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How about this sweet mimic evolutionary design.. for a sand-dweller: Its only the females that hunt in this characteristic burrow and she spends her whole life here (unless damaged then rebuilds). She digs a hole up to 15cm deep.. the sand particles are apparently bound in parcels of silk, to facilitate carrying, before these bundles are spun unto the surface webbing. On the surface, two or four sticky-edged, silk web sheets, consisting of her cribellate silk mixed with sand, form the thick mats. Its the repeated opening of the silky flaps creates an impressions ..of a hoof ~ 'toevallig' . Of course the tiny males, which are seldom seen imitate sugar ants or velvet ants in their appearance. They are thermophilous - which means both males as well as females are most active on hot days. In the Karoo temps can reach 35-50C ~ the best time to "spronk" around in the wildlands to find some Araneomorphae action. ; - )
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HOLY EVOLUTIONARY. Nubia Industrial. Silver [L]
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RAON Hair // Cleo Side Flexi (Crystal Blonde)
RAON Hair // Cleo Top Knot (Crystal Blonde)
toksik - Crane Chinese Crown (S) (Light Silve
At about two to three years of age, young lions are no longer tolerated by their family ― the pride. Their mothers are usually ready for their next litter of cubs, which often drives them out to become nomads. This mostly happens to young males, but it happens to females as well; if the pride is too large and has difficulty supporting itself, young females will also be driven to become nomads.
This driving out of young lions is vital to the survival of the pride. For females, it keeps the pride at a size that requires less support. For males, there are two other advantages. First, there is less competition for the prime male over mating in the pride. Second, it helps avoid incest. By leaving the pride, the young males will move to mate with other lionesses rather than those related to them, thus the gene pool is kept healthy.
After being kicked out, young male lions either roam alone or in small bands - often with their brothers or cousins. At such age, their only option is to survive the unknown lands or perish. In fact, this is the time when most of them die; only about one in eight male lions make it to adulthood. Those who do survive and find a new territory have to take over another pride. This means fighting with the resident males - frequently to death. That’s yet another evolutionary challenge for them to stay alive.
Floppy Ear and his mate Jagged Ear, famous nomadic lions were sitting in the grass of the savannah plains early in the morning in the company of a Lioness. Photographed on an early morning game drive in Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya.
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We have the awareness and power to design our evolutionary path.
As creators, we are not limited to evolving through tiny, incremental steps. With our potent imaginations, we can design and manifest dramatic, profound change. What a remarkable and awesome responsibility. What fun!
Our challenge is to break free of our present concept of reality to create brand new dreams that will bring the ideal to life.
May humanity find a new balance with nature and the elements.
May we help restore life and robust habitats for earth's creatures.
May corporate decision makers join together to end destruction of the eco-sphere --
A product of billions of years of evolution, Our collective web of life,
The heart of evolutionary creative consciousness in this region of the galaxy.
God/Goddess, Planetary Earth Spirit, please forgive humanity for causing such death and destruction to the environment.
We are sorry.
Please forgive us.
Help us know and feel the sacredness of living nature.
Alex Grey
"Evolutionary biology is a numinous statent of of the intercconected things o-hings of things,
Say, with Saint,, "'Hello, Brother OX,
"Francis. and mearimean'"
mean it,"
I couldn't have said it better myself, even if I wanted to.
Rumours that the 'Lanech Catwalk Show' is to be held in a remodelled medieval public latrine have not been verified.
Watch this space!
"Hirsute backs will be huge next season"--ChaCha. You heard it here first.
Evolutionary Creationism : D
Maybe they're both right...maybe they're both wrong...
Maybe...we came from Mars after ruining it...now we want to go back? I mean, we haven't finished buggering this one yet...
Do we have to place such a Branson on our lives that we Musk continue to make such Bezos of ourselves XD
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Heather Wilcoxon is better known as an artist from Sausalito Cailfornia who now lives on a decorated house boat called the "Delta Queen". I was honored to meet Heather last Saturday who came to my garage sale while visiting here sister who happens to live down the street from my house. We started talking about art cars and told me about her Gremlin art car that no longer works but has taken a whole new life as permanent garden art car in Sausalito CA. Its completely covered in toys and dolls and plants that have almost engulfed this amazing art car. For those of us with aging art cars on their last leg, this could be the next evolutionary step in the life of these wonderful works of art.
carsmind.blogspot.ca/2012/10/sausalito-art-car-gets-new-l...
“Art is an evolutionary act. The shape of art and its role in society is constantly changing. At no point is art static. There are no rules.”
Raymond Salvatore Harmon
Avocado (Persea americana) leaf flush. The avocado may have coevolved dispersal of its large seed by now-extinct megafauna.
©All photographs on this site are copyright: ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2021 & GETTY IMAGES ®
No license is given nor granted in respect of the use of any copyrighted material on this site other than with the express written agreement of ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams). No image may be used as source material for paintings, drawings, sculptures, or any other art form without permission and/or compensation to ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams)
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***** Selected for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on July 20th 2021
CREATIVE RF gty.im/1328859551 MOMENT ROYALTY FREE COLLECTION**
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**** This frame was chosen on Thursday 9th June 2022 to appear on FLICKR EXPLORE (Highest Ranking: #396. This is my 215th photograph to be selected.
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Photograph taken at an altitude of Sixty two metres at 12:31pm on an overcast summer afternoon on Thursday 15th July 2021, off Chessington Avenue in Bexleyheath, Kent.
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THE HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF PIGEONS
The Feral pigeon (Columba livia) gets a really bad name thanks to a whole bunch of popular misconceptions. Labelled as sky rats, flying ashtrays, rats with wings, there is even a name for extreme fear of them, peristerophobia.
Some say they spread communicable disease to humans, a myth banded by pest control companies making money out of extermination, and although they can naturally carry some disease like tuberculosis (just like many other bird species), being able to breed up to six times per year and being so commonly seen has lead to the belief that they cause damage and drive other species away (again, no scientific evidence supports this). Seen as a plague by mankind, who is... er... the biggest plague on the planet after all and more likely to infect pigeons with his own germs!
Being common these days seems to make some animals less appealing than others, and yet the pigeon is culturally and historically significant and utterly beautiful in terms of plumage. When was the last time you took the time to spend a few moments in the company of these gorgeous, fascinating birds, or talked to one.... Well do so soon, your life will be all the better for such interactions.
In world terms, Pigeons represent peace and good, symbolizing Prosperity and fertility, luck, fortune, peace and harmony, love and devotion and beauty and piety. It is believed that the Pigeon totem as your animal spirit guide will enter a good persons life after a period of suffering or hurt, restoring faith and the good in their world. It will symbolize Love and kindness, sacrifice and devotion, calmness and tranquility.
Their presence in dreams can have significant meaning if the dream is of catching one, killing one, a pigeon falling in the sky, finding a dead pigeon etc. Pablo Ruiz Picasso's 1949 lithograph on paper 'La Colombe', shows a white dove on a black background, widely considered a sign of peace. It was used to illustrate a poster at the 1949 Paris Peace Congress, and is now house in the Tate Gallery, London. The Lithograph went on to become a renowned international iconographic image referred to as 'The dove of peace'. The dove was in fact a Milanese pigeon which had been gifted to Picasso by friend and fellow artist Henri Émile Benoît Matisse.
They are a wild ancestor of domestic world pigeons. A common sight in UK gardens, and traditionally seen on London postcards of Piccadilly circus until the feeding of pigeons was banned around the year 2000, they can weigh up to 370g (8-13oz) with a wingspan of 34cms. There are approximately 550,000 breeding pairs in the UK, and they are protected by The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and happily on the Green status for conservation
With a name taken from the Latin word for Dove, there are around 350 recorded types of pigeon, the commonest being the Feral pigeon with an estimated European population of around 15 million. Feral pigeons are also called city doves, city pigeons, or street pigeons. They make up part of the group of columbiformes which includes the now extinct Dodo to which they are closely related. Wild pigeons live in coastal areas, whilst feral pigeons are more urban, and more often than not found in close proximity to mankind. Feral pigeons have a lifespan usually of between three to five years, much longer in captivity. Pigeons have an incredibly close link to mankind
Technically they are: Kingdom:Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class:Aves Order: Columbiformes
Family:Columbidae Genus:Columba Species:C. livia Subspecies:C. l. domestica
In the UK, Pigeons are covered under the "General Licences" and therefore it is illegal to kill them or destroy pigeon nests for any reason other than those listed under the general licences. They can be humanely culled by the land owner or their agent for a variety of reasons (mainly crop protection). At commercial premises where I worked for many years, Pigeons and babies were professionaly killed on a regular basis, shot with high powered air rifles and then heads dippeds into an acid substance... it was very bloody and extremely unpleasant to witness!
They are possibly the first domesticated animal in history and Charles Robert Darwin was one of the first and most famous pigeon breeder, who recognised their beauty and abilities and place in the natural order of things. On board HMS Beagle, he sailed from Plymouth Sound on 27th December 1831 under the command of Captain Robert FitzRoy. Scheduled for a two year voyage, it actually returned on 2nd October 1836. He published his work, 'On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life', in 1859 and it has long been considered the foundation of evolutionary biology. In the opening of the work, Darwin began with 'fancy pigeons' which were becoming fashionable to own and exhibit in London at the time.
By crossbreeding the many different species of fancy pigeon, Darwin showed that, contrary to a commonly held belief that there were two different species which spawned the multitude of domestic pigeons, they actually all came from one wild species: the Rock Dove (Columba livia).
Nathan Mayer Rothschild developed a system of communication faster than those of most governments at that time. It is believed that he used carrier pigeons and semaphore to communicate across the English Channel. Following the Battle of Waterloo he used this system to stunning effect. Through a clever stratagem, and foreknowledge of the outcome at Waterloo, Rothschild made an immense fortune by manipulating the London stock market.
Then In the early 1800s the Rothschild family set up a network of pigeon lofts throughout Europe using homing pigeons to carry information between its financial houses. This proved to be the fastest and most efficient method of communication at that time, and the speed of the service and the ability to send and receive information ahead of the competition helped the Rothschild family amass a fortune, which still exists today. There are medals from 1870 commemorating the pigeon post in Paris.
Pigeons are highly intelligent, one of the few birds who can actually recognise themselves in a mirror, tests proving that they were capable of identifying themselves over other pigeons in photographs even with a five to seven second delay and they could even recognize humans in photographs as well. Proving that their self cognitive abilities were higher than a three year old child (who struggled with photographic recognition of a two second delay), pigeons were trained to discriminate real-time self-image using mirrors as well as videotaped self-image, and proved that pigeons can recognize video images that reflect their movements as self-image.
They proved themselves capable of being able to learn the alphabet in trials. They have been used to predict the weather with hearing far superior to that of humans in the very low frequency range that allows them to detect incoming storms not yet on the radar. They can assist in message delivery, help in search and rescue missions and even carry wartime messages across enemy lines, dating back to Greek and Roman times, and then forwards to both World Wars by the British Intelligence.
During the first world war, pigeons were dropped from an aeroplane in batches in harnesses with parachutes in order to send and retrieve messages from the resistance. A male pigeon in 1918 named Cher Ami was awarded the Croix de Guerre, an honour bestowed on foreign troops by the French Army, after saving 194 US troops who were pinned down by enemy fire. Despite being shot several times, he still managed to deliver the message attached to him. In history pigeons have been recorded as far back as 3000BC and records show that in the 5th Century AD, both Egypt and Syria used them to send and receive messages. Greek poet Anacreon wrote poems of his tame pigeon over 2000 years ago in which he described the bird's role in carrying a love letter to the poet's lover and how the bird drank from his cup and ate from his hand.
Some scholars believe that man's connections with pigeons go as far back as Neolithic man 10,000 years ago. An archaeological discovery of lifelike pigeon images beside the figurines of the Mother goddess, dating from the Bronze Age (2400-1500 BC) in Sumerian Mesopotamia, links to worship also in Crete where the Goddess was depicted with Doves upon her head. Pigeons were also sacrificed to Aphrodite (Venus), the Goddess of love in Greco-Roman culture. The Dove was also the symbol of Demeter (Ceres). Astarte, goddess of fertility and love was often times depicted with a pigeon in ancient Phoenician tradition and Ishtar, mother to the Sumerian people also. Goddesses Aphrodite and Venus from Greek and Roman culture were similarly often depicted with symbolic pigeons. They are highly revered in religions including Hindi where it was believed that pigeons were messengers of deity of death, Yama.
Also in Muslim and Sikh traditions as well as Christianity. Some Sikhs will ceremoniously feed pigeons in honour of Guru Gobind Singh, a high priest who was renowned as a friend to pigeons. The Old Testament dove of Noah and the New Testament dove of the Holy Spirit are the ancestors of the dovecote birds of the past and today’s urban pigeons. In China, it is believed that with the coming of Spring, a Sparrow hawk would transform into a pigeon and vice versa, repeating the opposite transformation at the end of the season.
Pigeons have been recorded flying at more than 92mph and the average speed is around 78mph, they can also reach altitudes of 6,000 feet. Contrary to the rumour mill, pigeons are very clean birds and very little evidence exists to show that they can spread disease to humans.
Generally pigeons mate for life and are monogamous, both incubate and care for their young, and they are amazingly social creatures found in large groups. Pigeons have also saved lives on sinking ships by being released to alert nearby people, and some pigeons have received honours and awards for their part in saving lives. They have been trained to save lives at sea by recognising the red and yellow life jackets of victims, and even being able to view the UV spectrum. They can use landmarks to recognise and retrace routes, and use the sun as as a guide and an internal magnetic compass.
During a study in 2016, four pigeons built up a vocabulary of between 26 and 58 written English words, they could identify visual patterns and therefore tell them apart. The birds could even identify words they hadn't seen before.
Researchers at University of California Davis Medical Center put 16 pigeons in a room with magnified biopsies of potential breast cancers. If the pigeons correctly identified them as either benign or malignant, they got a treat, Once trained, their percentages of correctly identifying the biopsies was between 85-99% accurate.
Pigeons have been recorded regularly using the subway in the United states of America, hoping on and off subway cars and seeming to understand the direction of the journey. They also on occasions perform aerial backflips, seemingly just for fun. They see the world with five spectral bands, a kaleidoscope of colour compared to humans triple system of colour perception.
These are magnificent birds that so often fall victim to mankind's prejudice and dislike. Take a look at their ornate, beautiful plumage, the many markings and differences in coloration, and think about their history and the incredible journey they have made through the centuries.
Give them some love, they have certainly earned it!
Paul Williams May 2021
©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams)
Nikon D850 Focal length: 600mm Shutter speed: 1/500s Aperture: f/8.0 iso500 Hand held with Tamron VC Vibration control set to ON (Position 1) 14 Bit uncompressed RAW NEF file size L (8256 x 5504 pixels) FX (36 x 24) Focus mode: AF-C AF-Area mode: 3D-tracking AF-C Priority Selection: Release. Nikon Back button focusing enabled 3D Tracking watch area: Normal 55 Tracking points Exposure mode: Manual exposure mode Metering mode: Matrix metering White balance on: Auto1 (4480k) Colour space: RGB Picture control: Neutral (Sharpening +2)
Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2. Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Lee SW150 MKII filter holder. Lee SW150 95mm screw in adapter ring. Lee SW150 circular polariser glass filter.Lee SW150 Filters field pouch. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecup.Mcoplus professional MB-D850 multi function battery grip 6960.Two Nikon EN-EL15a batteries (Priority to battery in Battery grip). Black Rapid Curve Breathe strap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag.
LATITUDE: N 51d 28m 28.24s
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Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.10 (9/05/2019) LD Distortion Data 2.018 (18/02/20) LF 1.00
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit Version 1.4.1 (18/02/2020). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit Version 1.6.2 (18/02/2020). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 2.4.5 (18/02/2020). Nikon Transfer 2 Version 2.13.5. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
Abstract
To understand the evolutionary significance of geographic variation, one must identify the factors that generate phenotypic differences among populations. I examined the causes of geographic variation in and evolutionary history of number of trunk vertebrae in slender salamanders. Batrachoseps (Caudata: Plethodontidae). Number of trunk vertebrae varies at many taxonomic levels within Batrachoseps. Parallel clines in number occur along an environmental gradient in three lineages in the Coast Ranges of California. These parallel clines may signal either adaptation or a shared phenotypically plastic response to the environmental gradient. By raising eggs from 10 populations representing four species of Batrachoseps, I demonstrated that number of trunk vertebrae can be altered by the developmental temperature; however, the degree of plasticity is insufficient to account for geographic variation. Thus, the geographic variation results largely from genetic variation. Number of trunk vertebrae covaries with body size and shape in diverse vertebrate taxa, including Batrachoseps. I hypothesize that selection for different degrees of elongation, possibly related to fossoriality, has led to the extensive evolution of number of trunk vertebrae in Batrachoseps. Analysis of intrapopulational variation revealed sexual dimorphism in both body shape and number of trunk vertebrae, but no correlation between these variables in either sex. Females are more elongate than males, a pattern that has been attributed to fecundity selection in other taxa. Patterns of covariation among different classes of vertebrae suggest that some intrapopulational variation in number results from changes in vertebral identity rather than changes in segmentation.
Elizabeth L. Jockusch
Evolution
Images in this gallery were captured by:
Mark Smith M.S. Geoscientist mark@macroscopicsolutions.com
Daniel Saftner B.S. Geoscientist and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer daniel@macroscopicsolutions.com
Annette Evans Ph.D. Student at the University of Connecticut annette@macroscopicsolutions.com
2ЭС4К (2ES4K) is a 3 kV D.C. electric locomotive the Donchak composed of 2 units was produced by Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant (NEVZ) at 2006-2018 yy. The 3-unit 3ЭС4К model having one booster B-unit in production from 2014. They are the successors of VL10 (VL11) family, the mass-produced DC electric locomotives built in Soviet Georgia by TEVZ and in Russia at NEVZ. In most mechanical parts they are unified with the Е5К (E5K) and 2/3/4ЕС5К (ES5K) The Ermak ("Ермак"), a family of new 25 kV AC mainline freight electric locomotives with four-axle sections equipped with collector traction motors. The number of sections can be from one to four (internal - boosters without cabs). This model of AC locomotives is named in honour of Russia's national hero Ermak, conqueror of Siberia in the times of Ivan IV The Terrible. They are the next evolutionary stage in the development of ВЛ80 (VL80) freight electric locomotives and are positioned as their main replacement. Like the VL80, they were developed by the All-Russian Research Institute of Electric Locomotive Building (VELNII) in Novocherkassk and have been produced since 2004 at the Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant, a part of the CJSC Transmashholding concern, currently being the most mass-produced family of Russian electric locomotives. More than 2200 ones have already been built, including 1500 three-section 3ES5K. Production of DC eclectric locomotives is more limited with 148 of 2ES4K and 78 3ES4K were built to 2022 consequently.
Locomotives have a steel wagon-type body with a main frame, on which a plastic block control cabin and a set of equipment are mounted. The running gear is designed with axle-axle suspension of traction electric motors with motor-axle plain bearings. The bogies of the low-production 6-axle freight-passenger (Bo'Bo'Bo') electric locomotive ВЛ65 (VL65) are used, this bogie differs from the bogies of VL80 and VL85 by the absence of leaf springs (flexicoil suspension is used), and from the bogie of ВЛ80, in addition, by the absence of kingpins, the force transmission is through the central inclined link. The AC locomotives are equipped with advanced 850 kW collector traction motors НБ-514Д (NB-514D; in new modification ES5S is used asynchronous motors ДТА-1100 and IGBT transistors), as well as a microprocessor control system that provides manual and automatic motion control, diagnostics of motion parameters and operation of all locomotive equipment, electric regenerative braking. Its DC counterparts use different 800 kW DTC-800 traction motors and have a dynamic brake in addition to regenerative braking.
time is awash with evolutionary dead-ends.....so you can imagine just how chuffed I was ,when I managed to capture this rare image of one of the last known surviving “Shewnoseds Cat-forahat pygmy Aardvarks”
hehehehe..................OMG!!! just had a thought !! …......eek! what if my cat sees this ! He's gonna freak right out at me (bless him I love him dearly .but he really does take himself far too seriously).................and then he's gonna freak out at me all over again when he realizes it isn’t even him ,but instead its that other ginger cat that lives at the bottom of the road that he hates so much!!......damn it .......I’ll never be able to wear black or snaggable again.
Here is a half and half Mountain Hare, not quite in summer pelage, and not quite yet out of winter pelage. It was sat on a steep slope amid some photogenic millstone grit outcrops. So I decided not to crop too tightly to show it in the context of its environment.
The scientific name Lepus timidus means shy hare, because the usual view is of one running away. But they will sometimes sit very tight, relying on their camouflage until they feel it is time to run. But their camouflage is adapted for the higher mountains and more snowy climate of Scotland, and in winter they stand out like a sore thumb when snow is not on the ground. That is because they were introduced to the Peak District in the nineteenth century from Scotland, and the lack of predators in the Peak District means there is little evolutionary pressure to benefit the ones that remain brown through the winter. In Ireland Mountain Hare is the native hare found throughout, in lowlands too. Here the Mountain Hares remain brown throughout winter. I photographed this individual at the RSPB Dove Stone reserve in Greater Manchester.
Mantises, belonging to the order Mantodea, are fascinating insects with a rich evolutionary history that spans millions of years.
The origin of mantises can be traced back to the early Cretaceous period, approximately 145 to 100 million years ago. Fossil evidence suggests that their ancestors were similar to cockroaches, with elongated bodies and chewing mouthparts. Over time, these ancestral insects underwent various adaptations that led to the emergence of the distinct features we associate with mantises today.
One of the defining characteristics of mantises is their forelegs modified for capturing and grasping prey. This adaptation evolved gradually, with ancestral species developing elongated legs to improve their hunting abilities. As mantises continued to evolve, their front legs became highly specialized, featuring sharp spines and powerful grasping capabilities.
Throughout their evolutionary history, mantises diversified into numerous species, each adapting to different environments and ecological niches. Today, there are over 2,400 known species of mantises, exhibiting a remarkable range of sizes, shapes, and colors.
Mantises are distributed worldwide, inhabiting diverse habitats, including tropical rainforests, temperate regions, and deserts. They are particularly abundant in regions with warm climates and abundant vegetation, as these conditions provide ample prey opportunities.
Behaviorally, mantises are known for their unique hunting strategies and impressive camouflage. Many species exhibit aggressive mimicry, resembling flowers, leaves, or twigs to blend seamlessly into their surroundings, making them highly effective ambush predators. This camouflage allows mantises to remain inconspicuous while waiting for unsuspecting prey to venture within striking range.
The reproductive behavior of mantises is equally intriguing. Sexual cannibalism, where the female consumes the male after or during mating, is a well-known phenomenon observed in some mantis species. While not all species exhibit this behavior, it has been hypothesized that it may provide nutritional benefits to the female or serve as a form of male sacrifice to increase the chances of successful reproduction.
Mantises undergo incomplete metamorphosis, a type of development that involves three life stages: egg, nymph, and adult. Females typically lay their eggs within protective foam masses called oothecae, which are attached to twigs, stems, or other structures. These oothecae safeguard the developing eggs from predators and environmental hazards until they hatch into nymphs.
Nymphs resemble miniature adults but lack wings and are less sexually mature. They go through a series of molts, shedding their exoskeletons to accommodate growth. With each molt, nymphs become increasingly similar to the adult form, eventually reaching full maturity.
While mantises have existed for millions of years, they face various challenges and threats today. Habitat destruction, pesticide use, and climate change contribute to the decline of mantis populations in certain areas. Conservation efforts are crucial to preserving their diversity and ecological importance.
In conclusion, mantises have a long and fascinating evolutionary history that has shaped them into the unique insects we know today. From their cockroach-like ancestors to the specialized hunters and masters of camouflage we see in various species, mantises have successfully adapted to a range of environments worldwide. Their behavioral and reproductive strategies, combined with their remarkable diversity, continue to captivate scientists and nature enthusiasts alike. By appreciating and conserving these intriguing insects, we can ensure their continued survival and contribute to the preservation of Earth's biodiversity.
Attachment theory is primarily an evolutionary and ethological theory whereby the infant or child seeks proximity to a specified attachment figure in situations of alarm or distress, for the purpose of survival. The forming of attachments is considered to be the foundation of the infant/child's capacity to form and conduct relationships throughout life. Attachment is not the same as love and/or affection although they often go together. Attachment and attachment behaviors tend to develop between the age of 6 months and 3 years. Infants become attached to adults who are sensitive and responsive in social interactions with the infant, and who remain as consistent caregivers for some time. Parental responses lead to the development of patterns of attachment which in turn lead to 'internal working models' which will guide the individual's feelings, thoughts, and expectations in later relationships.There are a number of attachment 'styles' namely 'secure', 'anxious-ambivalent', 'anxious-avoidant', (all 'organized') and 'disorganized', some of which are more problematic than others. A lack of attachment or a seriously disrupted capacity for attachment could potentially amount to serious disorders.
Description: Planetary Nebulae represent the late evolutionary stage of low to intermediate mass stars. As these stars reach the final stage of their existence they enter the AGB (asymptotic giant branch) phase. As early AGB stars they begin to lose mass through dense but slow winds. This phase is followed by more profound mass lose through tenuous fast winds or superwind phase. The dynamic interaction between fast and slow winds ultimately forms the complex shell structure of Planetary Nebulae.
