polymorph photos on Flickr

Amanita wellsii (Murrill) Murrill by Jacqueline Labrecque

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JML02146 CMMF010559

Amanite de Wells

Pileipellis en cutis formé d'hyphes parallèles

Spores lisses, ellipsoïdes, avec apicule bien visible, hyalines, jaunâtres en NaCl iso., avec plusieurs guttules, inamyloïdes, 11-14 x 7-9 µm, 12,3 x 7,9 µm en moyenne, Q: 1,56, N: 15

Basides ventrues, à 4 stérigmates mesurant 5-6 µm, 40-50 x 12-20 µm

Cheilocystides ventrues à globuleuses, nombreuses, se détachant facilement de la base, 27-52 x 10-31 µm

Pleurocystides absentes

Restes véliques du chapeau constitués de cellules polymorphes, de forme cylindrique à globuleuse, parfois triangulaire, souvent en terminaisons d'hyphes quelquefois bouclées

Recherche et révision des travaux (microscopie/texte): R. Labbé

Étude microscopique, microphotographie et identification: J. Labrecque

Macroscopie:

www.flickr.com/photos/19369983@N06/53316238861/

Morph-Code by Glen Brooks by Matthew Wells

Shortcuts to All 20 Morphs:-

my genetic sequence by Andrea Volpini

9

Type: Y-Chromosome

Haplogroup: R1b (M343)

My STRs

DYS393: 13 DYS439: 11 DYS388: 13 DYS385a: 11

DYS19: 14 DYS389-1: 11 DYS390: 25 DYS385b: 14

DYS391: 11 DYS389-2: 16 DYS426: 12 DYS392: 13

The Results

Above are results from the laboratory analysis of my Y-chromosome. My DNA was analyzed for Short Tandem Repeats (STRs), which are repeating segments of my genome that have a high mutation rate. The location on the Y chromosome of each of these markers is depicted in the image, with the number of repeats for each of my STRs presented to the right of the marker. Studying the combination of these STR lengths in my Y Chromosome allows researchers to place me in a haplogroup, which reveals the complex migratory journeys of my ancestors. Y-SNP: In the event that the analysis of my STRs was inconclusive, my Y chromosome was also tested for the presence of an informative Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP). These are mutational changes in a single nucleotide base, and allow researchers to definitively place me in the R1b (M343) genetic haplogroup.

Marchantia polymorpha by L'herbier en photos

2

Marchantia polymorpha L. (jeune pousse)

Fouille archéologique (alt. 210 m)

Villers-devant-Orval (province de Luxembourg, Wallonie, Belgique)

Hand-Moldable Plastic - Low Temperature Thermoplastic - 100g Bag by Adafruit Industries

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Available at Adafruit!

Theridiidae by Kevin Wakelam

4 21

Theridiidae is a large family of spiders, also known as the tangle-web spiders, cobweb spiders and comb-footed spiders. The diverse family includes over 2200 species in over 100 genera) of three-dimensional space-web-builders found throughout the world. Theridiid spiders are entelegyne (have a genital plate in the female) araneomorph ecribellate (use sticky capture silk instead of woolly silk) spiders that often build tangle space webs and have a comb of serrated bristles (setae) on the tarsus of the fourth leg.

The family includes some model organisms for research, for example, the genus Latrodectus, the medically important widow spiders. In addition to studies characterizing their venom and its clinical manifestation, widow spiders are broadly used in research on spider silk, and on sexual biology including sexual cannibalism.

Anelosimus spiders are also model organisms, used for the study of sociality, its evolution, and its ecological and evolutionary causes and consequences. They are particularly important for such studies as the genus contains species varying from solitary to permanently social, and because sociality has evolved frequently within the genus allowing comparative studies across species. These spiders are also a promising model for the study of inbreeding as their mating system co-varies with sociality, and all permanently social species are highly inbred.

One species in Theridion, the Hawaiian T. grallator, is used as a model to understand the selective forces and the genetic basis of color polymorphism within species. Theridion grallator is known as the "happyface" spider, as certain morphs have a pattern uncannily resembling a smiley face or a grinning clown face on their yellow body.

The family also contains the well studied kleptoparasitic species of the subfamily Argyrodinae (including Argyrodes, Faiditus, and Neospintharus) which often have triangular bodies. These spiders live in the webs of larger spiders and pilfer small prey caught by their host's web, eat prey killed by the host spider, and may consume silk from the host web, as well as attack and eat the host itself.

The largest genus with over 600 species currently placed in it is Theridion, but it is not monophyletic. Another large genus is Parasteatoda, previously Achaearanea, which includes the North American common house spider.

Many theridiids trap ants and other ground dwelling insects by means of elastic sticky silk trap lines leading to the soil surface. Despite their name, cobweb or tangle-web spiders have a huge range of web architectures

Festival of Stuff: HDPE Plastic Waste Design Masterclass with James Shaw by Institute of Making

Designer James Shaw packed his HDPE extruder gun, two bags of waste HDPE pellets and joined the Institute of Making to reconsider commonly used materials through surprising new processes. As part of the session, James explored the Institute’s wondrous Materials Library and opened up a conversation about our relationship to the made world. Participants made unique object designs in reused polymorph and HDPE.

