I'm trying a new semi-weekly project where I keep track of any posts on the Steem blockchain which I've found worth reading. Here's the stuff I've enjoyed reading over the last few days.

We have a good problem. There was figuratively a fountain of good content over this reading period, so today's list is longer than usual. Does anyone reading this have a preference between longer lists or more frequent posts?

Stem

Pine & Pea Pollen under the Microscope 🔬

by @supersoju

Following my previous vegetable pollen post, today we will be looking at pea and pine pollen. Honestly, I didn’t expect them to look so different to the vegetable pollen. In fact there are many more different looking types of pollen than I expected. It really is truly amazing how something so tiny…

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Scientists have a new tool to identified species; by sequencing environmental DNA (eDNA) to find all the species that lives in the environment

by @valth

I want to use today’s post to write a bit about a new tool that could potentially be one of the best tools available to both ecologists and conservationists. As you probably know from the title, the things we are going to be looking closer at is called Environmental DNA, from here on shortened to…

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Why Can't We See The Lunar Landers From The Earth? (I Do The Math For You)

by @procrastilearner

It all boils down to the wave nature of light. Have you ever watched waves on a lake or ocean approach a rock or a pier or a dock? Have you noticed how the waves tend to 'wrap around' that object. This phenomenon is called diffraction and it not only occurs for water waves but for light waves as…

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NSAS Idea Suggestion #20 - Engineering Lactic Acid Bacteria To "Vaccinate" Against HIV

by @lesshorrible

Obviously "username" is where you write your own username. This is so that I know who is interested in @steemstem and science in general and I am always looking for a good read. This is honor system stuff, so please respect someone claiming an idea. Again, this is just the first step towards…

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Classical Molecular Dynamics Series [Part - 4b]: Running small systems on your computer

by @dexterdev

This will prevent the lipid's' interaction with its own image. Ooh... Now, what does that mean? Short answer: So we have simulations under periodic boundary conditions. Which means each box of the simulation system is repeated in the 3 dimensions. So the total charge in the system must be zero,…

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Heating your house using cats - real science inside!

by @alexdory

It's Sunday so I propose a funnier, still "sciency" article for today. We all know that the Internet was created to help disseminate cat pictures by the military at first1 and then its potential was discovered by the civilians, to also disseminate cat pictures AND movies, but further scientific…

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Exposing the invisible: Multi- and Hyperspectral imaging

by @samve

I think it is safe to assume most of us are at least partially familiar with how a camera works. And for what we as humans can see, the technique is perfect for capturing your delicious food or funny pets (Of course cameras can be used for more serious matter). But still a lot of information hides…

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Is Bread Certain Death?

by @davidrhodes124

About 0.5 to 1.0% of the human population are affected by a disease called celiac disease (also called coeliac disease, or celiac sprue, or gluten-sensitive enteropathy) caused by a sensitivity to proteins (gluten) in wheat (and other cereals). Gluten ingestion (bread intake) triggers an autoimmune…

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The Demigods of Manufacturing (Cutting Tools)

by @adetola

In my previous post on machining, I talked about cutting tools and how they are positioned in the tool post machine or reshape materials into machine parts. Cutting tools are like the basic ingredient used in machining and without them, machine parts cannot be formed. The cutting tool has some…

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The Cosmic Distance Ladder - A Quiet Gem Of Science

by @procrastilearner

The other distance unit used in astronomy is called the parsec ("second of parallax"). It is related to parallax as the Earth swings from one side of its orbit to the other. More formally, the original definition of a parsec is the distance at which one astronomical unit will subtend an angle of…

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IV treatment for trees. An awesome innovation and a friend to the Environment.

by @real2josh

Have you ever been very down with an illness that makes you feel extremely weak? Or maybe like a friend of mine, you may have likely had diarrhea, or had to stool continuously for hours. You are likely to feel like you're about to pass out, of like your life is hanging in a very thin line, then you…

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Geology of Iceland - Part 1: Introduction

by @sooflauschig

It is therefore an ideal place for amateurs as well as professionals to observe how Mother Nature operates.
Unusually high rates of volcanic activity and dynamic fault movements, coupled with rapid erosion and efficient transport and deposition of sediment, make Iceland a diverse environment where…

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Curation and community

Artist of the Day ~ @fr3eze

by @eye4art

This account is meant to bring artists into the spotlight.
We are still small, we are still young but we are here to stay, give and support anyway that we can.
What would life be without art? A dull, meaningless existence.
What would art be without life? An empty, white canvas.
This blog is here to…

