A few more iterations of my "Think Tank" (tachikoma) design using Hero Factory parts. I know they stretch the definition of a "Think Tank", as the body segmentation is more implied than well defined, nor are the sensor eyes pronounced in some (except for the "Scanner", of course), but think all they might still fit into the GiTS anime universe...

These are a selection of Sminthurididae I found on a small patch of ground (The Arena) at Wilford Claypit on Sunday. There are absolutely loads of these ground dwelling Collembola about at the moment, you just have to find a patch of ground and get down to their level. I think that the change in weather and plentiful precipitation is helping to produce an ideal environment for these.

In the image above I have put together a selection of finds, I have also numbered each image, images 1-2 might be Stenacidia violacea (not 100% on that), images 3-4 I'm not sure about (could be a pale colour form Sminthurides schoetti), now 5-8 are all the same species of Sminthurides (S. signatus or S. schoetti?) and finally images 9-10 are a courting pair of the latter. In the first 4 images I can't make out any further segmentation of the 4th antennal segment, in the other 6 images there is segmentation of the 4th antennal segment. All of the above are less than 1mm long, the ones from 5-10 were about 0.5mm.

I'm always amazed at what can be found at this level, a world I never new existed for so many years, to think these fabulous creatures are living their lives and very few people even know of their existence.

VIEW LARGE and MORE IN COMMENTS

A few more iterations of my "Think Tank" (tachikoma) design using Hero Factory parts. I know they stretch the definition of a "Think Tank", as the body segmentation is more implied than well defined, nor are the sensor eyes pronounced in some (except for the "Scanner", of course), but think all they might still fit into the GiTS anime universe...

Note the segmentation of the bark on the branches.

C. J.R. Devaney

The soldier beetles, Cantharidae, are relatively soft-bodied, straight sided beetles, related to the Lampyridae or firefly family, but being unable to produce light. They are cosmopolitan in distribution. One common British species is bright red, reminding people of the red coats of soldiers, hence the common name. A secondary common name is leatherwing, obtained from the texture of the wing covers.

Historically, these beetles were placed in a superfamily "Cantharoidea", which has been subsumed by the superfamily Elateroidea; the name is still sometimes used as a rankless grouping, including the families Cantharidae, Drilidae, Lampyridae, Lycidae, Omalisidae, Omethidae, Phengodidae (which includes Telegeusidae), and Rhagophthalmidae.

Soldier beetles are highly desired by gardeners as biological control agents of a number of pest insects. The larvae tend to be dark brown or gray, slender and wormlike with a rippled appearance due to pronounced segmentation. They consume grasshopper eggs, aphids, caterpillars and other soft bodied insects, most of which are pests.

The adults are especially important predators of aphids. They supplement their diet with nectar and pollen and can be minor pollinators. Soldier beetle populations can be increased by planting good nectar- or pollen-producing plants such as Asclepias or Solidago.

best viewed LARGE:

www.flickr.com/photos/rundstedt/4122056716/sizes/l/

*Thanks to phoebedslr for identifying this beetle.

If you zoom in on the head of this eusocial wasp, you'll find that it has a drop of water on top of it.

As for species, it looks a bit odd with the more brown than black segmentation on the abdomen, but given the markings on the face and everything, I still think this is a common wasp (Vespula vulgaris) and not one of the other eleven eusocial species in Sweden.

I found it stationary on a leaf on a windy day close to the beach near my mom's summer house in Värmdö, Sweden.

Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53691819359/

In her current exhibition entitled The Evidence of Things Not Seen at Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart, North American artist Carrie Mae Weems, born in 1953, asks us to join her in exploring blind spots in (contemporary) history. For around 40 years, she has been investigating prevailing historical representations of events and uncovering the ways in which these are constructed and projected in politics, science, art, mass media, photography and architecture. By deliberately seeking out specific sites or re-enacting selected historical realities, she exposes the narratives of marginalized groups and thus uses her art to present us with narratives that have been neglected in contemporary historiography. These gaps, to which the exhibition title alludes, are created by dominant power structures, social segmentation in urban planning or quite simply by racism; the latter theme is at the center of Carrie Mae Weems' extensive photo projects, videos and installations. However, she juxtaposes the long history of violence against people of color with the equally long history of resistance, analyzing both aspects with keen insight.

In 2014, Carrie Mae Weems was the first black American artist to organize a retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Weems' work has long been known beyond the art scene in the USA. It is high time that this powerful, political work was presented to a wider public in Europe!

Olympus digital camera

Millipedes have very poor – sometimes nonexistent – eyesight, and sense their way around using their short, segmented antennae, which continually tap the ground as they move along; millipedes are very clean creatures, spend a lot of time cleaning and polishing various parts of their body, and have a special brush-like group of hairs on the 2nd or 3rd pair of their legs which they use to clean their antennae

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American Giant Millipede – 2020SEP27 – Charlotte, NC

Look what I found! A Giant Millipede, Narceus americanus: it grows twice as large as any other North American millipede, a cylindrical millipede (distinguished from flat millipedes), dark reddish-brown or black, a red line on each segmente edge; like all millipedes, they have 2 pairs of legs on most segments, rather than 1 pair of legs on each segment (like a centipede).

Does it bite? No (uniike a centipede). What about cyanide? Although not this species, some secrete hydrogen cyanide, quite poisonous. Remember, millipedes are toxic – but as long as they are not eaten, hands washed after touching them, they're pretty harmless; however, many have a defensive secretion, benzoquinone, that can cause chemical burns on human skin, generally mild, but powerful enough to cause temporary skin discoloration, itching, and blisters – some millipedes’ secretions are much more powerful, though.

The division of an animal into repeating body parts is called segmentation, clearly seen in millipedes, the word meaning “one thousand foot;” despite that name, millipedes with the most legs come up shy of the 1,000-leg mark, only about 750.

Hope you enjoy the 10% of 99 captures I took here this day!

Well the mystery is I don't know what species of Sminthurides this is. I found this one on the same stick as the Ceratophysella denticulata. It was found by the edge of a very soggy and muddy field.

This one was about 0.6mm long and a plainish yellow in colour with no discernable markings, there does not appear to be any segmentation of the 4th antennal segment. I have included a selection of extra images in the comments for your viewing pleasure :o) I'm pretty sure it's a Sminthurides species, as it has that look to it, the reddened ends of antennae and general appearance, this is also a female :o)

Possibly a juvenile female Sminthurides aquaticus, thanks Frans :0)

Taken with my MP-E at x5 magnification on 72mm of extension tubes using an F/7.1 aperture :o)

VIEW ON BLACK

LaSalle was a brand of automobiles manufactured and marketed by General Motors' Cadillac division from 1927 through 1940. Alfred P. Sloan developed the concept for LaSalle and certain other General Motors' marques in order to fill pricing gaps he perceived in the General Motors product portfolio. Sloan created LaSalle as a companion marque for Cadillac. LaSalle automobiles were manufactured by Cadillac, but were priced lower than Cadillac-branded automobiles and were marketed as the second-most prestigious marque in the General Motors portfolio.

Like Cadillac, the LaSalle brand name was based on that of a French explorer, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle

he LaSalle had its beginnings when General Motors' CEO, Alfred P. Sloan, noticed that his carefully crafted market segmentation program was beginning to develop price gaps in which General Motors had no products to sell.[citation needed] In an era where automotive brands were somewhat restricted to building a specific car per model year, Sloan surmised that the best way to bridge the gaps was to develop "companion" marques that could be sold through the current sales network.[citation needed]

As originally developed by Sloan, General Motors' market segmentation strategy placed each of the company's individual automobile marques into specific price points, called the General Motors Companion Make Program. The Chevrolet was designated as the entry level product. Next, (in ascending order), came the Oakland, Oldsmobile, Viking, Marquette, Buick, and ultimately, the Cadillac. By the 1920s, certain General Motors products began to shift out of the plan as the products improved and engine advances were made.[citation needed]

Under the companion marque stragegy, the gap between the Chevrolet and the Oakland would be filled by a new marque named Pontiac, a quality six-cylinder car designed to sell for the price of a four-cylinder. The wide gap between Oldsmobile and Buick would be filled by two companion marques: Oldsmobile was assigned the up-market V8 engine Viking and Buick was assigned the more compact six-cylinder Marquette. Cadillac, which had seen its base prices soar in the heady 1920s, was assigned the LaSalle as a companion marque to fill the gap that existed between it and Buick.

...or architectural vertebra?

