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Rio Grande GP40-2s No. 3101, 3111 and GP40 No. 3148 pull a single load of grain for the elevators at Elberta in Goshen Valley on March 16, 1995. The snowy peaks of 10,908 ft. Mt. Cascade and 11,068 ft. Provo Peak loom in distant Utah Valley.
GT Open 2018 pre season tests in Estoril 27th March 2018 - Pro Am class Optimum Motorsport Audi R8 LMS with drivers Bradley Ellis and Oliver Wilkinson.
Dive in and View Large on Black
We seem to be getting near peak fall aspen color. This is Sprague Lake (elevation 8200 feet) at Rocky Mountain National Park-- freshly taken this morning! ;-)
This post is dedicated to my best friend that I shared this wonderful sunrise with, my wife.
Happy Birthday My Love!
(2-stop ND Grad, very little post)
GT Open 2018 pre season tests in Estoril 27th March 2018 - Pro Am class Optimum Motorsport Audi R8 LMS with drivers Bradley Ellis and Oliver Wilkinson.
GT Open 2018 pre season tests in Estoril 27th March 2018 - Pro Am class Optimum Motorsport Audi R8 LMS with drivers Bradley Ellis and Oliver Wilkinson.
Eating Dates Produces Powerful Health Benefits
By Sayer Ji •
Originally posted on GreenMedInfo.com
Since biblical times, dates were believed to possess profound healing properties, but only now is science catching up to confirm our distant ancestors knew exactly what they were talking about.
If you go by the Nutrition Facts panel of an ordinary package of dates, they look more like sugar bombs than a healthy snack. Check this one out:
But are they really as nutritionally vapid as these label claims make them seem?
Not by a long shot.
When we apply the complementary lenses of modern scientific investigation and ancient wisdom, dates begin to look like both a holy- and a super-food of immense value.
Here’s a neat example.
From the Koran to Clinical Trials: Dates for Better Birthing
In the Koran, the central holy book of Islam, Allah instructs the Virgin Mary to consume dates when she gives birth to Jesus.[1] And so, not surprisingly, dates are commonly referred to within the Islamic tradition as beneficial to pregnant women. We might chalk this up as “pre-scientific” magical thinking without basis in medical fact, were it not for a remarkable human clinical study that confirmed their value in pregnancy…
Published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2011 and titled, “The effect of late pregnancy consumption of date fruit on labour and delivery“, researchers set out to investigate the effect of date fruit consumption on labor parameters and birth outcomes. Over the course of 11 months at Jordan University of Science and Technology, two groups of women were enrolled in a prospective study where 69 women consumed six date fruits per day for 4 weeks prior to their estimated date of delivery, versus 45 women who consumed none. These women were matched so there was no significant difference in gestational age, age and parity (the number of times a woman has brought a pregnancy to viable gestational age) between the two groups.
The results of the date intervention were reported as follows:
•Improved Cervical Dilation: “The women who consumed date fruit had significantly higher mean cervical dilatation upon admission compared with the non-date fruit consumers (3.52 cm vs 2.02 cm, p < 0.0005).”
•Less Damage to Membranes: “[The intervention group had] a significantly higher proportion of intact membranes (83% vs 60%, p = 0.007).”
•More Natural (Spontaneous) Labor: “Spontaneous labour occurred in 96% of those who consumed dates, compared with 79% women in the non-date fruit consumers (p = 0.024).”
•Less Drugs Required: “Use of prostin/oxytocin was significantly lower in women who consumed dates (28%), compared with the non-date fruit consumers (47%) (p = 0.036).”
•Shorter Labor: “The mean latent phase of the first stage of labour was shorter in women who consumed date fruit compared with the non-date fruit consumers (510 min vs 906 min, p = 0.044).”
