hello i know this doesn't relate to this video st all and I'm sorry but I just wanted to say thank you, your videos have really helped comfort me, my dad was diagnosed with cancer and I couldn't see him for two years and your random videos and interest in random things just are so like him and they were so comforting when I couldn't see him so I just wanted to say thank you.so.much
When I suddenly get a lot of orders, I know that a TH-camr has released a video lol. Thanks for sending people to my Etsy store. I wholly recommend lead based solder as it wets and flows a lot better than lead free silver solder. What a kit to practice on! Hot glue is a great way to keep the power cable in position and to add strain relief.
Definitely gonna be placing an order at the end of the week lol. I third the recommendation for leaded flux core solder. I use Kester branded solder, both at work, and in my personal usage. My favorite sizing for most pcb work is .031" (0.8mm). Good quality solder matters just as much as a decent iron in my experience🤘🏼
Hey Shrimp, when using these fold outs you should look on the the non picture side at the grid. This is actually a key to the photos and will help you narrow down what you have by telling you which features specifically are important, and will also help with some of the terminology. Some useful terms, 'apothecia' are the little cups you see which are sexual reproduction structures, just like the cups of a cup fungus as the fungus part of most lichen are ascomycetes. 'Isidia' are like little columns on the 'thallus' (the main body of the fungus) which can break off for reproducing vegetatively. 'Soredia' are another vegetative reproductive structure that looks like a powdery granular mass or coating. Bonus, look out for the mushroom 'Lichenomphalia umbellifera'. It is actually lichenised but in the basidiomycete group instead of the ascomycete group, so instead of producing the small disks for sexual reproduction it produces a mushroom!
Fun fact: Some lichens (very few) are edible (most are toxic), and a lot of different species can be used as really good dyes when mixed with other things.
Good raindeer lichen fried makes a great 'crispy seaweed' with flavour of the woods as opposed the ocean. Not something I eat often but dang is it nice on the occasionals. (whilst yes majority are OK edibility wise, and tbf some the most common in the UK anyway are the better ones for it. But if you have a clotting disorder or are taking blood thinners it is something to be a bit mindful of. There are other medicines they can interact also, but I won't dribble on a huge comment)
You have entered a awesome world of Lichens! Enjoy the identifications....some really nice and neat common lichen names like British Soldiers, and Fairy Puke :). Spent most of my master's thesis on identifying and appreciating exceptionally rare lichens (rare at the time): Erioderma pedicellatum to be a bit more precise. Enjoy the new realm!
I love this. My BSc research project was based on lichens and I was a bit obsessed with them for a while. The Observer's Book of Lichens by Kenneth Alvin was my reference book in those days. I also love how you continue to confound the algorithm.
I just wanted to say how much I love your videos. I realised a while ago that one of my biggest goals in life is to try to do many different things in many different fields and I often give myself little projects to do. The variety of the things you make videos about really inspires me and how much you know about what you do. Seeing you try out new things, like in this video, also really motivates me to go and do my little projects as well. You are by far my favourite youtuber
I am far from an expert in lichens, but my degrees are in horticulture. When I was at university, I had a professor who was an expert, and he said he struggled as well, so you need to give yourself a break. I love that guide! What a wonderful gift. I wish it had something accompanying it to say which species make up the particular lichen.
I love the poetic nature of how lichen grows systematically to optimize its growth and ressource management, juxtaposed with the systematic placement of circuits in electronics
Ordered this kit, thanks for sharing! The seller asked me where I'd heard of it from as there had been a rush of orders. Good work helping a small etsy shop :)
I've been following Mike since he had 6000-ish subs and I can't tell you how many times he made me think "I can't believe I"m interested in ......." . Ironically, I first found his HDPE melting video and I've never had a reason to melt milk jugs but I was fascinated. I used to marvel that he only had 6000 subs because he makes everything so interesting. Now that he's closing in on a million, his numbers reflect the quality of his video content.
@@daneekaplan4284 absolutely, his content is, entertaining, educational, well made and edited, and yet, about completely random things at times where I have to check I read the title right
There is so much beauty right under our noses that we don't even see. I honestly had no idea what lichens were until I watched this video. They are quite fascinating, aren't they? Thank you for sharing!!
This video reminds me of the treks my father and I would go on in a forest near to where I live. He showed me so many things in the natural world - I miss him so much.
