View allAll Photos Tagged Synchronous
Synchronous Fireflies at Great smoky mountains. Background is the median of 3 200 seconds exposure. The foreground includes stack of 30 seconds exposure.
SpaceX launched the Transporter-3 rideshare mission to a sun-synchronous orbit with 105 small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers Thurday morning at 10:25 a.m. EST. The first stage booster B1058-10 completed its' 10th flight with a RTLS landing at LZ-1 on the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Came for the Synchronous fireflies, a bit late but the Blue ghosts stole the show. Most cabins in Elkmont will be demolished beginning this year so I wanted to work one into a time-lapse before they are gone.
The Painted Comber (Serranus scriba) is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a sea bass from the subfamily Serraninae, classified as part of the family Serranidae which includes the groupers and anthias. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea.
The painted comber has a laterally compressed,[3] elongate body with a pointed snout. The dorsal fin has 10 spines and 4-16 soft rays and the anal fin has 3 spines and 7-8 soft rays. The caudal fin is truncate. It has a very large mouth for its size, which has many sharp teeth, and is protractile. The overall colour may be grey, purplish or reddish with 5-7 dark brown bars on the flanks. The head is marked with many narrow, wavy blue lines and red blotches. The dorsal, anal and caudal fins are marked with red dots. There is a diffuse, purplish-blue blotch in the middle of the body. The pelvic and pectoral fins are normally uniform pale yellow. The maximum recorded fish measurement is 36 centimetres (14 in), although 25 centimetres (9.8 in) is more typical.
The painted comber occurs over rocky bottom and among beds of Posidonia at depths of 5 to 150 metres (16 to 492 ft). It normally spends the day sheltering in rocky caves and is normally either solitary or found in small groups. It emerges at dusk to hunt. It is a carnivorous species which is a territorial ambush hunter and has a diet made up of cephalopods, bivalves, crustaceans, fishes, and worms. It is often used to indicate sites occupied by octopuses as it waits at the entrance scavenging the octopus's discarded parts of shellfish. The spawning season runs from late spring to early summer with the eggs being laid under stones near the shore. It is a synchronous hermaphrodite, i.e. each individual has both male and female gonads and may be capable of self-fertilisation. They have a maximum life expectancy of 16 years.
Photo by Nick Dobbs, White Tower Bay, Malta 16-08-2025
Fun fact: The moon is in synchronous rotation with the earth which means the same side of the moon always faces the earth!
The Scavrat Destroyer is the Union’s first walker, and the culmination of years of effort by the organization’s finest mechanists. Reassembled from the ruined chassis discovered in Arrow Cache A, and reinforced with scavenged Sisterhood tech, the Destroyer finally establishes the Scavrats as a burgeoning military force, and greatly extends their range into the artifact-rich wastes.
Of particular significance, senior mechanists were able to seal and vent the Destroyer’s nuclear power plant, allowing a human pilot to replace the desiccated machine brain. This innovation has not been shared with the Sisterhood, which must still procure revenant Symbiotes to pilot their own radiation-drenched walkers. That being said, the human interface is rudimentary, limiting overall agility and the synchronous use of primary and proximity defence weaponry. In this regard, the Scavrats have a long way to go. For now...
Gooden's Nomad bee, Nomada goodeniana. (male).
(Clamped on to a leaf with its mouthparts, roosting for the night).
9-13mm
Gooden’s Nomad bee (Nomada goodeniana) is one of the largest and most common Nomad bees, (often called Cuckoo Bees), in the UK. Seen from April to June and commonly found throughout the south of Britain, with some more localised records in Scotland and Ireland.
Found in a wide variety of habitats, including open, woodland, coastal and inland, (anywhere that the host Andrena nests are found), and is one of the most common Nomad bees found in urban areas.
They feed from a wide variety of spring blossoms, including Dandelions, Buttercups, Forget-me-nots, Cow Parsley, Rape and Greater Stitchwort.
Hosts include the Buffish Mining Bee (Andrena nigroaenea), Grey Patched Mining Bee (Andrena nitida), Cliff Mining Bee (Andrena thoracica) and possibly the Chocolate Mining Bee (Andrena scotica).
Nomads are wasp-like cleptoparasites which, instead of digging their own underground nest site, will target unsealed pollen-stocked nest cells created by their Mining bee hosts. The female Nomada goodeniana waits until an Andrena female has excavated a nest tunnel and has provisioned a nest cell with pollen for her larva. This will take many pollen gathering trips and the Nomada female will take advantage of the host's absence to visit the cell and lay her own egg in it.
After a Nomad larva’s first moult, they are able to use their large sickle-shaped mouth parts to destroy the host’s resident egg or grub, meaning all the stored pollen is theirs for the taking. The adults of the 'Cuckoo' species will emerge the next season, synchronously with the new generation of the host bees.
