billy dalto

Hello! My name is Will.

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billydalto at gmail


I Heart Coccolithophores (Part 1 of 2) Since I woke this morning thinking about algae it’s finally time to post this Earth Observatory image of an algal bloom north of Norway in the Barents Sea. The brightest blue seen here is likely from coccolithophores, which are autotrophic unicellular algae with calcareous plates called (surprise!) coccoliths. Being abundant, broadly distributed, and slow to dissolve, they are very useful in dating sedimentary rocks. Pro tip: the white cliffs of Dover are composed largely of coccoliths.

I Heart Coccolithophores (Part 1 of 2)

Since I woke this morning thinking about algae it’s finally time to post this Earth Observatory image of an algal bloom north of Norway in the Barents Sea. The brightest blue seen here is likely from coccolithophores, which are autotrophic unicellular algae with calcareous plates called (surprise!) coccoliths. Being abundant, broadly distributed, and slow to dissolve, they are very useful in dating sedimentary rocks.

Pro tip: the white cliffs of Dover are composed largely of coccoliths.

This was created a few years ago for the wedding of Andrew Enright and Heather Samples. They gathered some of their favorite stories about the attendees of the ceremony and used them to illustrate their connections. I think this is a neat idea for a wedding because it’s not only a good way to seed conversations between previously unacquainted guests but also a fairly accurate representation of the way loosely affiliated people naturally learn about each other. Side note: this is officially the first entry in my mental index of “neat wedding ideas.” I also like this because reminds me of Sydney, whose stories often include enough interrelated characters to be good candidates for this type of data visualization.

This was created a few years ago for the wedding of Andrew Enright and Heather Samples. They gathered some of their favorite stories about the attendees of the ceremony and used them to illustrate their connections. I think this is a neat idea for a wedding because it’s not only a good way to seed conversations between previously unacquainted guests but also a fairly accurate representation of the way loosely affiliated people naturally learn about each other.

Side note: this is officially the first entry in my mental index of “neat wedding ideas.”

I also like this because reminds me of Sydney, whose stories often include enough interrelated characters to be good candidates for this type of data visualization.

This is the result of plotting 80,000 thumbnail images from 2008 tagged with “sunrise” or “sunset” vertically by time and horizontally by date. It’s from a Flickr set that includes a similar plot revealing the periodicity of “full moon” tagged images.
This is the result of plotting 80,000 thumbnail images from 2008 tagged with “sunrise” or “sunset” vertically by time and horizontally by date. It’s from a Flickr set that includes a similar plot revealing the periodicity of “full moon” tagged images.
This image from the Life archive is mysteriously titled “Space Biology.”
This image from the Life archive is mysteriously titled “Space Biology.”
These are salvaged electronics components affixed to a wall and arranged to give the appearance of a phylogenetic tree.
These are salvaged electronics components affixed to a wall and arranged to give the appearance of a phylogenetic tree.
“He must be a terrible boyfriend. God knows I am.
Mills, in conversation at a St. Patrick’s Day party.
With “ome” becoming such a fashionable suffix, I thought it would be appropriate to post the an image of the mouse interscutularis muscle connectome, the first example of a mammalian connectome.
With “ome” becoming such a fashionable suffix, I thought it would be appropriate to post the an image of the mouse interscutularis muscle connectome, the first example of a mammalian connectome.
“I’m working legs tonight. In a few minutes I’ll be screaming like an animal.
A regular at Anytime Fitness.
Where my appreciations of Memento and data visualization converge is this Flickr set from Density Design. Memento consists of 44 scenes, half in black and white and half in color. The graphic above maps the chronological order of its scenes to their sequence in the film. It also tracks, on the right-hand side, the presence of characters and exchange of information between them. Click here for a higher resolution image.

Where my appreciations of Memento and data visualization converge is this Flickr set from Density Design. Memento consists of 44 scenes, half in black and white and half in color. The graphic above maps the chronological order of its scenes to their sequence in the film. It also tracks, on the right-hand side, the presence of characters and exchange of information between them.

Click here for a higher resolution image.

“We may find the attractions of a particular member of the opposite sex irresistible, even though the better judgment of our better self tells us that a liaison with that person is not in anyone’s long-term interests.
The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins.