Squid Drawn from 150 million-year-old Ink
Scientists found the fossil of an ancient squid of the species Belemnotheutis antiquus at a dig near Trowbridge, England, when they reopened an archaeological site that had been abandoned for 170 years. Inside there was a one-inch black ink sac that still contained ink granules. As an experiment, researchers ground up a small portion of the ink and dissolved it in an ammonia solution. Then they used the sample to draw a picture of what the squid may have once looked like! Excavation leader Dr. Phil Wilby said,
“It is difficult to imagine how you can have something as soft and sloppy as an ink sac fossilised in three dimension, still black, and inside a rock that is 150 million years old.
“The structure is similar to ink from a modern squid so we can write with it. I suppose we could theoretically use it for food colouring, too, but I don’t think I will try tasting it.”
A sample of the ink has been sent to Yale University for further analysis. Link -via the Presurfer
(image credit: BMPS)
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7 Amazing Types Of Invisible Ink
Some types of invisible ink are right there in your kitchen cupboard!
Hundreds of liquids, from fruit juices to specially formulated chemicals, can be used as invisible ink. Here we explore six of the most interesting and accessible types. We hope you’ll be inspired to make your own invisible ink at home. With a bit of practice, you too can become a master of steganography (which is the art of writing hidden messages, in case you didn’t know that already!)
How much money does a professional steganographer make? Link -via Geek Like Me
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Green Print to the Rescue!
Hayden Hamilton has devised a tool called GreenPrint, software that analyzes what a computer sends to a
printer, to eliminate paper waste and save ink.
GreenPrint “looks for pages that have no type or just a few lines of type (users can set the parameters). Then, the software automatically eliminates these pages from the print job. Users can reselect the pages if desired and deselect any other pages they don’t want to print — say, the pages of legal jargon at the end of an airline reservation. The software lets users eliminate images from a print job — for instance, the maps generated in online driving directions — thus saving ink. GreenPrint also allows users to avoid printing altogether by saving documents as PDF files.”
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