Males are similar to females, although slightly smaller, with more yellow on the face and some black markings on the antennal segments.
Females are mainly hairless with bold yellow markings across the abdomen, and pairs of yellow spots at the base of the thorax, the collar of the thorax and where the wings stem from. Their legs and antennae are orange. Marsham’s Nomad bee (Nomada marshamella) is similar but the first yellow abdominal band is either absent or very faint and the second is quite obviously separated into two parts.
Two perfectly synchronized flying Greylag Geese :-)
Seen in the nature-sanctuary "Meißendorfer Teiche" - Niedersachsen - Germany.
Zwei perfekt synchronisierte fliegende Graugänse :-)
Gesehen im Naturschutzgebiet "Meißendorfer Teiche" - Niedersachsen.
Automated drone deployed on Mars, printing habitats, moving slowly in precise, crab-like movements. Guided by synchronous GPS and local field markers. When the filament tanks are empty, another drone replaces the pallet with fresh tanks. Astronaut added for scale.
I highly recommend listening to some dubstep while building Lego robots!
Other platforms:
500px - Tumblr - Twitter - National Geographic
The Moon is Earth's only permanent natural satellite. It is the fifth-largest natural satellite in the Solar System, and the largest among planetary satellites relative to the size of the planet that it orbits (its primary). It is the second-densest satellite among those whose densities are known (after Jupiter's satellite Io).
The average distance of the Moon from the Earth is 384,400 km
The Moon is thought to have formed about 4.5 billion years ago, not long after Earth. There are several hypotheses for its origin; the most widely accepted explanation is that the Moon formed from the debris left over after a giant impact between Earth and a Mars-sized body called Theia.
The Moon is in synchronous rotation with Earth, always showing the same face, with its near side marked by dark volcanic maria that fill the spaces between the bright ancient crustal highlands and the prominent impact craters. It is the second-brightest regularly visible celestial object in Earth's sky, after the Sun, as measured by illuminance on Earth's surface. Its surface is actually dark, although compared to the night sky it appears very bright, with a reflectance just slightly higher than that of worn asphalt. Its prominence in the sky and its regular cycle of phases have made the Moon an important cultural influence since ancient times on language, calendars, art, mythology, and, it is often speculated, the menstrual cycles of the female of the human species.
The Canada Warbler spends less time on the breeding grounds than most species, being one of the last to arrive and first to depart; the total time on the breeding grounds may be no more than two months. It migrates at night, rapidly and synchronously, seldom being found anywhere for more than three weeks.
I took these recently -fledged Crossbills earlier this year as they are usually one of the earliest birds to commence breeding. They sometimes lay eggs in January though early March is more typical. I calculated from the date that the eggs would have been laid in early February. Crossbills feed their youngsters on a porridge made from chewed-up conifer seeds. The female builds the nest and does all the incubation too, but the male bird brings her food. Probably because they typically nest so early in the year when it is cold, the female also broods her newly hatched young but will assist with feeding once they are half-grown. Unusually for finches, they also start to incubate the first egg so that eggs laid over several days will not hatch synchronously. If you look at the beak of the blurred back bird it is bright yellow suggesting it is very young, whereas the left bird has an older-looking beak. The parent birds were both nearby when I took this photograph, drinking from a nearby puddle. I often see them flying round in family groups during summer. In the autumn groups often come together in large flocks. I photographed these youngsters on a drystone wall next to a conifer plantation near Holmfirth.
Tiago.ev Star of tcs World 10K,2023, Bengaluru
"Tata Tiago EV is a 5 seater Hatchback with a mileage of N/A Km/Charge depending upon it's transmission and fuel type. Tiago EV's Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor paired to High energy density Lithium ion battery pack"
Flamingos are very social birds; they live in colonies whose population can number in the thousands. These large colonies are believed to serve three purposes for the flamingos: avoiding predators, maximizing food intake, and using scarce suitable nesting sites more efficiently.[16] Before breeding, flamingo colonies split into breeding groups of between about 15 and 50 birds. Both males and females in these groups perform synchronized ritual displays.[17] The members of a group stand together and display to each other by stretching their necks upwards, then uttering calls while head-flagging, and then flapping their wings.[18] The displays do not seem to be directed towards an individual but instead occur randomly.[18] These displays stimulate "synchronous nesting" (see below) and help pair up those birds who do not already have mates.[17]
Flamingoes form strong pair bonds of one male and one female, although in larger colonies flamingos sometimes change mates, presumably because there are more mates to choose from).[19] Flamingo pairs establish and defend nesting territories. They locate a suitable spot on the mudflat to build a nest (the spot is usually chosen by the female).[18] It is during nest building that copulation usually occurs. Nest building is sometimes interrupted by another flamingo pair trying to commandeer the nesting site for their own use. Flamingos aggressively defend their nesting sites. Both the male and the female contribute to building the nest, and to defending the nest and egg.[citation needed]
After the chicks hatch, the only parental expense is feeding.[20] Both the male and the female feed their chicks with a kind of crop milk, produced in glands lining the whole of the upper digestive tract (not just the crop). Production is stimulated by a hormone called prolactin. The milk contains fat, protein, and red and white blood cells. (Pigeons and doves—Columbidae—also produce a crop milk (just in the glands lining the crop), which contains less fat and more protein than flamingo crop milk.)source wikipédia
The azure-winged magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) is a bird in the crow family. It is 31–35 cm long and similar in overall shape to the Eurasian magpie (Pica pica) but is more slender with proportionately smaller legs and bill. It belongs to the genus Cyanopica.
It has a glossy black top to the head and a white throat. The underparts and the back are a light grey-fawn in colour with the wings and the feathers of the long (16–20 cm) tail an azure blue. It inhabits various types of coniferous (mainly pine) and broadleaf forest, including parks and gardens in the eastern populations.
The elegant Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus or Cyanopica cyana) has an intriguing world distribution. Until recently some believed that there were two population groups of the same species separated by thousands of miles; one in south western Iberia and the other in Asia . It was said that Portuguese sailors had brought the bird back from Asia during the 15th century. However, the discovery of a 40,000-year-old fossil of the species in Gibraltar in 2000 has finally laid to rest the idea, and proving the established opinion that the bird has been around here for very much longer. Recent genetic evidence points to two separate species, one European and one Asian. The two populations may have been separated by the onset of the Quaternary ices, much like the populations of Iberian Lynx and Iberian Imperial Eagle. As it grew colder the European populations of Azure-winged Magpies would have been pushed into and trapped in Iberia.
Often azure-winged magpies find food as a family group or several groups making flocks of up to 70 birds. The largest groups congregate after the breeding season and throughout the winter months. Their diet consists mainly of acorns (oak seeds) and pine nuts, extensively supplemented by invertebrates and their larvae, soft fruits and berries, and also human-provided scraps in parks and towns.
This species usually nests in loose, open colonies with a single nest in each tree. There are usually 6–8 eggs that are incubated for 15 days. Azure-winged magpies that have asynchronous broods, creating a size hierarchy among nestlings, produce more eggs and fledge more nestlings than those which have synchronous broods.
For more information, please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azure-winged_magpie and www.iberianature.com/material/spain_birds/azure_winged_ma...
Comet 64p/Swift-Gehrels(upper left border) and Andromeda galaxy M31 with molecular clouds. Another approach one day later, now with the much sharper Canon 100mm lens. You can learn more about these clouds with Rogelio Bernal Andreo
Synchronous capturing RGB and hAlpha on an EQ8 (unguided):
(1) RGB: 320 x 30 sec, Canon 200mm F1.8 (@1.8), Sony A7s, ISO 4000
(2) hAlpha: 69 x 180 sec, Canon 100mm F2.8 (@2.8), ASI 1600 mono cooled
Tenerife, 1180 m a.s.l, 2018-10-13 20:40h - 24h UT
Connect with me: JasonGambone.com * Instagram * Facebook * Twitter * Purchase Prints
Synchronous Fireflies !
Our latest customer request released. A coal mine from the Ruhr area. The finished model consists of about 15000 individual parts and can be built partially modular in different modules and is equipped with some details. Included are the PDF building instructions for the large winding tower with the two rope sheaves, the machine house, including rope drive, the chimney and the coal washing building. The rope sheaves can be driven prototypically via a drive in the machine house. A synchronous shaft transmits the power evenly to the lower part of the winding tower. Here, there is also a tension pulley that tensions the rope.
From the coal washing building, the hard coal is loaded onto the trains via a conveyor belt. The conveyor belt is driven and, with the "pieces of coal" attached to it, conveys the feeling of a working plant.
Further information and the PDF-building instruction is here available: en.bricks-on-rails.de/product-page/pdf-anleitung-zeche-be...
Taken in the Convergence: The Synchronous City roleplay sim in Second Life: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/CLOCKTOWER/157/236/1707
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinereous_vulture
The cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus) is a large raptorial bird that is distributed through much of Eurasia. It is also known as the black vulture, monk vulture, or Eurasian black vulture. It is a member of the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards and harriers. It is one of the two largest Old World vultures, attaining a maximum size of 14 kg, (roughly 30 lbs), 1.2 m long (almost 4 ft) and 3.1 m (a bit over 10 ft) across the wings.
Taxonomy
The genus name Aegypius is a Greek word (αἰγυπιός) for 'vulture', or a bird not unlike one; Aelian describes the aegypius as "halfway between a vulture (gyps) and an eagle". Some authorities think this a good description of a lammergeier; others do not. Aegypius is the eponym of the species, whatever it was.[2] The English name 'black vulture' refers to the plumage colour, while 'monk vulture', a direct translation of its German name Mönchsgeier, refers to the bald head and ruff of neck feathers like a monk's cowl. 'Cinereous vulture' (Latin cineraceus, ash-coloured; pale, whitish grey), was a deliberate attempt to rename it with a new name distinct from the American black vulture.[3]
This bird is an Old World vulture, and is only distantly related to the New World vultures, which are in a separate family, Cathartidae, of the same order. It is therefore not directly related to the much smaller American black vulture (Coragyps atratus) despite the similar name and coloration.
Description
The cinereous vulture measures 98–120 cm (3 ft 3 in–3 ft 11 in) long with a 2.5–3.1 m (8 ft 2 in–10 ft 2 in) wingspan. Males can weigh from 6.3 to 11.5 kg (14 to 25 lb), whereas females can weigh from 7.5 to 14 kg (17 to 31 lb). It is thus one of the world's heaviest flying birds.[4][5][6] Females are slightly larger than males.[5] Despite limited genetic variation in the species, body size increases from west to east, with the birds from southwest Europe (Spain and south France) averaging about 10% smaller than the vultures from central Asia (Manchuria, Mongolia and northern China).[4] Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 73–89 cm (29–35 in), the tail is 33–41 cm (13–16 in) and the tarsus is 12–14.6 cm (4.7–5.7 in).[4]
The cinereous vulture is distinctly dark, with the whole body being brown excepting the pale head in adults, which is covered in fine blackish down. This down is absent in the closely related lappet-faced vulture (Torgos tracheliotos).[4][5] The skin of the head and neck is bluish-gray and a paler whitish color above the eye. The adult has brown eyes, a purplish cere, a blue-gray bill and pale blue-gray legs.[4][5] The primary quills are often actually black.[5] From a distance, flying birds can easily appear all black. The immature plumage is sepia-brown above, with a much paler underside than in adults. Immature cinereous vultures have grey down on the head, a pale mauve cere and grey legs.[5] The massive bill is the largest of any living accipiterid, a feature enhanced by the relatively small skull of the species. The exposed culmen of the cinereous vulture measures 8–9 cm (3.1–3.5 in).[7] The wings, with serrated leading edges, are held straight or slightly arched in flight and are broad, sometimes referred to as "barn door wings". Their flight is slow and buoyant, with deep, heavy flaps when necessary. The combination of huge size and dark coloration renders the cinereous vulture relatively distinct, especially against smaller raptors such as eagles or hawks. The most similar-shaped species, the lappet-faced vulture (with which there might be limited range overlap in the southern Middle East), is distinguished by its bare, pinkish head and contrasting plumage. On the lappet-face, the thighs and belly are whitish in adult birds against black to brownish over the remainder of the plumage. All potential Gyps vultures are distinguished by having paler, often streaky plumage, with bulging wing primaries giving them a less evenly broad-winged form.[4] Cinereous vultures are generally very silent, with a few querulous mewing, roaring or guttural cries solely between adults and their offspring at the nest site.[5]
Distribution and habitat
The cinereous vulture is a Eurasian species. The western limits of its range are in Spain and inland Portugal, with a reintroduced population in south France. They are found discontinuously to Greece, Turkey and throughout the central Middle East. Their range continues through Afghanistan eastwards to northern India to its eastern limits in central Asia, where they breed in northern Manchuria, Mongolia and Korea. Their range is fragmented especially throughout their European range. It is generally a permanent resident except in those parts of its range where hard winters cause limited altitudinal movement and for juveniles when they reach breeding maturity. In the eastern limits of its range, birds from the northernmost reaches may migrate down to southern Korea and China. A limited migration has also been reported in the Middle East but is not common.[4][8][9]
This vulture is a bird of hilly, mountainous areas, especially favoring dry semi-open habitats such as meadows at high altitudes over much of the range. Nesting usually occurs near the tree line in the mountains.[5] They are always associated with undisturbed, remote areas with limited human disturbance. They forage for carcasses over various kinds of terrain, including steppe, grasslands, open woodlands, along riparian habitats or any kind of mountainous habitat. In their current European range and through the Caucasus and Middle East, cinereous vultures are found from 100 to 2,000 m (330 to 6,560 ft) in elevation, while in their Asian distribution, they are typically found at higher elevations.[4] Two habitat types were found to be preferred by the species in China and Tibet. Some cinereous vultures in these areas live in mountainous forests and shrubland from 800 to 3,800 m (2,600 to 12,500 ft), while the others preferred arid or semi-arid alpine meadows and grasslands at 3,800 to 4,500 m (12,500 to 14,800 ft) in elevation.[9][10][11] This species can fly at a very high altitude. One cinereous vulture was observed at an elevation of 6,970 m (22,870 ft) on Mount Everest.[5] It has a specialised haemoglobin alphaD subunit of high oxygen affinity which makes it possible to take up oxygen efficiently despite the low partial pressure in the upper troposphere.[12] Juvenile and immature cinereous vultures, especially those in the northern stretches of the species range, may move large distances across undeveloped open-dry habitats in response to snowfall or high summer temperatures.[5][13]
Behaviour
The cinereous vulture is a largely solitary bird, being found alone or in pairs much more frequently than most other Old World vultures. At large carcasses or feeding sites, small groups may congregate. Such groups can rarely include up to 12 to 20 vultures, with some older reports of up to 30 or 40.
Breeding
In Europe, the cinereous vulture return to the nesting ground in January or February.[5] In Spain and Algeria, they start nesting in February in March, in Crimea in early March, in northwestern India in February or April, in northeastern India in January, and in Turkestan in January.[5] They breed in loose colonies, with nests rarely being found in the same tree or rock formation, unlike other Old World vultures which often nest in tight-knit colonies. In Spain, nests have been found from 300 m (980 ft) to 2 km (6,600 ft) apart from each other.[9] The cinereous vulture breeds in high mountains and large forests, nesting in trees or occasionally on cliff ledges. The breeding season lasts from February until September or October. The most common display consists of synchronous flight movements by pairs. However, flight play between pairs and juveniles is not unusual, with the large birds interlocking talons and spiraling down through the sky. The birds use sticks and twigs as building materials, and males and females cooperate in all matters of rearing the young.[14] The huge nest is 1.45–2 m (4.8–6.6 ft) across and 1–3 m (3.3–9.8 ft) deep. The nest increases in size as a pair uses it repeatedly over the years and often comes to be decorated with dung and animal skins.[4] The nests can range up to 1.5 to 12 m (4.9 to 39.4 ft) high in a large tree such as an oak, juniper,[15] wild pear,[15] almond or pine trees. Most nesting trees are found along cliffs. In a few cases, cinereous vultures have been recorded as nesting directly on cliffs. One cliff nest completely filled a ledge that was 3.63 m (11.9 ft) wide and 2.5 m (8.2 ft) in depth.[5] The egg clutch typically only a single egg, though 2 may be exceptionally laid. The eggs have a white or pale buff base color are often overlaid with red, purplish or red-brown marks, being almost as spotted as the egg of a falcon. Eggs measure from 83.4 to 104 mm (3.28 to 4.09 in) in height and 58 to 75 mm (2.3 to 3.0 in) in width, with an average of 90 mm × 69.7 mm (3.54 in × 2.74 in).[5] The incubation period can range from 50 to 62 days, averaging 50–56 days. Normally hatching occurs in April or May in Europe.[5] The newly hatched young are semi-altricial.[citation needed] The young are covered in greyish-white to grey-brown colored down which becomes paler with age. The first flight feathers start growing from the same sockets as the down when the nestling is around 30 days old and completely cover the down by 60 days of age.[5] The parents feed the young by regurgitation and an active nests reportedly becomes very foul and stinking.[5] Weights of nestlings in Mongolia increased from as little as 2 kg (4.4 lb) when they are around a month old in early June to being slightly more massive than their parents at up to nearly 16 kg (35 lb) shortly before fledging in early autumn.[16] Fledging is reported when the nestlings are 104–120 days old, though dependence on parents can continue for another 2 months. Radio-satellite tracking suggests the age of independence of juveniles from their parents to be 5.7–7 months after hatching (i.e. 2–3 months after fledging).[13]
The nesting success of cinereous vultures is relatively high, with around 90% of eggs successfully hatching and more than half of yearling birds known to survive to adulthood. They are devoted, active parents, with both members of a breeding pair protecting the nest and feeding the young in shifts via regurgitation.[9] In Mongolia, Pallas's cat (Otocolobus manul) and common raven (Corvus corax) are considered potential predators of eggs in potentially both tree and cliff nests. Gray wolf (Canis lupus) and foxes are also mentioned as potential nest predators but since neither climb trees and there are also no incidents of predation on inaccessible cliff nests, this seems unlikely.[16] There have been witnessed accounts of bearded vultures (Gypaetus barbatus) and Spanish imperial eagles (Aquila adalberti) attempting to kill nestlings but in both cases were chased off by the parent vultures.[17] There is a single case of a Spanish imperial eagle attacking and killing a cinereous vulture in an act of defense of its own nest in Spain.[18] Golden eagles and Eurasian eagle-owls may rarely attempt to dispatch an older nestling or even adults in an ambush but the species is not verified prey for either and would be a rare event in all likelihood if it does occur. This species may live for up to 39 years, though 20 years or less is probably more common, with no regular predators of adults other than man.
Feeding
Like all vultures, the cinereous vulture eats mostly carrion. The cinereous vulture feeds on carrion of almost any type, from the largest mammals available to fish and reptiles.[14] In Tibet, commonly eaten carcasses can include both wild and domestic yaks (Bos grunniens), Bharal, Tibetan gazelles (Pseudois nayaur), kiangs (Equus kiang), woolly hares (Lepus oiostolus), Himalayan marmots (Marmota himalayana), domestic sheep (Ovis aries), and even humans, mainly those at their celestial burial grounds.[9] Reportedly in Mongolia, Tarbagan marmots (Marmota sibirica) comprised the largest part of the diet, although that species is now endangered as it is preferred in the diet of local people, wild prey ranging from corsac fox (Vulpes corsac) to Argali (Ovis ammon) may be eaten additionally in Mongolia.[9][19] Historically, cinereous vultures in the Iberian Peninsula fed mostly on European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) carcasses, but since viral hemorrhagic pneumonia (VHP) devastated the once abundant rabbit population there, the vultures now rely on the carrion of domestic sheep, supplemented by pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) and deer.[20] In Turkey, the dietary preferences were argali (Ovis ammon) (92 carrion items), wild boar (Sus scrofa) (53 items), chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) (27 items), gray wolf (13 items) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) (13 items). Unusually, a large amount of plant material was found in pellets from Turkey, especially pine cones.[21] Among the vultures in its range, the cinereous is best equipped to tear open tough carcass skins thanks to its powerful bill. It can even break apart bones, such as ribs, to access the flesh of large animals. It is dominant over other scavengers in its range, even over other large vultures such as Gyps vultures, bearded vulture or fierce ground predators such as foxes.[5] While noisy Gyps vultures squawk and fly around, the often silent cinereous will keep them well at bay until they are satisfied and have had their own fill.[7][11] A series of photos taken recently show a cinereous vulture attacking a Himalayan griffon in flight for unknown reasons, although the griffon was not seriously injured.[22] Cinereous vultures frequently bully and dominate steppe eagles (Aquila nipalensis) when the two species are attracted to the same prey and carrion while wintering in Asia.[23] A rare successful act of kleptoparasitism on a cinereous vulture was filmed in Korea when a Steller's sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) stole from a vulture.[24]
Its closest living relative is probably the lappet-faced vulture, which takes live prey on occasion.[4] Occasionally, the cinereous vulture has been recorded as preying on live prey as well. Live animals reportedly taken by cinereous vultures include calves of yak and domestic cattle (Bos primigenius taurus), piglets, domestic lambs and puppies (Canis lupus familiaris), fox, lambs of wild sheep, together with nestling and fledglings of large birds such as goose, swan and pheasant, various rodents and rarely amphibians and reptiles.[25] This species has hunted tortoises, which the vultures are likely to kill by carrying in flight and dropping on rocks to penetrate the shell, and lizards.[9] Although rarely observed in the act of killing ungulates, cinereous vultures have been recorded as flying low around herds and feeding on recently killed wild ungulates they are believed to have killed. Mainly neonatal lambs or calves are hunted, especially sickly ones. Although not normally thought to be a threat to healthy domestic lambs, rare predation on apparently healthy lambs has been confirmed.[26] Species believed to be hunted by cinereous vultures have including argali, saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica), Mongolian gazelle (Procapra gutturosa) and Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii).[27][28][29]
Status and conservation
The cinereous vulture has declined over most of its range in the last 200 years in part due to poisoning by eating poisoned bait put out to kill dogs and other predators, and to higher hygiene standards reducing the amount of available carrion; it is currently listed as Near Threatened. Vultures of all species, although not the target of poisoning operations, may be shot on sight by locals. Trapping and hunting of cinereous vultures is particularly prevalent in China and Russia,[9] although the poaching for trophy hunting are also known for Armenia, and probably other countries in Caucasus.[15] Perhaps an even greater threat to this desolation-loving species is development and habitat destruction. Nests, often fairly low in the main fork of a tree, are relatively easy to access and thus have been historically compromised by egg and firewood collectors regularly.[9][10] The decline has been the greatest in the western half of the range, with extinction in many European countries (France, Italy, Austria, Poland, Slovakia, Albania, Moldova, Romania) and its entire breeding range in northwest Africa (Morocco and Algeria). They no longer nest in Israel. More recently, protection and deliberate feeding schemes have allowed some local recoveries in numbers, particularly in Spain, where numbers increased to about 1,000 pairs by 1992 after an earlier decline to 200 pairs in 1970. This colony have now spread its breeding grounds to Portugal. Elsewhere in Europe, very small but increasing numbers breed in Bulgaria and Greece, and a re-introduction scheme is under way in France. Trends in the small populations in Ukraine (Crimea) and European Russia, and in Asian populations, are not well recorded. In the former USSR, it is still threatened by illegal capture for zoos, and in Tibet by rodenticides. It is a regular winter visitor around the coastal areas of Pakistan in small numbers. As of the turn of the 21st century, the worldwide population of cinereous vultures is estimated at 4500–5000 individuals.[4][8][9]
Culture and Mythology
The hebrew word for "eagle" is also used for the Cinereous vulture.[30] As such, biblical passages alluding to eagles might actually be referring to this bird instead.
Semelparity and iteroparity refer to the reproductive strategy of an organism. A species is considered semelparous if it is characterized by a single reproductive episode before death, and iteroparous if it is characterized by multiple reproductive cycles over the course of its lifetime. Some plant scientists use the parallel terms monocarpy and polycarpy. (See also plietesials: plants that grow for a number of years, flower gregariously (synchronously), set seed and then die.)
In truly semelparous species, death after reproduction is part of an overall strategy that includes putting all available resources into maximizing reproduction, at the expense of future life. In any iteroparous population there will be some individuals who die between their first and second reproductive episodes, but unless this is part of a syndrome of programmed death after reproduction, this would not be called semelparity.
Royal Palm, Roystonea regia, Lowlands, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Miami FL
44327-1 vonatszámban halad az RCH 1116 255-1 és 012-6 pályaszámú Taurusa szinkronban Wien Zvbf felől Budapest Ferencváros felé, Biatorbágy közelében.
RCH's two Taurus engines running in synchronous mode from Wien Zvbf to Budapest Ferencváros with an international freight train 44327, near Biatorbágy.
RCH beiden Taurus lok im Synchronmodus fährt aus Wien Zentralverschiebebahnhof nach Budapest Ferencváros mit dem 44327 internationale güterzug, in der Nähe von Biatorbágy.
I added a little gimmick today and it works better than I thought...
The noise is synchronized with the wheel by means of a tiny optical sensor and a reflector disc on the 1st coupled axle (4 exhaust blasts per wheel revolution). The entire sound equipment comes from Mobatron in Switzerland (mobatron.ch) and is actually designed for "real" model railways.
The module is supplied with constant voltage via the Buwizz and can be switched on and off remotely independently of the motors. When it's on, the wheel-synchronous steam sound starts up automatically as soon as the axles rotate; when the locomotive is at a standstill, there is a hissing sound, as is produced by the boiling boiler water in steam locomotives.
Fun fact: The moon is in synchronous rotation with the earth which means the same side of the moon always faces the earth!
Addition of two 30 sec. (-1EV) exposures at twilight showing firefly trails. Light pollution has reduced their number as they use their lights as a mating call.
Wikipedia also says: Fireflies have attracted human attention since classical antiquity; their presence has been taken to signify a wide variety of conditions in different cultures, and is especially appreciated aesthetically in Japan, where parks are set aside for this specific purpose.
There is a population of synchronous fireflies in the Smokey Mountain NP, www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/nature/fireflies.htm
The Moon is in synchronous rotation with Earth, always showing the same face with its near side marked by dark volcanic maria that fill between the bright ancient crustal highlands and the prominent impact craters. It is the second-brightest regularly visible celestial object in Earth's sky (after the Sun), as measured by illuminance on Earth's surface. Although it can appear a very bright white, its surface is actually dark, with a reflectance just slightly higher than that of worn asphalt. Its prominence in the sky and its regular cycle of phases have, since ancient times, made the Moon an important cultural influence on language, calendars, art, and mythology.
“This was that fateful night that it happened. July 7th, 2002 the night that Barry Allen’s life would change forever and I suppose by extension mine. Without him, I would not have a reason to exist nor could I exist. But let's see how it all happened, shall we?” I say as I run faster than any regular human can into the office of Barry Allen, a CCPD forensics specialist who was like anyone else. “His life was boring...he woke up, went to work, examined dead bodies, then went home all alone. I suppose it was a little abnormal...not many people examine dead bodies, but largely what makes him special...is about to happen,” I say as Barry Allen walks into his office followed by a fellow coworker and friend August Heart.