View On Black

A millipede's primary defence mechanism is to curl into a tight coil, protecting its delicate legs and other vital areas on the underside of its soft vulnerable body behind a armored exoskeleton covered hardened plates called tergites

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American Giant Millipede – 2020SEP27 – Charlotte, NC

Look what I found! A Giant Millipede, Narceus americanus: it grows twice as large as any other North American millipede, a cylindrical millipede (distinguished from flat millipedes), dark reddish-brown or black, a red line on each segmente edge; like all millipedes, they have 2 pairs of legs on most segments, rather than 1 pair of legs on each segment (like a centipede).

Does it bite? No (uniike a centipede). What about cyanide? Although not this species, some secrete hydrogen cyanide, quite poisonous. Remember, millipedes are toxic – but as long as they are not eaten, hands washed after touching them, they're pretty harmless; however, many have a defensive secretion, benzoquinone, that can cause chemical burns on human skin, generally mild, but powerful enough to cause temporary skin discoloration, itching, and blisters – some millipedes’ secretions are much more powerful, though.

The division of an animal into repeating body parts is called segmentation, clearly seen in millipedes, the word meaning “one thousand foot;” despite that name, millipedes with the most legs come up shy of the 1,000-leg mark, only about 750.

Hope you enjoy the 10% of 99 captures I took here this day!

This photo of an opened oviduct with an ectopic pregnancy features a spectacularly well preserved 10-millimeter embryo. It is uncommon to see any embryo at all in an ectopic, and for one to be this well preserved (and undisturbed by the prosector's knife) is quite unusual.

Even an embryo this tiny shows very distinct anatomic features, including tail, limb buds, heart (which actually protrudes from the chest), eye cups, cornea/lens, brain, and prominent segmentation into somites. The gestational sac is surrounded by a myriad of chorionic villi resembling elongate party balloons. This embryo is about five weeks old (or seven weeks in the biologically misleading but eminently practical dating system used in obstetrics).

The photo was taken on Kodak Elite 200 slide film, with a Minolta X-370 camera and 100mm f/4 Rokkor bellows lens at near-full extension. The formalin-fixed specimen was immersed in tapwater and pinned to a tray lined with black velvet. The exposure was 1/4 second at f/8.

This image found its way to Wikipedia and on 29 Nov 2006 was promoted to the status of Featured Picture. It was Wikipedia's Picture of the Day for March 21, 2007.

More recently, I added an image of a nine-week embryo to my Photostream. What a difference two weeks makes!

Going backwards in time, I have an image of a 4- to 5-week embryo, which I also found in a tubal pregnancy.

Historical research reveals that diverse political rationalities have framed the political means and objectives of state frontiers and borders, just as the difficult work of making borders actual has drawn upon a great variety of technologies

The single word ”border” conceals a multiplicity and implies a constancy where genealogical investigation uncovers mutation and descent. Historical research reveals that diverse political rationalities have framed the political means and objectives of state frontiers and borders, just as the difficult work of making borders actual has drawn upon a great variety of technologies and heterogeneous administrative practices, ranging from maps of the territory, the creation of specialized border officials, and architectures of fortification to today’s experimentation with bio- digitalized forms of surveillance. This chapter argues that we are witnessing a novel development within this history of borders and border-making, what I want to call the emergence of the humanitarian border. While a great deal has been written about the militarization, securitization and fortification of borders today, there is far less consideration of the humanitarianization of borders. But if the investment of border regimes by biometric technologies rightly warrants being treated as an event within the history of the making and remaking of borders (Amoore 2006), then arguably so too does the reinvention of the border as a space of humanitarian government.

Under what conditions are we seeing the rise of humanitarian borders? The emergence of the humanitarian border goes hand in hand with the move which has made state frontiers into privileged symbolic and regulatory instruments within strategies of migration control. It is part of a much wider trend that has been dubbed the ”rebordering” of political and territorial space (Andreas and Biersteker 2003). The humanitarian border emerges once it becomes established that border crossing has become, for thousands of migrants seeking, for a variety of reasons, to access the territories of the global North, a matter of life and death. It crystallizes as a way of governing this novel and disturbing situation,and compensating for the social violence embodied in the regime of migration control.The idea of a humanitarian border might sound at first counterintuitive or even oxymoronic. After all, we often think of contemporary humanitarianism as a force that, operating in the name of the universal but endangered subject of humanity, transcends the walled space of the inter-national system. This is, of course, quite valid. Yet it would be a mistake to draw any simple equation between humanitarian projects and what Deleuze and Guattari would call logics of deterritoralization. While humanitarian programmes might unsettle certain norms of statehood, it is important to recognize the ways in which the exercise of humanitarian power is connected to the actualization of new spaces. Whether by its redefinition of certain locales as humanitarian ”zones” and crises as ”emergencies” (Calhoun 2004), the authority it confers on certain experts to move rapidly across networks of aid and intervention, or its will to designate those populating these zones as ”victims,” it seems justified to follow Debrix’s (1998) observation that humanitarianism implies reterritorialization on top of deterritorialization. Humanitarian zones can materialize in various situations – in conflict zones, amidst the relief of famine, and against the backdrop of state failure. But the case that interests me in what follows is a specific one: a situation where the actual borders of states and gateways to the territory become themselves zones of humanitarian government. Understanding the consequences of this is paramount, since it has an important bearing on what is often termed the securitization of borders and citizenship.

Foucault and Frontiers

It is probably fair to say that the theme of frontiers is largely absent from the two courses that are today read together as Foucault’s lectures on ”governmentality” (Foucault 1991; 2007; 2008). This is not to suggest that frontiers receive no mention at all. Within these lectures we certainly encounter passing remarks on the theme. For instance, Foucault speaks at one point of ”the administrative state, born in the territoriality of national boundaries in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and corresponding to a society of regulation and discipline” (Foucault 1991: 104).1 Elsewhere, he notes how the calculation and demarcation of new frontiers served as one of the practical elements of military-diplomatic technology, a machine he associates with the government of Europe in the image of a balance of power and according to the governmental logic of raison d’état. ”When the diplomats, the ambassadors who negotiated the treaty of Westphalia, received instructions from their government, they were explicitly advised to ensure that the new frontiers, the distribution of states, the new relationships to be established between the German states and the Empire, and the zones of influence of France, Sweden, and Austria be established in terms of a principle: to maintain a balance between the different European states” (Foucault 2007: 297).

But these are only hints of what significance the question of frontiers might have within the different technologies of power which Foucault sought to analyze. They are only fragmentary reflections on the place borders and frontiers might occupy within the genealogy of the modern state which Foucault outlines with his research into governmentality.2

Why was Foucault apparently not particularly interested in borders when he composed these lectures? One possible answer is suggested by Elden’s careful and important work on power-knowledge and territory. Elden takes issue with Foucault for the way in which he discusses territorial rule largely as a foil which allows him to provide a more fully-worked out account of governmentality and its administration of population. Despite the fact that the term appears prominently in the title of Foucault’s lectures, ”the issue of territory continually emerges only to be repeatedly marginalized, eclipsed, and underplayed” (Elden 2007: 1). Because Foucault fails to reckon more fully with the many ways in which the production of territory – and most crucially its demarcation by practices of frontier marking and control – serves as a precondition for the government of population, it is not surprising that the question of frontiers occupies little space in his narrative.But there is another explanation for the relative absence of questions of frontiers in Foucault’s writing on governmentality. And here we have to acknowledge that, framed as it is previously, this is a problematic question. For it risks the kind of retrospective fallacy which projects a set of very contemporary issues and concerns onto Foucault’s time. It is probably fair to speculate that frontiers and border security was not a political issue during the 1970s in the way that it is today in many western states. ”Borders” had yet to be constituted as a sort of meta-issue, capable of condensing a whole complex of political fears and concerns, including globalization, the loss of sovereignty, terrorism, trafficking and unchecked immigration. The question of the welfare state certainly was an issue, perhaps even a meta-issue, when Foucault was lecturing, and it is perhaps not coincidental that he should devote so much space to the examination of pastoralism. But not the border. The point is not to suggest that Foucault’s work evolved in close,

Humanitarian Government

Before I address the question of the humanitarian border, it is necessary to explain what I understand by the humanitarian. Here my thinking has been shaped by recent work that engages the humanitarian not as a set of ideas and ideologies, nor simply as the activity of certain nongovernmental actors and organizations, but as a complex domain possessing specific forms of governmental reason. Fassin’s work on this theme is particularly important. Fassin demonstrates that humanitarianism can be fruitfully connected to the broader field of government which Foucault outlined, where government is not a necessary attribute of states but a rationalized activity than can be carried out by all sorts of agents, in various contexts, and towards multiple ends. At its core, ”Humanitarian government can be defined as the administration of human collectivities in the name of a higher moral principle which sees the preservation of life and the alleviation of suffering as the highest value of action” (Fassin 2007: 151). As he goes on to stress, the value of such a definition is that we do not see a particular state, or a non-state form such as a nongovernmental organization, as the necessary agent of humanitarian action. Instead, it becomes possible to think in terms of a complex assemblage, comprising particular forms of humanitarian.reason, specific forms of authority (medical, legal, spiritual) but also certain technologies of government – such as mechanisms for raising funds and training volunteers, administering aid and shelter, documenting injustice, and publicizing abuse. Seen from this angle humanitarianism appears as a much more supple, protean thing. Crucially, it opens up our ability to perceive ”a broader political and moral logic at work both within and outside state forms” (ibid.).

