Greener pastures

There has been much discussion that the United States risks losing its economic competitiveness because of a work force inadequately trained in science (in case you have not noticed, the Swiss Franc has reached parity with the US Dollar!). For us in research this assertion has always been somewhat puzzling, because the US still has the best universities for science and technology.

The Color of Your Galaxy May Vary

From yesterday's Astonomy Picture of the Day comes a striking image from the Galaxy Zoo web site. The image is also of interest because it is only one image of many thousands of images viewed by many thousands of online volunteers. These volunteers among other things, classified the shape of the galaxies for subsequent analysis and research purposes.



Crowdsourcing comes to astronomy research via distributed classification of galactic images.

But note the color of the galaxy you are evaluating may vary.

CGIV'10 Submission Deadline

The Society for Imaging Science and Technology has sent out reminders that the deadline for submissions to the Fifth European Conference on Colour in Graphics, Imaging, and Vision is coming up November 19, 2009.

From the General Chairs Jussi Parkkinen and Timo Jääskeläinen and Program Chairs Theo Gevers and Alain Tremeau comes the call:

The program committee is currently soliciting high-quality submissions from researchers working in a broad range of colour related fields from industry, academia, and national and international standards communities. Conference topics—listed in detail inside this Call— include colour science, computational colour, colour in computer graphics, colour reproduction, colour vision/psychophysics, colour image quality, colour image processing, and multispectral colour science. CGIV2010 will include oral paper presentations, poster sessions, exciting workshops—a new feature (see inside)—and an industry exhibit. As in years past, submissions will be subject to a rigorous peer review. Technical Chairs for each specific area will lead a group of technical experts who will conduct the rigorous review.

The conference will take place June 14-18, 2010 in Joensuu, Finland. The conference will be held in conjunction with MCS’10, the 12th International Symposium on Multispectral Colour Science.

For the full call for papers see: here.

Dynamic Iridescence and other Colors Aquatic

From the September-backlog pile is an item about dynamic on-off iridescence in the squid loligo opalescens. Apparently the squid's reflectin proteins are modulated by acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter. Which is quite remarkable, even without considering the applications to camouflage and perhaps communication.

And then one discovers there are over half a dozen octopus camouflage videos out there on the web.



And like potato chips you can't stop with just one.

Using Neural Measures of Economic Value to Solve the Public Goods Free-Rider Problem

The end of the year is the time for performance reviews in laboratories across the world. The question is always about the metrics. Managers could use measures like the number of ICC profiles created, the lines of code written, or the ∆E precision improvement in the color transformation algorithm.

Please Pass the Chartreuse

In a profoundly scientific discussion about naming colors at HP Labs, the other day, the color name chartreuse came up. Nathan declared he'd never heard of it until he saw it recently used as a response to his ongoing web-based color-naming experiment. I stated that I only knew of it because my mother used that word when referring to a new dress or curtains or something. I told you it was a profound discussion.

Chartreuse probably stuck with me because, from age 12, I became fascinated with organic chemistry in general and, azo dyes, in particular. So, I'm almost sure it went on my list of chemical terms along with malachite green and paranitraniline red.

The Color of Grasped Porcine Liver

From the medical imaging side of color comes the paper "CIELAB and sRGB color values of in vivo normal and grasped porcine liver" by Smita De and co-authors.



The above is actually the in vivo normal porcine liver color.

"The images always look better on the screen than on the page"

By way of follow-up to Neil's earlier post about Hockney's experimenting with inkjet printing is an NYRB article on Hockney's iPhone sketches.

Among other things he says: "the images always look better on the screen than on the page."



So I don't know but it might just be the difference between my screen and my print of his sketches but I'm not sure about always.

Objects Make Better Gifts

This weekend was Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco.



During a webcomics panel at least two of the panelists said one of the reasons they decided to try out publishing a webcomic was to be able to experiment with color in their comics.

Which is to say web color is still cheaper than printed color.

Lawsuits in Suits

In what many regard as a decade-long abuse of the legal system, SCO Group (remember Xenix and UnixWare?) has finally fired CEO Darl McBride. McBride was the man behind SCO lawsuits against multiple corporate Linux users for copyright infringement and demands for hefty licensing fees.

A picture can be worth more than 1000 words

We are all familiar with this phrase. From time to time, scientists come up with pictures that are worth more than myriad words. I recently came across one of these images.