Spy Shadows by Matthew Wells

The 56 Full Sized Morphs Are:

The 23 Mini Morphs Are:

Blijdorp, Rotterdam, Zoo by Frans de Wit

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Blijdorp, Rotterdam, Zoo

Butterflies are part of the class of Insects in the order Lepidoptera. Moths are also included in this order. Adults butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise the true butterflies (superfamily Papilionoidea), the skippers (superfamily Hesperioidea) and the moth-butterflies (superfamily Hedyloidea). Other families within Lepidoptera are referred to as moths. Butterfly fossils date to the mid Eocene epoch, 40–50 million years ago.[1]

Butterflies exhibit polymorphism, mimicry and aposematism. Some, like the Monarch, will migrate over long distances. Some butterflies have and parasitic relationships with organisms including protozoans, flies, ants, other invertebrates, and vertebrates. [2] [3] Some species are pests because in their larval stages they can damage domestic crops or trees; however, some species are agents of pollination of some plants, and caterpillars of a few butterflies (e.g., Harvesters) eat harmful insects. Culturally, butterflies are a popular motif in the visual and literary arts.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly

Les Sources Occultes 001/999 - 17 by thierry ehrmann

1

Les Sources Occultes 001/999

blog.ehrmann.org/films2/les-sources-occultes-001999.html

Entre effroi et merveilles, une zone mouvante aux portes du futur et des enfers...

Les Sources Occultes vous entraînent au coeur d'un univers polymorphe dont les clés et les motifs se révéleront au fur et à mesure des épisodes de cette série de fictions.

En attendant un final apocalyptique, au sens premier du terme, qui révélera la structure générale sous la forme d'un long-métrage...

Les Sources Occultes offre aussi une nouvelle porte d'entrée dans le labyrinthe multidimensionnel de la Demeure du Chaos à celles et ceux qui postulent à notre casting, une occasion unique de pénétrer les arcanes de l'esprit de la Salamandre.

Réalisation : Laurent Courau

Scénario : thierry Ehrmann

Polymorph Jackdaw by Jason

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Interesting set of images of the Jackdaw. From standing on lookout, to turtle (ready for take off) to jellyfish (in flight).

Pearly King Morph by Sandra Russell by Matthew Wells

The 56 Full Sized Morphs Are:

The 23 Mini Morphs Are:

What else can you do after a heavy lunch! by Brian @ BSE (UK) (No images or Invites, please)

To view more of my images, of Rhinoceros, please click "here" ! Click any image to view large!

Rhinoceros, often abbreviated to rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to Southern Asia. Members of the rhinoceros family are characterized by their large size (they are some of the largest remaining megafauna, with all of the species able to reach one tonne or more in weight); as well as by an herbivorous diet; a thick protective skin, 1.5–5 cm thick, formed from layers of collagen positioned in a lattice structure; relatively small brains for mammals this size (400–600 g); and a large horn. They generally eat leafy material, although their ability to ferment food in their hindgut allows them to subsist on more fibrous plant matter, if necessary. Unlike other perissodactyls, the two African species of rhinoceros lack teeth at the front of their mouths, relying instead on their lips to pluck food. Rhinoceros are killed by humans for their horns, which are bought and sold on the black market, and which are used by some cultures for ornamental or traditional medicinal purposes. East Asia, specifically Vietnam, is the largest market for rhino horns. By weight, rhino horns cost as much as gold on the black market. People grind up the horns and then consume them believing the dust has therapeutic properties. The horns are made of keratin, the same type of protein that makes up hair and fingernails. Both African species and the Sumatran rhinoceros have two horns, while the Indian and Javan rhinoceros have a single horn. The IUCN Red List identifies three of the species as critically endangered. The word rhinoceros is derived through Latin from the Ancient Greek: ῥῑνόκερως, which is composed of ῥῑνο- (rhino-, "nose") and κέρας (keras, "horn"). The plural in English is rhinoceros or rhinoceroses. The collective noun for a group of rhinoceroses is crash or herd. The name has been in use since the 14th century. The family Rhinocerotidae consists of only four extant genera: Ceratotherium (White rhinoceros), Dicerorhinus (Sumatran rhinoceros), Diceros (Black rhinoceros) and Rhinoceros (Indian and Javan rhinoceros). The living species fall into three categories. The two African species, the white rhinoceros and the black rhinoceros, belong to the tribe Dicerotini, which originated in the middle Miocene, about 14.2 million years ago. The species diverged during the early Pliocene (about 5 million years ago). The main difference between black and white rhinos is the shape of their mouths – white rhinos have broad flat lips for grazing, whereas black rhinos have long pointed lips for eating foliage. There are two living Rhinocerotini species, the Indian rhinoceros and the Javan rhinoceros, which diverged from one another about 10 million years ago. The Sumatran rhinoceros is the only surviving representative of the most primitive group, the Dicerorhinini, which emerged in the Miocene (about 20 million years ago). A subspecific hybrid white rhino (Ceratotherium s. simum × C. s. cottoni) was bred at the Dvůr Králové Zoo (Zoological Garden Dvur Kralove nad Labem) in the Czech Republic in 1977. Interspecific hybridisation of black and white rhinoceros has also been confirmed. While the black rhinoceros has 84 chromosomes (diploid number, 2N, per cell), all other rhinoceros species have 82 chromosomes. However, chromosomal polymorphism might lead to varying chromosome counts. For instance, in a study there were three northern white rhinoceroses with 81 chromosomes. There are two subspecies of white rhinoceros: the southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) and the northern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni). As of 2013, the southern subspecies has a wild population of 20,405 – making them the most abundant rhino subspecies in the world. However, the northern subspecies was critically endangered, with as few as four individuals in the wild; the possibility of complete extinction in the wild having been noted since June 2008. Five are known to be held in captivity, one of which resides at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Four born in a zoo in the Czech Republic were transferred to a wildlife refuge in Kenya in December 2009, in an effort to have the animals reproduce and save the subspecies. There is no conclusive explanation of the name white rhinoceros. A popular theory that "white" is a distortion of either the Afrikaans word wyd or the Dutch word wijd (or its other possible spellings whyde, weit, etc.,) meaning wide and referring to the rhino's square lips is not supported by linguistic studies. The white rhino has an immense body and large head, a short neck and broad chest. Females weigh 1,600 kg (4,000 lb) and males 2,400 kg (5,000 lb). the head-and-body length is 3.5–4.6 m (11–15 ft) and a shoulder height of 1.8–2 m (5.9–6.6 ft). On its snout it has two horns. The front horn is larger than the other horn and averages 90 cm (35 in) in length and can reach 150 cm (59 in). The white rhinoceros also has a prominent muscular hump that supports its relatively large head. The colour of this animal can range from yellowish brown to slate grey. Most of its body hair is found on the ear fringes and tail bristles, with the rest distributed rather sparsely over the rest of the body. White rhinos have the distinctive flat broad mouth that is used for grazing.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Erodium cicutarium. Bec de grue. by Eric HENRY