I can imagine your son shopping for gifts thinking: "All I need to do is get the right balance between what I know he likes and what I know most people would never consider. Lichen.... Perfect!" And I love how you found that being a bit out of your depth was a bit nice. We could all use that attitude.
watching as i sort my disorganized bedroom. been putting off cleaning for ages but a 43 minute video seems like the perfect thing to listen to while i put things where they ought to go
How amazing it is that there are so many types of lichens! When I was a kid and we visited my dad's parents one of the first things I'd do there was 'climb' the boulder (it was huge in my kid perspective) that sat in the yard next to the driveway. It was covered with lichens. I was fascinated by them and how they seemed dead and dry, yet they were not. It's funny how that early interaction (can one be fond of lichens, lol) always had me noticing them whenever I see them. I love plants but never explored lichens. Now, you've got me wanting to learn more! 🌸 And just one more thought, on the LED lights. I find the learning process fascinating, from stumbling through the first attempts to master something new, then gaining skill and confidence with time and practice. Challenges such as these really wake up your brain. We can all do more than we think we can. Enjoy the process, its a huge part of the fun. Okay, I'm done now! Thanks for your always interesting content 🌸
what helps w/ the "resistance" of pads on these manufactured boards is to give it a wipe w/ isopropanol, as there might be residue on the pads from manufacturing and handling that makes the solder unwilling to stick
Keep doing what you are doing Mr Shrimp. The eclecticness of this channel is fantastic and keeps me asking questions. So after this video I googled uses for lichens and came up with a few things I was aware of but a couple of things I didn't know. I knew lichens had been used for food in some very extreme cases for survival. I knew that some lichens had been used to make dyes and and some have great smells when ignited and then left to smoulder such as Oak moss and can be used in incense. I didn't know that some lichens are used in the making of litmus paper and I also didn't know that some lichens can block UV rays. Pretty impressive for something that most people would walk past and not give a thought about. I'm sure there is much more information to be found as this was just a very brief search on the internet.
A couple ears ago I stumbled onto your channel over one of your "Weird Stuff in a Can" videos, and I stuck around. I honestly get so much from watching your videos, and it even got me interested in foraging in my local area too. I always look forward to your videos.
For a moment there I thought I had clicked a Big Clive video, but his soldering skills are much better...😉 Still, very pleasant video, and nice to see your humility in the face of a task you have not yet mastered. Good work, Mike!
Kalpasi is a lichen used in cooking in some Indian cuisine. It doesn't taste of anything on it's own, but has a flavour when used as a cooking ingredient - but it's a flavour no one seems to be able to describe, quite mysterious.
I've written a few times now and deleted each. Because you know, no matter how I try and describe even the lichens here (lest done like crispy seaweed being the Wood version vs Ocean). When it's thrown in recipes I really cannot put it in words at all. So I'm super curious to Kalpasi now to see if its similar to Old Man's Beard or Reindeer I usually use.
Omg! I had a little Lichen book when I was 11. I love your videos . I'm looking forward to some treasure searching when my friend and I visit the coast.
As someone who usually wouldn’t be interested in things like this (of which I know nothing about) you really catch my attention and do so throughout the entire video. This is really well making and enjoyable to watch!
I find when soldering onto small pads like you are doing there, that it's important to get the leg of the component nice and hot first so that the solder doesn't climb up it. I find that if you stroke your iron down the leg and then onto the pad, it's more likely to flow better.
I never thought of what you said at the end about being out of your comfort zone but still safe. Maybe that is why it is so fun to go down rabbit holes on my own time and such a stressful and unfun situation to do it professionally (unless it is an obvious and expected part of the job). Nice video anyway, was quite relaxing. Thank you =)
Your 'Supercomputer' has got a tremendously pleasing 1960's Science Fiction movie vibe about it. I think it's awesome. Lichens are utterly fascinating - they don't even to appear to be really alive, but they thrive, despite the weather. Our garage is covered with them, all different shapes and colours. I understand that they can be encouraged to grow on new stone, etc., by brushing it with a wash of water and natural yogurt.
Love the LEDs. Reminds me of old Star Trek and other various sci-fi. I also enjoyed the lichens. They fascinate me because Tardigrades can live on them and the old sticks they grow on. Wish I had my own high powered electron microscope to look for them on those things. ☺️☺️❤️
I’m fortunate enough to live near a computer museum with massive red LED panel that runs off of simulated logic. I think they run at 4HZ and is just just stupefying to watch. It’s absolutely beautiful. I’ll give the link a look.
Thank you for putting the wild lichens back where you found them! You're so considerate to all creatures it makes me happy. Btw if you're interested in learning about tiny mosses and lichens, you might like the book "gathering moss" by Robin Wall Kimmerer. You'll never look at moss the same way again after you read it. Idk if you'll even see this comment since the video is older!
Suggestion: The circuit board has more mass, so target the heat there first with the soldering iron tip, apply the solder to the board, then draw the heat and solder to the LED lead. Much less risk of burning up the component.
True the board connections are just not hot enough, maybe a sharper iron tip would be good, also is it flux core?, love your videos mike, keep up the good work, have learnt a lot from you. also love the little fan set-up, wish I was that careful when I was working over the years, very good example for the daft (like me)
Hi Mr Shrimp, afraid to say that despite having the notification bell turned on for your channel, as I love it so very much, this video was not pushed to me, nor does it appear on my notifications tab. Just making you aware. Great video none-the-less!
Thanks for the video, it gave me some friday afternoon inspiration to program the flashing pyramid in code to see it first hand. A nice little coding challenge before the weekend hits.