If the humanitarian can be situated in relation to the analytics of government, it can also be contextualized in relation to the biopolitical. ”Not only did the last century see the emergence of regimes committed to the physical destruction of populations,” observes Redfield, ”but also of entities devoted to monitoring and assisting populations in maintaining their physical existence, even while protesting the necessity of such an action and the failure of anyone to do much more than this bare minimum” (2005: 329). It is this ”minimalist biopolitics,” as Redfield puts it, that will be so characteristic of the humanitarian. And here the accent should be placed on the adjective “minimalist” if we are not to commit the kind of move which I criticized above, namely collapsing everything new into existing Foucauldian categories. It is important to regard contemporary humanitarianism as a novel formation and a site of ambivalence and undecideability, and not just as one more instance of what Hardt and Negri (2000) might call global “biopolitical production.”The Birth of the Humanitarian Border

In a press release issued on June 29, 2007, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) publicized a visit which its then Director General, Brunson McKinley, was about to make to a ”reception centre for migrants” on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa (IOM 2007). The Director General is quoted as saying: ”Many more boats will probably arrive on Lampedusa over the summer with their desperate human cargo and we have to ensure we can adequately respond to their immediate needs.... This is why IOM will continue to work closely with the Italian government, the Italian Red Cross, UNHCR and other partners to provide appropriate humanitarian responses to irregular migrants and asylum seekers reaching the island.”

The same press release observes that IOM’s work with its ”partners” was part of a wider effort to improve the administration of the ”reception” (the word ”detention” is conspicuously absent) and ”repatriation” of ”irregular migrants” in Italy. Reception centers were being expanded, and problems of overcrowding alleviated. The statement goes on to observe that IOM had opened its office on Lampedusa in April 2006. Since that time ”Forced returns from Lampedusa [had] stopped.”

Lampedusa is a small Italian island located some 200 km south of Sicily and 300 km to the north of Libya. Its geographical location provides a clue as to how it is that in 2004 this Italian outpost first entered the spotlight of European and even world public attention, becoming a potent signifier for anxieties about an international migration crisis (Andrijasevic 2006). For it was then that this Italian holiday destination became the main point of arrival for boats carrying migrants from Libya to Italy. That year more than 10,000 migrants are reported to have passed through the ”temporary stay and assistance centre” (CPTA) the Italian state maintains on the island. The vast majority had arrived in overcrowded, makeshift boats after a perilous sea journey lasting up to several weeks. Usually these boats

are intercepted in Italian waters by the Italian border guards and the migrants transferred to the holding center on the island. Following detention, which can last for more than a month, they are either transferred to other CPTAs in Sicily and southern Italy, or expelled to Libya.Finally, there is a point to be made about humanitarianism, power and order. Those looking to locate contemporary humanitarianism within a bigger picture would perhaps follow the lead of Hardt and Negri. As these theorists of ”Empire” see things, NGOs like Amnesty International and Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) are, contrary to their own best intentions, implicated in global order. As agents of ”moral intervention” who, because they participate in the construction of emergency, ”prefigure the state of exception from below,” these actors serve as the preeminent ”frontline force of imperial intervention.” As such, Hardt and Negri see humanitarianism as ”completely immersed in the biopolitical context of the constitution of Empire” (Hardt and Negri 2000: 36).Humanitarianism, Borders, Politics

Foucauldian writing about borders has mirrored the wider field of governmentality studies in at least one respect. While it has produced some fascinating and insightful accounts of contemporary strategies and technologies of border-making and border policing, it has tended to confine its attention to official and often state-sanctioned projects. Political dynamics and political acts have certainly not been ignored. But little attention has been paid to the possibility that politics and resistance operate not just in an extrinsic relationship to contemporary regimes, but within them.12 To date this literature has largely failed to view politics as something constitutive and productive of border regimes and technologies. That is to say, there is little appreciation of the ways in which movements of opposition, and those particular kinds of resistance which Foucault calls ”counter conduct,” can operate not externally to modes of bordering but by means of ”a series of exchanges” and ”reciprocal supports” (Foucault 2007: 355).

There is a certain paradox involved when we speak of Foucault and frontiers. In certain key respects it could be said that Foucault is one of our most eminent and original theorists of bordering. For at the heart of one of his most widely read works – namely Discipline and Punish – what does one

find if not the question of power and how its modalities should be studied by focusing on practices of partitionment, segmentation, division, enclosure; practices that will underpin the ordering and policing of ever more aspects of the life of populations from the nineteenth century onwards. But while Foucault is interested in a range of practices which clearly pertain to the question of bordering understood in a somewhat general sense, one thing the reading of his lectures on security, governmentality and biopolitics reveals is that he had little to say explicitly about the specific forms of bordering associated with the government of the state. To put it differently, Foucault dealt at length with what we might call the microphysics of bordering, but much less with the place of borders considered at the level of tactics and strategies of governmentality.Recent literature has begun to address this imbalance, demonstrating that many of Foucault’s concepts are useful and important for understanding what kinds of power relations and governmental regimes are at stake in contemporary projects which are re-making state borders amidst renewed political concerns over things like terrorism and illegal immigration. However, the overarching theme of this chapter has been the need for caution when linking Foucault’s concepts to the study of borders and frontiers today. While analytics like biopolitics, discipline and neoliberalism offer all manner of insights, we need to avoid the trap which sees Foucault’s toolbox as something ready-made for any given situation. The challenge of understanding the emergent requires the development of new theoretical tools, not to mention the sharpening of older, well-used implements. With this end in mind the chapter has proposed the idea of the humanitarian border as a way of registering an event within the genealogy of the frontier, but also, although I have not developed it here, within the genealogy of citizenship.

What I have presented previously is only a very cursory overview of certain features of the humanitarianization of borders, most notably its inscription within regimes of knowledge, and its constitutive relationship to politics. In future research it would be interesting to undertake a fuller mapping of the humanitarian border in relation to certain trajectories of government. While we saw how themes of biopolitical and neoliberal government are pertinent in understanding the contemporary management of spaces like the detention center, it would seem especially relevant to consider the salience of pastoralism. Pastoral power has received far less attention within studies of governmentality than, say, discipline or liberal government (but see Dean 1999; Golder 2007; Hindess 1996; Lippert 2004). But here again, I suspect, it will be important to revise our concepts in the light of emergent practices and rationalities. For the ways in which NGOs and humanitarians engage in the governance of migrants and refugees today have changed quite significantly from the kinds of networks of care, self-examination and salvation which Foucault identified with pastoralism. For instance, and to take but one example, the pastoral care of migrants, whether in situations of sanctuary or detention, is not organized as a life-encompassing, permanent activity as it was for the church, or later, in a secular version, the welfare state. Instead, it is a temporary and ad hoc intervention. Just as Foucault’s notion of neo-liberalism was intended to register important transformations within the genealogy of liberal government, it may prove useful to think in terms of the neo-pastoral when we try to make better sense of the phenomenon of humanitarian government at/of borders, and of many other situations as well.

williamwalters.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/2011-Foucau...

Griffes-de-sorcières

Carpobrotus edulis est une espèce de plante grasse de la famille des Aizoaceae. En français, elle est appelée Croc de sorcière, Griffe de sorcière, Doigt de sorcière, Doigt de fée, Ficoïde comestible ou Figuier des Hottentots. Son fruit est comestible.

Originaire d'Afrique du Sud, elle fut importée en Amérique et en Europe au début du XXe siècle pour l'ornement et pour la stabilisation des sols. De nos jours, elle est considérée comme invasive dans un certain nombre de pays connaissant un climat méditerranéen.