2

Géraniacées. Erodium ou bec de grue.

Lieux incultes et cultivés, chemins, sur terrains pauvres, sableux.

Floraison: Mars/octobre.

Le genre compte au moins 14 espèces. Le polymorphisme de certaines d'entre elles rendent l'identification assez difficile.

Photo prise en mai 2009 à Damgan (Morbihan).

Power of Morphing Communication by Clarke Reynolds by Matthew Wells

The 56 Full Sized Morphs Are:

The 23 Mini Morphs Are:

Red and Blue by pseudacris

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These are both variants of the Northwestern Garter Snake, from the same location.

Thamnophis ordinoides

Marion county, Oregon

Les Sources Occultes 001/999 _DDC6684 by thierry ehrmann

1

Les Sources Occultes 001/999

blog.ehrmann.org/films2/les-sources-occultes-001999.html

Entre effroi et merveilles, une zone mouvante aux portes du futur et des enfers...

Les Sources Occultes vous entraînent au coeur d'un univers polymorphe dont les clés et les motifs se révéleront au fur et à mesure des épisodes de cette série de fictions.

En attendant un final apocalyptique, au sens premier du terme, qui révélera la structure générale sous la forme d'un long-métrage...

Les Sources Occultes offre aussi une nouvelle porte d'entrée dans le labyrinthe multidimensionnel de la Demeure du Chaos à celles et ceux qui postulent à notre casting, une occasion unique de pénétrer les arcanes de l'esprit de la Salamandre.

Réalisation : Laurent Courau

Scénario : thierry Ehrmann

Borboleta by Rodrigo Soldon Souza

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As borboletas são insectos da ordem Lepidoptera classificados nas super-famílias Hesperioidea e Papilionoidea, que constituem o grupo informal Rhopalocera.

As borboletas têm dois pares de asas membranosas cobertas de escamas e peças bucais adaptadas a sucção. Distinguem-se das traças (mariposas) pelas antenas rectilíneas que terminam numa bola, pelos hábitos de vida diurnos, pela metamorfose que decorre dentro de uma crisálida rígida e pelo abdómen fino e alongado. Quando em repouso, as borboletas dobram as suas asas para cima.

As borboletas são importantes polinizadores de diversas espécies de plantas.

O ciclo de vida das borboletas engloba as seguintes etapas:

1) ovo→ fase pré-larval

2) larva→ chamada também de lagarta ou taturana,

3) pupa→ que se desenvolve dentro da crisálida (ou casulo)

4) imago→ fase adulta

_______________________

A butterfly is any of several groups of mainly day-flying insects of the order Lepidoptera, the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, butterflies' life cycle consists of four parts, egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. Butterflies comprise the true butterflies (superfamily Papilionoidea), the skippers (superfamily Hesperioidea) and the moth-butterflies (superfamily Hedyloidea). All the many other families within the Lepidoptera are referred to as moths.

Butterflies exhibit polymorphism, mimicry and aposematism. Some, like the Monarch, will migrate over long distances. Some butterflies have evolved symbiotic and parasitic relationships with social insects such as ants. Butterflies are important economically as agents of pollination. The caterpillars of some butterflies eat harmful insects. A few species are pests because in their larval stages they can damage domestic crops or trees. Culturally, butterflies are a popular motif in the visual and literary arts.

No. 12/56: Morph's Inspirational Dungarees by Matthew Wells

The 56 Full Sized Morphs Are:

The 23 Mini Morphs Are:

DSCN4816.Removing gell from electropheresis chamber by Edward Bujak

Princeton Molecular Biology Workshop

at the

Springside School, Philadelphia, PA

April 1, 2, 15, and 18, 2009

This video is from

April 18 - Human VNTR Polymorphism

Video by Ed Bujak.