"While I'm doing this, lets talk about lichens, which will make it impossible for the youtube algorithm to categorize this video." Shrimp, your entire channel is impossible for the youtube algorithm to categorize because of how many random topics you make videos on, and that's what we love about it :)
I am quite confident that the identification of the epiphytic lichens (growing on branches) are correct, because those are the most common species also in mainland europe (or germany at least), Physcia tenella and P. adscendens are really hard to differentiate from each other in the field, which brings me to the identification techniques. A lot you have to look out for differences are tiny, sometimes even microscopic (e.g. spore shape, size & number) and mostly about reproductive organs such as Apothecia ("fruiting bodies", for sexual diaspores) or Soredia and Isidia (for vegetative diaspores). Some lichens show specific reactions to certain chemicals (e.g. Xanthoria turns red with contact with KOH). Also: It used to be Caloplaca (with an "'L" not a "t") although it has been recently moved to the Genus Variospora (yep, fungal taxonomy is still relatively fluent. They're also quite common although often very minute crustose lichen with yellow to orange apothecia (fruiting bodies),
I do like a lichen, I was part of a massive argument on a message board once where someone was convinced the hundreds of blobs of grey lichen on the pavement outside their house was chewing gum. Also I want one of those flashy things but my soldering skills are very poor.
I built two "supercomputer" LED panels two years ago when a certain beardy Scottish-accented youtuber popularised them. I even have the mini one you can wear like a badge. Love your tri-angular version, Evilution makes those I believe.
Lead-free solder really is a pain to use at home. My half-penny’s worth of advice would be to slightly tin you soldering iron tip with solder (but not a big drop, you’re not looking to apply solder with the iron) before putting it to the pad/component interface as this makes heat transfer more efficient and then bring the solder to the joint, and most importantly, use a proper leaded solder as you will find it much, much easier to use.
The best thing you can do in regard to soldering is make sure you get a well known brands of solder consumables such as solder and flux. I like Kester for solder and MG Chemicals for flux.
Lichens not useful? I find them very useful when dyeing yarn plus they are the food of the delicious reindeer. You can eat them (here in Sweden there is only one poisonus one, Letharia vulpina) and they are beautiful to decorate with at Yule. On top of that, I use them to insulate my windows at Winter, my windows are as old as the house and I do it the traditional way.
@@lpanayi6954 The dyeing? Just boil lichen in water, strain and add yarn or cloth in natural materials in the water, keep it hot for a while and rinse. Leaves a dusky yellow colour. There are two species that give other colours, the Parmelia saxatilis gives a rusty brown colour and Lasallia pustulata gives a purple colour if you let it soak in stale urine for 8 weeks. What I like about using lichen is that I can skip the scouring.
I think this is a case of the exception proves the rule. I know lichens have uses (litmus indicator is another one), but broadly and generally, people don't regard them as useful, or indeed really notice them at all.
Soldering 101 (from a hobbyist, I could be completely wrong) : Step 1 : Iron on pad, slightly touching the leg of the component Step 2 : Touch solder on pad, don't need a ton of it Step 3 : Remove solder Step 4 : Remove iron from pad (there should be a delay between removing the solder and the iron.) Extra tips : If there's a ball of solder (aka too much of it) I find that sliding the iron up the component leg help to spread it (it'll be cut anyway). Dont hesitate to leave the iron on the pads longer. The iron should be at around 300c and shouldn't burn anything even if held for a good while. If using "rosin core" solder, you shouldn't need any extra flux. If you can find Lead based solder, it would be quite easier than the """safer""" silver based stuff. All in all, I think you did a great job :)
Those ornamental looking Lichens that grow on Oak twigs can be used to dye wool a very nice yellow. I think the mordant is iron fileings with alum. Maybe you could collect some sheeps wool off of hedges etc & dye it & make a spindle & spin some thread & then weave a couple of squares of cloth on a very simple loom & make a bag for collecting small interesting items on your walks. That would make an interesting series of videos.
Two belated soldering tips: Scrub the board before soldering with a light solvent like alcohol that will remove any grease or other contaminants. Get a temperature controlled iron, which will allow you to use a small tip. While it goes against usual practice, a friend who owned a small defense contracting company taught me the technique of putting a drop of solder on the iron, and touching that to the pad. That way you apply a measured drop of solder. If the pad and lead are tinned and clean, the solder will flow and wet out properly.
Happy birthday! I love lichens. Sadly there is lichen remover you can apply to your roof tiles to remove lichens. I'm not sure they actually do any damage to the structure. Also found some gardening advice about removing lichen from trees but it does no damage to the tree and you can harm the tree by scrubbing lichen off, so it's purely for unnecessary cosmetic reasons.
I've found it's a good start to clean off the board with some isopropyl alcohol before you get started, in case there's any dirt left over from the manufacturing. And it doesn't help that the pads around the holes are so tiny, the pads just don't seem to heat up as well as the legs. I've also found that the "no clean" flux doesn't work as well as the old fashioned rosin flux. Takes a bit of work to scrub it off with a toothbrush and alcohol, but it just seems to make the solder flow more nicely.
I thought of something that I'm not sure if it exists already but would make soldering projects like this a lot easier. Instead of soldering "wire", what if there were little beads of solder with a hole in them. You place the bead over the leg of the LED and then you would just touch it with the soldering iron and it melts and you're done. I'm sure the legs on stuff like LEDs are fairly standardized so the soldering beads could be sized just so that they would be friction fit and they'd help with holding the LED to the board even before soldering them.
I live in Massachusetts on the coast and I happen to also live in a coastal forest area that has many types of lycans. Many types are on w as most trees and rocks. Some even look like faces on the trees and can be very interesting in ways that they appear to be looking at you. We also have a type that looks like cypress very similar to the types that grow in Florida. I did bring back some cypress from Florida and my wife uses it in her orchids .
If youre interested in symbiosis, check out the relationship between the pea aphid and its obligate symbiont, buchnera. Aphids have evolved an organ just to house buchnera.
Soldering and welding are really hard because metals have extremely high surface tensions so the like to just bead up before they touch. The oxides have lower surface tension but won't bond properly. So flux and clean and hot surfaces are a must.
It was probably a while ago by now but happy birthday. I am not a very techy person so I had no idea what you were doing during the first part of the video, but I still tuned in because it is entertaining to see you do stuff. The light effects at the end were very pretty.
What I often do for soldering and probably would have done in this case is I make a little jig with a laser cutter, that holds stuff in place. In this case, that would have been a board with holes for all the LEDs.
I noticed that a pair of LEDs right next to eachother (on the left side in the middle) seem to be perfectly synchronized, even after the device has been powered on for a while they stay synchronized, the effect would be better if you swapped one of those LEDs with another one elsewhere on the board.
oh man I just listened to a really great podcast episode about lichen, Crime Pays but Botany Doesn’t, episode 100: a conversation with Kerry Knudsen, Lichenologist. Lichen are so cool
Lichen is a whole new world for me too and I wonder if there is any nutritional value . I believe that reindeer eat it in Lapland. looking forward to your version of lichen pie . !
Your son must be pleased that you've taken a lichen to his present.
(I spent the whole video hoping you hadn't beaten me to that.)
A dad joke about a gift from a son...😆
Very good.
Well played 👍
Baduum tush!
😃
hello i know this doesn't relate to this video st all and I'm sorry but I just wanted to say thank you, your videos have really helped comfort me, my dad was diagnosed with cancer and I couldn't see him for two years and your random videos and interest in random things just are so like him and they were so comforting when I couldn't see him so I just wanted to say thank you.so.much
Hang in there, mate. Things will get better eventually. At least that's what I decided to believe.
Hugs to you and your dad!
@@sundaywasabi thank you so much ☺️
@@gray117 No need to thank me. I just hope you all get through this alright. Take care!
💜
… We get ya, fam. This place feels like hangin’ out with a mutually shared grandpa, and everyone here are kinda like extended internet cousins. >)X^D
When I suddenly get a lot of orders, I know that a TH-camr has released a video lol.
Thanks for sending people to my Etsy store. I wholly recommend lead based solder as it wets and flows a lot better than lead free silver solder.
What a kit to practice on! Hot glue is a great way to keep the power cable in position and to add strain relief.
I did wonder if the problems Mr Shrimp was having could be down to him using lead free solder.
Definitely gonna be placing an order at the end of the week lol. I third the recommendation for leaded flux core solder. I use Kester branded solder, both at work, and in my personal usage. My favorite sizing for most pcb work is .031" (0.8mm). Good quality solder matters just as much as a decent iron in my experience🤘🏼
13:00
'Because why not?'
This is basically the entire theme of your channel.
Finally, the hours I’ve wasted watching hobby electronics and lichen identification videos separately are an inconvenience of the past.
Hey Shrimp, when using these fold outs you should look on the the non picture side at the grid. This is actually a key to the photos and will help you narrow down what you have by telling you which features specifically are important, and will also help with some of the terminology. Some useful terms, 'apothecia' are the little cups you see which are sexual reproduction structures, just like the cups of a cup fungus as the fungus part of most lichen are ascomycetes. 'Isidia' are like little columns on the 'thallus' (the main body of the fungus) which can break off for reproducing vegetatively. 'Soredia' are another vegetative reproductive structure that looks like a powdery granular mass or coating.
Bonus, look out for the mushroom 'Lichenomphalia umbellifera'. It is actually lichenised but in the basidiomycete group instead of the ascomycete group, so instead of producing the small disks for sexual reproduction it produces a mushroom!
Fun fact: Some lichens (very few) are edible (most are toxic), and a lot of different species can be used as really good dyes when mixed with other things.