Although it may have arrived by ship as early as the 16th century,[7] [8] C. edulis was actively introduced in the early 1900s to stabilize dunes[7] and soil along railroad tracks; it was later put to use by Caltrans for ground cover along freeway embankments.[7] Thousands of acres were planted in California until the 1970s. It easily spreads by seed (hundreds per fruit) and from segmentation (any shoot segment can produce roots). Its succulent foliage, bright magenta or yellow flowers, and resistance to some harsh coastal climatic conditions (salt) have also made it a favored garden plant. The ice plant was, for several decades, widely promoted as an ornamental plant, and it is still available at some nurseries. Ice plant foliage can turn a vibrant red to yellow in color. Despite its use as a soil stabilizer, it actually exacerbates and speeds up coastal erosion. It holds great masses of water in its leaves, and its roots are very shallow. In the rainy season, the added weight on unstable sandstone slopes and dunes increases the chances of slope collapse and landslides.

The ice plant forms large monospecific zones.

The ice plant is still abundant along highways, beaches, on military bases, and in other public and private landscapes. It spreads beyond landscape plantings and has invaded foredune, dune scrub, coastal bluff scrub, coastal prairie, and, most recently, maritime chaparral communities. In California, the ice plant is found in coastal habitats from north of Eureka, south at least as far as Rosarito in Baja California. It is intolerant of frost, and is not found far inland or at elevations greater than about 500 ft (150 m).source wikipédia

Tunicate, also known as urochordata, tunicata (and by the common names of urochordates, sea squirts, and sea pork[1]) is a subphylum of a group of underwater saclike filter feeders with incurrent and excurrent siphons, that are members of the phylum Chordata. Most tunicates feed by filtering sea water through pharyngeal slits, but some are sub-marine predators such as the Megalodicopia hians. Like other chordates, tunicates have a notochord during their early development, but lack myomeric segmentation throughout the body and tail as adults. Tunicates lack the kidney-like metanephridial organs, and the original coelom body-cavity develops into a pericardial cavity and gonads. Except for the pharynx, heart and gonads, the organs are enclosed in a membrane called an epicardium, which is surrounded by the jelly-like mesenchyme. Tunicates begin life in a mobile larval stage that resembles a tadpole, later developing into a barrel-like, sedentary adult form.

While most tunicates live on the ocean floor, salps, doliolids, and pyrosomes live above in the pelagic zone as adults.

Tunicates apparently evolved in the early Cambrian period, beginning c 540 million years ago. Despite their simple appearance, tunicates are closely related to vertebrates, which include fish and all land animals with bones.

Found that the way the aircraft shadow crept over the mound quite animated and fascinating, so tried to capture the segmentation form of the aircraft to imply the movement.

Abstract

To understand the evolutionary significance of geographic variation, one must identify the factors that generate phenotypic differences among populations. I examined the causes of geographic variation in and evolutionary history of number of trunk vertebrae in slender salamanders. Batrachoseps (Caudata: Plethodontidae). Number of trunk vertebrae varies at many taxonomic levels within Batrachoseps. Parallel clines in number occur along an environmental gradient in three lineages in the Coast Ranges of California. These parallel clines may signal either adaptation or a shared phenotypically plastic response to the environmental gradient. By raising eggs from 10 populations representing four species of Batrachoseps, I demonstrated that number of trunk vertebrae can be altered by the developmental temperature; however, the degree of plasticity is insufficient to account for geographic variation. Thus, the geographic variation results largely from genetic variation. Number of trunk vertebrae covaries with body size and shape in diverse vertebrate taxa, including Batrachoseps. I hypothesize that selection for different degrees of elongation, possibly related to fossoriality, has led to the extensive evolution of number of trunk vertebrae in Batrachoseps. Analysis of intrapopulational variation revealed sexual dimorphism in both body shape and number of trunk vertebrae, but no correlation between these variables in either sex. Females are more elongate than males, a pattern that has been attributed to fecundity selection in other taxa. Patterns of covariation among different classes of vertebrae suggest that some intrapopulational variation in number results from changes in vertebral identity rather than changes in segmentation.

Elizabeth L. Jockusch

Evolution

MORE INFORMATION

Images in this gallery were captured by:

Mark Smith M.S. Geoscientist mark@macroscopicsolutions.com

Daniel Saftner B.S. Geoscientist and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer daniel@macroscopicsolutions.com

Annette Evans Ph.D. Student at the University of Connecticut annette@macroscopicsolutions.com

I like this shot because in the thumb, our 22 pound cat MacDuff dominates the image and the flower is just a dark blob; while in large, MacDuff becomes an abstract blob while the detail and colors on the flower pop out.

From a Flickr strategic point of view, I am combining two icons, thereby getting BOTH the cat people and the flower people. If I somehow could have stuck a sunset, waterfall, and pretty lady in the shot too, this one would be really rockin.

A few thoughts about this picture. I liked the segmentation into contiguous regions in the image - the people, the buses and the buildings. Each region has its own characteristic geometry - the buildings characterised by strong vertical lines, the people by the stippling effect of the heads, and the buses snaking through and across the image. I liked the way the street lamps punctuate the space and seem like a race of aliens also passing through the square just like the people and the buses.

The Medina is the traditional city centre, meticulously planned back in the Middle Ages for easy access, segmentation of functions, and compactness - or what we now call ‘high density’.

The Medina embodies the main principles of sustainable development including a practical equality of status between people and their different economic roles and functions.

Cerceris australis

Family: Crabronidae

Order: Hymenoptera

Found on a Silky Pod Vine at the South Pacific Heathland reserve in Ulladulla NSW, Australia.

The wasp will paralyse its prey, usually beetles but sometimes bees, and carries them back to its nest with its mandibles. The prey is stored as provisions for the larvae. Nests are usually holes in soil.

In this genus, the segmentation of the abdomen is usually quite pronounced giving the abdomen an "accordion-like" appearance.

It has a pair of extra yellow markings on the mesoscutellum compared with a wasp I photographed in the same location, which only has a single yellow mark and which was identified as Cerceris australis. (I have separately posted pictures of a male which was photographed on the same day at the same location and on the same plant).

Note that males have seven segments to the abdomen. females have six.

Brett Smith advised the following: "You can also count the flagellomeres, 11 for male, 10 for female. This occurs with a huge raft of wasps ... most of those in the Apocrita sub-order, as discussed here:

www.ellura.info/Diptera-Hymenoptera.html..."

southernforestlife.net/notes/2025/cerceris-philanthinae

DSC07754 DSC07745 DSC07750

© All Rights Reserved. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my prior permission.

A millipede is a fairly docile arthropod – an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages – found worldwide, spending its time eating decomposing plant material, making it vital to the ecosystem

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American Giant Millipede – 2020SEP27 – Charlotte, NC

Look what I found! A Giant Millipede, Narceus americanus: it grows twice as large as any other North American millipede, a cylindrical millipede (distinguished from flat millipedes), dark reddish-brown or black, a red line on each segmente edge; like all millipedes, they have 2 pairs of legs on most segments, rather than 1 pair of legs on each segment (like a centipede).

Does it bite? No (uniike a centipede). What about cyanide? Although not this species, some secrete hydrogen cyanide, quite poisonous. Remember, millipedes are toxic – but as long as they are not eaten, hands washed after touching them, they're pretty harmless; however, many have a defensive secretion, benzoquinone, that can cause chemical burns on human skin, generally mild, but powerful enough to cause temporary skin discoloration, itching, and blisters – some millipedes’ secretions are much more powerful, though.

The division of an animal into repeating body parts is called segmentation, clearly seen in millipedes, the word meaning “one thousand foot;” despite that name, millipedes with the most legs come up shy of the 1,000-leg mark, only about 750.

Hope you enjoy the 10% of 99 captures I took here this day!

This work of Dutch glass artist Dorothé van Driel (1957-2006) has no title. In my view, she was the glass artist who really succeeded to ‘bring glass to life’ and create an expression of living glass. She did this by creating many of her objects through segmentation, an inherent property present in all living creatures. Moreover, this particular artwork has cracked over its segmental structure and over these cracks, the light penetrates into the object and brings it to life, as explained by the late Leonard Cohen. Seen in the garden of the Fundatie in Nijenhuis Castle in Heino (NL).

youtu.be/mX2xIW7Oa9c

One of several Lipothrix lubbocki collembola found under mature pine in Brede High Woods. Additional pictures below attempt to show sub-segmentation of fourth antennal segment, and blunt setae on body.

The creatures most correctly called daddy-longlegs are in their own separate Order which is Opiliones. Common names for this Order are 1) daddy-longlegs, 2) harvestmen and 3) opilionids. They are characterized by having one basic body segment which shows segmentation on the posterior portion, at most 2 eyes and all 8 legs attach to the pill-like body segment.