How to See Deep Sea Blue: Move a Molecule

Speaking of fish and their vision, research just published in the Oct 13th issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reports that the Scabbardfish has evolved from UV vision, like most fish that are surface feeders, to seeing blue in deeper water. What is remarkable about this finding is that the change did not occur gradually nor was it performed through a sequence of evolutionary steps. It occurred by the elision of a critical amino acid molecule from the fish's opsin. In other words, a single, simple change at the molecular level altered a phenotype. That's like deleting one byte of a program's code in memory and, rather than crashing, it exhibits a new functionality!

Journal of Vision Call for Papers: Perception of surface color and material properties

The Journal Vision has sent out a call for papers for a special issue on the perception of surface color and material properties. Guest editors David Brainard and Larry Maloney describe the intent of the issue as follows:

"Researchers have devoted much effort to understanding the perception of color and lightness for simple stimulus configurations, often consisting of flat matte surfaces rendered under diffuse illuminations, or simulations thereof. The objects we look at in daily viewing, on the other hand, are rarely flat, matte, or diffusely illuminated. There is now considerable interest in pushing our understanding into the realm of more complex, three-dimensional scenes, spurred in part by advances in computer graphics that allow physically accurate rendering of a variety of materials and thus permit exploration of interactions between object shape and orientation, object material, and illumination geometry. The Journal of Vision plans a Special Issue to bring together papers that describe recent advances in this area."

The deadline for submissions is March 15, 2010. For more details about this special issue see the call for papers: here.

MCSL Post-Doc in Image-Base 3D Modeling of Fine Art

The Munsell Color Science Laboratory of RIT has announced a two year post-doc in the area of image-based 3D modeling of fine art. The principle researchers are Dr Roy Berns and Dr Jim Ferwerda and the project will include extended residencies at MOMA in New York. I may be biased but this sounds like an oustanding research opportunity: 3D spectral capture in NYC with Roy and Jim! The full project description is:

"The Munsell Color Science Laboratory (MCSL) at RIT is seeking an outstanding researcher for a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in the area of Image-Based 3D Modeling of Fine Art. The goal of the research is to develop advanced methods for creating rich digital representations of paintings and other cultural heritage objects that can serve as surrogates for archiving, analysis, restoration, reproduction, and scholarship. The fellowship is sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation as part of a project entitled “Improving Artwork Reproduction through 3D-Spectral Capture and Computer Graphics Rendering”. Research resources of the MCSL include a light measurement laboratory, a custom imaging goniospectrophotometer, a computer cluster, and calibrated spectral printing, display systems, and visual psychophysics laboratories. In addition to research at the MCSL in Rochester NY, the appointment will include extended residencies at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City."

For more information please refer to the opening announcement: here.

William Schreiber (1925-2009)

I received an email that MIT imaging professor William Schreiber has passed away. His full obituary is available here. I appreciate that it includes some of his Schreiber-isms:

"You get to do one big thing every 10 years in your career;" "HDTV is not about television; it's about jobs;" "MIT engineers should be building bridges;" and "There is no reason to be mean to a student."

Truely an innovator in the field of imaging and color.

Inkjet Printer As a Paint Brush

Modern artist David Hockney, renowned for his portraiture, has been working more recently with computer-based tools like Photoshop and a Wacom tablet to create Inkjet-printed computer drawings on paper.

To Bits and Back Again

When we last heard about complex color, it was to say farewell and bear witness as a pile of papers migrated from desktop to recycling bin.



But a funny thing happened on the way to the recycling bin - there was an excursion. Several excursions.

Leonardo Recognized by His Paw Print

The ghost-like fingerprint in the top left corner of an obscure portrait painting appears to have been confirmed as one of the most extraordinary art discoveries—the first da Vinci in 100 years. This TimesOnline article gives the background and includes a short video.

Listen as Peter Paul Biro, a Montreal-based forensic art expert, explains more about how he imaged the portrait with a specially developed multispectral camera. (WMV audio portion starts @ 00:14:12)

This modern episode is reminiscent of the image recognition of another famous author, through the application of special Swiss optical devices.

Thanks for All the Colorful Fish

This is not goodbye, but hello and thanks to Giordano for the invitation to blog here. Oh! And all his colorful fish.

I'm not sure I'll have a lot to say because:

Don't know much about photography
Don't know much color dictionary
Don't know much about a science book
Don't know what it means to take a look

But I do know what is Planck times Nu
And I know that if you read me too
What a colorful blog this will be

So, with apologies to Sam Cooke, I'll give it the old collage try.