M97, more popularly known as the "Owl Nebula" is an older planetary nebula (PN) with a circular morphology and a bland inner structure. It is one of about 1600 planetary nebulae discovered in the Milky Way. The Milky Way has an estimated population of about 10,000 planetary nebulae. The low number is due to the brief time they exist, less than 50,000 years. M97 is at a fairly advanced stage as the superwind from the central star has long since ceased. M97 has a triple shell structure consisting of a round double shell comprising the main optical nebula and a faint bow-shaped outer shell which is very faint. The outer halo formed from material ejected thousands of years ago during the dying stars red giant phase. It continues to interact with the surrounding interstellar medium as the PN moves through space. The central star is a hot dead cinder of about 0.6 solar masses which produces abundant radiation from its 110,000 degree surface temperature.
Astronomers have had increasing success at building three dimensional models of planetary nebulae from two dimensional data. The models are based however on three assumptions: 1) material in the nebula moves exclusively in radial directions 2) each shell is ejected at different time epochs 3) each shell is composed of sub-shells that expand with velocities proportional to their distance from the center. The double shell of the main nebula is about 1.3 light years in diameter and has an expansion velocity of 40 kilometers/second. The inner shell is slightly elongated and the outer shell is round. The outer halo is bow shaped and has no measurable expansion velocity.
There are two distinguishing features of the Owl Nebula. The first is the presence of a central bipolar cavity excavated by the superwind of the central star. The second peculiar feature is the lack of a bright rim. The superwind that carved out the central cavity has since ceased allowing nebula material to backfill the cavity and smear out any bright rim that previously existed. The higher density of the material along the rim of the cavity is responsible for producing the forehead and beak of the owl. The bipolar cavity forms the characteristic eyes of the owl.
A reasonable conjecture regarding the evolutionary history of M97 begins in the early ABG phase of the dying star. The first event was the early slow wind which plowed into the interstellar medium forming the outer halo. During later stages of the ABG phase high mass loss occurred in the superwind phase which formed the main body of the planetary nebula. (Text: www.robgendlerastropics.com/M97text.html)
This picture was photographed March 17-18 2013 in Khlepcha observatory, Ukraine.
Equipment: reflector S&D 254 mm. f/4.7
Mount WhiteSwan-180, camera QSI-583wsg, Tevevue Paracorr-2. Off-axis guidecamera Orion SSAG.
LRGB filter set Baader Planetarium.
L=20*600 sec., bin.1 RGB: 10*450-600 sec. each channel, bin.2 Total 7.5 hours.
Processed Pixinsight 1.7 and Photoshop CS5.
One of five Tier 4 GE ES44A6's (at least, that's what the builder's decals say on them) working on CN is caught on a sunny morning at Reevesville, IL. The other end of this empty coal train has GECX 2039. EMD is already touting their Tier 4 product in employee newsletters, claiming it will need no urea treatment. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out in the coming years.
This photo has nothing to do with the evolutionary theory of the same name. It's just the name I came up with when gazing at this structure.
From: Lower Antelope Slot Canyon near Page, Arizona: tour by Dixie Ellis (located on site where the canyon is).
I've detailed my whole trip through the southwest with images, tips, and observations about traveling cross country. The web pages are divided as follows: Planning the trip (parts 1 and 2); Booking Lodging, and Excursions; Photography Locations and Consideration, Lessons Learned
Some Rights Reserved: 2019 Steven Christenson
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Plön ist die Kreisstadt des Kreises Plön in Schleswig-Holstein und hat knapp 9000 Einwohner. Wahrzeichen der Stadt ist das Schloss, das im 17. Jahrhundert erbaut wurde. Plön besitzt ein Gymnasium mit 300-jähriger Geschichte, ist Standort der Marineunteroffizierschule und Sitz des Max-Planck-Instituts für Evolutionsbiologie.
Plön liegt direkt am größten Binnensee Schleswig-Holsteins, dem Großen Plöner See, und ist eingebettet in die hügelige Seenlandschaft der Holsteinischen Schweiz. Nur 7,8 km² des Stadtgebietes sind Landfläche. Der Rest des Stadtgebietes verteilt sich auf elf Seen, die vollständig zur Stadt Plön gehören, und fünf weitere, an denen Plön einen Anteil hat.
Durch Erbteilungen innerhalb des dänischen Königshauses entstand 1622 das Herzogtum Schleswig-Holstein-Plön. Mit Errichtung des Plöner Schlosses anstelle der alten Burg 1633–1636 durch Herzog Joachim Ernst wurde Plön Hauptstadt des kleinen Fürstentums. Als Residenzstadt erfuhr Plön eine beträchtliche Aufwertung. So gründete Herzog Johann Adolph („Hans Adolf“) 1685 im Nordwesten der Stadt die Neustadt, um hier Handwerker anzusiedeln und damit die Wirtschaftskraft des Herzogtums zu steigern. Unter Friedrich Carl wurde das Schlossgebiet um mehrere barocke Gebäude und einen Lustgarten erweitert. Die Stadt besaß damals ca. 1000 Einwohner. 1761 fiel das Herzogtum an die dänische Krone zurück, da der letzte Herzog keine Erben hatte. Damit gehörte Plön bis zum Bundesexekution Ende 1863 wie das restliche Herzogtum Holstein einerseits zum dänischen Gesamtstaat, andererseits aber auch zum Heiligen Römischen Reich (bis 1806) bzw. zum Deutschen Bund. Es diente zeitweilig dem dänischen König als Sommerresidenz, blieb ansonsten aber eine Provinzstadt mit ungefähr 2000 Einwohnern. Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts weilte der dänische Kronprinz einige Jahre zur Sommerfrische im Schloss, das seither seinen weißen Putz mit dem grauen Dach zeigt.
1867 wurde Plön, nun Teil Preußens, nach Inkrafttreten der preußischen Verwaltungsreform Kreisstadt. Die Hohenzollern-Prinzen erhielten ihre schulische Ausbildung zum Teil in Plön; die Prinzeninsel ist heute noch im Besitz des Hauses Hohenzollern. Für Besuche der Kaiserfamilie wurde ein eigener Bahnhof errichtet. König (später Kaiser) Wilhelm I. bestimmte 1868 das Schloss Plön zur Kadettenanstalt. Die ersten 100 Kadetten im Alter von 11 bis 13 Jahren zogen am 1. Mai jenes Jahres ein. Im Jahr 1896 beschloss Wilhelm II., der letzte deutsche Kaiser, seinen beiden ältesten Söhnen Wilhelm und Eitel Friedrich eine geistige und militärische Ausbildung in der Kadettenanstalt Plön zuteilwerden zu lassen. Nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg wurde daraus ein Internat, das 1933–1945 als Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalt diente. Seit 1946 war es wieder staatliches Internat und das bis 2000.
1891 gründete Emil Otto Zacharias mit finanzieller Unterstützung der preußischen Regierung und mehrerer Privatleute am Plöner See die erste „Biologische Station“ für Süßwasserforschung auf deutschem Boden als privates Forschungsinstitut. Nach seinem Tod übernahm August Thienemann die Leitung. Als Nachfolgeinstitution existierte lange das Max-Planck-Institut für Limnologie. Dieser Institutsstandort wurde, nach insgesamt 115 Jahren der limnologischen Forschung, als Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionsbiologie auf andere Schwerpunkte ausgerichtet. Plön ist außerdem „Korporativ Förderndes Mitglied“ der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.
Informationen auf Grundlage von de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pl%C3%B6n und weiteren Quellen
Plön is the administrative centre of the County of Plön in Schleswig-Holstein and has just under 9,000 inhabitants. The town's landmark is thePalace, which was built in the 17th century. Plön has a grammar school with a 300-year history, is home to the naval non-commissioned officer school and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology.
Plön is located directly on the largest inland lake in Schleswig-Holstein, the Großer Plöner See, and is embedded in the hilly lake landscape of Holstein Switzerland. Only 7.8 km² of the town area is land. The rest of the town area is divided between eleven lakes that belong entirely to the town of Plön and five others in which Plön has a share.
The Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Plön was created in 1622 through inheritance divisions within the Danish royal family. With the construction of Plön Castle in 1633-1636 by Duke Joachim Ernst to replace the old castle, Plön became the capital of the small principality. As a residential town, Plön was considerably upgraded. In 1685, Duke Johann Adolph ("Hans Adolf") founded the New Town in the north-west of the town in order to attract craftsmen and thus increase the economic power of the duchy. Under Friedrich Carl, several baroque buildings and a pleasure garden were added to the palace grounds. The town had a population of around 1000 at the time. In 1761, the duchy reverted to the Danish crown as the last duke had no heirs. This meant that Plön, like the rest of the Duchy of Holstein, belonged to the Danish state on the one hand, but also to the Holy Roman Empire (until 1806) and the German Confederation on the other, until the Confederation was decreed at the end of 1863. For a time, it served as a summer residence for the Danish king, but otherwise remained a provincial town with around 2000 inhabitants. In the middle of the 19th century, the Danish crown prince spent a few years at the castle for his summer retreat, which has retained its white plaster and grey roof ever since.
In 1867, Plön, now part of Prussia, became a County centre after the Prussian administrative reform came into force. Some of the Hohenzollern princes received their schooling in Plön; the Prinzeninsel is still owned by the House of Hohenzollern today. A railway station was built for visits by the imperial family. King (later Emperor) Wilhelm I designated Plön Castle as a cadet school in 1868. The first 100 cadets aged 11 to 13 moved in on 1 May of that year. In 1896, Wilhelm II, the last German emperor, decided to give his two eldest sons Wilhelm and Eitel Friedrich an intellectual and military education at the Plön cadet school. After the First World War, it became a boarding school, which served as a national political education centre from 1933 to 1945. It became a state boarding school again in 1946 until 2001.
In 1891, Emil Otto Zacharias founded the first "Biological Station" for freshwater research on German soil as a private research institute on Lake Plön with financial support from the Prussian government and several private individuals. After his death, August Thienemann took over the management. The Max Planck Institute for Limnology existed for a long time as a successor institution. After a total of 115 years of limnological research, this institute site was reorganised as the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology with a different focus. Plön is also a "Corporate Supporting Member" of the Max Planck Society.
Information based on de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pl%C3%B6n and other sources. But there is also an article on Plön in the English version of wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pl%C3%B6n
This katydid, a master of mimicry in most green settings, finds itself fully exposed against the textured backdrop of a stucco wall—its leaf-like body sharply contrasting the dry beige surface. Normally hidden in foliage, this insect's evolutionary design works against it here, turning camouflage into a visual spotlight. Photographed in macro detail, the image showcases the intricate wing veining and long, delicate antennae of this fascinating and temporarily conspicuous visitor.
Not particularly extravagant birds, but an absolute joy to witness: the Darwin Finches really are as fearless as the evolutionary scientist himself described them to be on his voyage to the Galapagos islands nearly 200 years ago - he claimed the best way to catch one was to toss your hat on it - this one was indifferent to our approach as he appeared to be reflecting somberly (no hats were tossed just for the record).
An evolutionary redesign of the "Mobile Lounge" concept, these transfer vehicles are capable of raising/lowering themselves on screws to pair directly to an aircraft.
Olympus XA2 + Fujichrome Velvia 50 (Expired April 2004)
Edifício Burgo by architect Souto Moura. Porto - Portugal
For more Abstracts:
www.flickr.com/photos/michaelangelo77/sets/72157602250404...
For Drops and Dew:
www.flickr.com/photos/michaelangelo77/sets/72157620455904...
For Macro:
www.flickr.com/photos/michaelangelo77/sets/72157602239747...
The Emotional Impact of Flowers Study was published in the April 2005 issue of Evolutionary Psychology.
Home Ecology of Flowers Study
Harvard: Living with Flowers Strengthens Feelings of Compassion, and Decreases Anxiety and Worry
With people’s desire for tranquility and stress relief stronger than ever, fresh research takes an insightful look at flowers and the important role they may play in our daily lives. A behavioral research study conducted by Nancy Etcoff, Ph.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, reveals that people feel more compassionate toward others, have less worry and anxiety, and feel less depressed when fresh cut flowers are present in the home.
“Other research has proven that flowers make people happy when they receive them,” Etcoff says. “What we didn’t know is that spending a few days with flowers in the home can affect a wide variety of feelings.
The Home Ecology of Flowers Study at Harvard uncovered three main findings:
*Flowers feed compassion.
Study participants who lived with fresh cut flowers for less than a week felt an increase in feelings of compassion and kindness for others.
*Flowers chase away anxieties, worries and the blues at home.
Overall, people in the study simply felt less negative after being around flowers at home for just a few days.
Participants most frequently placed flowers in their kitchens, dining rooms and living rooms, where they spend a lot of time at home. They reported wanting to see the blooms first thing in the morning.
*Living with flowers can provide a boost of energy, happiness and enthusiasm at work.
Having flowers at home can have a positive carry-over impact on our mood at work, too. The study found that people were more likely to feel happier and have more enthusiasm and energy at work when flowers were in their home living environments.
“As a psychologist, I’m particularly intrigued to find that people who live with flowers report fewer episodes of anxiety and depressed feelings,” Etcoff says. “Our results suggest that flowers have a positive impact on our well being.” AND AM I NOT LIVING PROOF OF THAT???????? LOL????
I adapted the lights and reflectors for the 'Flemish School of light' again, so suits these.
It is full on the time of the DOUBLE TULIPS in the shop... at the moment, I feel they 'might' be my favourites! They are a bit capricious, Baroque, so varied in shapes, with small oddities, I have become fascinated by them, aahh, and the colours, from deep red, through textured orange to veined yellow to green, the leaves also perform. my, and thad sweet honey fragrance... HMMMM, Love them.
I wish you all a very good day and thanx for all your kind words, time, comments and likes. Very much appreciated.
Magda, (*_*)
IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
Mamiya 6MF, Ektachrome PRZ2048, digitised by photographing the original 60mm transparency on a light pad; tethered capture and development in Lightroom.
The view is roughly southwards, along the coast towards Cairns. The town which may be discerned to the right is Port Douglas.
"The Wet Tropics of Queensland was given UNESCO World Heritage listing, inclusive of the Daintree River in recognition of "its outstanding natural universal value as an outstanding example representing the major stages of Earth's evolutionary history, significant ongoing ecological and biological processes, superlative natural phenomena and as containing important and significant habitats for in situ conservation of biological diversity. The river is part of the much larger Daintree Rainforest, region in Northern Queensland encompassing 894,000 hectares" (Wikipedia)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daintree_River
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daintree_Rainforest
Lake Country, BC.
The hummingbird evolutionary tree shows ancestral hummingbirds splitting from insectivorous swifts (family Apodidae) and treeswifts (family Hemiprocnidae) about 42 million years ago, probably in Eurasia. One key evolutionary factor appears to be an altered taste receptor that enabled hummingbirds to seek nectar. By 22 million years ago the ancestral species of current hummingbirds became established in South America, where environmental conditions stimulated further diversification (Wikipedia).
Large insects that have evolutionary splendor behind them. The facial part of the head extended downward forms a beak that is an adaptation for a scavenging lifestyle. The wings are darkly spotted. The abdomen in the female sharply pointed, in the male curved upward. Imagines search for dead insects, a common practice is to steal them from the spider's web. Males of native species rarely use the strategy of gifting carrion to females, usually the gift is a nutritious ball formed from their own saliva. If males don't produce enough of it, females avoid copulation. Then rape occurs, although this is by no means the rule. The larvae resemble caterpillars, have 8 pairs of legs and feed on dead organic matter.
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NIKON D7500
Lens: SONY SIGMA AF 105/2.8 MACRO EX DG OS HSM Nikon
Flash: GODOX MF12-2K
ISO 100 f/16.0 1/200s
Collisions, mergers and interactions are a common evolutionary phase for many galaxies. The results can be as unusual as they are varied. NGC 2685 is a member of one such category called polar ring galaxies. This rare class includes no more than 200 known members.
The Helix Galaxy lies 50 million light years distant in Ursa Major.
This image was captured under high desert skies near Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA with a telescope of 12" aperture at f/8 and an electrically-cooled CCD camera. Total exposure (LRGB) was approximately 4.5 hours
She arrived like someone from another time —adorned in celestial jewelry, butterfly rings fluttering at her fingers, and an easy, mischievous smile that hinted at mysteries she’d long since made peace with. On April 1st, 2025, at The Interval of the Long Now in San Francisco—a place built for slow thinking and long perspectives—Sara Imari Walker sat across from me and began to unravel the universe.
Sara is one of those rare thinkers who makes the cosmos feel not vast and indifferent, but intimate—alive, even. A physicist by training, she spends her days probing one of the most elusive riddles in science: what exactly is life, and how does it begin? But that’s just the start. Her work reaches far beyond biology or chemistry. Through her development of assembly theory—a framework that attempts to quantify how complex structures come into being—she is carving out nothing less than a new science of emergence.
You get the sense, speaking with her, that the big questions aren’t intimidating to her. They’re magnetic. She describes the universe not as a machine grinding out configurations of matter, but as something more like a poem—or a growing organism. She believes that life is not a cosmic accident but a phenomenon that the universe is, in some sense, biased toward. And while that might sound like philosophy, in Sara’s hands it becomes a set of testable hypotheses, a roadmap for exploring alien biospheres, both real and imagined.
Her background is as eclectic as her intellect. Born with one foot in physics and the other in philosophy, she has made it her mission to collapse the artificial walls between disciplines. She studied theoretical physics in graduate school, but her thinking has always veered into the biological, the informational, the metaphysical. She joined the astrobiology program at Arizona State University, where she now serves as a professor, and she is one of the central figures in NASA’s efforts to define and detect life beyond Earth.
But titles and institutions can only gesture at what makes her work so resonant. Sara is, above all, a synthesizer. She pulls from thermodynamics, evolutionary theory, information science, and even metaphysics to offer a new view of life—not just as a biological category, but as a fundamental feature of reality. Her work has led her to propose that life’s most essential feature is not replication, but memory—systems that retain the past in order to shape the future. It’s a view of the universe that is not frozen and fixed, but open-ended, historical, and creative.
During our session, she picked up a small globe—a prop for the photo, perhaps, but in her hand it became something more: a symbol of the fragility and improbability of everything we know. She looked at it thoughtfully, then glanced back with that same bright smile. “It’s all just matter,” she said, “but not just. It’s matter with history.”
It’s that poetic clarity that defines her. In a field often defined by technical jargon or reductionist thinking, Sara insists on seeing the whole system—and on asking the hardest questions with both rigor and imagination. She’s as comfortable discussing quantum mechanics as she is quoting Octavia Butler, and somehow, in her presence, the boundaries between those worlds dissolve.
The photograph we made together captures something essential about her. Dressed not in the muted tones of the academic, but in bold textures—dark velvet, spiked bracelets, a necklace that looked like a model of spacetime itself—she evokes both the depth of space and the strange beauty of the things that emerge from it. It’s not just an aesthetic choice. It’s a declaration: that science can be sensuous, that big ideas deserve beauty.