Creepy Easter Witch for #clairespinupparade , this came out totally different... looked for something with a sexy twist 😂 I made her top out of black duct tape and feathers, and teeth made of polymorph plastic, you should def look @ellimacssfx youtube by Comiccon Society

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ift.tt/1IStMzW

Apart Together by Olivia Hylton by Matthew Wells

The 56 Full Sized Morphs Are:

The 23 Mini Morphs Are:

The Messenger Morph & Tower Bridge by Matthew Wells

The 56 Full Sized Morphs Are:

The 23 Mini Morphs Are:

Richard Olshen by Salford Systems

Co-Developer of CART,

Chief, Division of Biostatistics,

Department of Health Research and Policy, Stanford University

Dr. Richard Olshen’s interests regarding research are in statistics and mathematics and their applications to medicine and biology. Many efforts have concerned binary tree-structured algorithms for classification, regression, survival analysis, and clustering. Those for classification and survival analysis have been used with success in computer-aided diagnosis and prognosis, especially in cardiology, oncology, and toxicology.

With the late Leo Breiman, Jerome Friedman (of Stanford), and Charles Stone (of the University of California, Berkeley) he co-authored the book Classification and Regression Trees, that gives motivation, algorithms, various examples, and mathematical theory for what have come to be known as CART algorithms. The approaches to tree-structured clustering have been applied to lossy data compression, especially in digital radiography (with Robert Gray of the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford and others), and also to HIV genetics. Recent research concerns applying information on SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) and other features as together they predispose to hypertension in a population of white women.

Much of Dr. Olshen’s work concerns analyses of longitudinal data. Some that was of interest concerned the pharmacokinetics of intracavitary chemotherapy with systemic rescue. Related efforts have also been to the development of mature walking, longitudinal studies of cholesterol, and many aspects of glomerular filtration in patients with nephrotic disorders. With the late David Sutherland, Edmund Biden, and Marilynn Wyatt, Olshen co-authored The Development of Mature Walking.

Dr. Olshen was one of the founders of the NCI-designated UCSD Clinical Cancer Center, which is now the University of California, San Diego Medical Center Moores Cancer Center For six years I was a Statistical Editor of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Some research has involved more mathematical problems, including those that arise concerning exchangeable probabilities, conditional levels of particular test statistics, topological category regarding CART-like estimators in regression, and successive standardization of rectangular arrays of numbers.

Luminescence Open Day, Saturday 25th May, 2013 by Institute of Making

Chain Mail head gear

white-throated sparrows by Ken Bergman

2

Zonotrichia albicollis is a quiet songbird, a skulker that breeds in New England and sings a plaintive whistling "Poor Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody" song. It's population shows a stable chromosomal polymorphism that causes some individuals (like this one) to have black and white eyebrow stripes, while others bear brown-and-tan stripes. Generally, a bird choose a mate of the opposite striping pattern, and this produces broods in which about 50% are black-and-white and 50% are brown-and-tan. It's a cousin of the familiar white-crowned sparrow of the Pacific Coast.

Airport Road: Dillant-Hopkins Airiport, Keene/Swanzey, NH

(24 April, 2024)

Taking a casting of the interior of an antique natural horn mouthpiece by flowtik

To copy the mouthpiece, you need to make a mandrel. To make the mandrel, you need some measurements. It's easiest to take the measurements from a casting of the interior of the mouthpiece.

I'm told the original way to do this is using wax and cornflour as a release agent. I've used 'Polymorph' - a low-temperature thermoplastic something similar to glue-gun glue, but a bit more rigid and not as sticky. No release agent required.

Dip both mouthpiece and plastic into hot water and wait for the plastic to soften, then force the plastic up the interior of the mouthpiece using your thumb. Leave in the freezer for a few minutes, then remove the casting. I found I had to cut the plastic off of the top before I could pull it out.

Ice on Bookham pond by Hugh

Some solids can exist in more than one crystal form. Water ice is one of them. The phenomenon is called polymorphism. Hexagonal forms are the norm but other crystal shapes are possible as in this picture.

San Francisco Garter Snake Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia eats a California Toad, Bufo boreas halophilus by vabbley

2 5

Coastal California Toad was a common sight on the San Francisco peninsula into the 1960s but the populations crashed in the middle 1970s. This event was not confined to only Bufo boreas halophilus. Experts blamed this extinction on a toad Virus-Infected planet, but the Cane toad was not infected. Is this to be a species specific world wide extinction?

The San Francisco Garter Snake (Thamnophis Sirtalis Tetrataenia) are known to eat poisones Toads and Newts, that in equal doses of toxin can kill approximately 25,000 white mice (Brodie et al 1974). Physiological studies have shown that they have resistance1000 times stronger then that of any other member of the genus (Thamnophis). The strongest resistance of any other snake or animal to TTX toxins.

To the San Francisco Garter this coevolution is predicated on the existence of variable selection across an interaction between species. A range of ecological factors, from differences in resource availability to differences in community composition, can generate such a mosaic of selection among pop- ulations, and thereby differences in the strength of coevolution. The result is a mixture of hotspots, where reciprocal selection is strong, and coldspots, where reciprocal selection is weak or absent, throughout the ranges of species. Population subdivision further provides the opportunity for nonadaptive forces, including gene ﬂow, drift, and meta- population dynamics, to inﬂuence the coevolutionary interaction between species. Some predicted results of this geographic mosaic of coevolution include maladapted or mismatched phenotypes, maintenance of high levels of polymorphism, and prevention of stable equilibrium trait combinations. To evaluate the potential for the geographic mosaic to inﬂuence predator-prey coevolution, we investigated the geographic pattern of genetically determined TTX resistance in the garter snake Thamnophis sirtalis over much of the range of its ecological interaction with toxic newts of genus Taricha. We assayed TTX resistance in over 2900 garter snakes representing 333 families from 40 populations throughout western North America.

This dramatic evidence that geographic structure is an important component in coevolutionary interactions between predators and prey. Resistance levels vary substantially (over three orders of magnitude) among populations and over short distances. The spatial array of variation is consistent with two areas of intense evolutionary response by predators surrounded by clines of decreasing resistance. Some general predictions of the geographic mosaic process are supported, including clinal variation in phenotypes, polymorphism in some populations, and divergent outcomes of the interaction between predator and prey. Conversely, our data provide little support for one of the major predictions, mismatched values of interacting traits. Two lines of evidence suggest selection is paramount in determining population variation in resistance. First, phylogenetic information indicates that two hotspots of TTX resistance have evolved independently. Second, in the one region that TTX levels in prey have been quantiﬁed, resistance and toxicity levels match almost perfectly over a wide phenotypic and geographic range. However, these results do not preclude the role the nonadaptive forces in generating the overall geographic mosaic of TTX resistance. Much work remains to ﬁll in the geographic pattern of variation among prey populations and, just as importantly, to explore the variation in the ecology of the interaction that occurs within populations.

With out competition for for thousand of years on poison prey the SFGS created a dead end for its species. A species the San Francisco Garter snakes food source rapidly disappeared. Will it successfully survive competitions for local tree frogs as a alternate main food source? Conversely can the SFGS find its way into habitats full of TTX poison Cane toads to reclaim its place as the top predator of poison amphibians on the planet?

Morph Over, There's Room for Two! by Mik Richardson by Matthew Wells

The 56 Full Sized Morphs Are:

The 23 Mini Morphs Are:

DSCN4812.Loading DNA into gel well.BarbaraBess-Pashak,DanWhalen by Edward Bujak

Princeton Molecular Biology Workshop

at the

Springside School, Philadelphia, PA

April 1, 2, 15, and 18, 2009

This photo is from

April 18 - Human VNTR Polymorphism

Photo by Ed Bujak.

Near and Far by Willow Brook Primary School Academy by Matthew Wells

The 56 Full Sized Morphs Are:

The 23 Mini Morphs Are:

Freedom in One New Change Shopping Centre by Matthew Wells

The 56 Full Sized Morphs Are:

The 23 Mini Morphs Are:

Messenger Morph by Martin Dougan & John Dougan Nealon by Matthew Wells

The 56 Full Sized Morphs Are:

The 23 Mini Morphs Are:

2016-11-01 22:18:20 by Helsinki Hacklab Lab Camera

Photo taken with Helsinki Hacklab public lab camera

Manicina areolata (rose coral) (St. Thomas, Virgin Islands) 2 by James St. John

Manicina areolata (Linnaeus, 1758) - rose coral skeleton from the Virgin Islands.

Stony corals - scleractinians - are essentially solitary or colonial sea anemones that make a hard skeleton of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Modern stony corals have skeletons of aragonite, but many fossil examples have calcite skeletons (aragonite and calcite are polymorphs of CaCO3). Most scleractinian corals live in warm, tropical to subtropical, photic zone environments (= the shallow portions of the world’s oceans where sunlight penetrates). Microbes called zooxanthellae live in their tissues and need to be in sunlight to make their own food (photosynthesis), which is shared with the host coral animal. Scleractinian corals have stinging cells (nematocysts) in their tentacles that paralyze prey.

Classification: Animalia, Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Scleractinia, Faviidae

Locality: Brewers Bay, St. Thomas, western Virgin Islands

----------------------------------

See info. at:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manicina_areolata

and

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scleractinia

No. 15/20: Wildermorph by Matthew Wells

Shortcuts to All 20 Morphs:-

Cambará by Rita Barreto

Corumbá-MS

Snowflake obsidian 11 by James St. John

(~5.25 centimeters across at its widest)

-----------------------------------

Igneous rocks form by the cooling and crystallization of hot, molten rock (magma and lava). If this happens at or near the land surface, or on the seafloor, they are extrusive igneous rocks. If this happens deep underground, they are intrusive igneous rocks. Most igneous rocks have a crystalline texture, but some are clastic, vesicular, frothy, or glassy.

Obsidian is readily identifiable. It is a glassy-textured, extrusive igneous rock. Obsidian is natural glass - it lacks crystals, and therefore lacks minerals. Obsidian is typically black in color, but most obsidians have a felsic to intermediate chemistry. Felsic igneous rocks are generally light-colored, so a felsic obsidian seems a paradox. Mafic obsidians are scarce, but they are also black and glassy. Obsidian is sometimes referred to "glassy rhyolite".

Obsidian is an uncommon rock, but can be examined at several famous localities in America, such as Obsidian Cliff at the Yellowstone Hotspot (northwestern Wyoming, USA) and Big Obsidian Flow at the Newberry Volcano (central Oregon, USA).

Obsidian is moderately hard and has a conchoidal fracture (smooth and curved fracture surface), with sharp broken edges. Freshly-broken obsidian has the sharpest edges of any material known, natural or man-made (as seen under a scanning electron microscope).

Obsidian forms two ways: 1) very rapid cooling of lava, which prevents the formation of crystals; 2) cooling of high-viscosity lava, which prevents easy movement of atoms to form crystals. An example of obsidian that formed the first way is along the margins of basaltic lava flows at Kilaeua Volcano (Hawaii Hotspot, central Pacific Ocean). The obsidian sample seen here formed the second way.

Obsidian is unstable on geologic time scales - it will slowly convert to material that is not obsidian. A partially-converted obsidian is a distinctive rock called snowflake obsidian. The black portions of the rock seen here are rhyolitic obsidian (glass). The white patches ("snowflakes") are devitrification spots composed of cristobalite (SiO2, a polymorph of quartz).

Locality: unrecorded / undisclosed, but possibly from Twin Peaks, Utah, USA

Bullet Ant by Our Breathing Planet

The Bullet Ant is a species of ant, commonly known as the lesser giant hunting ant or conga ant. Their name is derived from their powerful and potent sting. The Bullet Ant is endemic to lowland rainforests. They may be found in a range from Nicaragua to the extreme east of Honduras, and south to Paraguay. The Bullet Ant is named: hormiga veinticuatro by the local inhabitants. This means: 24 hour ant. The name refers to the approximately 24 hours of extreme pain that generally follow being stung. The species epithet clavata means "club-shaped". Workers average approximately 0.7-1.3 in. (18–30 mm) in length. They are generally thought to resemble reddish-black, wingless wasps. The Bullet Ant is fully predatory in nature. Like other species of ants, they do not display polymorphism within the worker caste. The queen ant is only marginally larger than the workers themselves.

Bullet Ant Sting

The extreme pain generated by the sting of this insect is generally considered to be greater than that of any other species of known insect. The Bullet Ant sting has been ranked above that of the tarantula hawk wasp. The name derives from the comparison of the pain to being shot by a bullet. The sting has been described as causing excruciating pain that continues unabated for up to 24 hours . The Bullet Ant is believed to have evolved its sting to ward off any predators that would normally prey upon them. Currently the powerful toxin is being investigated for possible medical applications.

Bullet Ant Sting

The extreme pain generated by the sting of this insect is generally considered to be greater than that of any other species of known insect. The Bullet Ant sting has been ranked above that of the tarantula hawk wasp. The name derives from the comparison of the pain to being shot by a bullet. The sting has been described as causing excruciating pain that continues unabated for up to 24 hours . The Bullet Ant is believed to have evolved its sting to ward off any predators that would normally prey upon them. Currently the powerful toxin is being investigated for possible medical applications. #ourbreathingplanet

Phot Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paraponera_scaled.png

Photographer: Smartse

Les Sources Occultes 001/999 _DDC6802 by thierry ehrmann

1

Les Sources Occultes 001/999

blog.ehrmann.org/films2/les-sources-occultes-001999.html

Entre effroi et merveilles, une zone mouvante aux portes du futur et des enfers...

Les Sources Occultes vous entraînent au coeur d'un univers polymorphe dont les clés et les motifs se révéleront au fur et à mesure des épisodes de cette série de fictions.

En attendant un final apocalyptique, au sens premier du terme, qui révélera la structure générale sous la forme d'un long-métrage...

Les Sources Occultes offre aussi une nouvelle porte d'entrée dans le labyrinthe multidimensionnel de la Demeure du Chaos à celles et ceux qui postulent à notre casting, une occasion unique de pénétrer les arcanes de l'esprit de la Salamandre.

Réalisation : Laurent Courau

Scénario : thierry Ehrmann

{o;o} COMMON CUCKOO by BIRDISM GREEN CAMP

Common cuckoo :

The Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) (formerly European Cuckoo) is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals.

This species is a widespread summer migrant to Europe and Asia, and winters in Africa. It is a brood parasite, which means it lays eggs in the nests of other bird species, particularly of Dunnocks, Meadow Pipits, and Eurasian Reed Warblers.

> Lifespan and demography

Although the Common Cuckoo's global population appears to be declining, it is classified of being of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It is estimated that the species numbers between 25 million and 100 million individuals worldwide, with around 12.6 million to 25.8 million of those birds breeding in Europe.[1] The maximum recorded lifespan of a Common Cuckoo in the United Kingdom is 6 years, 11 months and 2 days.

> Description

The Common Cuckoo is 32–34 centimetres (13–13 in) long from bill to tail (with a tail of 13–15 centimetres (5.1–5.9 in) and a wingspan of 55–60 centimetres (22–24 in). The legs are short. It is greyish with a slender body and long tail and can be mistaken for a falcon in flight, where the wingbeats are regular. During the breeding season, Common Cuckoos often settle on an open perch with drooped wings and raised tail. There is a rufous colour phase, which occurs occasionally in adult females but more often in juveniles.

All adult males are slate-grey; the grey throat extends well down the bird's breast with a sharp demarcation to the barred underparts. The iris, orbital ring, the base of the bill and feet are yellow. Grey adult females have a pinkish-buff or buff background to the barring and neck sides, and sometimes small rufous spots on the median and greater coverts and the outer webs of the secondary feathers

Rufous phase adult females have reddish-brown upperparts with dark grey or black bars. The black upperpart bars are narrower than the rufous bars, as opposed to rufous juvenile birds, where the black bars are broader.

Common Cuckoos in their first autumn have variable plumage. Some are have strongly-barred chestnut-brown upperparts, while others are plain grey. Rufous-brown birds have heavily-barred upperparts with some feathers edged with creamy-white. All have whitish edges to the upper wing-coverts and primaries. The secondaries and greater coverts have chestnut bars or spots. In spring, birds hatched in the previous year may retain some barred secondaries and wing-coverts. The most obvious identification features of juvenile Common Cuckoos are the white nape patch and white feather fringes.

Common Cuckoos moult twice a year: a partial moult in summer and a complete moult in winter. Males weigh around 130 grams (4.6 oz) and females 110 grams (3.9 oz). The Common Cuckoo looks very similar to the Oriental Cuckoo, which is slightly shorter-winged on average.

A study using stuffed bird models found that small birds are less likely to approach Common Cuckoos that have barred underparts similar to the Eurasian Sparrowhawk, a predatory bird. Eurasian Reed Warblers were found more aggressive to cuckoos that looked less hawk-like, meaning that the resemblance to the hawk helps the cuckoo to access the nests of potential hosts.

The male's call, goo-ko, is usually given from an open perch. During the breeding season the male typically gives this call with intervals of 1–1.5 seconds, in groups of 10–20 with a rest of a few seconds between groups. The female has a loud bubbling call. The song starts as a descending minor third early in the year in April, and the interval gets wider, through a major third to a fourth as the season progresses, and in June the cuckoo "forgets its tune" and may make other calls such as ascending intervals. Also the cuckoo seems to have a form of absolute pitch as it tends to sing in the key of C.

> Distribution and habitat

Essentially a bird of open land, the Common Cuckoo is a widespread summer migrant to Europe and Asia, and winters in Africa. Birds arrive in Europe in April and leave in September.

The Common Cuckoo has also occurred as a vagrant in countries including Barbados, the United States of America, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Indonesia, Palau, Seychelles, Taiwan and China.

> Behaviour

# Food and feeding: The Common Cuckoo's diet consists of insects, with hairy caterpillars, which are distasteful to many birds, being a speciality of preference. It also occasionally eats eggs and chicks.

# Breeding: The Common Cuckoo is a brood parasite; it lays its eggs in the nests of other birds. At the appropriate moment, the hen cuckoo flies down to the host's nest, pushes one egg out, lays an egg and flies off. The whole process takes about 10 seconds. A female may visit up to 50 nests during a breeding season. Common Cuckoos first breed at two years old.

> Eggs

More than 100 host species have been recorded: Meadow Pipit, Dunnock and Eurasian Reed Warbler are the most common hosts in northern Europe; Garden Warbler, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail and European Robin in central Europe; Brambling and Common Redstart in Finland; and Great Reed Warbler in Hungary.

Female Common Cuckoos are divided into gentes – populations favouring a particular host species' nest and laying eggs that match those of that species in colour and pattern. Evidence from mitochondrial DNA analyses suggest that each gens may have multiple independent origins due to parasitism of specific hosts by different ancestors. One hypothesis for the inheritance of egg appearance mimicry is that this trait is inherited from the female only, suggesting that it is carried on the sex-determining W chromosome (females are WZ, males ZZ). A genetic analysis of gentes supports this proposal by finding significant differentiation in mitochondrial DNA, but not in microsatellite DNA. A second proposal for the inheritance of this trait is that the genes controlling egg characteristics are carried on autosomes rather than just the W chromosome. Another genetic analysis of sympatric gentes supports this second proposal by finding significant genetic differentiation in both microsatellite DNA and mitochondrial DNA. Considering the tendency for Common Cuckoo males to mate with multiple females and produce offspring raised by more than one host species, it appears as though males do not contribute to the maintenance of Common Cuckoo gentes. However, it was found that only nine percent of offspring were raised outside of their father's presumed host species. Therefore, both males and females may contribute to the maintenance of Common Cuckoo egg mimicry polymorphism. It is notable that most non-parasitic cuckoo species lay white eggs, like most non-passerines other than ground-nesters.

As the Common Cuckoo evolves to lay eggs that better imitate the host's eggs, the host species adapts and is more able to distinguish the cuckoo egg. A study of 248 Common Cuckoo and host eggs demonstrated that female cuckoos that parasitised Common Redstart nests laid eggs that matched better than those that targeted Dunnocks. Spectroscopy was used to model how the host species saw the cuckoo eggs. Cuckoos that target Dunnock nests lay white, brown-speckled eggs, in contrast to the Dunnock's own blue eggs. The theory suggests that Common Redstarts have been parasitised by Common Cuckoos for longer, and so have evolved to be better than the Dunnocks at noticing the cuckoo eggs.

Studies were made of 90 Great Reed Warbler nests in central Hungary. There was an "unusually high" frequency of Common Cuckoo parasitism, with 64 % of the nests parasitised. Of the nests targeted by cuckoos, 64 % contained one cuckoo egg, 23 % had two, 10 % had three and 3 % had four Common Cuckoo eggs. In total, 58 % of the Common Cuckoo eggs were laid in nests that were multiply parasitised. When laying eggs in nests already parasitised, the female cuckoos removed one egg at random, showing no discrimination between the Great Reed Warbler eggs and those of other cuckoos.

It was found that nests close to cuckoo perches were most vulnerable: multiple parasitised nests were closest to the vantage points, and unparasitised nests were farthest away. Nearly all the nests "in close vicinity" to the vantage points were parasitised. More visible nests were more likely to be selected by the Common Cuckoos. Female cuckoos use their vantage points to watch for potential hosts and find it easier to locate the more visible nests while they are egg-laying.

The Great Reed Warblers' responses to the Common Cuckoo eggs varied: 66 % accepted the egg(s); 12 % ejected them; 20 % abandoned the nests entirely; 2 % buried the eggs. 28 % of the cuckoo eggs were described as "almost perfect" in their mimesis of the host eggs, and the warblers rejected "poorly mimetic" cuckoo eggs more often. The degree of mimicry made it difficult for both the Great Reed Warblers and the observers to tell the eggs apart.

