👻 G-G-Ghost Filaments!

Haunted rainwater

The Pacific Northwest:

Known characteristically for its abundant rainfall, Seattle has been experiencing something of an aberrant dry-spell this fall. That was, until this week when we received 3.75” in 2 days! Needless to say, things are a little soggy, so I took the occasion to collect rain samples off the roof.

I'm experimenting with various stains to see what can be teased out of fresh precipitation. I began by looking at pure rain. Next I added Copper Sulfate II to rainwater. Finally I observed pure Copper Sulfate II just to establish a baseline. Here are those results.

L to R: pure rainwater, rain w/ copper sulfate II, pure copper sulfate II

Interesting that we see anything at all in a pure sample, no? What is causing these crystalline structures to develop? AT what stage are these elements introduced to the rain cycle? I suspect it has something to do with all the obscene spraying taking place over our heads daily.

I've remarked previously on the appearance of what I call ghost filaments. These become readily visible when rainwater is stained with methylene blue. They resemble standard filaments, but lack their characteristic solid-walled structure.

Left: thick ribbon filament. Right: ghost filament

Do these delicate structures represent filaments in some nascent development stage? It’s interesting to consider. These structures hang suspended in water droplets. Many have smaller spherical objects in their vicinity which seem to be connected to the main structure via invisible tethers.

Note the two orange/red spheres at center right

Note the folding/crinkled appearance of the filament-like portions that are visible. This detail takes on greater significance once we see what happens to a ghost filament as the liquid it’s suspended in dries out.

In this next video, we see two types of structures. On left is a standard filament; sturdy and tangible. At right; a ghost filament. Watch what happens when the liquid medium dissipates. Rapid crystal onset along the length of the standard filament, and a total cave-in around the structure that was the ghost filament. Such a shame. “He could’a been a contend’a”. “He'd only just begunnn…to live”! “Look how they massacred my bot.” 🤌

And finally, a detailed look at this disintegration process. What's noteworthy to me is how each crease appears to relax and unfold. Like wadded-up newspaper left out in the rain. It seems to imply some complex packing process, by which materials are compressed and folded in on themselves like the forging of a samurai sword.

What can be gleaned from this? Are we bathed in materials simultaneously capable of coalescing and disintegrating? Chemically programmed & patiently awaiting the proper conditions under which to actualize, safely concealed from all but the most diligent observation? How does a globe-spanning bio-weapon span the globe?

Thank you for reading, and a special thank you to my first contributor! An unexpected and gratefully received vote of confidence. I'm humbled and energized to find myself amongst such dedicated individuals.

-Will

Bonus: Freaky Filament of the Week

worlds tiniest pretzel knot