“Seven homicide victims. Seven August!” Barry Allen shouts
“Oh Barry...always concerned about the people. I suppose that’s why you’re so loved. Because you’re a people person. The hero that everyone loved, the one that everyone found approachable unlike other heroes like Gotham vigilantes. But I know the truth. I know just how horrible you can be. How much he can take from a person. Soon enough, he'll know I can take so much more from him,” I say angrily. I then look up to the sky and see a jagged beam of light. “Ah, there it is...I envy you right now Barry. I envy everything that’s happened before right now. I envy you're life before the suit that I've never had. Good luck Barry Allen,” I say as I run out of the office as that fateful lightning bolt crashed through the window of his office then all of the chemicals that were lined on his shelf. The synchronous shattering of glass was then followed by the lighting connecting with Barry Allen. He fell to the ground as chemicals coated his body. “Ah that wonderful blood curling scream,” I say as I stand outside his now broken window. “Oh, how I love to hear that scream…”
I have officially joined the DCU universe!
Highest Explore Position #253 ~ On December 19th 2008.
Millenium Bridge / St Paul's Cathedral, London, England - Tuesday December 16th 2008.
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Unlike yesterday when we have sun and blue sky's here in London, Tuesday it was dull grey and foggy...so as it was pretty much devoid of colour, I've made this image Black n White..:O))
Today's weather was also dull and grey again, although it wasn't foggy...I have one day left at work before Christmas...so I hope the weather will be kind after tomorrow, as I will be off for two weeks...:O)))
I hope you are all having an awesome Thursday...:O)))
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ~ The London Millennium Footbridge is a pedestrian-only steel suspension bridge crossing the River Thames in London, England, linking Bankside with the City. It is located between Southwark Bridge (downstream) and Blackfriars Bridge (upstream). With construction beginning in 1998, it is owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates a charitable trust overseen by the City of London Corporation.
Londoners nicknamed the bridge the Wobbly Bridge after crowds of pedestrians felt an unexpected swaying motion on the first two days after the bridge opened. The bridge was closed and modified, and further modifications eliminated the "wobble" entirely.
The southern end of the bridge is near Globe Theatre, the Bankside Gallery and Tate Modern, the north end next to the City of London School below St Paul's Cathedral. The bridge alignment is such that a clear view of St Paul's south facade is presented from across the river, framed by the bridge supports, thus providing a scenic view of the cathedral.
The nearest London Underground station is Blackfriars.
Design ~ The design of the bridge was the subject of a competition organised in 1996 by Southwark council. The winning entry was an innovative "blade of light" effort from Arup, Foster and Partners and Sir Anthony Caro. Due to height restrictions, and to improve the view, the bridge's suspension design had the supporting cables below the deck level, giving a very shallow profile. The bridge has two river piers and is made of three main sections of 81 metres (266 ft), 144 metres (472 ft) and 108 metres (354 ft) (North to South) with a total structure length of 325 metres (1,066 ft); the aluminium deck is 4 metres (13 ft) wide. The eight suspension cables are tensioned to pull with a force of 2,000 tons against the piers set into each bank — enough to support a working load of 5,000 people on the bridge at one time.
Construction ~ The bridge from St Paul's CathedralConstruction began in late 1998 with the main works beginning on 28 April 1999 by Monberg Thorsen and Sir Robert McAlpine.[1] The bridge was completed at a cost of £18.2m (£2.2m over budget) and opened on 10 June 2000 (2 months late). Unexpected lateral vibration (resonant structural response) caused the bridge to be closed on 12 June for modifications.
Attempts were made to limit the number of people crossing the bridge: this led to long queues, but dampened neither public enthusiasm for what was something of a white-knuckle ride, nor the vibrations themselves. The closure of the bridge only three days after opening attracted public criticism, as another high-profile British millennium project suffered an embarrassing setback, akin to how many saw the Millennium Dome.
Further modifications to the bridge successfully eliminated the "wobble," which has not recurred since the bridge reopened in February 2002.
The bridge was temporarily closed on 18 January 2007, during the Kyrill storm due to strong winds and a risk of pedestrians being blown off the bridge.
Resonance ~ The bridge from St Paul's after opening: long queues formed as attempts were made to limit vibrationsThe bridge's movements were caused by a 'positive feedback' phenomenon, known as Synchronous Lateral Excitation. The natural sway motion of people walking caused small sideways oscillations in the bridge, which in turn caused people on the bridge to sway in step, increasing the amplitude of the bridge oscillations and continually reinforcing the effect.
The bridge opened on an exceptionally fine day, and it was included on the route of a major charity walk. On the day of opening the bridge was crossed by 90,000 people, with up to 2,000 on the bridge at any one time.
Resonant vibrational modes due to vertical loads (such as trains, traffic, pedestrians) and wind loads are well understood in bridge design. In the case of the Millennium Bridge, because the lateral motion caused the pedestrians loading the bridge to directly participate with the bridge, the vibrational modes had not been anticipated by the designers (Arup).