This is the largest man-made tourist attraction in the State of Colorado, USA. Opening in 1958, it has a Catholic Chapel for 500, Jewish Synagouge for 100 with stones literally from Israel, and a 1300 seat Protestant chapel up stairs. Visit Iceman9294's Awesome Photostream for other great images. This facility also performs weddings and funerals. It is designed with a triangular segmentation placed together and is inspired by the horizontal shpe of a fighter jet with a 90 degree vertical placement. The best part is that it is free to the public for viewing and without tour guides to allow for maximum viewing. Only advise, plan to see it on a weekday as Saturday Weddings and Sunday Services may prohibit your viewing opportunity.

The crease pattern for the Fairy Fly design. The grid is 60x60.

On the right side there is more detail along with the folded base to scale with the square. When I designed this there was extra paper around the antennae so I used it to make segmentation. I'd recommend using a very thin paper for this.

Texture from CGTextures.com

Outlines via GIMP GMIC Black Crayon Graffiti with black removed. Painterly effect via GIMP GMIC segmentation.

Hurried entry for 'Roid Week 2013, Day 1.

I like it a lot, when power cables segment the sky – do you, too?

Three Legged Cross, Dorset

COLLEMBOLA (Springtails) > ENTOMOBRYOMORPHA >

Tomoceridae > Pogonognathellus longicornis

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Hidden Worlds

COLLEMBOLA were previously classified with insects, but are now treated as a class in their own right, sitting alongside DIPLURA (the Two-pronged Bristletails) and PROTURA (Proturans or Coneheads). They are the wingless ARTHROPODS, which together with INSECTA are the four classes within the superclass HEXAPODA.

Springtails, the most abundant arthropods on earth, are very small wingless creatures, just a few millimetres long that live mainly in soil and leaf litter. They are so named due to their forked springing organ, or furca, which enables them to jump considerable distances of up to several centimetres when disturbed. They have reduced eyes, variable length antennae, simple bodies and short legs. They have two distinct forms; elongate in which the six abdomen segments are clearly visible, and globular bodies where the segmentation is far from apparent. There are around 250 species in Britain, the majority of which are so small that I wouldn’t even attempt to photograph them. However, there are a few in the 2-5mm range that are of interest and over the past few weeks I have managed to get some reasonable photos of some of them.

This is Pogonognathellus longicornis, the largest British springtail with a body length of up to 6mm and, coincidently, having changed its name from Tomocerus longicornis is also the springtail with the longest name. They are recognised by their long antennae that have a unique way of coiling at the end, although in many cases they break off and grow back at different rates, which can result in confusion with the closely related Pogonognathellus flavescens. They are normally covered in dark scales, but they are easily shed giving many pale-coloured specimens.

I set the millipede on a serving platter that happened to be handy, to try to get some photographs of it in the plain surface in the middle, but of course it wanted to wander off and away

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American Giant Millipede – 2020SEP27 – Charlotte, NC

Look what I found! A Giant Millipede, Narceus americanus: it grows twice as large as any other North American millipede, a cylindrical millipede (distinguished from flat millipedes), dark reddish-brown or black, a red line on each segmente edge; like all millipedes, they have 2 pairs of legs on most segments, rather than 1 pair of legs on each segment (like a centipede).

Does it bite? No (uniike a centipede). What about cyanide? Although not this species, some secrete hydrogen cyanide, quite poisonous. Remember, millipedes are toxic – but as long as they are not eaten, hands washed after touching them, they're pretty harmless; however, many have a defensive secretion, benzoquinone, that can cause chemical burns on human skin, generally mild, but powerful enough to cause temporary skin discoloration, itching, and blisters – some millipedes’ secretions are much more powerful, though.

The division of an animal into repeating body parts is called segmentation, clearly seen in millipedes, the word meaning “one thousand foot;” despite that name, millipedes with the most legs come up shy of the 1,000-leg mark, only about 750.

Hope you enjoy the 10% of 99 captures I took here this day!

Hofdijk housing, Rotterdam, 1977-1983. Architecture by Jan Verhoeven.

Our current exhibition on Dutch structuralism sparked a new interest for this type of architecture. Although I don’t particularly like it from an estheticial point of view, the segmentation, in order to create ‘human scaled’ spaces that invite residents to meet and interact with each other, allows for multiple perspectives and seemingly endless photographic possibilities.

Hofdijk consists of 584 dwellings in the centre of Rotterdam, joint together by a complex network of collective spaces like galleries and courtyards, that give access to individual houses.

The fringe of waxy "fingers" (no they are not legs) are secreted by special glands on the body of the female. This would indicate that the scale insect emerges from its old skin "fringe"-less and starts afresh with new ones. This also gives a gauge of how sedentary a lifestyle these scales live. She has barely moved a body length from the time she shed her skin to the present during which time she has 'regrown' her decoration.

I have immense difficulties coming to terms with these extraordinary insects and admit to barely understanding their biology, taxonomy or physiology.

Males have one pair of wings and look completely different.

To say the least, scale insects are strange. I have included this brief overview as an indicator of this reality and because more specific information seems very hard to come by in the mainstream…..

Adult females resemble immature stages: they are soft-bodied and lack wings, have compound eyes and obvious segmentation. The last three developmental stages (pre-pupa, pupa, adult) in male scale insects do not feed. Adult males usually live for less than a day; they are listless and slow. They may be dipterous (one pair of wings) or wingless, have compound eyes, or a variable number of simple eyes aranged in a line around the head, or dorsal and ventral pairs. Many scale insect species have done away with males completely, reproducing asexually. Scales have the greatest diversity of sperm structure and sex determining chromosome systems of any known group of organisms. One group has a placenta-like structure in the female that is used to feed first-instar males. Another is hermaphroditic - the only known example among insects. Most scale insects produce a waxy secretion that either coats the body or protects it beneath a domicilelike structure (called a scale cover). Secretions vary from a thin translucent sheet to a thick, wet mass, to a powdery bloom.

Pu'er, Yunnan, China

Millipedes share a similar look and name to centipedes, share their own “branch” of the arthropod family tree; both are myriapods, but they are vastly different: a centipede is an active and very quick carnivore that can and will bite, but millipedes are slow-moving, do not bite people, and prefer to eat decomposing plant material

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American Giant Millipede – 2020SEP27 – Charlotte, NC

Look what I found! A Giant Millipede, Narceus americanus: it grows twice as large as any other North American millipede, a cylindrical millipede (distinguished from flat millipedes), dark reddish-brown or black, a red line on each segmente edge; like all millipedes, they have 2 pairs of legs on most segments, rather than 1 pair of legs on each segment (like a centipede).

Does it bite? No (uniike a centipede). What about cyanide? Although not this species, some secrete hydrogen cyanide, quite poisonous. Remember, millipedes are toxic – but as long as they are not eaten, hands washed after touching them, they're pretty harmless; however, many have a defensive secretion, benzoquinone, that can cause chemical burns on human skin, generally mild, but powerful enough to cause temporary skin discoloration, itching, and blisters – some millipedes’ secretions are much more powerful, though.

The division of an animal into repeating body parts is called segmentation, clearly seen in millipedes, the word meaning “one thousand foot;” despite that name, millipedes with the most legs come up shy of the 1,000-leg mark, only about 750.

Hope you enjoy the 10% of 99 captures I took here this day!

A portrait taken impromptu in a bar. Her face was lit by her mobile phone.

I applied post-processing for two reasons. The first one was to reduce noise making the skin smoother; and the second to darken the background. I reconstructed the image in darktable: turning to monochrome, a bit of vignetting, a small amount non-local means, and a tiny bit of curve editing. Then, for further denoising, I used multiple layers of "selective Gaussian blur" in the Gimp: it is an anistropic filter that does not smooth edges (defined by a given intensity difference across neighbooring voxels). I merged these together using layer masks to have a lot of smoothing on the skin but not elsewhere. I reconstructed a second version of the image with strong local contrast enhancement and some curve editing to highlight the lines of the hair. I added it as an extra layer with a fully transparent mask and used a few strokes of brush to composite this layer in a few strands in the hair. Finally, I did a rough segmentation of the head and hair and blurred it heavily in the quick mask. I used this segmentation to make the background dark, bringing out the light of the face.

Season, waiting for the time segmentation, dawn and dusk, are won and lost on the dilemma between

+++ DISCLAIMER +++Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The Nakajima J9N Kitsuka (中島 橘花, "Orange Blossom", pronounced Kikka in Kanji used traditionally by the Japanese) was Japan's first jet aircraft. In internal IJN documents it was also called Kōkoku Nigō Heiki (皇国二号兵器, "Imperial Weapon No.2"). After the Japanese military attaché in Germany witnessed trials of the Messerschmitt Me 262 in 1942, the Imperial Japanese Navy issued a request to Nakajima to develop a similar aircraft to be used as a fast attack bomber. Among the specifications for the design were the requirements that it should be able to be built largely by unskilled labor, and that the wings should be foldable. This latter feature was not intended for potential use on aircraft carriers, but rather to enable the aircraft to be hidden in caves and tunnels around Japan as the navy began to prepare for the defense of the home islands.

