Salty Wave Newsletter
Salty Wave Story #8
WELCOME
Welcome to Salty Wave® Stories. I specialize in creating visual narratives for various industries to highlight the innovative and sustainable applications and inventions addressing global community needs.
In July 2023, explore research about black holes; listen to the vibrant soundscapes of the underwater world; learn why some trees have lumps and bumps; watch my new video project; check the results of my Adobe Express BETA test run; and Salty Wave's official paw influencer, Rocket, barks about his latest sniffari adventure.
Gabrielle Ahern, Founder / Manager, Salty Wave®
Small but mighty
There is so much to investigate about the world and what lies beyond Earth into the far reaches of outer space and deep into the core of our planet. While fictional story writers have captured our imaginations through their interpretation of our world and new, I think reality is stranger than fiction. Technology has empowered humans with the ability to explore hidden worlds, the large and the incredibly small, and we are discovering so many things.
Primordial black holes formed in space during the one second after the Big Bang - the event that created our universe. These black holes are extremely small, condensed balls of matter. Klesman (2019) reported their mass can either be ‘100,000 times greater than the Sun or 100,000 times less than a paper clip’. Astronomers say the path of a black hole is usually obvious because when a black hole passes by a star, it bends the light coming from that star.
In 1974, Stephen Hawkings reported black holes lose energy by emitting radiation outside its event horizon (known as Hawking radiation), evaporating over time and gradually disappearing. Hawking’s discovery is recognized as remarkable, because in theoretical physics it was thought the strength of a black hole’s gravity made it impossible for light or electromagnetic waves to escape. Whether primordial black holes actually exist or are part of dark matter, is still being investigated by scientists and studying their existence informs our knowledge about the universe and how it formed (Klesman, A. 2019).
Soundscape Adventures
Fish are a delightful distraction away from my work. I observe how they swim around the tank, negotiate with one another, or scavenge around the plants and rocks for food. One thing I enjoy about fish are the sounds different species make to communicate. It is one of the behaviors I was never really aware of until my university studies.
Scientists study the soundscapes of marine and freshwater environments, apart from its terrestrial counterpart, to assess whether it is a healthy habitat full of biodiversity.
In a new experiment, scientists plan to use noisy, vibrant sounds of a biodiverse coral reef to lure coral larvae into settling and growing on damaged reefs, with the aim of bringing these ecosystems back to health.
You can find the cool research happening via this link🐬
Strange Sidetracks into Nature
Trees are fascinating for the different morphologies they grow into and the functions they perform, depending on the environment and climate they are living in. I have noticed the Poinciana trees growing in suburbs close to my home have these strange little lumpy shapes on their bark called burls. It’s quite an interesting anomaly to observe. Did you know trees develop burls in response to an injury or when it has experienced a fungal or bacterial infection. Apparently, burls are very popular with carpenters because of the interesting shapes the wood grain forms into.
Video Project
A new video I’ve been working on has joined the ‘scorched earth’ of YouTube. The music track is slick. Follow the link to my YouTube Channel @saltywaveau where you can like💙subscribe🙂and keep up to date with all my new videos!
BETA Trial
Just for fun, I performed a test run using Adobe Express BETA, and my experiment created these illustrations. I’ve also been trialing some of the prompts you can load up to other online websites using AI, which are similar to Chat GPT. I can see the positive side for working with the software - it’s helpful to people who don’t have the time or the money to invest in content producers and increases opportunities for people who have challenges to accessibility.
One thing I am wary of though, are the issues around Intellectual Copyright, and the vicarious way AI software can zoom around the internet and collect data in response to a user’s prompts. However, there are flaws to my final images, which a lot of people (who are trialing different AI software packages) are talking about online. Below you’ll find the prompts I loaded into Adobe Express to produce the images and it provided several options to choose from. I selected the best images representing my text descriptions.
I’m curious to know what other people think of AI and how they are using it for their creative projects.
Robot description: A robot moves around inside a mine. It is dark and the robot uses a torch to light its path through the mine’s corridors.
Coral reef description: A coral reef underwater scene with fish, corals, clams, crabs, moray eel, sting ray and sharks swimming in the water. Seagulls fly in the air above the water’s surface. Sunny day with blue sky.
Landscape description: A beautiful meadow with flowers, trees, and birds flying overhead on a sunny day. Mountains in the background. There is some snow on the mountain top.
Rockets Walk Repawt
Hi to all my furry frens out there! I’ve had a busy week posting messages on my walks and catching those Z’s while sleeping! I am finding out new things through my sniffaris and my snoz is really taking me places! If you want to share a tale or two, about treatos, stuffed frens or sniffaris, I’m contaktibel through my hooman. You can follow my funny tales on socials 💙 Rocket the Dog @saltywavedog🐶
I hope you enjoyed the new edition of Salty Wave Stories!
There are many topics to talk about in science, and if you compared it to a gigantic tree, I’m sure it would appear like an exotic, dangerously beautiful and mesmerizing tree full of possibilities. Can’t wait to share more interesting tales about the curiosities of science. See you in August!
Gabrielle Ahern, Founder, Visual Storyteller, Salty Wave®