Tooth Farmer: Exploring 3D Printed Replacement Heads for Stop-Motion Animated Films

Tooth Farmer is a 2-minute hybrid animated short film combining stop-motion puppetry with a 3D environment. Tooth Farmer is a vital story as it was developed over four years and getting closer to the artist\u27s goal of creating a successful stop-motion armature puppet that is durable for an entire stop-motion short. The story is a different take on the Tooth Fairy mythology that varies from culture to culture. This story offers an alternative to the world of the Tooth Fairy folklore. In Tooth Farmer, a little mouse lives inside a person\u27s mouth to help maintain tooth hygiene. The film focuses on unique character designs with environmental concepts resembling a person\u27s mouth. Armatures from the company LAIKA and Aardman Studios heavily inspired the explorations of stop-motion puppetry. Using the Elegoo Mars Pro 2 and Standard Photopolymer Resin to create 3D printed heads with 23 facial expressions for the main character was a huge goal and purpose for creating this animated short film. Delving deep into research for building a physical armature for a stop-motion puppet and compositing a 3D render scene was a challenge with harmonizing the design of physical objects with digital scenes. The paper documents the processes used in creating a hybrid film. It explains what the artist did, what the artist should have done, and what the artist can improve in the future

Invasion of exotic earthworms into ecosystems inhabited by native earthworms

The most conspicuous biological invasions in terrestrial ecosystems have been by exotic plants, insects and vertebrates. Invasions by exotic earthworms, although not as well studied, may be increasing with global commerce in agriculture, waste management and bioremediation. A number of cases has documented where invasive earthworms have caused significant changes in soil profiles, nutrient and organic matter dynamics, other soil organisms or plant communities. Most of these cases are in areas that have been disturbed (e.g., agricultural systems) or were previously devoid of earthworms (e.g., north of Pleistocene glacial margins). It is not clear that such effects are common in ecosystems inhabited by native earthworms, especially where soils are undisturbed. We explore the idea that indigenous earthworm fauna and/or characteristics of their native habitats may resist invasion by exotic earthworms and thereby reduce the impact of exotic species on soil processes. We review data and case studies from temperate and tropical regions to test this idea. Specifically, we address the following questions: Is disturbance a prerequisite to invasion by exotic earthworms? What are the mechanisms by which exotic earthworms may succeed or fail to invade habitats occupied by native earthworms? Potential mechanisms could include (1) intensity of propagule pressure (how frequently and at what densities have exotic species been introduced and has there been adequate time for proliferation?); (2) degree of habitat matching (once introduced, are exotic species faced with unsuitable habitat conditions, unavailable resources, or unsuited feeding strategies?); and (3) degree of biotic resistance (after introduction into an otherwise suitable habitat, are exotic species exposed to biological barriers such as predation or parasitism, ‘‘unfamiliar’’ microflora, or competition by resident native species?). Once established, do exotic species coexist with native species, or are the natives eventually excluded? Do exotic species impact soil processes differently in the presence or absence of native species? We conclude that (1) exotic earthworms do invade ecosystems inhabited by indigenous earthworms, even in the absence of obvious disturbance; (2) competitive exclusion of native earthworms by exotic earthworms is not easily demonstrated and, in fact, co-existence of native and exotic species appears to be common, even if transient; and (3) resistance to exotic earthworm invasions, if it occurs, may be more a function of physical and chemical characteristics of a habitat than of biological interactions between native and exotic earthworms

Dissolved organic nitrogen : an overlooked pathway of nitrogen loss from agricultural systems?

Conventional wisdom postulates that leaching losses of N from agriculture systems are dominated by NO₃⁻. Although the export of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) into the groundwater has been recognized for more than 100 yr, it is often ignored when total N budgets are constructed. Leaching of DON into stream and drinking water reservoirs leads to eutrophication and acidification, and can pose a potential risk to human health. The main objective of this review was to determine whether DON losses from agricultural systems are significant, and to what extent they pose a risk to human health and the environment. Dissolved organic N losses across agricultural systems varied widely with minimum losses of 0.3 kg DON ha⁻¹yr⁻¹ in a pasture to a maximum loss of 127 kg DON ha⁻¹yr⁻¹ in a grassland following the application of urine. The mean and median values for DON leaching losses were found to be 12.7 and 4.0 kg N ha⁻¹yr⁻¹, respectively. On average, DON losses accounted for 26% of the total soluble N (NO₃⁻ plus DON) losses, with a median value of 19%. With a few exceptions, DON concentrations exceeded the criteria recommendations for drinking water quality. The extent of DON losses increased with increasing precipitation/irrigation, higher total inputs of N, and increasing sand content. It is concluded that DON leaching can be an important N loss pathway from agricultural systems. Models used to simulate and predict N losses from agricultural systems should include DON losses