wong nai chung road, hong kong. handheld shot, but braced off of a lamp post for stability.

I believe I was drunk when I took this photo. Doesn't it give a sensation of calm and stability?

PHILIPPINE SEA (Aug. 13, 2022) An MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor, assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 262 (Reinforced), prepares to land aboard amphibious assault carrier USS Tripoli (LHA 7). Tripoli operates in U.S. 7th Fleet to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Malcolm Kelley)

Glasgow. 11.06.2016

Leica 246; 50mm APO Summicron

New Orleans, 2019

PHILIPPINE SEA (Jan. 10, 2021) An F-35B Lightning II assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) prepares to launch from the flight deck of amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6). America, lead ship of the America Amphibious Ready Group, along with the 31st MEU, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

Best Viewed On Black

A cumulonimbus incus is a cumulonimbus cloud which has reached the level of stratospheric stability and has formed the characteristic flat, anvil-top shape. A cumulonimbus incus is a sub-form of cumulonimbus capillatus. Above an exceptionally clearly developed single-cell Cumulonimbus incus, gusts will happen near and under it and can cause a supercell and then a tornado.

Photo taken from my bus window on our way from Vientiane to Vang Vieng. I removed the window reflections with PS. It was approx 7 hour bus ride. We passed endless numbers of villages, bamboo huts, rice paddies and banana trees, all surrounded by the mystique of low-lying clouds on a hazy day. We paused only to honk at water buffalo or goats standing on the road. For the next 3 1/2 hours, we slowly climbed north into the highlands, passing through beautiful valleys and ridges of tropical lush vegetation. At the end of the day the sun came throught and the sunset's were amazing. The breathtaking scenery was unlike anything I have ever seen. Like a mushroom cloud after a nuclear explosion. Well lucky it wasn't, just nature itself ;-)

Een volwassen cumulonimbus incus is absoluut de koning der wolken. Het is een gigantische berg van water die, zeker in de tropen, een hoogte van wel 18 kilometer kan bereiken. Bovenstaande foto laat een buitengewoon duidelijk ontwikkelde enkel-cel cumulonimbus incus zien. Hier ontstaan enorme sterkte winden die zelfs een tornado kunnen veroorzaken. In volle pracht wordt hij bekroond met een reusachtige wigvormige massa van hoge wolken, een duidelijk teken van een volledig ontwikkelde onweersbui. Zolang de lucht rondom de ontwikkelende wolk kouder is dan de wolk zelf blijft deze verder stijgen en groeien. Uiteindelijk bereikt de top van de wolk de bovengrens van de troposfeer. Hier daalt de omgevingstemperatuur niet meer. Het gevolg is dat de wolk niet meer in verticale richting verder kan groeien. De stijgende lucht daaronder blijft de top van de wolk naar boven duwen waardoor de wolktop zich uitspreidt.

Nikon F2 AS

Sheree and I went back to the Downtown Farmer's Market yesterday.

I'd half-hoped to run into Trinity or the Musician Person we met a couple of weeks ago.

Neither showed. But Wilson did.

Wilson is a dog. He rides with his friend Clyde on a motorized wheelchair.

“Cute little guy,” I remarked to myself. . I started grabbing for my camera.

"Make sure you ask," warned my wife absently. She was entranced with photographing fricking flowers in front of a broken window. Sure...the flowers were pretty.

But c'mon, this was a dog with a hat...and sunglasses. REAL art. I shake my head as I walk away. Usually I suspect the mental stability of anyone who puts clothes on an animal. But this little guy was...cute.

Some people's priorities...

I introduced myself to Clyde and we chatted a little about the unseasonably cold weather. (If you look in Wilson's sunglasses, you'll see me attired in shorts pretending my butt isn't freezing off...cause that's what guys do, lest their wives remind them they have perfectly good pants at home.)

I ask if I can take the dog's picture. Clyde says "Go for it."

So I do. But this dog won't look at me. He's whipping his head around looking everywhere but at me.

I move. The dog moves. It’s like he knows in his little dog brain that I am trying to photograph him and he’s decided it’s not going to happen. Wilson is probably afraid that the other dogs will see him in sunglasses and a goofy hat, and that they will all point and laugh.

Clyde, seeing my predicament, grabs Wilson's head, grips it between two meaty hands and points it at me. But Wilson protests vigorously...which is a reasonable reaction if you ask me. This is not the picture I want: cute dog getting strong-armed by Clyde.