@@mercster pwned that fuckin geek loser lol
Good raindeer lichen fried makes a great 'crispy seaweed' with flavour of the woods as opposed the ocean. Not something I eat often but dang is it nice on the occasionals.
(whilst yes majority are OK edibility wise, and tbf some the most common in the UK anyway are the better ones for it. But if you have a clotting disorder or are taking blood thinners it is something to be a bit mindful of. There are other medicines they can interact also, but I won't dribble on a huge comment)
Could you please name them here?
You have entered a awesome world of Lichens! Enjoy the identifications....some really nice and neat common lichen names like British Soldiers, and Fairy Puke :). Spent most of my master's thesis on identifying and appreciating exceptionally rare lichens (rare at the time): Erioderma pedicellatum to be a bit more precise. Enjoy the new realm!
That’s wild; the MSc is such a fun time for research and exploring. 🙂
I do love lookin at lichen its nice to see someone else who might appreciate lichen nowadays
"That's a horrible sound" - does it a few more times.
I love this. My BSc research project was based on lichens and I was a bit obsessed with them for a while. The Observer's Book of Lichens by Kenneth Alvin was my reference book in those days.
I also love how you continue to confound the algorithm.
Laying here not feeling well at the moment. I really enjoyed listening to you talking about Lichens while I rested. Thankyou.
Get well soon!
This is the most wonderfully interesting and calming to thing watch on a Friday evening, thank you 💛
I just wanted to say how much I love your videos. I realised a while ago that one of my biggest goals in life is to try to do many different things in many different fields and I often give myself little projects to do. The variety of the things you make videos about really inspires me and how much you know about what you do. Seeing you try out new things, like in this video, also really motivates me to go and do my little projects as well. You are by far my favourite youtuber
Happy belated birthday Atomic Shrimp, glad to see such unique gifts :)
I am far from an expert in lichens, but my degrees are in horticulture. When I was at university, I had a professor who was an expert, and he said he struggled as well, so you need to give yourself a break. I love that guide! What a wonderful gift. I wish it had something accompanying it to say which species make up the particular lichen.
I work at a lab that identifies species of molds, so that's pretty neat!
@@KitchenWitchery Excuse me what??
@@KitchenWitchery I'm fairly allergic to molds, but it's a very controlled environment. Exposure risk is pretty low.
I love the poetic nature of how lichen grows systematically to optimize its growth and ressource management, juxtaposed with the systematic placement of circuits in electronics
Are you sure that's juxtaposition isn't that just two subjects complimenting eachother through their similarity
@@grognakthedestroyerattorne3211*complementing?
Ordered this kit, thanks for sharing! The seller asked me where I'd heard of it from as there had been a rush of orders. Good work helping a small etsy shop :)
Never in my life have I thought I'd be interested in something about lichens
I've been following Mike since he had 6000-ish subs and I can't tell you how many times he made me think "I can't believe I"m interested in ......." . Ironically, I first found his HDPE melting video and I've never had a reason to melt milk jugs but I was fascinated. I used to marvel that he only had 6000 subs because he makes everything so interesting. Now that he's closing in on a million, his numbers reflect the quality of his video content.
@@daneekaplan4284 absolutely, his content is, entertaining, educational, well made and edited, and yet, about completely random things at times where I have to check I read the title right
There is so much beauty right under our noses that we don't even see. I honestly had no idea what lichens were until I watched this video. They are quite fascinating, aren't they? Thank you for sharing!!
This video reminds me of the treks my father and I would go on in a forest near to where I live. He showed me so many things in the natural world - I miss him so much.
I can imagine your son shopping for gifts thinking:
"All I need to do is get the right balance between what I know he likes and what I know most people would never consider. Lichen.... Perfect!"
And I love how you found that being a bit out of your depth was a bit nice. We could all use that attitude.
watching as i sort my disorganized bedroom. been putting off cleaning for ages but a 43 minute video seems like the perfect thing to listen to while i put things where they ought to go
How amazing it is that there are so many types of lichens! When I was a kid and we visited my dad's parents one of the first things I'd do there was 'climb' the boulder (it was huge in my kid perspective) that sat in the yard next to the driveway. It was covered with lichens. I was fascinated by them and how they seemed dead and dry, yet they were not. It's funny how that early interaction (can one be fond of lichens, lol) always had me noticing them whenever I see them. I love plants but never explored lichens. Now, you've got me wanting to learn more! 🌸 And just one more thought, on the LED lights. I find the learning process fascinating, from stumbling through the first attempts to master something new, then gaining skill and confidence with time and practice. Challenges such as these really wake up your brain. We can all do more than we think we can. Enjoy the process, its a huge part of the fun. Okay, I'm done now! Thanks for your always interesting content 🌸
what helps w/ the "resistance" of pads on these manufactured boards is to give it a wipe w/ isopropanol, as there might be residue on the pads from manufacturing and handling that makes the solder unwilling to stick
a swipe with scotchbrite or the rough side of a clean kitchen sponge also helps. just don't go nuts and scrub the mask off.
Lovely video, I enjoyed watching you going out and exploring the realm of lichens-always a pleasure.
Keep doing what you are doing Mr Shrimp. The eclecticness of this channel is fantastic and keeps me asking questions. So after this video I googled uses for lichens and came up with a few things I was aware of but a couple of things I didn't know. I knew lichens had been used for food in some very extreme cases for survival. I knew that some lichens had been used to make dyes and and some have great smells when ignited and then left to smoulder such as Oak moss and can be used in incense. I didn't know that some lichens are used in the making of litmus paper and I also didn't know that some lichens can block UV rays. Pretty impressive for something that most people would walk past and not give a thought about. I'm sure there is much more information to be found as this was just a very brief search on the internet.
Love this content!! Learning with you is fantastic, thank you so much for releasing all these fun videos :)
A couple ears ago I stumbled onto your channel over one of your "Weird Stuff in a Can" videos, and I stuck around. I honestly get so much from watching your videos, and it even got me interested in foraging in my local area too. I always look forward to your videos.
Maybe it is because of the thumbnail but for a second there I decided there was such a thing as electronic lichen 😅. Happy belated birthday!
For a moment there I thought I had clicked a Big Clive video, but his soldering skills are much better...😉
Still, very pleasant video, and nice to see your humility in the face of a task you have not yet mastered. Good work, Mike!
Kalpasi is a lichen used in cooking in some Indian cuisine. It doesn't taste of anything on it's own, but has a flavour when used as a cooking ingredient - but it's a flavour no one seems to be able to describe, quite mysterious.
I've written a few times now and deleted each. Because you know, no matter how I try and describe even the lichens here (lest done like crispy seaweed being the Wood version vs Ocean). When it's thrown in recipes I really cannot put it in words at all. So I'm super curious to Kalpasi now to see if its similar to Old Man's Beard or Reindeer I usually use.
Your friends obviously love you they gave you such appropriate gifts
Omg! I had a little Lichen book when I was 11. I love your videos . I'm looking forward to some treasure searching when my friend and I visit the coast.
As someone who usually wouldn’t be interested in things like this (of which I know nothing about) you really catch my attention and do so throughout the entire video. This is really well making and enjoyable to watch!
I absolutely love this. Wildlife + electronics and beautifully videoe'd and scripted. many thanks - made my evening.
I find when soldering onto small pads like you are doing there, that it's important to get the leg of the component nice and hot first so that the solder doesn't climb up it. I find that if you stroke your iron down the leg and then onto the pad, it's more likely to flow better.
It is always a good day when someone reminds me of my friends the eyebrow mites.
I never thought of what you said at the end about being out of your comfort zone but still safe. Maybe that is why it is so fun to go down rabbit holes on my own time and such a stressful and unfun situation to do it professionally (unless it is an obvious and expected part of the job). Nice video anyway, was quite relaxing. Thank you =)
Your 'Supercomputer' has got a tremendously pleasing 1960's Science Fiction movie vibe about it. I think it's awesome.
Lichens are utterly fascinating - they don't even to appear to be really alive, but they thrive, despite the weather. Our garage is covered with them, all different shapes and colours. I understand that they can be encouraged to grow on new stone, etc., by brushing it with a wash of water and natural yogurt.
Love the LEDs. Reminds me of old Star Trek and other various sci-fi. I also enjoyed the lichens. They fascinate me because Tardigrades can live on them and the old sticks they grow on. Wish I had my own high powered electron microscope to look for them on those things. ☺️☺️❤️
I’m fortunate enough to live near a computer museum with massive red LED panel that runs off of simulated logic. I think they run at 4HZ and is just just stupefying to watch. It’s absolutely beautiful. I’ll give the link a look.
This must be one of the most random videos I've ever seen on this channel. I love it!
In my experience, it's very difficult to do a good job with the lead free solder which is why I use the traditional formula for small projects.
This was really chill to listen to while doing some meal prep for the week. :D
For holding components in place while soldering, Blu Tack is pretty hard to beat.
Thank you for putting the wild lichens back where you found them! You're so considerate to all creatures it makes me happy.
Btw if you're interested in learning about tiny mosses and lichens, you might like the book "gathering moss" by Robin Wall Kimmerer. You'll never look at moss the same way again after you read it. Idk if you'll even see this comment since the video is older!
Bend the leads away from each other a tad to hold each LED flat against the PCB.
Suggestion: The circuit board has more mass, so target the heat there first with the soldering iron tip, apply the solder to the board, then draw the heat and solder to the LED lead. Much less risk of burning up the component.
True the board connections are just not hot enough, maybe a sharper iron tip would be good, also is it flux core?, love your videos mike, keep up the good work, have learnt a lot from you. also love the little fan set-up, wish I was that careful when I was working over the years, very good example for the daft (like me)
Isn't there a danger then of dislodging the surface-mount resistors?
Hi Mr Shrimp, afraid to say that despite having the notification bell turned on for your channel, as I love it so very much, this video was not pushed to me, nor does it appear on my notifications tab. Just making you aware. Great video none-the-less!
Very interesting and enjoyable video,as always Mr Mike you are very entertaining 👍
I'm lichen this video
Thanks for the video, it gave me some friday afternoon inspiration to program the flashing pyramid in code to see it first hand. A nice little coding challenge before the weekend hits.
"While I'm doing this, lets talk about lichens, which will make it impossible for the youtube algorithm to categorize this video." Shrimp, your entire channel is impossible for the youtube algorithm to categorize because of how many random topics you make videos on, and that's what we love about it :)
Great video! Thanks for using my photo at 23:55 ✔️
I am quite confident that the identification of the epiphytic lichens (growing on branches) are correct, because those are the most common species also in mainland europe (or germany at least), Physcia tenella and P. adscendens are really hard to differentiate from each other in the field, which brings me to the identification techniques. A lot you have to look out for differences are tiny, sometimes even microscopic (e.g. spore shape, size & number) and mostly about reproductive organs such as Apothecia ("fruiting bodies", for sexual diaspores) or Soredia and Isidia (for vegetative diaspores). Some lichens show specific reactions to certain chemicals (e.g. Xanthoria turns red with contact with KOH).
Also: It used to be Caloplaca (with an "'L" not a "t") although it has been recently moved to the Genus Variospora (yep, fungal taxonomy is still relatively fluent. They're also quite common although often very minute crustose lichen with yellow to orange apothecia (fruiting bodies),
I do like a lichen, I was part of a massive argument on a message board once where someone was convinced the hundreds of blobs of grey lichen on the pavement outside their house was chewing gum. Also I want one of those flashy things but my soldering skills are very poor.
I tried searching for this video, you successfully tricked TH-cam algorithm as I couldn't find it! Had to go searching through your channel! 😂😂
Happy birthday Mike.
I built two "supercomputer" LED panels two years ago when a certain beardy Scottish-accented youtuber popularised them. I even have the mini one you can wear like a badge. Love your tri-angular version, Evilution makes those I believe.
What an interesting soldering project!
Lead-free solder really is a pain to use at home. My half-penny’s worth of advice would be to slightly tin you soldering iron tip with solder (but not a big drop, you’re not looking to apply solder with the iron) before putting it to the pad/component interface as this makes heat transfer more efficient and then bring the solder to the joint, and most importantly, use a proper leaded solder as you will find it much, much easier to use.
I absolutely love lichens. You have the best content.
The LEDs remind me of the Blockbusters show hexagons
The best thing you can do in regard to soldering is make sure you get a well known brands of solder consumables such as solder and flux. I like Kester for solder and MG Chemicals for flux.
These comments are something else! They swing from lichens to soldering techniques and more.
How fun!
I love lichen. My little guide book is well used. I love British soldiers growing on my rotted old garden gate.
Those lichen identification charts seem a lovely present. I would like to get those.
Lichens not useful? I find them very useful when dyeing yarn plus they are the food of the delicious reindeer. You can eat them (here in Sweden there is only one poisonus one, Letharia vulpina) and they are beautiful to decorate with at Yule. On top of that, I use them to insulate my windows at Winter, my windows are as old as the house and I do it the traditional way.
I would love to know more about that process!
@@lpanayi6954 The dyeing? Just boil lichen in water, strain and add yarn or cloth in natural materials in the water, keep it hot for a while and rinse. Leaves a dusky yellow colour.
There are two species that give other colours, the Parmelia saxatilis gives a rusty brown colour and Lasallia pustulata gives a purple colour if you let it soak in stale urine for 8 weeks.
What I like about using lichen is that I can skip the scouring.
I think this is a case of the exception proves the rule. I know lichens have uses (litmus indicator is another one), but broadly and generally, people don't regard them as useful, or indeed really notice them at all.
Soldering 101 (from a hobbyist, I could be completely wrong) :
Step 1 : Iron on pad, slightly touching the leg of the component
Step 2 : Touch solder on pad, don't need a ton of it
Step 3 : Remove solder
Step 4 : Remove iron from pad (there should be a delay between removing the solder and the iron.)
Extra tips :
If there's a ball of solder (aka too much of it) I find that sliding the iron up the component leg help to spread it (it'll be cut anyway).
Dont hesitate to leave the iron on the pads longer. The iron should be at around 300c and shouldn't burn anything even if held for a good while.
If using "rosin core" solder, you shouldn't need any extra flux. If you can find Lead based solder, it would be quite easier than the """safer""" silver based stuff.
All in all, I think you did a great job :)
Those ornamental looking Lichens that grow on Oak twigs can be used to dye wool a very nice yellow. I think the mordant is iron fileings with alum. Maybe you could collect some sheeps wool off of hedges etc & dye it & make a spindle & spin some thread & then weave a couple of squares of cloth on a very simple loom & make a bag for collecting small interesting items on your walks. That would make an interesting series of videos.