Sara Imari Walker is building nothing less than a new cosmology—one in which life is not a footnote to physics, but the main event. She invites us to see ourselves not as anomalies, but as participants in a much larger unfolding. In her universe, we are not isolated observers, but expressions of the same generative force that built stars, molecules, and meaning. And in that universe, there is room for both wonder and understanding.
Out on Bird Island we found these baby blue herons and the first thing that came to mind was "baby godzillas". From their spiked hair to their sizable beaks they look like a cross between a bird and a reptile.
Actually, we are told by scientists that birds branched off of reptiles on the evolutionary tree. You only have to look at this image to see evidence of that.
As I rowed the boat away from the island, we looked back and saw both parents standing by the nest. What a thrill!
yellow eyes
under a punk hairdo
seeing aliens
Image and haiku by John Henry Gremmer
***STARFISH***
Sea stars are echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea. The names "sea star" and "starfish" are sometimes differentiated, with "starfish" used in a broader sense to include the closely related brittle stars, which make up the class Ophiuroidea, as well as excluding sea stars which do not have five arms (have Many arms), such as the sun stars and cushion stars.
Sea stars exhibit a superficially radial symmetry. They typically have five "arms" which radiate from a central disk (pentaradial symmetry). However, the evolutionary ancestors of echinoderms are believed to have had bilateral symmetry. Sea stars do exhibit some superficial remnant of this body structure, evident in their larval pluteus forms.
Sea stars do not rely on a jointed, movable skeleton for support and locomotion (although they are protected by their skeleton), but instead possess a hydraulic water vascular system that aids in locomotion. The water vascular system has many projections called tube feet on the ventral face of the sea star's arms which function in locomotion and aid with feeding. Sea stars usually hunt for shelled animals such as oysters and clams. They have two stomachs. One stomach is used for digestion, and the second stomach can be extended outward to engulf and digest prey. This feature allows the sea star to hunt prey that is much larger than its mouth would otherwise allow. Sea stars are able to regenerate lost arms. A new sea star may be regenerated from a single arm attached to a portion of the central disk.
The design is evolutionary and owes a lot to existing designs by builders such as Wes Turngrate and his own version of the same coach.
'That'...it's so different from what we're thinking about... we're not [even] thinking about it yet."
Evolutionary Biologist Leonid Kruglyak
Traces of the evolutionary stages of the Crab Nebula's progenitor?
Credit: Giuseppe Donatiello
doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17661106
In 1054—officially July 4th, but according to my sources around May 12th—the light emitted by the supernova that gave rise to M1 reached Earth.
What we observe are the remains of the star within which lies the Crab Pulsar, a compact object produced by the collapse of the iron core, a rapidly rotating neutron star approximately 15 km in size.
We know that Type II supernovae are the remains of red supergiants (at least in the majority of cases) that release matter during their evolution.
Is it possible that there are still traces of these dust releases?
Using the best of my imaging skills, there does indeed appear to be something around M1, and it doesn't appear to be random. Indeed, an axial structure (dashed in blue) is clearly visible at the center of a vaguely toroidal shape.
ED127mm f/9
Figure update: November 15, 2025
The Manchester Museum, Oxford Road, Manchester, Greater Manchester.
The museum's first collections were assembled by the Manchester Society of Natural History formed in 1821 with the purchase of the collection of John Leigh Philips. In 1850 the collections of the Manchester Geological Society were added. By the 1860s both societies encountered financial difficulties and, on the advice of the evolutionary biologist Thomas Huxley, Owens College (now the University of Manchester) accepted responsibility for the collections in 1867. The museum in Peter Street was sold in 1875 after Owens College moved to new buildings in Oxford Street.
The college commissioned Alfred Waterhouse, architect of London's Natural History Museum, to design a museum to house the collections for the benefit of students and the public on a site in Oxford Road (then Oxford Street). The Manchester Museum was opened to the public in 1888. At the time, the scientific departments of the college were immediately adjacent, and students entered the galleries from their teaching rooms in the Beyer Building.
Two subsequent extensions mirror the development of its collections. The 1912 pavilion was largely funded by Jesse Haworth, a textile merchant, to house the archaeological and Egyptological collections acquired through excavations he had supported. The 1927 extension was built to house the ethnographic collections. The Gothic Revival street frontage which continues to the Whitworth Hall has been ingeniously integrated by three generations of the Waterhouse family. When the adjacent University Dental Hospital of Manchester moved to a new site, its old building was used for teaching and subsequently occupied by the museum.
The museum is one of the University of Manchester's 'cultural assets', along with the Whitworth Art Gallery, John Rylands Library, Jodrell Bank visitor centre and others.
Abstract
To understand the evolutionary significance of geographic variation, one must identify the factors that generate phenotypic differences among populations. I examined the causes of geographic variation in and evolutionary history of number of trunk vertebrae in slender salamanders. Batrachoseps (Caudata: Plethodontidae). Number of trunk vertebrae varies at many taxonomic levels within Batrachoseps. Parallel clines in number occur along an environmental gradient in three lineages in the Coast Ranges of California. These parallel clines may signal either adaptation or a shared phenotypically plastic response to the environmental gradient. By raising eggs from 10 populations representing four species of Batrachoseps, I demonstrated that number of trunk vertebrae can be altered by the developmental temperature; however, the degree of plasticity is insufficient to account for geographic variation. Thus, the geographic variation results largely from genetic variation. Number of trunk vertebrae covaries with body size and shape in diverse vertebrate taxa, including Batrachoseps. I hypothesize that selection for different degrees of elongation, possibly related to fossoriality, has led to the extensive evolution of number of trunk vertebrae in Batrachoseps. Analysis of intrapopulational variation revealed sexual dimorphism in both body shape and number of trunk vertebrae, but no correlation between these variables in either sex. Females are more elongate than males, a pattern that has been attributed to fecundity selection in other taxa. Patterns of covariation among different classes of vertebrae suggest that some intrapopulational variation in number results from changes in vertebral identity rather than changes in segmentation.
Elizabeth L. Jockusch
Evolution
Images in this gallery were captured by:
Mark Smith M.S. Geoscientist mark@macroscopicsolutions.com
Daniel Saftner B.S. Geoscientist and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer daniel@macroscopicsolutions.com
Annette Evans Ph.D. Student at the University of Connecticut annette@macroscopicsolutions.com