The J9Ns’ overall war contribution was negligible, and after the war, several airframes (including partial airframes) were captured by Allied forces. Three airframes (including a two-seat night fighter with FD-2 radar) were brought to the U.S. for study. Today, two J9N examples survive in the National Air and Space Museum: The first is a Kikka that was taken to the Patuxent River Naval Air Base, Maryland for analysis. This aircraft is very incomplete and is believed to have been patched together from a variety of semi-completed airframes. It is currently still in storage at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility in Silver Hill, MD. The second Kikka is on display at the NASM Udvar-Hazy Center in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar.

General characteristics:

Crew: 2

Length: 8.13 m (26 ft 8 in) fuselage only

10.30 m (33 ft 8¾ in) with FD-2 antenna array

Wingspan: 10 m (32 ft 10 in)

Height: 2.95 m (9 ft 8 in)

Wing area: 13.2 m² (142 sq ft)

Empty weight: 2,300 kg (5,071 lb)

Gross weight: 3,500 kg (7,716 lb)

Max takeoff weight: 4,080 kg (8,995 lb)

Powerplant:

2× Ishikawajima Ne-130 or Ne-230 axial-flow turbojet engines

each with 8.83 kN/900 kg or 8.68 kN/885 kg thrust

Performance:

Maximum speed: 785 km/h (487 mph, 426 kn)

Range: 925 km (574 mi, 502 nmi) with internal fuel

Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,000 ft)

Rate of climb: 10.5 m/s (2,064 ft/min)

Wing loading: 265 kg/m² (54 lb/sq ft)

Thrust-to-weight ratio: 0.43

Armament:

1× 30 mm (1.181 in) Type 5 cannon with 50 rounds in the nose

1× 20 mm (0.787 in) Type Ho-2 cannon with 80 rounds, mounted obliquely behind the cockpit

1× ventral hardpoint for a 500 l drop tank or a single 500 kg (1,102 lb) bomb

The kit and its assembly:

This is in fact the second Kikka I have built, and this time it’s a two-seater from AZ Models – actually the trainer boxing, but converted into a personal night fighter interpretation. The AZ Models kit is a simple affair, but that's also its problem. In the box things look quite good, detail level is on par with a classic Matchbox kit. But unlike a Matchbox kit, the AZ Models offering does not go together well. I had to fight everywhere with poor fit, lack of locator pins, ejection marks - anything a short run model kit can throw at you! Thanks to the experience with the single-seater kit some time ago, things did not become too traumatic, but it’s still not a kit for beginners. What worked surprisingly well was the IP canopy, though, which I cut into five sections for an optional open display – even though I am not certain if the kit’s designers had put some brain into their work because the canopy’s segmentation becomes more and more dubious the further you go backwards.

The only personal mods is a slightly changed armament, with one nose gun deleted and faired over with a piece of styrene sheet, while the leftover gun was mounted obliquely onto the left flank. I initially considered a position behind the canopy but rejected this because of CoG reasons. Then I planned to mount it directly behind the 2nd seat, so that the barrel would protrude through the canopy, but this appeared unrealistic because the (utterly tiny) sliding canopy for the rear crewman could not have been opened anymore? Finally, I settled for an offset position in the aircraft’s flanks, partly inspired by “Schräge Musik” arrangements on some German Fw 190 night fighters.

The antennae come from a Jadar Model PE set for Italeri’s Me 210s, turning it either into a night fighter or a naval surveillance aircraft.

Painting and markings:

This became rather lusterless; many late IJN night fighters carried a uniform dark green livery with minimalistic, toned-down markings, e. g. hinomaru without a white high-contrast edge, just the yellow ID bands on the wings’ leading edges were retained.

For this look the model received an overall basis coat of Humbrol 75 (Bronze Green), later treated with a black ink washing, dry-brushed aluminum and post-shading with lighter shades of dark green (including Humbrol 116 and Revell 67). The only colorful highlight is a red fin tip (Humbrol 19) and a thin red stripe underneath (decal). The yellow and white ID bands were created with decal material.

The cockpit interior was painted in a yellowish-green primer (trying to simulate a typical “bamboo” shade that was used in some late-war IJN cockpits), while the landing gear wells were painted in aodake iro, a clear bluish protective lacquer. The landing gear struts themselves became semi-matt black.

The markings are fictional and were puzzled together from various sources. The hinomaru came from the AZ Models’ Kikka single seater sheet (since it offers six roundels w/o white edge), the tactical code on the fin was created with red numbers from a Fujimi Aichi B7A2 Ryusei.

Finally, the kit received a coat of matt acrylic varnish and some grinded graphite around the jet exhausts and the gun nozzles.

Well, this fictional Kikka night fighter looks quite dry, but that makes it IMHO more credible. The large antler antenna array might look “a bit too much”, and a real night fighter probably had a simpler arrangement with a single Yagi-style/arrow-shaped antenna, but a description of the FD-2 radar suggested the layout I chose – and it does not look bad. The oblique cannon in the flank is another odd detail, but it is not unplausible. However, with all the equipment and esp. the draggy antennae on board, the Kikka’s mediocre performance would surely have seriously suffered, probably beyond an effective use. But this is whifworld, after all. ;-)

Throughout our lives, certain archetypes shape our sense of self, the world, the road we’re on, and the goals we seek. Our idea of good and evil, male and female, leaders, parents, mentors, friends, and more are framed in the stories of the Bible. The picture’s not always pleasant, but it never fails to be instructive and is sometimes downright revelatory. Mirror, mirror on the wall: what’s the purpose of us all?

Topics of the Day:

Sunday, Day 1: “Introduction” and “Your Life as Revelatory Source. How did you get to be who you are? Your life is a sacred text read by all.

Monday, Day 2: “The Character of God” and “The Male/Female Thing” You and I meet God in sacramental and sacred encounters. But in Scripture, we meet the God who is one character among many in the remarkable story of faith. And our second topic — Gender is complicated. Adam and Eve were just the beginning of the conflict. Gender issues remain with us in secular and sacred realms.

Tuesday, Day 3: “Follow the Leader” and “The Parent Trap”

Leadership styles come and go. From biblical patriarchs and kings to modern-day presidents and celebrities, we follow the leaders we invent and choose. And our 2nd topic – The Ten Commandments bid us to honor our father and our mother. Jesus says we should hate our parents. Please explain!

Wednesday, Day 4:“The Guiding Light” & “You’ve Got a Friend” Elisha had Elijah. Timothy and Titus had Paul. Thank God for mentors: those significant folks along the way who show us how life works. Our second topic — It’s not good for us to be alone, as Genesis attests. Famous friendships help us explore the role of holy companioning.

Thursday, Day 5: “Who’s Your Devil?” and “What a Wonderful World” Everyone fears the Dark Side. Who’s the enemy, and where does it reside? And our second topic — The universe is beautiful. Earth is our home. The Bible and science agree it will come to an end one day. What’s our relationship to a fragile planet?

