Monday, February 03, 2003

Lava lamp observations:

When turned on, nothing happens for while as the wax heats up. Then, abruptly, jagged, organic-looking tendrils and stalks shoot up from the lump of puddled wax at the bottom of the flask like synapses in an eager brain. As the heat increases, the stalks collapse and settle to the bottom, where they melt into obvlivion. Soon, myriad spheres are seen moving up and down, only to fuse into a single tentacular column that exchanges mass with its hemispherical counterpart floating above. Given time, this column prevails against smaller bits of molten wax. It's like watching a patient, peristaltic mollusk. The amoeboid shapes inside the flask act out a sort of prebiological evolution.

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