) The first is the outfit I wore for the Christmas party we threw for our friends last Saturday at our new city house. Tartan and lace are Christmassy, right? I thought so, which is why they are both in abundance in this outfit. Shirt is from somewhere online (very old) | skirt originally c/o Choies | bow is from Japan | shoes no longer available | socks from a market stall I also made a pavlova, a traditionally "Australian" dessert consisting of soft, gooey meringue smothered with whipped cream and fruit. This needs mentioning here because this was probably the first food I've enjoyed making ever. Never have I gotten so many compliments on food I've made (though you can't exactly go wrong with sugar, sugar and more sugar, which is essentially what this dessert is made of)! I made sure to take photos of it in all its glory before it was devoured. I'm still sad that it's all been eaten... This is the second of my Christmas outfits, which I will wear for visiting my family on Christmas day! They live somewhere much cooler, so a long-sleeve shirt is appropriate (I may even have to layer up). This skirt is a beautiful thing that I found while thrifting a while ago! The bow on the front is velvet, which makes it all the better. Skirt and shirt are both thrifted | shoes are from Japan | socks from a market stall | hat is thrifted I hope you all have a lovely holiday, guys! OKAY, SO THIS IS AMAZING. If you're at a Christmas lunch with your extended family that you only see once a year, and at a loss as to what to talk about, show them this! Binaural recordings record sounds by placing a dummy head - a simulation of a real human head, with shaped ears that modulate sounds - with a right and left microphone inside it into a recording room. This is done with the intention of creating a "three-dimensional" sound, causing the listener to feel like they're in a room with people and objects moving around them - and it's extraordinarily effective. This video demonstrates the illusion of 3D sound (note: you will need headphones for it to work!!). I had to keep constantly taking out my headphones to figure out if the sounds were real, or if they were in the video. And if you're listening to this late at night, don't be freaked out by that opening door like I was, haha. *Mind blown* (Also available as a 6MB audio file here).   Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr