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Virus replication
Viruses replicate only in living cells. The use of the term 'replicate' infers that the process of virus multiplication is different from that of micro-organisms and tissue cells which divide by binary fission with or without mitotic division of their genetic components. Whilst the mode of entering the host cell varies from virus to virus the mode of replication is considered to be similar for all and has been most completely worked out for bacteriophage. The viral nucleic acid upon entering the cell takes over control of the cellular metabolic processes and codes for the separate synthesis of viral nucleic acid and protein which later combine to form the mature virus particle. The virus yield from a cell infected with a single virus particle varies widely but often ranges from 10 to 100 particles.
The host cell must be capable of supporting this sequence of steps in viral replication. Many viruses have a single or limited host cell requirement; others may replicate in a range of different host cells but the quantity of virus produced in each cell type may differ widely.
Viruses may be propagated in susceptible animals, plants or micro-organisms, or in tissue cultures made from animal or plant tissues.
When using animals it is necessary to consider:
(1) their natural susceptibility to infection or immune status to the virus;
(2) the possibility of latent infection with the same or other virus (often the challenge of another virus stimulates a latent virus to become active, as occurs with herpes simplex in man, the cause of the common cold sore on the lips which often erupts when the patient is challenged by a common cold virus);
(3) the most suitable route of inoculation which is usually related to the affinity of the virus for particular tissues. Infection is recognized by characteristic signs and symptoms of disease.
VIRUS DISEASES OF VERTEBRATE ANIMALS
General considerations of virus infection
Unlike the majority of plant virus diseases most animal virus diseases cannot be diagnosed solely on their signs and symptoms. Viruses do not produce exotoxins and the diseases they cause are the direct result of their primary and secondary replication cycles within the various tissue cells of the animal body. An understanding of how this replication occurs in tissue cells provides an understanding of the disease processes taking place in the animal body as a whole. Replication is studied in in vitro systems of animal tissue cultures.
The replication of viruses in tissue cells leads to the biological malfunctioning of those cells and if large numbers of cells are involved malfunctioning of the organ generally follows. This may result in the death of the animal.
Some animal viruses replicate in a limited range of tissue cells, e.g., influenza virus replicates only in cells of the respiratory tract, while others replicate in a wide variety of tissue cells, e.g., smallpox virus in cells of the skin, lungs, and other internal tissues. The latter category of viruses can therefore spread to other susceptible tissues by blood-borne dissemination from a primary site of infection. The presence of virus in the blood stream is not necessarily an indication of wide tissue susceptibility since viruses with a limited tissue range may 'spill-over' into the blood stream following replication in the susceptible tissues.
As with other microbial diseases the severity of a virus disease depends upon the size of the infecting dose, the state of health of the animal, its age, sex, and degree of immunity. The various aspects of the epidemiology of animal virus diseases are considered elsewhere.
In replicating this fifth-gen stealth fighter, I was aiming for:
– Smooth: nearly studless in form.
– Integrated: packing in a host of features.
– Fresh: incorporating new pieces and techniques.
and of course, purist! (at least, for now; I may experiment with designing some Marine Corps liveries on waterslide decals for mere aesthetic decoration that denotes the squadron affiliation…)
The 1:40 scale replica includes:
– Opening cockpit that holds pilot, control panel, and joystick
– Hidden weapon bays in fuselage for stealth missions
– Optional exterior loadout for air-to-ground attacks
– Retracting landing gear that supports the model
– Opening flaps, rotating fan blades, and tilting vector nozzle for VTOL
– Stable Technic display stand and brick-built name plaque.
This is the first MOC I’ve finished in about five years (during which I completed my university degree, got my full-time career job, moved out, got married, and a few other things), after working on it off-and-on for at least three years. [The real-life aircraft has suffered from its own extensive delays in design / production, so I guess it could be worse where my LEGO one is concerned. XD]
A big thank-you to everyone who has inspired me along the way, including special acknowledgements to AFOL friends like the Chiles family and Eli Willsea for helping rekindle my joy in the hobby; Brickmania, for showing me a few new hinge techniques that I incorporated during these last few months of the design process; and especially my lovely wife Natalie who, bless her heart, has allowed the dining room of our tiny apartment to serve as my building studio and encouraged me to use it more often as such!
Let me know what you guys think!
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Playing with some Lightroom film presets that replicates Fuji FP 100c with an image I took in Hoi An, Vietnam. I don't shoot this type of film, so I can't say if they've done a good job or not of replicating the look. Seeing as how I shot this at 3200 ISO, the grain structure is probably really out of whack.
ISO: 3200
Shutter: 1/250 second
Aperture: F/1.4
Camera: Olympus OM-D
Lens: Panasonic Lumix 25mm F/1.4
In replicating this fifth-gen stealth fighter, I was aiming for:
– Smooth: nearly studless in form.
– Integrated: packing in a host of features.
– Fresh: incorporating new pieces and techniques.
and of course, purist! (at least, for now; I may experiment with designing some Marine Corps liveries on waterslide decals for mere aesthetic decoration that denotes the squadron affiliation…)
The 1:40 scale replica includes:
– Opening cockpit that holds pilot, control panel, and joystick
– Hidden weapon bays in fuselage for stealth missions
– Optional exterior loadout for air-to-ground attacks
– Retracting landing gear that supports the model
– Opening flaps, rotating fan blades, and tilting vector nozzle for VTOL
– Stable Technic display stand and brick-built name plaque.
This is the first MOC I’ve finished in about five years (during which I completed my university degree, got my full-time career job, moved out, got married, and a few other things), after working on it off-and-on for at least three years. [The real-life aircraft has suffered from its own extensive delays in design / production, so I guess it could be worse where my LEGO one is concerned. XD]
A big thank-you to everyone who has inspired me along the way, including special acknowledgements to AFOL friends like the Chiles family and Eli Willsea for helping rekindle my joy in the hobby; Brickmania, for showing me a few new hinge techniques that I incorporated during these last few months of the design process; and especially my lovely wife Natalie who, bless her heart, has allowed the dining room of our tiny apartment to serve as my building studio and encouraged me to use it more often as such!
Let me know what you guys think!
I always thought of this shot, with a wide angle lens, I always wanted to replicate this shot (www.flickr.com/photos/jakelines/6820565862/in/photostream) with that i captured with a 18-55 lens, and when i got my 10-20 sigma, its just been a whole of a wide looking world looking threw this lens, Heres one from this arvo, proberly the best and closest im going to get to that shot i pictured in my little head. Press ( L ) and view in black
In replicating this fifth-gen stealth fighter, I was aiming for:
– Smooth: nearly studless in form.
– Integrated: packing in a host of features.
– Fresh: incorporating new pieces and techniques.
and of course, purist! (at least, for now; I may experiment with designing some Marine Corps liveries on waterslide decals for mere aesthetic decoration that denotes the squadron affiliation…)
The 1:40 scale replica includes:
– Opening cockpit that holds pilot, control panel, and joystick
– Hidden weapon bays in fuselage for stealth missions
– Optional exterior loadout for air-to-ground attacks
– Retracting landing gear that supports the model
– Opening flaps, rotating fan blades, and tilting vector nozzle for VTOL
– Stable Technic display stand and brick-built name plaque.
This is the first MOC I’ve finished in about five years (during which I completed my university degree, got my full-time career job, moved out, got married, and a few other things), after working on it off-and-on for at least three years. [The real-life aircraft has suffered from its own extensive delays in design / production, so I guess it could be worse where my LEGO one is concerned. XD]
A big thank-you to everyone who has inspired me along the way, including special acknowledgements to AFOL friends like the Chiles family and Eli Willsea for helping rekindle my joy in the hobby; Brickmania, for showing me a few new hinge techniques that I incorporated during these last few months of the design process; and especially my lovely wife Natalie who, bless her heart, has allowed the dining room of our tiny apartment to serve as my building studio and encouraged me to use it more often as such!
Let me know what you guys think!
Ink and acrylic marker on paper 6.75" x 9.75" 7.2025. www.saatchiart.com/art/Drawing-Self-replicating-Surface-P...
Burt Reynolds' Iconic Centerfold replicated by Daniel DiCriscio in buff as tribute Report By: Nina Rai Los Angeles, May 9, 2012 The star-stuck fans of the 70’s may recall the scandalous picture of legendary Hollywood Star Burt Reynolds lying naked across a golden brown bearskin rug posing for Cosmopolitan Magazine's April 1972 Centerfold.This photograph of more than 40 years is arguably one of the sexiest images to be found in pop culture history. The eponymous centerfold has since then gone on to become one of the cultural object d'arts of the sexual revolution, which began somewhere in the 70’s.Now to mark the 40th anniversary of that famed centerfold, Daniel DiCriscio ‘Bruno’ - celebrity hairstylist, recording artist, and television personality; has the same recreated by photographer Dusti Cunningham, as a form of tribute to Reynolds’ now iconic Bearskin rug, languid pose.The long blonde haired, tanned, and toned DiCriscio for the first time in his career has disrobed completely, wearing only his smile. In the beginning DiCriscio, says he was nervous about baring-all before the camera keeping in view the high barometers of current Hollywood plastic surgery and drug enhanced super-bodies.But then taking courage in hand the all-natural DiCriscio just dived in, declaring boldly "It was either now, or never!” By posing in the buff, the young DiCriscio claims he is paying homage to Burt Reynolds. "I admire Burt for being a risk taker and opening the door allowing men to be seen as sexy, all while doing it on a bearskin rug!", gushes DiCriscio.The celebrity hairstylist is possibly best known for his involvement during the Clinton-Sex Scandal doing the stunning make-over of President Clinton’s accuser Paula Jones, for which he was dubbed as the ‘The Messiah of Makeover’ as also for his by now infamous Bruno interview with The Dictator star Sacha Baron Cohen.As an image consultant, DiCriscio has created the looks of celebrities such as Paula Jones, Pamela Anderson, Anna Nicole Smith, and a host of high profile clients, informs Wikipedia.
I chose the picture of lallivy because I have been dying to do a shot with glasses. However ......... I only had 4 matching glasses after the accident with the glasses and blue bottles, lol. I only have a point and shoot and no flash except the one on the camera which wouldn't have worked at all. So there I was huddled up over the glasses on a piece of glass with black material draped all around the glasses, I attempted to recreate something approximating Lallivy's photo.
Actually I am not too unhappy with it (except for the grainy feel - not sure why that is! and the fact that I couldn't find a border to match the original!)
This was a huge challenge, and I must say that I enjoyed it, so thanks for the stretch!
(Now how do you get a copy of the original in here?? Anyone know??)
ODC2 - Attempt to replicate something that has been on ODC Explore!!
Well I did make the attempt, lol.
62/365 Days in Colour
Thanks for the suggestion Karenoc11 - I have joined Competition Corner & have entered this pic in the current reflections topic!
42/111 Pictures in 2011 - Glass
Tony's Daily Topic 21 December - Mirrors or Mirrored
One step closer to Wil's Futuremug! www.cafepress.com/wilwheaton.417431376
Squee! wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2010/02/makerbot-it-so....
The very strange Villaggio Mall, replicating the canals of Venice and piazzas of Lucca - amongst others - in a very Doha-typical artificial-but-fascinating (can't help but look) manner.
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Villaggio Mall is a shopping mall located in the Aspire Zone in the west end of Doha, the capital city of Qatar. It is located on Al Waab street between the Hyatt Plaza and Sports City and has over 200 stores, including many famous brands in the U.S., U.K., Italian and German markets.[2][3][4]
Inside, the interiors are Italianate-themed both as an Italian hill town, but also with a 150-meter long indoor canal with gondolas.[5]
The Mall was partially re-opened on September 20, 2012, after meeting strict safety standards following the May fire that resulted in 19 lost lives. Portions of the mall remain closed as a result however, the food court, ice rink, movie theater, Carrefour hypermarket, and many stores are open for business with more opening as they are able to restock their shelves.
Replicating the efforts of Stratford Depot, the GreaterAnglia 90 has been decorated with Union Flag, SIlver Roof and named 'Diamond Jubilee'.
. . . just messing, trying to replicate a Thai movie scene in grainy black and white. Taken with my D300, so it was fun to take a very good quality 12mp colour picture and deteriorate it to get this look.
A typical Bangkok scene, with traffic clogged up and not moving, backed up almost 700 meters.
Anyone who knows Bangkok knows of the preponderance of the ubiquitous7eleven stores almost everywhere, often with several being on the same block. Here you can see 3 all within an area of a hundred square meters, and 2 directly opposite each other.
Today's other post, Phom Phet Fort, is here.
Italien / Südtirol - Südtiroler Archäologiemuseum
Ötzi-Replicate
Ötzi-Replik
South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology (German: Südtiroler Archäologiemuseum; Italian: Museo archeologico dell'Alto Adige) is an archaeological museum in the city of Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy. It is the home of the preserved body of Ötzi the Iceman.
The museum was specifically established in 1998 to house "Ötzi", a well-preserved natural mummy of a man from about 3300 BC (53 centuries ago). This is the world's oldest natural human mummy, a wet mummy, as opposed to mummies preserved by dry conditions in a desert environment. It has offered an unprecedented view of Chalcolithic (Copper Age) European culture. The world's oldest complete copper age axe was found among his extensive equipment which also comprised a rather complex fire lighting kit and a quiver loaded with twelve arrows, only two of which were finished, clothing and a flint knife complete with its sheath.
The body is held in a climate controlled chamber within the museum at a temperature of -6 Celsius and 98% humidity, replicating glacier conditions in which it was found. Along with original finds there are models, reconstructions and multimedia presentations showing Ötzi in the context of the early history of the southern Alpine region.
Converted from a 19th-century bank building, the museum covers the history and archaeology of the southern Alpine region from the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic (15,000 B.C.) up to 800 A.D. In 2006, the museum hosted an exhibition on the mummies of the Chachapoyas culture.
(Wikipedia)
Das Südtiroler Archäologiemuseum ist ein archäologisches Museum in Bozen (Südtirol). Das Museum ist der Ausstellungsort des „Mannes vom Tisenjoch“, besser bekannt als „Ötzi“. Es zieht zu allen Jahreszeiten zahlreiche Besucher an und gehört zu den führenden archäologischen Museen Italiens.
Neben der Gletschermumie „Ötzi“ nebst dessen Beifunden präsentiert das Museum bedeutende Funde aus dem Südtiroler Raum. Die ältesten Exponate stammen aus der Altsteinzeit, die jüngsten aus der Karolingerzeit. Modelle, Rekonstruktionen, Raumbilder, Videos und interaktive Multimediastationen geben einen Einblick in die frühe Vergangenheit des südlichen Alpenraumes. Die Ausstellungsräume sind diachronisch angeordnet. So befindet sich Ötzi und seine Zeit im ersten Stock, während sich die Fundstücke aus der römischen Antike und der Völkerwanderungszeit im dritten Stock befinden.
Von 12. August bis 15. November 2006 fand in dem Museum die Sonderausstellung Wolkenmenschen mit Mumien der Chachapoya statt. 2009 zeigte das Museum in der Sonderschau Mumien. Der Traum vom ewigen Leben konservierte Körper aus der ganzen Welt, darunter einbalsamierte ägyptische Mumien und Moorleichen. Anlässlich des 20-Jahr-Jubiläums des Ötzi-Fundes befasste sich die Sonderausstellung Ötzi20 vom 1. März 2011 bis 13. Januar 2013 mit der wissenschaftlichen Erforschung und dem Kultcharakter des Mannes aus dem Eis.
Das Gebäude in der Museumstraße, gegenüber dem Bozner Stadtmuseum gelegen, war als Sitz der Österreichischen (k.k.) Nationalbank kurz vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg errichtet worden. Von 1919 bis in die 1990er beherbergte es die Bozner Niederlassung der italienischen Nationalbank (Banca d’Italia). Das Museum wurde nach umfangreichen Sanierungsarbeiten 1998 eröffnet. Die Bozner Museumstraße, in der sich das Archäologiemuseum befindet, wurde nach dem 1905 eröffneten Bozner Stadtmuseum benannt, in dem sich vor der Eröffnung des Archäologiemuseums ein Teil der Ausstellungsstücke zur Urgeschichte befand. Die restlichen Ausstellungsstücke wurden aus ganz Südtirol zusammengetragen.
Das Museum ist eine eigenständige Institution innerhalb der Südtiroler Landesmuseen; zuvor war es mit dem Naturmuseum Südtirol zusammengeschlossen. Direktorin des Museums ist Angelika Fleckinger.
(Wikipedia)
This is my attempt at replicating the Pagani Zonda Cinque in LEGO bricks. The Zonda is one of my top 5 favorite cars, so I had to include one in my LEGO collection. This is actually my third attempt at building the Zonda (see my previous versions here and here). With this version, I think I've improved the overall shape of the car by increasing the width at the rear of the car to 17 studs (the front of the car is 16 studs wide).
As you can see, this creation was inspired by Firas Abu-Jaber's own Zonda. I tried to replicate the Zonda's shape using different methods from Firas' Zonda, but in the end some areas, such as the front simply could not be made better (Firas' version is near perfect).
Also, if anyone has a set of Ferrari FXX rims and is willing to sell, please let me know (prices on Bricklink are so high for this piece)! Those rims would look a lot better on this car than these silver ones I have.
For Our Daily Challenge Monday 12th September 2011 ~ Attempt to replicate something that has been on ODC Explore.
This is my attempt to replicate gary's images photo posted February 1, 2011 which was Explored. I want everyone to know that somebody owes me for a good pair of reading glasses. I had to bend and twist these to try to replicate gary's shot. He must have a crooked head.
After successfully replicating a LUT that I liked from another image processing program, I realized it might work well on some photos I took last May around the Perigord Noir region of France.
From a message shared with a friend here on Flickr -
RawTherapee is free - rawtherapee.com/
You'll need to add Pat David's HaldCLUT film emulation collection - rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/Film_Simulation
Relatedly, if you already use the Gimp (see: www.gimp.org/ ) their most recent versions include 32bit floating-point color-space precision settings. I've been waiting 18 years for this (which is why I went with RawTherapee some years back as it was built to have a large color space to work in).
To get film emulation and some other interesting LUTs into the Gimp, check out G'Mic - patdavid.net/2013/08/film-emulation-presets-in-gmic-gimp/
G'Mic site - gmic.eu/
Replicating the look & feel of an old Vanity Fair ad, back when they knew how to make legendary lingerie for women.
All done. So I'm not trying to replicate the furnishing of the original TV set, I'll leave that to the buyer, but wanted to test it out.............Overall I'm super pleased with how it came out, my handrail is a little bumpy here and there, but I wasn't making any significant improvements after redoing it 4 times so this is the end result. I consider it a good sign when I want to keep a commission for myself as I am my harshest critic.
Malaria Field Agent Jerome Millerand conducts a malaria rapid diagnostic test on a small boy in the community of Dilaire, in northeast Haiti. The CDC supports the eight agents working in this region of the country, and hopes to replicate the model elsewhere in Haiti as part of Malaria Zero. © David Snyder/CDC Foundation
Trying to replicate Navia’s plastic hat in felt! I happened to have the perfect color of felt and I went ahead and used her plastic hat as a hat mold.
My version is still a little large, and I haven’t finished stiffening it yet. I can’t decide if I want to cut all the edges to match the jagged leaf style of Navia’s har, or leave it smooth and petal like. I also can’t decide if I want to try to continue the embroidery, or just skip it.
I am almost about to set this aside and start a different hat in purple. Something that more closely resembles a flapper cloche hat, and do some real embroidery and beading on it?? (I don’t think I have the right bead colors so maybe this all goes in the unfinished pile with the other projects that need pink and purple beads.)
Yellowstone National Park (Arapaho: Henihco'oo or Héetíhco'oo) is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone, widely held to be the first national park in the world, is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful Geyser, one of the most popular features in the park. It has many types of ecosystems, but the subalpine forest is most abundant. It is part of the South Central Rockies forests ecoregion.
Yellowstone National Park spans an area of 3,468.4 square miles (8,983 km2), comprising lakes, canyons, rivers and mountain ranges. Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-altitude lakes in North America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest supervolcano on the continent. The caldera is considered an active volcano. It has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years. Half of the world's geothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by this ongoing volcanism. Lava flows and rocks from volcanic eruptions cover most of the land area of Yellowstone. The park is the centerpiece of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the largest remaining nearly-intact ecosystem in the Earth's northern temperate zone.
Hundreds of species of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles have been documented, including several that are either endangered or threatened. The vast forests and grasslands also include unique species of plants. Yellowstone Park is the largest and most famous megafauna location in the Continental United States. Grizzly bears, wolves, and free-ranging herds of bison and elk live in the park. The Yellowstone Park bison herd is the oldest and largest public bison herd in the United States. Forest fires occur in the park each year; in the large forest fires of 1988, nearly one third of the park was burnt. Yellowstone has numerous recreational opportunities, including hiking, camping, boating, fishing and sightseeing. Paved roads provide close access to the major geothermal areas as well as some of the lakes and waterfalls. During the winter, visitors often access the park by way of guided tours that use either snow coaches or snowmobiles.
The park is located at the headwaters of the Yellowstone River, from which it takes its historical name. Near the end of the 18th century, French trappers named the river "Roche Jaune", which is probably a translation of the Hidatsa name "Mi tsi a-da-zi" (Rock Yellow River). Later, American trappers rendered the French name in English as "Yellow Stone". Although it is commonly believed that the river was named for the yellow rocks seen in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Native American name source is not clear.
The first detailed expedition to the Yellowstone area was the Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition of 1869, which consisted of three privately funded explorers. The Folsom party followed the Yellowstone River to Yellowstone Lake. The members of the Folsom party kept a journal and based on the information it reported, a party of Montana residents organized the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition in 1870. It was headed by the surveyor-general of Montana Henry Washburn, and included Nathaniel P. Langford (who later became known as "National Park" Langford) and a U.S. Army detachment commanded by Lt. Gustavus Doane.
The expedition spent about a month exploring the region, collecting specimens and naming sites of interest. A Montana writer and lawyer named Cornelius Hedges, who had been a member of the Washburn expedition, proposed that the region should be set aside and protected as a national park; he wrote a number of detailed articles about his observations for the Helena Herald newspaper between 1870 and 1871. Hedges essentially restated comments made in October 1865 by acting Montana Territorial Governor Thomas Francis Meagher, who had previously commented that the region should be protected. Others made similar suggestions. In an 1871 letter from Jay Cooke to Ferdinand V. Hayden, Cooke wrote that his friend, Congressman William D. Kelley had also suggested "Congress pass a bill reserving the Great Geyser Basin as a public park forever".
By 1915, 1,000 automobiles per year were entering the park, resulting in conflicts with horses and horse-drawn transportation. Horse travel on roads was eventually prohibited.
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a New Deal relief agency for young men, played a major role between 1933 and 1942 in developing Yellowstone facilities. CCC projects included reforestation, campground development of many of the park's trails and campgrounds, trail construction, fire hazard reduction, and fire-fighting work. The CCC built the majority of the early visitor centers, campgrounds and the current system of park roads.
During World War II, tourist travel fell sharply, staffing was cut, and many facilities fell into disrepair. By the 1950s, visitation increased tremendously in Yellowstone and other national parks. To accommodate the increased visitation, park officials implemented Mission 66, an effort to modernize and expand park service facilities. Planned to be completed by 1966, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the National Park Service, Mission 66 construction diverged from the traditional log cabin style with design features of a modern style. During the late 1980s, most construction styles in Yellowstone reverted to the more traditional designs. After the enormous forest fires of 1988 damaged much of Grant Village, structures there were rebuilt in the traditional style. The visitor center at Canyon Village, which opened in 2006, incorporates a more traditional design as well.
A large arch made of irregular-shaped natural stone over a road
The 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake just west of Yellowstone at Hebgen Lake damaged roads and some structures in the park. In the northwest section of the park, new geysers were found, and many existing hot springs became turbid. It was the most powerful earthquake to hit the region in recorded history.
In 1963, after several years of public controversy regarding the forced reduction of the elk population in Yellowstone, United States Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall appointed an advisory board to collect scientific data to inform future wildlife management of the national parks. In a paper known as the Leopold Report, the committee observed that culling programs at other national parks had been ineffective, and recommended management of Yellowstone's elk population.
The wildfires during the summer of 1988 were the largest in the history of the park. Approximately 793,880 acres (321,272 ha; 1,240 sq mi) or 36% of the parkland was impacted by the fires, leading to a systematic re-evaluation of fire management policies. The fire season of 1988 was considered normal until a combination of drought and heat by mid-July contributed to an extreme fire danger. On "Black Saturday", August 20, 1988, strong winds expanded the fires rapidly, and more than 150,000 acres (61,000 ha; 230 sq mi) burned.
The expansive cultural history of the park has been documented by the 1,000 archeological sites that have been discovered. The park has 1,106 historic structures and features, and of these Obsidian Cliff and five buildings have been designated National Historic Landmarks. Yellowstone was designated an International Biosphere Reserve on October 26, 1976, and a UN World Heritage Site on September 8, 1978. The park was placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger from 1995 to 2003 due to the effects of tourism, infection of wildlife, and issues with invasive species. In 2010, Yellowstone National Park was honored with its own quarter under the America the Beautiful Quarters Program.
Heritage and Research Center
The Heritage and Research Center is located at Gardiner, Montana, near the north entrance to the park. The center is home to the Yellowstone National Park's museum collection, archives, research library, historian, archeology lab, and herbarium. The Yellowstone National Park Archives maintain collections of historical records of Yellowstone and the National Park Service. The collection includes the administrative records of Yellowstone, as well as resource management records, records from major projects, and donated manuscripts and personal papers. The archives are affiliated with the National Archives and Records Administration.
Approximately 96 percent of the land area of Yellowstone National Park is located within the state of Wyoming. Another three percent is within Montana, with the remaining one percent in Idaho. The park is 63 miles (101 km) north to south, and 54 miles (87 km) west to east by air. Yellowstone is 2,219,789 acres (898,317 ha; 3,468.420 sq mi) in area, larger than the states of Rhode Island or Delaware. Rivers and lakes cover five percent of the land area, with the largest water body being Yellowstone Lake at 87,040 acres (35,220 ha; 136.00 sq mi). Yellowstone Lake is up to 400 feet (120 m) deep and has 110 miles (180 km) of shoreline. At an elevation of 7,733 feet (2,357 m) above sea level, Yellowstone Lake is the largest high altitude lake in North America. Forests comprise 80 percent of the land area of the park; most of the rest is grassland.
The Continental Divide of North America runs diagonally through the southwestern part of the park. The divide is a topographic feature that separates Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean water drainages. About one third of the park lies on the west side of the divide. The origins of the Yellowstone and Snake Rivers are near each other but on opposite sides of the divide. As a result, the waters of the Snake River flow to the Pacific Ocean, while those of the Yellowstone find their way to the Atlantic Ocean via the Gulf of Mexico.
The park sits on the Yellowstone Plateau, at an average elevation of 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above sea level. The plateau is bounded on nearly all sides by mountain ranges of the Middle Rocky Mountains, which range from 9,000 to 11,000 feet (2,700 to 3,400 m) in elevation. The highest point in the park is atop Eagle Peak (11,358 feet or 3,462 metres) and the lowest is along Reese Creek (5,282 feet or 1,610 metres). Nearby mountain ranges include the Gallatin Range to the northwest, the Beartooth Mountains in the north, the Absaroka Range to the east, and the Teton Range and the Madison Range to the southwest and west. The most prominent summit on the Yellowstone Plateau is Mount Washburn at 10,243 feet (3,122 m).
Yellowstone National Park has one of the world's largest petrified forests, trees which were long ago buried by ash and soil and transformed from wood to mineral materials. This ash and other volcanic debris, are believed to have come from the park area itself. This is largely due to the fact that Yellowstone is actually a massive caldera of a supervolcano. There are 290 waterfalls of at least 15 feet (4.6 m) in the park, the highest being the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River at 308 feet (94 m).
Three deep canyons are located in the park, cut through the volcanic tuff of the Yellowstone Plateau by rivers over the last 640,000 years. The Lewis River flows through Lewis Canyon in the south, and the Yellowstone River has carved two colorful canyons, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone in its journey north.
Yellowstone is at the northeastern end of the Snake River Plain, a great U-shaped arc through the mountains that extends from Boise, Idaho some 400 miles (640 km) to the west. This feature traces the route of the North American Plate over the last 17 million years as it was transported by plate tectonics across a stationary mantle hotspot. The landscape of present-day Yellowstone National Park is the most recent manifestation of this hotspot below the crust of the Earth.
The Yellowstone Caldera is the largest volcanic system in North America. It has been termed a "supervolcano" because the caldera was formed by exceptionally large explosive eruptions. The magma chamber that lies under Yellowstone is estimated to be a single connected chamber, about 37 miles (60 km) long, 18 miles (29 km) wide, and 3 to 7 miles (5 to 12 km) deep. The current caldera was created by a cataclysmic eruption that occurred 640,000 years ago, which released more than 240 cubic miles (1,000 km³) of ash, rock and pyroclastic materials. This eruption was more than 1,000 times larger than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. It produced a caldera nearly five eighths of a mile (1 km) deep and 45 by 28 miles (72 by 45 km) in area and deposited the Lava Creek Tuff, a welded tuff geologic formation. The most violent known eruption, which occurred 2.1 million years ago, ejected 588 cubic miles (2,450 km³) of volcanic material and created the rock formation known as the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff and created the Island Park Caldera. A smaller eruption ejected 67 cubic miles (280 km³) of material 1.3 million years ago, forming the Henry's Fork Caldera and depositing the Mesa Falls Tuff.
Each of the three climactic eruptions released vast amounts of ash that blanketed much of central North America, falling many hundreds of miles away. The amount of ash and gases released into the atmosphere probably caused significant impacts to world weather patterns and led to the extinction of some species, primarily in North America.
Wooden walkways allow visitors to closely approach the Grand Prismatic Spring.
A subsequent caldera-forming eruption occurred about 160,000 years ago. It formed the relatively small caldera that contains the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake. Since the last supereruption, a series of smaller eruptive cycles between 640,000 and 70,000 years ago, has nearly filled in the Yellowstone Caldera with >80 different eruptions of rhyolitic lavas such as those that can be seen at Obsidian Cliffs and basaltic lavas which can be viewed at Sheepeater Cliff. Lava strata are most easily seen at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, where the Yellowstone River continues to carve into the ancient lava flows. The canyon is a classic V-shaped valley, indicative of river-type erosion rather than erosion caused by glaciation.
Each eruption is part of an eruptive cycle that climaxes with the partial collapse of the roof of the volcano's partially emptied magma chamber. This creates a collapsed depression, called a caldera, and releases vast amounts of volcanic material, usually through fissures that ring the caldera. The time between the last three cataclysmic eruptions in the Yellowstone area has ranged from 600,000 to 800,000 years, but the small number of such climactic eruptions cannot be used to make an accurate prediction for future volcanic events.
The most famous geyser in the park, and perhaps the world, is Old Faithful Geyser, located in Upper Geyser Basin. Castle Geyser, Lion Geyser and Beehive Geyser are in the same basin. The park contains the largest active geyser in the world—Steamboat Geyser in the Norris Geyser Basin. A study that was completed in 2011 found that at least 1283 geysers have erupted in Yellowstone. Of these, an average of 465 are active in a given year. Yellowstone contains at least 10,000 geothermal features altogether. Half the geothermal features and two-thirds of the world's geysers are concentrated in Yellowstone.
In May 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey, Yellowstone National Park, and the University of Utah created the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO), a partnership for long-term monitoring of the geological processes of the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field, for disseminating information concerning the potential hazards of this geologically active region.
In 2003, changes at the Norris Geyser Basin resulted in the temporary closure of some trails in the basin. New fumaroles were observed, and several geysers showed enhanced activity and increasing water temperatures. Several geysers became so hot that they were transformed into purely steaming features; the water had become superheated and they could no longer erupt normally. This coincided with the release of reports of a multiple year United States Geological Survey research project which mapped the bottom of Yellowstone Lake and identified a structural dome that had uplifted at some time in the past. Research indicated that these uplifts posed no immediate threat of a volcanic eruption, since they may have developed long ago, and there had been no temperature increase found near the uplifts. On March 10, 2004, a biologist discovered 5 dead bison which apparently had inhaled toxic geothermal gases trapped in the Norris Geyser Basin by a seasonal atmospheric inversion. This was closely followed by an upsurge of earthquake activity in April 2004. In 2006, it was reported that the Mallard Lake Dome and the Sour Creek Dome— areas that have long been known to show significant changes in their ground movement— had risen at a rate of 1.5 to 2.4 inches (3.8 to 6.1 cm) per year from mid–2004 through 2006. As of late 2007, the uplift has continued at a reduced rate. These events inspired a great deal of media attention and speculation about the geologic future of the region. Experts responded to the conjecture by informing the public that there was no increased risk of a volcanic eruption in the near future. However, these changes demonstrate the dynamic nature of the Yellowstone hydrothermal system.
Yellowstone experiences thousands of small earthquakes every year, virtually all of which are undetectable to people. There have been six earthquakes with at least magnitude 6 or greater in historical times, including a 7.5‑magnitude quake that struck just outside the northwest boundary of the park in 1959. This quake triggered a huge landslide, which caused a partial dam collapse on Hebgen Lake; immediately downstream, the sediment from the landslide dammed the river and created a new lake, known as Earthquake Lake. Twenty-eight people were killed, and property damage was extensive in the immediate region. The earthquake caused some geysers in the northwestern section of the park to erupt, large cracks in the ground formed and emitted steam, and some hot springs that normally have clear water turned muddy. A 6.1‑magnitude earthquake struck inside the park on June 30, 1975, but damage was minimal.
For three months in 1985, 3,000 minor earthquakes were detected in the northwestern section of the park, during what has been referred to as an earthquake swarm, and has been attributed to minor subsidence of the Yellowstone caldera. Beginning on April 30, 2007, 16 small earthquakes with magnitudes up to 2.7 occurred in the Yellowstone Caldera for several days. These swarms of earthquakes are common, and there have been 70 such swarms between 1983 and 2008. In December 2008, over 250 earthquakes were measured over a four-day span under Yellowstone Lake, the largest measuring a magnitude of 3.9. In January 2010, more than 250 earthquakes were detected over a two-day period. Seismic activity in Yellowstone National Park continues and is reported hourly by the Earthquake Hazards Program of the U.S. Geological Survey.
On March 30, 2014, a magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck almost the very middle of Yellowstone near the Norris Basin at 6.34am; reports indicated no damage. This was the biggest earthquake to hit the park since February 22, 1980.
Over 1,700 species of trees and other vascular plants are native to the park. Another 170 species are considered to be exotic species and are non-native. Of the eight conifer tree species documented, Lodgepole Pine forests cover 80% of the total forested areas. Other conifers, such as Subalpine Fir, Engelmann Spruce, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir and Whitebark Pine, are found in scattered groves throughout the park. As of 2007, the whitebark pine is threatened by a fungus known as white pine blister rust; however, this is mostly confined to forests well to the north and west. In Yellowstone, about seven percent of the whitebark pine species have been impacted with the fungus, compared to nearly complete infestations in northwestern Montana. Quaking Aspen and willows are the most common species of deciduous trees. The aspen forests have declined significantly since the early 20th century, but scientists at Oregon State University attribute recent recovery of the aspen to the reintroduction of wolves which has changed the grazing habits of local elk.
There are dozens of species of flowering plants that have been identified, most of which bloom between the months of May and September. The Yellowstone Sand Verbena is a rare flowering plant found only in Yellowstone. It is closely related to species usually found in much warmer climates, making the sand verbena an enigma. The estimated 8,000 examples of this rare flowering plant all make their home in the sandy soils on the shores of Yellowstone Lake, well above the waterline.
In Yellowstone's hot waters, bacteria form mats of bizarre shapes consisting of trillions of individuals. These bacteria are some of the most primitive life forms on earth. Flies and other arthropods live on the mats, even in the middle of the bitterly cold winters. Initially, scientists thought that microbes there gained sustenance only from sulfur. In 2005 researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder discovered that the sustenance for at least some of the diverse hyperthermophilic species is molecular hydrogen.
Thermus aquaticus is a bacterium found in the Yellowstone hot springs that produces an important enzyme (Taq polymerase) that is easily replicated in the lab and is useful in replicating DNA as part of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) process. The retrieval of these bacteria can be achieved with no impact to the ecosystem. Other bacteria in the Yellowstone hot springs may also prove useful to scientists who are searching for cures for various diseases.
Non-native plants sometimes threaten native species by using up nutrient resources. Though exotic species are most commonly found in areas with the greatest human visitation, such as near roads and at major tourist areas, they have also spread into the backcountry. Generally, most exotic species are controlled by pulling the plants out of the soil or by spraying, both of which are time consuming and expensive.
Yellowstone is widely considered to be the finest megafauna wildlife habitat in the lower 48 states. There are almost 60 species of mammals in the park, including the gray wolf, the threatened lynx, and grizzly bears. Other large mammals include the bison (often referred to as buffalo), black bear, elk, moose, mule deer, white-tailed deer, mountain goat, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, and mountain lion.
Bison graze near a hot spring
The Yellowstone Park bison herd is the largest public herd of American bison in the United States. The relatively large bison populations are a concern for ranchers, who fear that the species can transmit bovine diseases to their domesticated cousins. In fact, about half of Yellowstone's bison have been exposed to brucellosis, a bacterial disease that came to North America with European cattle that may cause cattle to miscarry. The disease has little effect on park bison, and no reported case of transmission from wild bison to domestic livestock has been filed. However, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has stated that bison are the "likely source" of the spread of the disease in cattle in Wyoming and North Dakota. Elk also carry the disease and are believed to have transmitted the infection to horses and cattle. Bison once numbered between 30 and 60 million individuals throughout North America, and Yellowstone remains one of their last strongholds. Their populations had increased from less than 50 in the park in 1902 to 4,000 by 2003. The Yellowstone Park bison herd reached a peak in 2005 with 4,900 animals. Despite a summer estimated population of 4,700 in 2007, the number dropped to 3,000 in 2008 after a harsh winter and controversial brucellosis management sending hundreds to slaughter. The Yellowstone Park bison herd is believed to be one of only four free roaming and genetically pure herds on public lands in North America. The other three herds are the Henry Mountains bison herd of Utah, at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota and on Elk Island in Alberta.
Elk Mother Nursing Her Calf
To combat the perceived threat of brucellosis transmission to cattle, national park personnel regularly harass bison herds back into the park when they venture outside of the area's borders. During the winter of 1996–97, the bison herd was so large that 1,079 bison that had exited the park were shot or sent to slaughter. Animal rights activists argue that this is a cruel practice and that the possibility for disease transmission is not as great as some ranchers maintain. Ecologists point out that the bison are merely traveling to seasonal grazing areas that lie within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem that have been converted to cattle grazing, some of which are within National Forests and are leased to private ranchers. APHIS has stated that with vaccinations and other means, brucellosis can be eliminated from the bison and elk herds throughout Yellowstone.
A reintroduced northwestern wolf in Yellowstone National Park
Starting in 1914, in an effort to protect elk populations, the U.S. Congress appropriated funds to be used for the purposes of "destroying wolves, prairie dogs, and other animals injurious to agriculture and animal husbandry" on public lands. Park Service hunters carried out these orders, and by 1926 they had killed 136 wolves, and wolves were virtually eliminated from Yellowstone. Further exterminations continued until the National Park Service ended the practice in 1935. With the passing of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, the wolf was one of the first mammal species listed. After the wolves were extirpated from Yellowstone, the coyote then became the park's top canine predator. However, the coyote is not able to bring down large animals, and the result of this lack of a top predator on these populations was a marked increase in lame and sick megafauna.
Bison in Yellowstone National Park
By the 1990s, the Federal government had reversed its views on wolves. In a controversial decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (which oversees threatened and endangered species), northwestern wolves, imported from Canada, were reintroduced into the park. Reintroduction efforts have been successful with populations remaining relatively stable. A survey conducted in 2005 reported that there were 13 wolf packs, totaling 118 individuals in Yellowstone and 326 in the entire ecosystem. These park figures were lower than those reported in 2004 but may be attributable to wolf migration to other nearby areas as suggested by the substantial increase in the Montana population during that interval. Almost all the wolves documented were descended from the 66 wolves reintroduced in 1995–96. The recovery of populations throughout the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho has been so successful that on February 27, 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the Northern Rocky Mountain wolf population from the endangered species list.
An estimated 600 grizzly bears live in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, with more than half of the population living within Yellowstone. The grizzly is currently listed as a threatened species, however the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that they intend to take it off the endangered species list for the Yellowstone region but will likely keep it listed in areas where it has not yet recovered fully. Opponents of delisting the grizzly are concerned that states might once again allow hunting and that better conservation measures need to be implemented to ensure a sustainable population. Black bears are common in the park and were a park symbol due to visitor interaction with the bears starting in 1910. Feeding and close contact with bears has not been permitted since the 1960s to reduce their desire for human foods. Yellowstone is one of the few places in the United States where black bears can be seen coexisting with grizzly bears. Black bear observations occur most often in the park's northern ranges and in the Bechler area which is in the park's southwestern corner.
Population figures for elk are in excess of 30,000—the largest population of any large mammal species in Yellowstone. The northern herd has decreased enormously since the mid‑1990s; this has been attributed to wolf predation and causal effects such as elk using more forested regions to evade predation, consequently making it harder for researchers to accurately count them. The northern herd migrates west into southwestern Montana in the winter. The southern herd migrates southward, and the majority of these elk winter on the National Elk Refuge, immediately southeast of Grand Teton National Park. The southern herd migration is the largest mammalian migration remaining in the U.S. outside of Alaska.
In 2003 the tracks of one female lynx and her cub were spotted and followed for over 2 miles (3.2 km). Fecal material and other evidence obtained were tested and confirmed to be those of a lynx. No visual confirmation was made, however. Lynx have not been seen in Yellowstone since 1998, though DNA taken from hair samples obtained in 2001 confirmed that lynx were at least transient to the park. Other less commonly seen mammals include the mountain lion and wolverine. The mountain lion has an estimated population of only 25 individuals parkwide. The wolverine is another rare park mammal, and accurate population figures for this species are not known. These uncommon and rare mammals provide insight into the health of protected lands such as Yellowstone and help managers make determinations as to how best to preserve habitats.
Eighteen species of fish live in Yellowstone, including the core range of the Yellowstone cutthroat trout—a fish highly sought by anglers. The Yellowstone cutthroat trout has faced several threats since the 1980s, including the suspected illegal introduction into Yellowstone Lake of lake trout, an invasive species which consume the smaller cutthroat trout. Although lake trout were established in Shoshone and Lewis lakes in the Snake River drainage from U.S. Government stocking operations in 1890, it was never officially introduced into the Yellowstone River drainage. The cutthroat trout has also faced an ongoing drought, as well as the accidental introduction of a parasite—whirling disease—which causes a terminal nervous system disease in younger fish. Since 2001, all native sport fish species caught in Yellowstone waterways are subject to a catch and release law. Yellowstone is also home to six species of reptiles, such as the painted turtle and Prairie rattlesnake, and four species of amphibians, including the Boreal Chorus Frog.
311 species of birds have been reported, almost half of which nest in Yellowstone. As of 1999, twenty-six pairs of nesting bald eagles have been documented. Extremely rare sightings of whooping cranes have been recorded, however only three examples of this species are known to live in the Rocky Mountains, out of 385 known worldwide. Other birds, considered to be species of special concern because of their rarity in Yellowstone, include the common loon, harlequin duck, osprey, peregrine falcon and the trumpeter swan.
As wildfire is a natural part of most ecosystems, plants that are indigenous to Yellowstone have adapted in a variety of ways. Douglas-fir have a thick bark which protects the inner section of the tree from most fires. Lodgepole Pines —the most common tree species in the park— generally have cones that are only opened by the heat of fire. Their seeds are held in place by a tough resin, and fire assists in melting the resin, allowing the seeds to disperse. Fire clears out dead and downed wood, providing fewer obstacles for lodgepole pines to flourish. Subalpine Fir, Engelmann Spruce, Whitebark Pine, and other species tend to grow in colder and moister areas, where fire is less likely to occur. Aspen trees sprout new growth from their roots, and even if a severe fire kills the tree above ground, the roots often survive unharmed because they are insulated from the heat by soil. The National Park Service estimates that in natural conditions, grasslands in Yellowstone burned an average of every 20 to 25 years, while forests in the park would experience fire about every 300 years.
About thirty-five natural forest fires are ignited each year by lightning, while another six to ten are started by people— in most cases by accident. Yellowstone National Park has three fire lookout towers, each staffed by trained fire fighters. The easiest one to reach is atop Mount Washburn, though it is closed to the public. The park also monitors fire from the air and relies on visitor reports of smoke and/or flames. Fire towers are staffed almost continuously from late June to mid-September— the primary fire season. Fires burn with the greatest intensity in the late afternoon and evening. Few fires burn more than 100 acres (40 ha), and the vast majority of fires reach only a little over an acre (0.5 ha) before they burn themselves out. Fire management focuses on monitoring dead and down wood quantities, soil and tree moisture, and the weather, to determine those areas most vulnerable to fire should one ignite. Current policy is to suppress all human caused fires and to evaluate natural fires, examining the benefit or detriment they may pose on the ecosystem. If a fire is considered to be an immediate threat to people and structures, or will burn out of control, then fire suppression is performed.
In an effort to minimize the chances of out of control fires and threats to people and structures, park employees do more than just monitor the potential for fire. Controlled burns are prescribed fires which are deliberately started to remove dead timber under conditions which allow fire fighters an opportunity to carefully control where and how much wood is consumed. Natural fires are sometimes considered prescribed fires if they are left to burn. In Yellowstone, unlike some other parks, there have been very few fires deliberately started by employees as prescribed burns. However, over the last 30 years, over 300 natural fires have been allowed to burn naturally. In addition, fire fighters remove dead and down wood and other hazards from areas where they will be a potential fire threat to lives and property, reducing the chances of fire danger in these areas. Fire monitors also regulate fire through educational services to the public and have been known to temporarily ban campfires from campgrounds during periods of high fire danger. The common notion in early United States land management policies was that all forest fires were bad. Fire was seen as a purely destructive force and there was little understanding that it was an integral part of the ecosystem. Consequently, until the 1970s, when a better understanding of wildfire was developed, all fires were suppressed. This led to an increase in dead and dying forests, which would later provide the fuel load for fires that would be much harder, and in some cases, impossible to control. Fire Management Plans were implemented, detailing that natural fires should be allowed to burn if they posed no immediate threat to lives and property.
1988 started with a wet spring season although by summer, drought began moving in throughout the northern Rockies, creating the driest year on record to that point. Grasses and plants which grew well in the early summer from the abundant spring moisture produced plenty of grass, which soon turned to dry tinder. The National Park Service began firefighting efforts to keep the fires under control, but the extreme drought made suppression difficult. Between July 15 and 21, 1988, fires quickly spread from 8,500 acres (3,400 ha; 13.3 sq mi) throughout the entire Yellowstone region, which included areas outside the park, to 99,000 acres (40,000 ha; 155 sq mi) on the park land alone. By the end of the month, the fires were out of control. Large fires burned together, and on August 20, 1988, the single worst day of the fires, more than 150,000 acres (61,000 ha; 230 sq mi) were consumed. Seven large fires were responsible for 95% of the 793,000 acres (321,000 ha; 1,239 sq mi) that were burned over the next couple of months. A total of 25,000 firefighters and U.S. military forces participated in the suppression efforts, at a cost of 120 million dollars. By the time winter brought snow that helped extinguish the last flames, the fires had destroyed 67 structures and caused several million dollars in damage. Though no civilian lives were lost, two personnel associated with the firefighting efforts were killed.
Contrary to media reports and speculation at the time, the fires killed very few park animals— surveys indicated that only about 345 elk (of an estimated 40,000–50,000), 36 deer, 12 moose, 6 black bears, and 9 bison had perished. Changes in fire management policies were implemented by land management agencies throughout the United States, based on knowledge gained from the 1988 fires and the evaluation of scientists and experts from various fields. By 1992, Yellowstone had adopted a new fire management plan which observed stricter guidelines for the management of natural fires.
from Wikipedia
February
Labors of the month February in many ways replicate scenes from the January composition. The scene usually shows a male figure, sometimes sitting in a chair, and warming himself by the fire. His hands are nearly always facing the fire, and in some cases he is removing his shoes which he also warms with the heat. In some occasions, the scene depicts an outdoor landscape with a man cutting trees with an axe, trimming vine or digging in the field.
Link to the Labors of the month February set.
Link to the "Labors of the months" collection.
Manuscript title: Codex Schürstab
Origin: Nürnberg (Germany)
Period: 15th century
Image source: Zürich, Zentralbibliothek, Ms. C 54, p. 7r – Codex Schürstab (www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/zbz/C0054/7r)
In replicating this fifth-gen stealth fighter, I was aiming for:
– Smooth: nearly studless in form.
– Integrated: packing in a host of features.
– Fresh: incorporating new pieces and techniques.
and of course, purist! (at least, for now; I may experiment with designing some Marine Corps liveries on waterslide decals for mere aesthetic decoration that denotes the squadron affiliation…)
The 1:40 scale replica includes:
– Opening cockpit that holds pilot, control panel, and joystick
– Hidden weapon bays in fuselage for stealth missions
– Optional exterior loadout for air-to-ground attacks
– Retracting landing gear that supports the model
– Opening flaps, rotating fan blades, and tilting vector nozzle for VTOL
– Stable Technic display stand and brick-built name plaque.
This is the first MOC I’ve finished in about five years (during which I completed my university degree, got my full-time career job, moved out, got married, and a few other things), after working on it off-and-on for at least three years. [The real-life aircraft has suffered from its own extensive delays in design / production, so I guess it could be worse where my LEGO one is concerned. XD]
A big thank-you to everyone who has inspired me along the way, including special acknowledgements to AFOL friends like the Chiles family and Eli Willsea for helping rekindle my joy in the hobby; Brickmania, for showing me a few new hinge techniques that I incorporated during these last few months of the design process; and especially my lovely wife Natalie who, bless her heart, has allowed the dining room of our tiny apartment to serve as my building studio and encouraged me to use it more often as such!
Let me know what you guys think!
Phew.
By request, here’s a quick guide to replicating this on Unix. The one nonstandard tool you’ll need is GDAL, which most package managers know about. You’ll also want something that works with images; imagemagick is fine. Also, we’ll be doing a lot of bulk i/o, so if one of your drives is faster, do this project on it and save several minutes of looking at progress meters. Watch out for Flickr mangling my sh, and tweet at me if you spot bugs.
Part 1: The elevation data
We’ll use CGIAR’s 5°×5° dataset, which is overkill, but that’s how we do. You can use their handy Google Earth layer to find the data cells we need, which turn out to be column 12, rows 2–4 inclusive; 13, rows 2–4; 14, rows 2–4; and 15, row 4. Copying one of the GeoTIFF download links from the KML’s popup, we find we can get them like this:
$ curl -O 'http://srtm.geog.kcl.ac.uk/portal/srtm41/srtm_data_geotiff/srtm_{12_02,12_03,12_04,13_02,13_03,13_04,14_02,14_03,14_04,15_04}.zip'
If you’re willing to give up your data’s chain of custody, you can do a web search for one of the file names and find other sources, some of them faster than KCL.
Unzip the data. You can remove the *.txt, *.hdr, and *.tfw files, so we’re left with 10 GeoTIFFs and nothing else. We merge them into a single GeoTIFF:
$ gdal_merge.py srtm*.tif -o main.tiff
Mine is 843892 kB and has a $(shasum) of 0a3b92fb5ccd60951df6c459aadd167bc397d425.
Part 2: The cutline
If you find a better way of doing this step, leave a comment, because it’s ridiculous. The version presented here is several hours faster than what I originally did, but no less kludgy.
We want the data in MVBCRB. Unfortunately, it’s not an outline (a single ordered sequence of points), it’s a series of several dozen outline segments. Geometrically, it’s a handful of curves in no particular order that happen to share endpoints. But sharing endpoints means we can join them into a single polygon if we’re willing to suffer a little.
Grab the KML version of this that André Coleman put up. It’s relatively cleaned up and saves us some preparation steps:
$ curl -O webpages.charter.net/zeeland/crws.kml
If you look in there (watch out, it’s almost a megabyte), you’ll see that the overall polygon is defined as a bunch of LineString elements, and that the coordinates of these elements happen to be the only lines that start with “-”. So we can extract them like this:
$ grep '^-' crws.kml > linestrings
Super gross but super effective. Now the linestrings file has 65 lines containing point series in the format “lat,lon,ele ”*. Take this and run it like this:
$ python linesplice.py linestrings > cutline.kml
This will join the 65 individual lines into a single line based on shared endpoints. It’s purpose-built around the perfect overlaps of this dataset, so if you use it on anything else, do some fuzzy matching or risk an infinite loop.
Part 3: Rendering
We’ll use gdalwarp to do three important things at once: (1) reproject the data to Oregon Lambert (EPSG 2993), a fairly conservative choice; (2) make the file smaller, because right now it’s 24000×18000 and that’s ridiculous, and (3) mask out everything outside the Columbia River Basin. (I won’t describe all the minor flags I pass the gdal tools; look them up if curious.)
$ gdalwarp -r cubicspline -multi -t_srs EPSG:2993 -ts 8000 0 -cutline cutline.kml main.tiff proj.tiff
We’re on the home stretch. Now let’s do a hillshade image (sun azumith of 200°, vertical exaggeration of 3×):
$ gdaldem hillshade -compute_edges -az 200 -z 3 proj.tiff shade.tiff
This is the first thing we’ve made that’s actually intelligible to look at, so pull it up. It should look correct but bland.
Now some hypsometric tints – Leonardo da Vinci’s most important invention. Make a text file called, say, height.txt and put something like this in it:
3000 255 255 255
1500 10 80 20
500 150 150 100
1 20 100 80
0 0 0 0
The first column is an elevation (in meters) and the next three are the R, G, and B of the color you want that elevation to be. It interpolates smoothly for you. I picked this palette to suggest general land use: floodplain-type stuff down low, then amber waves of grain, woods in the hills, and rock and snow up high. Tinkering with these colors is a lot of fun. Now we make a hypsometry layer:
$ gdaldem color-relief proj.tiff height.txt color.tiff
Now merge the files. You can do fancy stuff with overlay compositing, but a simple average looks pretty good:
$ convert -average shade.tiff color.tiff merged.tiff
Convert will kvetch about TIFF tags it doesn’t recognize, which is fine; we no longer need the georeference data. You might also want to crop the image a bit, since it still reaches the bounding box of all the topo data we downloaded:
$ convert -trim merged.tiff trimmed.tiff
You now have something that differs only in incidental ways like color choice from the above image.
The main things I would do to improve this workflow are (1) find or make a better cutline, (2) handle null data better (look at the mouth of the Columbia – ugh), and (3) cut after hillshading, so the edge of the watershed doesn’t get shading.
If you have improvements – those or others – please comment.
via Tumblr.
Handcrafted by lithic (stone) artifact replication specialist, Jay Valente, this stone knife exemplifies stone-age craftsmanship and utility. Like all of his lithic work, this is a premium high-grade museum quality replica and there was special attention given to historical accuracy and authenticity in its creation. Jay’s work has been featured for sale in the largest Native American museum in the world and both his lithic replicas and his lithic artifact consultation services have been touted by esteemed archaeologists and historical preservation offices alike.
Modeled after Native American stone blades and spear points of the paleo and time periods (about 12,000 to 9,000 years before present), this work utilizes a random flaking pattern and lancolate fluted “clovis” style.
From conception to completion, Jay traces the footsteps and actions of the ancient people. He selected a high quality stone of novaculite and brought it home to be cooked under a wood fire for several days. Unlike other stone knives or stone arrowheads you might find on eBay or Etsy, this is not a mass produced, machine cut or drilled product. It is entirely handcrafted. The raw stone was then flintknapped and pressure flaked with a deer antler and rock hammerstone using traditional primitive techniques and methods. The stone blade was then hafted onto an azalea branch. The novaculite blade is secured to the wooden handle with elk gut cordage and a pine pitch glue recipe.
This knife represents a rare feat of flintknapping skill. Using quality stone and primitive, traditional flintknapping methods he crafted this novaculite stone knife with historical considerations and authenticity of process in mind.
For the discerning collector or primitive technology enthusiast, look no further for a high-grade stone-age replica knife. This historical reproduction makes for a stunning educational or decorative display, however, it is sharp and sturdy enough to be used as well; perhaps as a stone skinning knife, or a stone survival bushcraft knife.
#crafts #paleoindian #arrowheads #knives #spears #ancientknowledge #chert #novaculite #flintknapping ift.tt/2f8E8Oq
Yes! it's self-glorification time again... yeah, i'm a shite when comes to resisting the temptation of self-glorification...*sigh*
Anyway, this shot is very much inspired by the up-coming movie TRON LEGACY.
two SB600's were used. an umbrella-diffused SB600 was set at 8 o'clock and another one non-diffused at 2 o'clock to the subject. both at full intensity. original background was white wall. This is for easy extraction later on.
On editing, photoshp CS3 were used. The subject outline is extracted using "extract" feature and was then pasted on dark cloud picture which was taken a day earlier. Photo filter with blue color was used to give that bluish hues to the image. then the glowing TRON stripes were manually drawn along the seam of my Adidas TechFit training shirt - all on a new layer. This layer were then set with outer-glow option to give that glowing look. And the result is like the above.
An artist spends time in front of a large painting to reproduce a classic piece of artwork, oblivious to the other museum visitors passing through this hall.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 with M. Zuiko 12-40 f/2.8
Replicating the scene out of the brilliant movie Love, Actually, in which a young Andrew Lincoln serenades an equally young Keira Knightley with giant cue cards. In this case I have used insults from a couple of Shakespeare's plays as the messages, although they are very unlikely to woo the fair hand of the damsel.
We're Here looks at I believe in holidays & other calendrical observances.