Friday, Day 6: “And the Purpose of It All Is” We’re born, we live, and we die. For most of us, that’s a pretty full plate of responsibilities. What should we do with this “one wild and precious life?”What qualities are we looking for in the aspirants at Saint-Sulpice? Parish Experience - Before an aspirant joins the Society, Sulpicians want to ensure that an aspirant has completed at least two years of parish work, which will have allowed him/her to develop a strong sense of belonging to the diocese and an attachment to the parish ministry. Indeed, they need priests who live and love their priesthood and who wish to assist the bishops in the service of seminarians and diocesan priests. Ability to work in a team - Sulpicians are looking for candidates who are able to work in a community environment and are able to work collegially on a mission in consultation with fellow priests as well as with lay people or religious. To know how to share one's faith through a life of prayer that nourishes a true enthusiasm for Christ and his Gospel, for the Church and the priesthood. The Apostolic Spirit who animated their founder, Jean-Jacques Olier, is the source of this sharing. Special gifts that open the way to a quality intellectual and professional preparation in several fields: spiritual accompaniment, teaching of philosophy or theology, pastoral animation. This presupposes the openness to learning of a constantly renewed Sulpician pedagogy. How can a priest become a Sulpician? Prerequisites - To be a diocesan priest incardinated in a diocese, to have completed at least two years of parish ministry in the diocese of origin and to be available for service in the Canadian Priests of St. Sulpice Province. Initial recognition - If a priest meets these prerequisites, he or she can contact the Sulpician Vocations Officer for his or her region (see list below). He will inform him about the regular meetings organized for the aspirants to the Society and he will be in charge of this first experience with Saint-Sulpice until the Provincial Council accepts him as a candidate. His participation in these meetings will give him sufficient information about the Company and the demands of Sulpician life. This priest will also be accompanied spiritually in discerning his possible Sulpician vocation. Candidature - After this time of discernment, with the support of the Sulpician Vocations Officer in his region, he asked his bishop for written authorization to make an experience in Saint-Sulpice. The aspirant then applies by contacting the provincial superior or the provincial delegate in writing. First experience in Saint-Sulpice - If formally accepted and admitted as a candidate, the Provincial Council becomes directly responsible for his experience with the Priests of Saint-Sulpice. He then took over his duties and gave him a first appointment to a team in the Canadian Province from the moment his bishop relieved him of his duties. Usually, this first experience in the Company lasts at least two years.The expression "art Saint-Sulpice" is misleading, because it encompasses very different periods and artists in the same name and in the same discredit, because it confuses art of reproduction and wide circulation with the search for an authentic sacred art which has been continuous for nearly two centuries.

In the proper sense, Sulpician art refers to the objects that are sold in the specialized shops that surround the church of the same name in Paris: industrial and economic art, of poor quality, where the mimicry and the fading of style reassure and somehow carry the seal of an official art, orthodox and without excess. Thus understood, Sulpician art is of all times and every effort to renew religious art naturally secretes its counterfeiting. The virgins and saints, with their white eyes and pale air, coming from Ary Scheffer and his raphaelism, the statues of the Virgin of Lourdes, poor translation of the mediocre model of the pious sculptor Cabuchet, the overly sensitive effigies of Thérèse de Lisieux or Saint Anthony of Padua, even the neo-byzantine works, pale reflection. In fact, the interest of Sulpician art is not only sociological; it is also, as in countertype, the revealing of the interest that religious art has never ceased to arouse, against all appearances. Holy Mirror! The creatures on the reverse will be merged in the reflected image but probably not in a laplacian way - just as concentric circles. If anyone has a magic mirrorWe first address the problem of simultaneous image segmentation and smoothing by approaching the paradigm from a curve evolution perspective. In particular, we let a set of deformable contours define the boundaries between regions in an image where we model the data via piecewise smooth functions

www.vallombrosa.org/the-holy-mirror-discovering-ourselves...

Origin of the Holy Mirrors!

Mirrors have been regarded as sacred at least since the Han Dynasty in China. Many of these mirrors and from the subsequent Wei dynasty have been found in Japan. They bore images of gods and sacred animals particularly the Chinese dragon (1,2) . They were very popular, and possibly later manufactured, in Japan. The bronze mirrors are found in great number in ancient (kofun period) burial mounds in Japan. In the biggest archeological find of 33 mirrors, the mirrors were placed surrounding the coffin such that their reflective surface faced the deceased. The Han mirrors were "magic" in that while they reflected they were also able to project an image usually of the deities and animals on the back and refered to as "light passing mirrors" (透明鑑） (Needham, 1965, p.xlic; Needham & Wang, 1977, pp. 96-97).This magic property is due to the their method of construction. When polishing the reflective face of the mirror, the patter on the back influences the pressure brought to bear on the reflective surface and change the extent to which it is concave. Muraoka also claims that Differences in the (slight) "inequality of curvature" (Ayrton & Perry, 1878, p 139; see also Thompson, 1897, and Needham & Wang, 1977, p96 for a diagram) of the mirror result in the mirror reflecting light bearing the pattern shown on the reverse. More recent research has elucidated the precise mathematical model describing the optics of these mirrors as a laplacian image (Berry, 2006), a type of spatial filter today used for edge detection and to blend two images together. It is not known whether the mirrors popular in ancient Japan were also able to project, but later during the Nara period mirrors were found to concel magic Buddhist images, and during the Edo period, concealed Christians (Kurishitan) concealed images of the cross or of the Holy Mary within their bronze "magic" mirrors. Mirrors in Japan contined to be made of brass, until the arrival of Western glass mirrors, and were "magic" in that they displayed the patter on their reverse when reflecting sunlight or other powerful light source (Thompson, 1897). Ayrton (Ayrton & Perry, 1878; Ayrton & Pollock, 1879) claims that in Japan mirror vendors were unaware of the "light passing" quality, and that there is no mention of this 'magical' quality known to Han Chinese in Japanese texts. Even a Japanese mirror maker was unaware of how to make magic mirrors though had inadvertently made one himself by extensive polishing a mirror with a design on its back (Ayrton & Perry, 1878, p135). Unlike the ancient Korean mirror top right (3), the ancient Han and Japanese mirrors were made to be rotated, displaying images in the four directions of the compas. The reason for the holes in the central "breast" (or nipple) is unclear but it is found to be pierced with a hole (of varying shape depending upon the manufacturer) from which the mirror was suspended by a rope. Bearing in mind that the images on the mirrors required that the mirrors be rotated, the central nodule might also have enabled the mirrors to be spun like a top. I am not sure why someone would want to spin a mirror but my son does (see the toy explained later). I would very much like to see what the reflected "magic" image becomes when spun. The creatures on the reverse will be merged in the reflected image but probably not in a laplacian way - just as concentric circles. If anyone has a magic mirror I would like them to try spinning it to see. Skipping the holy mirrors in shrines, mirror rice cakes, and the mirror held by the Japanese version of Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates, King Enma, which holds a record of ones life, and, jumping to the present day... Mirrors are popular in the transformational items used by Japanese superheros. The early 1970's Mirror Man transformed using a Shinto amulet infront of any mirror or reflecting surface. Shinkenja, a group of Super Sentai or Power Rangers, that transforms thanks to their ability to write and then spin Chinese characters in the air, also transforms with the aid of an Inro Maru (4) upon which is affixed a inscribed disk. When the disk is attactched to the mirror the super hero inside the mirror is displayed. Transformation (henshin) by means of a mirror is popular too among Japanese femail super heros notably Himitsu no Akko Chan (Secret Akko), who could change into many things that were displayed in her mirror, sailor moon, and OshareMajo (6). The female super heroes mirrors usually make noises rather than contain inscriptions. The latest greatest Kamen Rider OOO sometimes transforms by means of his Taja-Spina which spins three of his totem-badge "coins" inside a mirror (video). In this ancient tradition we see recurrence of the following themes 1) Mirrors being of great benefit to the bearer enabling him to transform. 2) Mirrors containing hidden deities 3) Mirrors being associated with symbols: iconic marks, and incantations. 4) Mirrors being made to be rotated or spun. Thanks to James Ewing for the Mirror Man (Mira-man) reference and to Tomomi Noguchi for the Ojamajo Doremi reference, and to Taku Shimonuri and my son Ray for getting me interested in Japanese superheros. Addendum One of My students (A Ms. Tanaka, and a book about the cute in Japan) pointed out that the Japanese are into round things, and it seems to me that this Japanese preference for the round may originate in the mirror. Anpanman and Doraemon and many "characters" have round faces The Japanese Flag features a circle representing the sun and the mirror Japanese coats of arms (kamon) Japanese holy mirrors are round "Mirror rice cakes", and many other kinds of rice cake, are round The Sumo ring is round Pictures of the floating world (Ukiyoe) often portray the sitter in a round background Japanese groups always have to end up by standing in a round The Japanese are fond of domes and have many of the biggest The Japanese are fond of seals (inkan), which are round Japanese groups just can't help standing in a round The taiko drum is round The mitsudomoe is round Mount Fuji is round But then there are probably round things in every culture?

