April showers bring May flowers. But in this case, the blossoms are too small for even a bumblebee to see.

Engineers at Harvard University have figured out a way to make microscopic sculptures of roses, tulips and violets, each smaller than a strand of hair.

To get a sense of just how small these flower sculptures are, grab a penny and flip it on its back. Right in the middle of the Lincoln Memorial, you’ll see a faint impression of Abraham Lincoln. These roses would make a perfect corsage for the president’s jacket lapel.

Growing the gardens is similar to making crystals with a Magic Rockkit.

The flowers sprout up spontaneously when a glass plate is dipped into a beaker filled with silicon and minerals (specifically, barium chloride). Then Wim Noorduin at Harvard coaxes the salts to spiral and swirl into smooth, curvaceous shapes, like vases, leaves and petals.

‘Nanogardens’ Sprout Up On The Surface Of A Penny

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Wim Noorduin/Harvard University

photojojo:

How to Use Photography to Help Survivors of Natural Disasters

Operation Photo Rescue is a league of photographers and graphic designers who help survivors of natural disasters recover irreplaceable family photos.

When a town is hard hit by a natural disaster, OPR gets together and holds copy runs, sessions where people from the public can bring photos in to be salvaged. Kind of an amazing way to help survivors emotionally heal!

p.s. If you’re looking for other ways to help survivors of the tornado in Oklahoma, you can also donate to the Red Cross.

audiovision:

Los Angeles gets a lot of praise for its sunsets, but it’s time our moonrises got a little credit too.

Los Angeles photographer Dan Marker-Moore took out his camera one night and made a short and sweet timelapse of a huge, orange moon rising over the downtown skyline.

He also made this awesome composite image:

wnyc:

architizer:

Astounding Tilt-Shift Perspectives of World Monuments!

Anyone who’s traveled to popular touristic sites knows the feeling of being caught in the crossfire of countless camera lenses—the annoyed (and annoying) jockeying to capture the perfect shot…which in most cases looks exactly like everyone else’s. When we stumbled across Richard Silver’s photographs of iconic monuments, we were shocked—caught in the same tourist hustle, Silver manages to give us a new perspective on famous landmarks we didn’t think possible. Read more!

How to take the “monumental” out of the worlds monuments. Super cool.

-Jody, BL Show-

For nearly two decades, professional surfers have been flocking to Teahupoo, a small village on the southwest coast of Tahiti. The location seems obscure, but according to some, the waves there are legendary.

“It holds one of the most powerful and perfectly artistic waves in the world,” writes Tahiti-based photographer Ben Thouard.

For a few years, he has been photographing an annual surfing contest that convenes there in August — and this year will be no exception. In anticipation, he has already started publishing photos to Surfer Mag.

For Thouard, the ocean came first, then photography. Born and raised in the south of France, he remembers spending every holiday and weekend on a sailboat with his father. His first encounter with waves was on a body board at age 8. After that, he says, “I could not stop thinking about waves … I love the feeling of water moving and rolling. It’s a different world underwater.”

Teahupoo: A Surfer’s Mecca, A Photographer’s Muse

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Ben Thouard

newsweek:

PSA: Help victims of the tornadoes in Oklahoma by donating $10 to the Red Cross. Text REDCROSS to 90999, or visit redcross.org.

Pete Pin was born in Khao-I-dang, a refugee camp on the border of Cambodia and Thailand. Fleeing the infamous “killing fields” of Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime, his family eventually resettled in Stockton, Calif., in the mid-1980s. What started with a single portrait of his grandmother has evolved into a deeply personal project that aims to explore the Cambodian diaspora.

His grandmother survived Pol Pot and the killing fields, and after having her portrait taken in 2010, she unexpectedly felt compelled to share her story. “I felt that my camera created this safe place that enabled the conversation to happen,” says Pin. “The stories that my grandmother told me explained a lot about my family.”

Pin is hoping to reach older Cambodians, but also younger generations who may not be familiar with their family’s history and experiences under Khmer Rouge. His goal is to use photography to create an open dialogue within the Cambodian community.

Documenting Life Beyond The Killing Fields

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Pete Pin

thebluthcompany:

Previously on Arrested Development | NPR’s guide to the running gags from the show

This is dedication. 

In case you missed it, NPR’s slightly obsessive guide to Arrested Development jokes by our awesome News Apps team. Here’s one of my favorites. -Emily

theatlanticcities:

“I wanted to show a part of the Megalopolis that struck me, that showed very clearly that something is not working well for us as human beings in relation with our environment.” -Héctor Mediavilla

A glimpse of Mexico City’s subway as seen through the lens of photographer Héctor Mediavilla.

Known as one of the worst cities in the world in which to drive, Mexico City’s rush hours aren’t much better underground with a subway system that generates around 4 million riders a day.

Read: Inside Mexico City’s Chaotic Underground Rush Hour

[Images: Héctor Mediavilla]

audiovision:

Chinese photographer Ziang Xiao photographs strange moments on the Chinese coast.

See more images of the infamous face-kini that took the Chinese coast by storm last summer on NPR’s The Two Way.