Maybe you could propose some common names for lichen & we could vote on them?
Two belated soldering tips: Scrub the board before soldering with a light solvent like alcohol that will remove any grease or other contaminants. Get a temperature controlled iron, which will allow you to use a small tip. While it goes against usual practice, a friend who owned a small defense contracting company taught me the technique of putting a drop of solder on the iron, and touching that to the pad. That way you apply a measured drop of solder. If the pad and lead are tinned and clean, the solder will flow and wet out properly.
That's a dumb way to do it and it's the wrong way to do it.
Good job on the soldering. They say It's like riding a bike once you get a technique. I'm going to have to get some practice in i think.
happy belated birthday. lichens are a fascinating organism indeed.
Happy birthday! I love lichens. Sadly there is lichen remover you can apply to your roof tiles to remove lichens. I'm not sure they actually do any damage to the structure.
Also found some gardening advice about removing lichen from trees but it does no damage to the tree and you can harm the tree by scrubbing lichen off, so it's purely for unnecessary cosmetic reasons.
I've found it's a good start to clean off the board with some isopropyl alcohol before you get started, in case there's any dirt left over from the manufacturing. And it doesn't help that the pads around the holes are so tiny, the pads just don't seem to heat up as well as the legs. I've also found that the "no clean" flux doesn't work as well as the old fashioned rosin flux. Takes a bit of work to scrub it off with a toothbrush and alcohol, but it just seems to make the solder flow more nicely.
I thought of something that I'm not sure if it exists already but would make soldering projects like this a lot easier. Instead of soldering "wire", what if there were little beads of solder with a hole in them. You place the bead over the leg of the LED and then you would just touch it with the soldering iron and it melts and you're done. I'm sure the legs on stuff like LEDs are fairly standardized so the soldering beads could be sized just so that they would be friction fit and they'd help with holding the LED to the board even before soldering them.
South Indian cuisine (and probably Sri Lankan too) use a type of lichen as a spice. Kalpasi is difficult to describe, but very obvious when left out.
I live in Massachusetts on the coast and I happen to also live in a coastal forest area that has many types of lycans. Many types are on w as most trees and rocks. Some even look like faces on the trees and can be very interesting in ways that they appear to be looking at you. We also have a type that looks like cypress very similar to the types that grow in Florida. I did bring back some cypress from Florida and my wife uses it in her orchids .
If youre interested in symbiosis, check out the relationship between the pea aphid and its obligate symbiont, buchnera. Aphids have evolved an organ just to house buchnera.
These videos helped me thru Covid, so engaging!
Very satisfying. Thanks for sharing your birthday fun with us.
Your fungus skills will translate well to this. Looking forward to more lichens on hikes
Soldering and welding are really hard because metals have extremely high surface tensions so the like to just bead up before they touch. The oxides have lower surface tension but won't bond properly. So flux and clean and hot surfaces are a must.
It was probably a while ago by now but happy birthday. I am not a very techy person so I had no idea what you were doing during the first part of the video, but I still tuned in because it is entertaining to see you do stuff. The light effects at the end were very pretty.
Variety is the spice of life...you live a very spicy life...and I enjoy being along for the ride.😊
The highlight to my Fridays: an atomic shrimp upload.
It's Friday?
@@chevysparkgaming atomic shrimp has uploaded, so yes, it must be.
lIchen and moss. Two of my favorite things.☺ building circuits on breadboards, one of my favorite labs in college. 🙂
Your first sentence caught me off guard and made me laugh out loud for a good few minutes. Thanks for the laugh! Your delivery never fails. :)
… This is the peak of culture. The kind internet was made to share. Keep on being you good sir, the world needs it. >):’^]
Hey Mike, you don't want to get a bug in your keyboard! Before you know it, Buttle becomes Tuttle, and bad things happen. 😉
The two leds that highlight the trick with the triputer.
What I often do for soldering and probably would have done in this case is I make a little jig with a laser cutter, that holds stuff in place. In this case, that would have been a board with holes for all the LEDs.
Thanks for the video. Not only the reindeer, but also humans have used lichens as food here in the north (Finland). Much ro research there....
Hi, tip tinner may help. Having a very clean tip with a little fan of clean solder on it helps the thruhole heat quickly.
I noticed that a pair of LEDs right next to eachother (on the left side in the middle) seem to be perfectly synchronized, even after the device has been powered on for a while they stay synchronized, the effect would be better if you swapped one of those LEDs with another one elsewhere on the board.
just discovered the fun of breadboards, but my solder work needs practice too and so the kit looks like a great buy!
Happy belated birthday Mike 🎈
oh man I just listened to a really great podcast episode about lichen, Crime Pays but Botany Doesn’t, episode 100: a conversation with Kerry Knudsen, Lichenologist. Lichen are so cool
Lichen is a whole new world for me too and I wonder if there is any nutritional value . I believe that reindeer eat it in Lapland. looking forward to your version of lichen pie . !