"Try giving him a treat," says Clyde. He produces a slightly rancid piece of meat. He thrusts it at me. It smells bad and is coated with a thin film of something slimy. At one point I think it may have been pepperoni.

"Hold it out in front of him. He'll look at you," suggests Clyde.

Holding it gingerly between two fingers, I raise it. Wilson has seen it. His eyes are glued to me. (At least he looks that way.) I am trying to balance the camera with one hand and lure his attention with the other. I want to frame the shot so there's a little Clyde in the background.

Wilson suddenly bares his teeth and growls at me.

Clyde laughs.

"Sometimes he has to speak for his food."

"That's speaking?" I ask.

Clyde nods and favors me with a look that may or may not have been patronizing. I am after all a big guy intimidated by a little dog in a straw hat.

I can see his point.

Wilson's attention is fixed on me. His head is down and he is growling softly. I think I see a small string of drool that slips out of his mouth and sizzles softly on the pavement.

"He looks like he's gonna take my finger off," I observe shrewdly.

"Nah. Try again," says Clyde.

I do and this time the fricking dog nips at my fingers. Our eyes meet. We understand each other. Wilson hates me. After all, he had a perfect opportunity to politely take the meat, but chose to be a nasty little shit instead. The cute quotient is disappearing at an alarming rate...

I drop the meat. Wilson looks down at it for an uncomprehending moment and then back at me, like he can't believe any human could possibly be so stupid. He cocks his head to one side and I am pretty sure is wishing had taken my whole hand when he had a chance. Then he straightens his head.

That's when I take the picture.

Seconds later he bares his teeth again. I pick up the meat. I explain to him that I use my fingers for typing, for doing magic shows and clicking the shutter -- and if he bites me...I will eat him.

Clyde laughs.

Clyde thinks I am kidding.

Wilson takes the meat from my hands very gently and starts looking around the farmer's market again.

Everywhere but at me.

Thanks, Wilson. Good boy.

Portra 400 with Bessa III 667.

Construction robot (CoRob) is a universal machine created to relieve humans of all hard and dangerous construction work. CoRob combines flexibility of humanoid body and efficiency of modern machinery. CoRob is equipped with adaptable multi-purpose limbs and thus can assume functions of both human workers and a wide range of construction machines.

More specifically, the legs of the robot can switch between walking and driving modes, the latter of which greatly simplifies transportation between construction sites. The first two arms are designed for precision work while the other two are reinforced telescopic arms suitable for digging, lifting and loading all sorts of materials and cargo. Foldable outriggers provide additional stability when dealing with heavy weights and rough terrain.

As expected from an autonomous machine, CoRob is equipped with various onboard navigational sensors as well as a detachable quadcopter drone which can provide a superior overview of the working area.

Last but not least, CoRob is always happy with his job and has no plans to rebel.

PS Should you ever see this creepy smiling face - just run away!

We are one week away from the release of the first science-quality images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, but how does the observatory find, and lock onto its targets? Webb's Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) – developed by the Canadian Space Agency was designed with this particular question in mind. Recently it captured a view of stars and galaxies that provides a tantalizing glimpse at what the telescope's science instruments will reveal in the coming weeks, months, and years.

FGS has always been capable of capturing imagery, but its primary purpose is to enable accurate science measurements and imaging with precision pointing. When it does capture imagery, it is typically not kept: given the limited communications bandwidth between L2 and Earth, Webb only sends data from up to two science instruments at a time. But during the week-long stability test in May, it occurred to the team that they could keep the imagery that was being captured because there was available data transfer bandwidth.

The engineering test image – produced during a thermal stability test in mid-May – has some rough-around-the-edges qualities to it. It was not optimized to be a science observation, rather the data were taken to test how well the telescope could stay locked onto a target, but it does hint at the power of the telescope. It carries a few hallmarks of the views Webb has produced during its postlaunch preparations. Bright stars stand out with their six, long, sharply defined diffraction spikes – an effect due to Webb's six-sided mirror segments. Beyond the stars – galaxies fill nearly the entire background.

The result – using 72 exposures over 32 hours – is among the deepest images of the universe ever taken, according to Webb scientists. When FGS' aperture is open, it is not using color filters like the other science instruments – meaning it is impossible to study the age of the galaxies in this image with the rigor needed for scientific analysis. But: Even when capturing unplanned imagery during a test, FGS is capable of producing stunning views of the cosmos.