The Color of Fog at Night

I recently finished re-reading The Followship of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien out loud as a day's end story with C. and among other things I'm struck by the use of color in the book.

At one point Gandalf the Grey is recalling a debate with Sauruman of Many Colors:

'I looked then and saw that his robes, which had seemed white, were not so, but were woven of all colours, and if they moved, they shimmered and changed hue so that the eye was bewildered.
'"I liked white better," I said.
'"White!" he sneered, "It serves as a beginning. White cloth may be dyed. The white page can be overwritten; and the white light broken."
'"In which case it is no longer white," said I. "And he that breaks a thing to find out what it has left has left the path of wisdom."

Which sounds a lot like partitive color mixing, with a possibility of iridescence and side of epistemology.

Unipolar vs. bipolar SD

Conferences are an opportunity to seek clarifications on facts and methods one does not understand well. For example, in my work I do not scale with semantic differentials, so I never looked into some of its subtleties, like the polarity of the scales.

Galilean Nights

The 400^th anniversary of Galileo's telescopic observations is rapidly approaching. Next week, on 22-24 October 2009, the International Year of Astronomy 2009 Cornerstone Project Galilean Nights is coordinating local public astonomical observing events to share the wonders of heaven with your community. For more information visit http://www.galileannights.org/.

Pink Ladies

In these difficult economic times, organizing a conference is hard. Most companies have sharply reduced travel and conduct even important business meetings online. Under the circumstances, the organizers of AIC Colour 2009 have done an excellent job. Although many habitués did not attend, the program had a good quality and the invited lectures were truly outstanding.

His "family attempted to throw his photographic collection away"

One of the things about skimming the wikimedia commons: licensing area is the stray photo of Leonard Nimoy.



That and the potential peril's of being a deceased photographer with a legacy awaiting curbside removal.

The Scanner is in the Frame

And why not?

A digital photo frame that scans your photo for immediate display.



The Exemode Yashica DVF828 is a digital picture frame with a built in scanner.

Simply take a picture with your digital camera. Next print the photo on a digital printer. Then scan the printed photograph in for immediate display. Otherwise find your shoebox full of photos and find a good one. Then scan the printed photograph in for immediate display.

hapy birthday

Somewhere out there is a bag with the rest of the candles.

Translucent Metallics

On one page is a fluorescent green vellum and on the other is a translucent metallic paper.



Not your typical course notes. But then this was an afternoon class at PINC on paper basics given by Sabine Lenz, founder of PaperSpecs.

AIC Judd Award

Since 1973, when Betty Judd proposed to establish an AIC award in memory of her husband, Deane Brewster Judd, to recognize outstanding work in the field of color science, the AIC has been carrying out the process of selection of the recipients for this award every two years. The selection is an arduous procedure that includes nominations by AIC members and analysis of antecedents of the nominees by a Committee composed of previous recipients of the award.

As chairman of the Judd Award Committee, AIC Vice President Berit Bergström informs that the winner of the AIC Deane B. Judd Award 2009 is Dr. Arne Valberg. She can report that they have received four single nominations and one jointly nomination. All nominees have made outstanding contributions to our understanding of colour. Berit Bergström really hopes that they all will continue working in the international colour community for many years to come. The members of the 2009 Judd Award Committee have been: Paula Alessi, Robert Hunt, John Hutchings, Mitsuo Ikeda, Daniel Lozano, Alan Robertson, Lars Sivik, Gunnar Tonnquist and Pieter Walraven. These nine previous winners of the award and past president gave very careful consideration to the nominations.

Clipboards, Solar Cells & Fluorescence

Colored solar panels have been covered elsewhere, but reading some of the details gives me a new appreciation for my fluorescent clipboard.

Networking in Sydney Harbour

During hard economic times and travel hampered by security concerns, it is tempting to try to keep abreast of one's field reading proceedings instead of attending the conferences themselves. However, you then miss two important opportunities.

The first is getting valuable feedback on your research. There is nothing more efficient than presenting your work in a daring and controversial way, because you incite the audience to challenge it. You might be sitting in your cave for years brooding on your problem, chasing down the solution on a wrong path, but at a conference after a 15 minute presentation you may get tips from those that worked on the problem before, and also invaluable feedback on fallacious thought patterns.

The second is serendipity: you may sit on a lawn in front of the conference venue and somebody might strike a conversation with you on a problem you are secretly starting to work on and give you a key lead.

Serendipity may be a passive recreation as the sign suggests, but concomitantly it can also be very potent. I think this is what the sign's author had in mind.