The researchers concluded:
“It is concluded that the consumption of date fruit in the last 4 weeks before labour significantly reduced the need for induction and augmentation of labour, and produced a more favourable, but non-significant, delivery outcome. The results warrant a randomised controlled trial.”[2]
Thanks to research like this we can see how the mythological and scientific ways of understanding now converge and confirm one another. I believe that rather than contradict and/or negate one another, the mythos and logos are beginning to assume a far more productive complementary relationship as we move into a new era of understanding where the profane and sacred are perceived as intimately entwined in our direct experience. The field of nutrition, as you can see, is no exception.
Dates Contain Nourishing Information
Dates, of course, are in the palm tree family, and along with coconut and red palm, are some of the oldest cultivated plants known in the historical record; in fact, they are so old we don’t know where they first originated. They have provided life-sustaining nutrition in regions that are often sparse in edible resources, and are increasingly being researched as a powerful medicinal food that could reduce much suffering in malnourished and disease prone populations, especially in underdeveloped countries.
Even while scientific analysis of dates are beginning to reveal that they are actually densely packed with a wide range of minerals, vitamins, amino acids and fatty acids, it should be emphasized that they are not just sources of energy and material building blocks for our body. We must acknowledge that they are also sources of biologically valuable (perhaps indispensably so) information. We can not analytically decompose a food into the minerals, vitamins, and macronutrients (e.g. lipids, fats, and protein), that we believe are responsible for its nourishing and life-sustaining properties, without losing quite a lot in the process. Foods contain hundreds, if not thousands, of physiologically important biomolecules, together which modulate the expression of thousands of genes in our body, as well as affecting our microbiome. In fact, our microbiome works on the foods we ingest, and together produce an intermediary layer of biomolecules known as the metabolome, many of which may be indispensable to our health.
This is why when we say food is medicine, we are not simply using a metaphor. We now know that food is capable, on a molecular level, of positively modulating a wide range of biological pathways simultaneously, in a manner that drugs simply can not replicate. In fact, I believe food contains an immense, if not infinite, amount of information which our bodies draw from to realize optimal gene expression, especially in times of stress or imbalance. Looking at it granularly, I believe food contains discrete units or packets of gene-regulatory energy and information. This can be inferred by the way curcumin, for instance, which is only one of hundreds of biomolecules found in the spice turmeric, is capable of modulating over 2,000 genes simultaneously within a cancer cell line, with a positive end result. Both the specificity and broadness through which these food compounds are capable of correcting imbalances is simply astounding and speaks to an intelligence within certain plants of particular food and medicinal purpose that can not be exhaustively explained through terms and methods of the reductionistic sciences that still form the backbone of our understanding of conventional nutrition.
So if my theory holds true, and dates, which are a food type (namely, fruit) we co-evolved with for quite some time, are more than just a package of mainly simple carbohydrate (half fructose/half glucose) and mineral quantities of alphabetic vitamins and minerals, but also possess gene-regulatory energy and information, shouldn’t it perform a number of therapeutic effects? Indeed, the research now bears testimony to exactly this fact.
I took the liberty of doing a cursory meta-analysis of the extant research on dates available through the National Library of Medicine’s biomedical database MEDLINE, accessible of course through the google-like search engine pubmed.gov. And to my pleasant surprise the research on dates as a whole (including the fruit, pollen and seed extract) reveals approximately 19 specific beneficial modes of action, and a preventive and/or therapeutic role in about 40 different health conditions.
Consider for a moment that most of the blockbuster drugs on the marketplace only have one therapeutic mode of action and one condition they are approved to treat. Additionally, there are on average 75 adverse health effects for each drug. The fact that it is classified and sold as a food and not a drug should not delude us into thinking it is not as powerful as a pharmaceutical. In fact, it should be clear that foods are actually far more powerful in affecting root cause resolution of health conditions by nourishing us deeply, nutritionally, and again, informationally (literally: to put form into).
To gain greater familiarity with the literature demonstrating the various therapeutic properties of dates, view our Date research page. You will notice that one of the potential therapeutic properties of dates are its beneficial properties in diabetes – which underscores our original point, that if you go by nutrition facts panels alone you are bound to miss out on a number of healthy foods include fruits like dates.
________________________________________
Notes
[1] The Holy Koran, Chapter 12 – verses 22-25, retrieved on Feb. 28 2015, “So she [Virgin Mary] conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place. And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm tree. she cried (in her anguish): ‘Ah! would that I had died before this! would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight!’ But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): ‘Grieve not! for thy Lord hath provided a rivulet beneath thee; And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree; it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee.'”
[2] [Note: “non-significant” here means insignificant in statistics, which is often due to insufficient numbers of subjects enrolled to draw results with adequate statistical power]
PLAIN-TAILED WREN Pheugopedius euophrys. By following their loud and beautiful songs, a pair of Plain-tailed Wrens was found in a dense stand of Chusquea bamboo at the Pasochoa Wildlife Refuge. They were well hidden in the bamboo but they frequently sang and at times they sang wonderful duets. We continued observing their patch of bamboo and, after about 10 minutes, the pair popped out for several seconds about 10 feet in front of us. This individual was photographed at 1:17 PM on July 27, 2016 at an elevation of about 2,800 meters (9,186 feet).
The Plain-tailed Wren, previous placed in the genus Thryothorus, is a member of the avian family Troglodytidae and lives in the Andes from extreme southern Colombia through Ecuador to northern Perú.
Pasochoa Wildlife Refuge is located about a one hour drive south of Quito near the small town of Tambillo in northern Ecuador. It is found in the semicircular collapsed Pasochoa Volcano a little to the east and uphill from the tiny village of San Pedro de Pilopata. About 100,000 years ago, the volcano erupted and blew off the western half of the preexisting volcanic cone. The refuge contains wonderfully preserved native vegetation and is located above a zone of pastureland facing the interandean valley to the west.
Hallamos un par Soterreys Colillanos Pheugopedius euophrys occultado en un grupo tupido de bambú del genero Chusquea en el Refugio de Vida Silvestre Pasochoa aproximadamente una hora manejando en carro al sur de Quito cerca del pueblo de Tambillo en el norte de Ecuador el 27 de julio de 2016. A veces cantaban a dúo mientras que se quedaban bien ocultados dentro del bambú. Después de unos 10 minutos, el par salió brevemente frente a nosotros a una distancia de 9 metros y se sacó la foto de este individuo a la 1 y 17 de la tarde.
For OPTIMAL DETAILED VIEWING of this bamboo living Plain-tailed Wren, VIEW AT THE COLOSSAL SIZE (1793 x 1300) using the direct Flickr link: www.flickr.com/photos/neotropical_birds_mayan_ruins/28341...
GT Open 2018 pre season tests in Estoril 27th March 2018 - Pro Am class Optimum Motorsport Audi R8 LMS with drivers Bradley Ellis and Oliver Wilkinson.
#75 Optimum Motorsport - Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3 - Jonny Adam British GT Championship - Oulton Park - Saturday
Tutorial: Free eBook Guide to shooting motorsport at Silverstone
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ORANGE-BILLED SPARROW Arremon aurantiirostris. We were walking along the dirt road named Vía Cunuco about a half mile north of Mindo in northwestern Ecuador on December 18, 2016 and discovered that there was a "mass migration" of tiny crickets crossing the road.
Suddenly, at 8:33 AM, this Orange-billed Sparrow darted out from the trees and bushes beside the road, quickly snatched a cricket and then flew off into the woods.
Over the next 50 minutes we watched as other species of birds flew onto the road to catch crickets and then flew back to the roadside. These included Buff-throated Saltator, Lemon-rumped Tanager and Blue-gray Tanager.
After about 20 minutes photographing these birds, a COLUMN of ARMY ANTS appeared along the side of the road being exited by the crickets and we witnessed the reason for the cricket exodus.
The Orange-billed Sparrow belongs to the family Emberizidae and has a geographic range extending from southern Mexico south to Colombia, Ecuador, and northeastern Perú.
Caminabamos por un camino de tierra de nombre Vía Cunuco un kilometro al norte de Mindo en el noroccidente de Ecuador el 18 de diciembre de 2016 y descubrimos una "migración masiva" de grillos chiquitos cruzando el camino.
De repente, a las 8 y 33 de la mañana, un Saltón Piquinaranja Arremon aurantiirostris se lanzó de los árboles y arbustos a la orilla del camino, agarró un grillo y se voló al bosque otra vez.
Sobre los próximos 50 minutos observamos otras especies de aves entrando en el camino para capturar más grillos.
Después de 20 minutos de fotografiar las aves se apareció una COLUMNA de HORMIGAS de EJERCITO a la orilla del camino y presenciamos el motivo del éxodo de grillos.
For OPTIMAL DETAILED VIEWING of this Orange-billed Sparrow with cricket, VIEW AT THE LARGER SIZE (1458 x 900) using the direct Flickr link: www.flickr.com/photos/neotropical_birds_mayan_ruins/31614...
Leicester City Tramways no. 76 stands in the street at Crich Tramway Village. Taken during an EMRPS / David Williams photo charter, lit by Jason Cross.
I've previously uploaded three shots from this successful evening, and they can be found in this album. At the time, I struggled to process the images, with the cream on the tram having burned out on the pictures where the maroon was correctly exposed, but more experience and better processing software has allowed more satisfactory results to be produced - as well as better correcting the colour cast from the lights (my next camera made a better effort of doing it automatically - or perhaps the settings on this camera were not the optimum for such lighting conditions).
Leicester 76 was not operational, but it had been removed from the back of the museum for something, and Jason persuaded the museum to make it available for this photo charter before it got trapped in again. It had to be shunted into position.
Visit Brian Carter's Non-Transport Pics to see my photos of landscapes, buildings, bridges, sunsets, rainbows and more.
Guinness, Finn, and Fonzie (left to right) share their favorite blanket. On my favorite chair. I think I'll find somewhere else to sit.
SHORT-TAILED HAWK Buteo brachyurus. We discovered this Short-tailed Hawk soaring above us, almost directly in line with the sun, on a mountainside near Bellavista in the Tandayapa Valley of northwestern Ecuador at 9:22 AM on January 23, 2018.
The Short-tailed Hawk belongs to the family Accipitridae and is found in Florida, Mexico, Central America and northern South America south to Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina.
Un Gavilán Colicorto Buteo brachyurus está cerniendose por encima de nosotros, casi frente al sol, en las faldas de una montaña cerca de Bellavista en el Valle de Tandayapa en el noroccidente de Ecuador a las 9 y 22 de la mañana el 23 de enero de 2018.
In Brazil, Buteo brachyurus bears the common name Gaviao-de-cauda-curta.
For OPTIMAL DETAILED VIEWING of this flying Short-tailed Hawk, VIEW AT THE LARGER SIZE (1198 x 750) using the direct Flickr link: www.flickr.com/photos/neotropical_birds_mayan_ruins/28152...
GT Open 2018 pre season tests in Estoril 27th March 2018 - Pro Am class Optimum Motorsport Audi R8 LMS with drivers Bradley Ellis and Oliver Wilkinson.
Kassbohrer Setra Optimal S215HD. At the 32nd British Coach Rally at Brighton in 1986 was this unregistered Setra demonstrator. The Surrey-registered trade plate "164PD" points to the coach being entered by the Kassbohrer dealer, based at the time in Bordon, Hants. The coach sits nose-to-nose with the Webasto Heaters Leyland Panther/Alexander W-type UVK511G, a regular at rallies such as Brighton. This particular coach went on to become D620WPJ - thanks to southdown278 for this bit of info.
A common problem with landscape photography is "how do I make both the foreground and the distance look sharp at the same time"?
Where to focus
A foreground object and a distant background object are equally sharp when you focus twice as far away as the foreground object. For example, if there is a tree 1m away from you, you should focus at a point 2m away from you to render detail on the tree as sharply as details in the far distance.
What aperture to use
Wide apertures cause objects that aren't at the focus distance to become blurry (due to the Circle of Confusion). Small apertures cause the whole image to become more blurry (due to diffraction). This graph shows the best compromise between the two.
Returning to the tree example: if you were to focus at 2m using an 18mm lens, the graph shows that an aperture of f/16 would give you the sharpest detail on the tree and details in the far distance.
How the graph was calculated
The lines are drawn though points where the Circle of Confusion is the same size as the Airy Disc. The relationship holds whatever sensor size your camera has - no conversion factor is necessary (you should use actual focal lengths to read this graph, not 35mm equivalents).
Some useful conclusions
Short focal length lenses give sharp results with wide apertures, and so perform well hand-held. Long focal length lenses work best with small apertures, and so should be tripod mounted. When focusing on objects close to, you'll need to use a small aperture to keep the distance sharp. If you focus on distant objects, you can use a wider aperture. Cameras that use short focal lengths, such as digital compacts, give the sharpest results at wide apertures. Cameras that use long focal lengths, such as medium format cameras, give the sharpest results at small apertures.
Also see the 10-30mm graph
Chance Vought engineer R.J. McGowan in the Mock up the Chance Vought F8U Crusader Optimum Survival and Containment System (OSCAR) escape capsule, 09 September 1960. The solid fuel rocket motors were designed by China Lake. Official U.S. Navy photo.
Flick Haigh and Jonny Adam put the Optimum Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3 on pole position during qualifying on Saturday and then going on to take the the first race win on Monday at the British GT Championship at Oulton Park 2018. Flick Haigh becoming the first woman British GT driver to take a race win.
What this graph shows
To get greater depth of field you need to use smaller apertures. But lenses also become less sharp at small apertures due to diffraction. There is therefore an optimal aperture to use to get the foreground as sharp as possible, which is what this graph shows.
Infinity focus
It is usually best to focus on the object that you want to be the main subject of your shot. When that's a mountain, hill etc it is often a long way off. An approximation to this is "infinity", marked on most lenses with the infinity symbol which looks like a sideways 8. If you have an autofocus lens it is probably best to focus directly on the far point than to set it manually, but in low light autofocus becomes unreliable so it is probably better to use infinity focus.
Choosing an aperture
When the whole of the scene is a long way off choosing an aperture is easy. Most lenses are sharpest at about f/8, so that's the aperture to use. When you want something closer to be sharp too it gets more tricky.
How to read the graph
Suppose you are using a 20mm lens focused at infinity. Something in the foreground is 12ft away. The point at which 12ft and 20mm intersect is closest to the f/13 line, so f/13 is the aperture to use.
Suppose you are using a 50mm lens focused at infinity. Something in the foreground is 6ft away. No line on the graph is close to this. At this point you need to re-think your shot and move further from the foreground, otherwise it will be intolerably soft. 26ft to the foreground will allow you to use an aperture of f/22.
Suppose you are using a 10mm lens focused at infinity. Something in the foreground is 12ft away. You're above the f/8 line so f/8 will work just fine.
Calculations
The lines are drawn though points where the Circle of Confusion is the same size as the Airy Disc. The relationship holds whatever sensor size your camera has - no conversion factor is necessary (you should use actual focal lengths to read this graph, not 35mm equivalents).
Useful conclusions
The longer the focal length you use the smaller the aperture you will need to use to get the foreground sharp, or the further you need to move back. If you want to get really close to the foreground, and get sharp shots, a wide angle lens is a must.
© Milan Cvetanovic
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf1h2PMPCAo
Not posed, not set up, snapped midst dance festival stage performance, To fulfill the optimal ethereal vibe of the snap, I've added the "fireflies" in edit.