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Utopian Now - Contributions Are Welcome

by @utopian-io

Many blocks on the blockchain were signed since then, and in those short seven months, Utopian.io turned into a brand, and a successful initiative attracting contributors, open source project owners and investors. Moreover, it became an organization and a community - decentralized, driven and…

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A Letter of Response and Love to a Steemit/Pole Sister @anneporter

by @thegaillery

My eating habits and metabolism push me to seek out ways, often unhealthy, just to conform to "shallow" body standards, as you call them. People call them shallow, but to us, that was the goal. "I'm different, I don't have the metabolism that can accommodate my body goals." These were your words…

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An Overview of Community Curation Initiatives on Steemit

by @revisesociology

Until those days arrive, below is an overview of currently existing communities who are just getting on with the business of making people happy right now, simply by putting the social in what might otherwise be perceived as anti-social (and anti-human) platform, (I've read the second half of that…

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Art, games, and geekery

aMAYzing Fantasy Day 4

by @zugart

Since today is Both Star Wars Day AND Frazetta Friday ... I did my best to reimagine Princess Leia as a Saber-wielding bad-ass.

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Art - Super Sayian - DEADPOOL - (showing step by step process)

by @theartofrez

Hello people! Today I made a quick illustration of my favorite superhero, Deadpool. But it comes with a little twist! He went full super saiyan!

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Final Fantasy Casts Cure on Square Enix – Today in History – May 7th, 1990

by @triverse

Looking back today, it is easy to see that Final Fantasy was a success and why. Back in the day though, even Square was not all that interested in Final Fantasy, to the point that they initially wanted to only produce 200,000 copies in Japan. That is after Hironobu Sakaguchi convinced them to green…

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More Cool Original Art - Spidey vs Hobgoblin

by @blewitt

I’m an old soul in the comic world. I’ve been in it most of my life in some capacity. My biggest mistake though, is not getting involved with original art until recently. Which is way too late in this game. I only have a few pieces currently. Some I’ve shown here already and some will come. This…

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"Spider Titan"

by @danis1

This project belongs to my series of fantastic insects, and this picture is currently one of the biggest and hardest of my projects.

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Superhero Chicken. It’s finger licking weird!

by @blewitt

This was only available during the 2017 San Diego Comic Con. It was passed out randomly at the DC booth throughout the days in limited quantities. I saw folks walking around with them at the con and tried around 10 times before successful in securing one myself. So it was kind of a tough book to…

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Romanii eunt domus! (other history too!)

The gear of a Roman soldier

by @zija2022

These men were highly effective fighting machines, well trained and drilled to the maximum. The Roman soldier did not just fight they also built roads, bridges, even cities. To face everything on their campaigns these soldiers were also very well equipped. The idea for this post was to show you the…

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ROMANTICISM, ITS DEFINITIONS AND RELEVANCE (In history, not relationships.)

by @tin-tin

“The sense evolution is because medieval vernacular tales usually told chivalric adventures full of marvellous incidents and heroic deeds. In reference to literary works, often in Middle English meaning ones written in French but also applied to native compositions. Literary sense extended by 1660s…

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Writing

10 Ways To Find Motivation To Continue Writing On Steemit.

by @classicguy

Writing on steemit can be a tedious task. Even people that have discovered their niche often find it difficult to post frequently. I'm also one of those sometimes affected by "writers block". Writing on steemit is the number one way of earning on the platform and minnows can find it hard to find…

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Homesteading, gardening, agriculture, horticulture, and DIY

Continuing the work on a garden bed that used to be a raised bed

by @amberyooper

I finally got back to work on this garden bed. All of a sudden, there's 5 or 6 different garden related projects pulling at me at the same time, and I'm easily distracted, so completing projects gets to be "interesting" at times. Anyway, I managed to get a fair amount done on this today. First,…

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How to make a Single Crochet stitch

by @carovargasv

Hello community of steemit, hope you're having a happy day! Today will be a tutorial day for those who would like to learn how to crochet. I will start with the basics and every week I will bring you another tutorial so that little by little you will start to knit and create all those cute little…

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Back Acres: How to Make Beeswax Candles - with Citronella

by @jackdub

Over the winter my wife traded two wreaths - that she had crafted - for two jars of honey and a plateful of Beeswax. The trade was detailed in this post: Barter System: Scored Two Large Jars of Ontario Honey and a Plate Full of Beeswax. After a recent successful trade with another one of her…

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Wheelbarrow Project

by @tillysfamilyfarm

Two Summers ago our wheelbarrow handles literally rotted apart. Thankfully last Summer the hubbie set aside some oak that he got as payment for a sawmill cutting job.