Cast and polished bronze mirrors, made in China and Japan for several thousand years, exhibit a curious property [1–4], long regarded as magical. A pattern embossed on the back

is visible in the patch of light projected onto a screen from the reflecting face when this is illuminated by a small source, even though no trace of the pattern can be discerned

by direct visual inspection of the reflecting face. The pattern on the screen is not the result of the focusing responsible for conventional image formation, because its sharpness is independent of distance, and also because the magic mirrors are slightly convex. It was established long ago that the effect results from the deviation of rays by weak undulations on the reflecting surface, introduced during the manufacturing process and too weak to see directly, that reproduce the much stronger relief embossed on the back. Such ‘Makyoh imaging’ (from the Japanese for ‘wonder mirror’) has been applied to detect small asperities on nominally flat semiconductor surfaces [5–8]. My aim here is to draw attention (section 2) to a simple and beautiful fact, central to

the optics of magic mirrors, that has not been emphasized—either in the qualitative accounts or in an extensive geometrical-optics analysis : in the optical regime relevant to

magic mirrors, the image intensity is given, in terms of the height function h(r) of the relief.on the reflecting surface, by the Laplacian ∇2 h(r) (here r denotes position in the mirror plane: r = {x, y}). The Laplacian image predicts striking effects for patterns, such as those on magic mirrors, that consist of steps ; these predictions are supported by experiment

The detailed study of reflection from steps throws up an unresolved problem concerning the relation between the pattern embossed on the back and the relief on the reflecting surface. The Laplacian image is an approximation to geometrical optics, which is itself an approximation to physical optics. The appendix contains a discussion of the Laplacian image starting from the wave integral representing Fresnel diffraction from the mirror surface. Geometrical optics and the Laplacian image If we measure the height h(r) from the convex surface of the mirror (figure 3), assumed to

have radius of curvature R0, then the deviation of the surface undulations from a reference plane (figure 3) is η(r) = − r22R0+ h(r. The specularly reflected rays of geometrical optics are determined by the stationary value(s) of

the optical path length L from the source (distance H from the reference plane) to the position

R on the screen (distance D from the reference plane) via the point r on the mirror. This is L = (H − η(r))2 + r2 +(D − η(r

))2 + (R − r)2≈ H + D + (r, R), (2)where in the second line we have employed the paraxial approximation (all ray angles small), with (r, R) = r2 2H+(R − r)2 2D+ r2 R0− 2h(r). In applying the stationarity condition ∇r(r, R) = 0, it is convenient to define the magnification M, the reduced distance Z, and the ;demagnified observation position r referred to the mirror surface: M ≡ 1 +D H+2D R0, Z ≡ 2D M , r ≡ R M . We note an effect of the convexity that will be important later: as the source and screen distance increase, Z approaches the finite asymptotic value R0. With these variables, the position r

(r,Z), on the mirror, of rays reaching the screen position r, is the solution of r = r − Z∇h(r). The focusing and defocusing responsible for the varying light intensity at r involves the

Jacobian determinant of the transformation from r to r, giving,after a short calculation,Igeom(r,Z) = constant × ∂x ∂x

∂y ∂y − ∂x ∂y ∂y ∂x−1 r→r (r,Z)= 1 − Z∇2 h(r) + Z2

∂h(r) ∂x2 ∂h(r) ∂y2 − ∂h(r) ∂x ∂y2−1r→r(r,Z), ().where the result has been normalized to Igeom = 1 for the convex mirror without surface relief (i.e. h(r) = 0). So far, this is standard geometrical optics. In general, more than one ray can reach r—that is, can have several solutions r—and the boundaries of regions reached by different numbers of rays are caustics. In magic mirrors, however, we are concerned with a

limiting regime satisfying Z Rmin 1, where Rmin is the smallest radius of curvature of the surface irregularities. Then there is only one ray, simplifies to r ≈ r, (9) and the intensity simplifies to ILaplacian(r,Z) = 1 + Z∇2 h(r). This is the Laplacian image. Changing Z affects only the contrast of the image and not its form, so explains why the sharpness of the image is independent of screen position, provided holds. The intensity is a linear function of the surface irregularities h, which

is not the case in general geometrical optics (i.e. when is violated), where, as has been emphasized the relation is nonlinear. And, as already noted, for a distant source and

screen Z approaches the value R0, implying that (8) holds for any distance of the screen if R0 Rmin, that is, provided the irregularities are sufficiently gentle or the mirror is sufficiently

convex. Alternatively stated, the convexity of the mirror can compensate any concavity of the irregularity h, in which case there are no caustics for any screen position.The theory based on the Laplacian image accords well with observation, at least for the mirror studied here. The key insight is that the image of a step is neither a dark line nor a bright line,

as sometimes reported , but is bright on one side and dark on the other. It is possible that there are different types of magic mirror, where for example the relief is etched directly onto

the reflecting surface and protected by a transparent film , but these do not seem to be common. Sometimes, the pattern reflected onto a screen is different from that on the back, but

this is probably a trick, achieved by attaching a second layer of bronze, differently embossed, to the back of the mirror.

Pre-focal ray concentrations leading to Laplacian images are familiar in other contexts, though they are not always recognized as such. An example based on refraction occurs in old windows, where a combination of age and poor manufacture has distorted the glass. The distortion is not evident in views seen through the window when standing close to it. However,when woken by the low morning sun shining through a gap in the curtains onto an opposite

wall, one often sees the distortions magnified as a pattern of irregular bright and dark lines. If the equivalent of is satisfied, that is if the distortions and propagation distance are not too

large, the intensity is the Laplacian image of the window surface. (When the condition is not satisfied, the distortions can generate caustics.) Only the optics of the mirror has been studied here. The manner in which the pattern embossed on the back gets reproduced on the front has not been considered. Referring to ,this involves the sign of the coefficient a in the relation between hback and h. There have been several speculations about the formation of the relief. One is that the relief is generated while the mirror is cooling, by unequal contraction of the thick and thin parts of the pattern ; it is not clear what sign of a this leads to. Another is that cooling generates stresses, and that during vigorous grinding and polishing the thin parts yield more than the thick parts, leading to the thick parts being worn down more; this leads to a 0: bright (dark) lines on the image, indicating low (high) sides of the steps on the reflecting face, are associated with the low (high) sides of the

steps on the back , not the reverse (figure 7(b)). This suggests two avenues for further research. First, the sign of a should be determined by direct measurement of the profile of the reflecting surface; I predict a > 0. Second, whatever the result, the mechanism should be investigated by which the process of manufacture reproduces onto the reflecting surface the

pattern on the back. The fact that h0 = 378 nm is smaller than the wavelengths in visible light does not imply that the Laplacian image is the small-κ limit of (A.3), namely the perturbation limit corresponding to infinitely weak relief. Indeed it is not: the perturbation limit, obtained by

expanding the exponential in (A.3) and evaluating the integral over τ , with a renormalized denominator to incorporate the known limit I = 1 for ξ = ±∞, isψpert(ξ , ζ, κ) = 1 − iκ erf(ξ/√1+iζ /κ)

√ 1 + κ2 . For the gentlest steps, this predicts low-contrast oscillatory images, very different from the Laplacian images of geometrical optics; this is illustrated in figure 8(b), calculated for k =0.05, corresponding to h0 = 5.2 nm.

European journal of physics, 27, 109. Retrieved from www.phy.bris.ac.uk/people/Berry_mv/the_papers/berry383.pdf Spatial Filters - Laplacian/Laplacian of Gaussian. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2012, from homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/rbf/HIPR2/log.htm Thompson, S. P. (1897). Light Visible and Invisible: A Series of Lectures at Royal Institution of Great Britain. Macmillan. Retrieved from www.archive.org/stream/lightvisibleinvi00thomuoft#page/50...

In the industrial and materialist period that began in the 19th century, Catholicism, even though it had to give in to its official positions, underwent glorious revival. In the years 1830-1880, an attempt was made to revive an authentic religious art, in the image of restored faith, through examples of medieval art. The Gothic cathedral, in its 13th century purity, Fra Angelico, the painter who paints on his knees, will be the models unceasingly questioned and translated through the teaching of Ingres.

MetaAI's attempt at identifying interesting objects in a photo of the sea floor under sea ice. It picks up the brittle star, urchin, worms and a sea spider really well. It also separates soft sediment from rock.

Queen Anne's lace and soldier beetle

Cantharidae beetle -- Coleoptera

Wellsville, New York

To see more of my "Inspiring Insects" set, click below:

www.flickr.com/photos/wolfraven/sets/72157605602154384/show

From Wikipedia:

"Soldier beetles are highly desired by gardeners as biological control agents of a number of pest insects. The larvae tend to be dark brown or gray, slender and wormlike with a rippled appearance due to pronounced segmentation. They consume grasshopper eggs, aphids, caterpillars and other soft bodied insects, most of which are pests.

"The adults are especially important predators of aphids. They supplement their diet with nectar and pollen and can be minor pollinators. Soldier beetle populations can be increased by planting good nectar- or pollen-producing plants such as Asclepias or Solidago.

"Historically, these beetles were placed in a superfamily "Cantharoidea", which has been subsumed by the superfamily Elateroidea; the name is still sometimes used as a rankless grouping, including the families Cantharidae, Drilidae, Lampyridae, Lycidae, Omalisidae, Omethidae, Phengodidae (which includes Telegeusidae), and Rhagophthalmidae."