The egg measures 22 by 16 millimetres (0.87 × 0.63 in) and weighs 3.2 grams (0.11 oz), of which 7 % is shell. Research has shown that the female Common Cuckoo is able to keep its egg inside its body for an extra 24 hours before laying it in a host's nest. This means the cuckoo chick can hatch before the host's chicks do, and it can eject the unhatched eggs from the nest. Scientists incubated Common Cuckoo eggs for 24 hours at the bird's body temperature of 40 °C (104 °F), and examined the embryos, which were found "much more advanced" than those of other species studied. The idea of 'internal incubation' was first put forward in 1802 and 18th and 19th Century egg collectors had reported finding that cuckoo embryos were more advanced than those of the host species.

> Chicks

The naked, altricial chick hatches after 11–13 days. It methodically evicts all host progeny from host nests. It is a much larger bird than its hosts, and needs to monopolise the food supplied by the parents. The chick will roll the other eggs out of the nest by pushing them with its back over the edge. If the host's eggs hatch before the cuckoo's, the cuckoo chick will push the other chicks out of the nest in a similar way. At 14 days old, the Common Cuckoo chick is about three times the size of an adult Eurasian Reed Warbler.

Species whose broods are parasitised by the Common Cuckoo have evolved to discriminate against cuckoo eggs but not chicks. Experiments have shown that Common Cuckoo chicks persuade their host parents to feed them by making a rapid begging call that sounds "remarkably like a whole brood of host chicks." The researchers suggested that "the cuckoo needs vocal trickery to stimulate adequate care to compensate for the fact that it presents a visual stimulus of just one gape."

Common Cuckoo chicks fledge about 17–21 days after hatching, compared to 12–13 days for Eurasian Reed Warblers. If the hen cuckoo is out-of-phase with a clutch of Eurasian Reed Warbler eggs, she will eat them all so that the hosts are forced to start another brood.

The Common Cuckoo's behaviour was firstly observed and described by Aristotle and the combination of behaviour and anatomical adaptation by Edward Jenner, who was elected as Fellow of the Royal Society in 1788 for this work. It was first documented on film in 1922 by Edgar Chance and Oliver G Pike, in their film 'The Cuckoo's Secret'.

A study in Japan found that young Common Cuckoos probably acquire species-specific feather lice from body-to-body contact with other cuckoos between the time of leaving the nest and returning to the breeding area in spring. A total of 21 nestlings were examined shortly before they left their hosts' nests and none carried feather lice. However, young birds returning to Japan for the first time were found just as likely as older individuals to be lousy.

Photography : Kaushik Singha Roy

No. 31/56: Midas Morph by Matthew Wells

The 56 Full Sized Morphs Are:

The 23 Mini Morphs Are:

No. 8/56: Apart Together by Matthew Wells

The 56 Full Sized Morphs Are:

The 23 Mini Morphs Are:

Dead Man's Fingers by Brian

2

Xylaria polymorpha - Not easy to spot on a cloudy day in dense woodland. These examples spotted by Ellade and Imogen. Age 6. A dull but important part of the cycle of life as they break down dead wood making it available as a food source for small creatures.

Serpentine (detail) by Ron Wolf

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Serpentine (detail). This mineral is composed of several chemically similar substances - polymorphs - considered collectively as "Serpentine." Specimen shown here is about 3 inches wide. Exposed at an outcrop along Drum Powerhouse Road. Near Dutch Flat, Placer Co., Calif.

Les Sources Occultes 001/999 _DDC6687 by thierry ehrmann

1

Les Sources Occultes 001/999

blog.ehrmann.org/films2/les-sources-occultes-001999.html

Entre effroi et merveilles, une zone mouvante aux portes du futur et des enfers...

Les Sources Occultes vous entraînent au coeur d'un univers polymorphe dont les clés et les motifs se révéleront au fur et à mesure des épisodes de cette série de fictions.

En attendant un final apocalyptique, au sens premier du terme, qui révélera la structure générale sous la forme d'un long-métrage...

Les Sources Occultes offre aussi une nouvelle porte d'entrée dans le labyrinthe multidimensionnel de la Demeure du Chaos à celles et ceux qui postulent à notre casting, une occasion unique de pénétrer les arcanes de l'esprit de la Salamandre.

Réalisation : Laurent Courau

Scénario : thierry Ehrmann

Inspirational Artists by Matthew Wells

The 56 Full Sized Morphs Are:

The 23 Mini Morphs Are:

Teapotty at the V&A for Chi-TEK by Rain Rabbit

Chi-TEK Tea Party of electronic / hacked teapots by women artists at the V&A, London www.mztek.org/programs/chi-tek/

Teapotty! is a teapot sitting on a servo which takes readings from a magnetometer which is influenced by neodymium magnets in a cup. The magnetometer takes the reading from the north position, plays a bit of something similar to the Tetley Tea tune and then moves to a new position - where the teacup moves to. BlinkM RGB LEDs indicate the new position of the teapot by changing colour based on the teapot's new position from 0-180 degrees. I made some polymorph diffuser covers for them & also added heart confetti to emphasise the feeling of heartwarming happiness a cup of tea can bring :-)

My videos & blog post about Teapotty are here: rainycatz.wordpress.com/2011/09/17/teapotty-electronic-te...

Atom Christmas Tree Ornament by Dennis van Zuijlekom

A Christmas tree ornament made by CookieMonster's mom out of a couple of computer fan grates, electrical wiring and a blob of Polymorph. You should view the photo on black.

Moem hosted a third installment of the Geeky Bling workshop, in which computer components were transformed into (Christmas) decorations.

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