Our two youngest kiddos decided to follow him for the day, tho the youngest here was around more.

Dad used it as a teaching moment…

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Building a Fully Automated, Self Sustainable, Solar, Hydroponic, Micro Urban Farm - The Grid - Part 3 🔌💧💡

by @carpedimus

Same goes for electricity...the plan as mentioned in the previous parts of this post series, is to connect the whole building to a solar panels array and a few batteries, in order to provide all the equipment the necessary power in order to fertilize and water all the hydroponic systems that we…

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UBI

Manna's dedication to Steem Blockchain

by @mannacurrency

Being a token provider ourselves, we understand the potential this new mechanism provides. Our goal is to eradicate poverty from around the world. Using a token to accomplish this end means we are taking funding to another level. We simply are looking to fund hundreds of millions of people on a…

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Steem Basic Income Update #2: The Income Strikes Back

by @modernzorker

If you want to get involved in the Steem Basic Income project, send 1 Steem to @steembasicincome with the name of the Steemian you want to sponsor (including the @ symbol) in the Memo field. Doing so will enroll that person in SBI with a single share, and earn you a share as well. More shares =…

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It's a great big world out there

My Journey: Isolated Tribe Mentawai #1

by @el-nailul

This morning, while I was feeding two little creature I adopted 2 days ago I thought something about myself, what if I was adopted by alien from different area. What would I feel, will I miss my home?, may be that is what my 2 little nestling thinking about after I saved them from the wild. I try…

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Walking on the fortress wall of Nakaneupseong in Suncheon, Korea

by @slowwalker

I’d like to visit the fortress village Nakaneupseong in Suncheon, the southern area in Korea.

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Ishtar Gate - Babylon 575 BC - Photo - Impressions

by @anca3drandom

This gate was uncovered during 1899-1917 at Babylon; it was situated in the northern city wall and was named after the goddess Ishtar.The gate is decorated with bulls, dragons and a mythical animal(seen on the second row from the floor); the animal has the head and body of a snake, the front legs…

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Flying monasteries of Greece. Part two: in the footsteps of Super Agent 007 (+12 photo)

by @marymik23

I have already told you about the inaccessibility of monasteries. And it was this fact and the stunning beauty of the local landscape that attracted the crew of the film about James Bond, the super agent 007. Here in 1981, near the Holy Trinity Monastery, the footage of the film "For Your Eyes…

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So, what's all this then?

My goals here are to foster interaction on steem and provide visibility for good content.

Why not just resteem

This is basically a UI issue; I've noted in my feed that some great accounts which resteem dozens of times a day tend to drown out other posts. Until there's a way to separate author-content from resteems in there general steem-verse (i.e. on Steemit), I don't like resteeming much.

Criteria and format

The only real criterion I have is that the article should be something I was happy to have read. Ideally, it would be recent enough to still be active for 3 to 4 days after I post. A few other other things:

• There's no restriction on category, though I tend to read more STEM/nerdy stuff
• The list is not exhaustive
• If I left you off, it's not because I don't think your post was worth reading
• I'm still figuring out how to arrange topics
• Post order is like the point system on 'Whose Line Is It Anyway' - meaningless
• If you're a prolific author, I might only list one post in full format, then mention others.
• If I post your stuff a lot, I may leave you out from time to time to make room for others.
• If time allows, I may provide commentary on posts, but right now I'm letting them stand on their own merits.
• Artists! I'm trying to post your art in such a way that people can see enough of it to know if they want to follow the link. I definitely don't want to just repost your stuff in full resolution. Let me know what makes you happy.

Call to Action

I enjoyed compiling this list and you can do it, too. Even if your vote counts for nothing and you have 3 whole followers, start keeping track of what you actually liked reading and let the world know about it. I don't think there's a relevant tag yet, so let's go ahead and use #readinglog. If there is a better tag out there, let me know.

Remember, a community without interactions is just a bunch of people. Comment, vote, promote, even resteem!

Copyright Info

Logo modified from CC0 material on Pixabay by OpenClipart-Vectors, and released under the same.

Preview images are from the referenced posts and source information should be contained therein. Preview text is directly quoted from post and the property of that post's author(s).