“With the Webb telescope achieving better than expected image quality, early in commissioning we intentionally defocused the guiders by a small amount to help ensure they met their performance requirements. When this image was taken, I was thrilled to clearly see all the detailed structure in these faint galaxies. Given what we now know is possible with deep broad-band guider images, perhaps such images, taken in parallel with other observations where feasible, could prove scientifically useful in the future,” said Neil Rowlands, program scientist for Webb’s Fine Guidance Sensor, at Honeywell Aerospace

Read more at blogs.nasa.gov/webb

This image: This Fine Guidance Sensor image was acquired in parallel with NIRCam imaging of the star HD147980 over a period of 8 days at the beginning of May. This image represents a total of 32 hours of exposure time at several overlapping pointings of the Guider 2 channel. The observations were not optimized for detection of faint objects, but nevertheless the image captures extremely faint objects and is, for now, the deepest image of the infrared sky. The unfiltered wavelength response of the guider, from 0.6 to 5 micrometers, helps provide this extreme sensitivity. The image is mono-chromatic and is displayed in false color with white-yellow-orange-red representing the progression from brightest to dimmest. The bright star (at 9.3 magnitude) on the right hand edge is 2MASS 16235798+2826079. There are only a handful of stars in this image – distinguished by their diffraction spikes. The rest of the objects are thousands of faint galaxies, some in the nearby universe, but many, many more in the high redshift universe.

Credit: NASA, CSA, and FGS team

PHILIPPINE SEA (Sept. 17, 2020) A CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 262 (Reinforced) takes off from the flight deck of the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6). America, lead ship of the America Amphibious Ready Group, assigned to Amphibious Squadron Eleven, along with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Matthew Cavenaile)

Improved stability, front and rear standard, 8x11 inches. Maximum bellows extensions (1000mm).

Tilt, left and right as much as the bellows allow. Steel Iris, quick-change lenses up to (120mm) diameter.

Version 3:

Improved articulation, stability, new weapons and a new head

SASEBO, Japan (Aug. 9, 2020) Landing craft, air cushion 10, assigned to Naval Beach Unit 7, prepares to enter the well deck of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Germantown (LSD 42) as the ship conducts amphibious operations. Germantown, part of the America Expeditionary Strike Group, is operating in the 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability with allies and partners, and serves as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Taylor DiMartino)

PHILIPPINE SEA (Sept. 14, 2020) An MH-60S Seahawk helicopter from the “Archangels” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 25, Detachment 6 participates in a replenishment-at-sea between the amphibious dock landing ship USS Germantown (LSD 42) and the dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE 11). Germantown, part of the America Amphibious Ready Group assigned to Amphibious Squadron 11, along with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to enhance interoperability with allies and partners, and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Taylor DiMartino)

One person can exemplify stability in a changing world.

This Subtractive Filter Harris Shutter Effect image was constructed from three successive frames after warping/registering static details on the crossing guard. A moving camera gave colored background ghosts due to parallax shift, while moving pedestrians generated additional colored ghosts.

Quick links to related images

Read how to construct this type of image from three sequential photos.

Other subtractive filter Harris shutter effect images

View all subtractive filter images.

The Arabian gazelle (Gazella arabica) is a species of gazelle known from the Arabian Peninsula. Until recently, it was only known from a single lectotype specimen mistakenly thought to have been collected on the Farasan Islands in the Red Sea in 1825. A 2013 genetic study of the lectotype specimen revealed that skull and skin do not stem from the same individual but belong to two distinct lineages of the mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella), necessitating restriction of the lectotype to the skin to conserve nomenclatural stability. A later study formalized the use of Gazella arabica for the Arabian lineage of the mountain gazelle, and synonymized Gazella erlangeri with G. arabica

Lens Mitakon Speedmaster 25mm 0.95

Flash cactus rf60 in softbox 80 80 in the leftt of the shoes. Triggered with cactus v5

So I finally decided to build my Twilight design with real bricks over the holidays. The main color of my digital model was sand blue - unfortunately many parts weren't available in that color or way too expensive. So I settled for dark bluish gray instead.

I mostly stuck with my original digital design and only made some minor modifications to improve stability and looks. The biggest additions were a fleshed out interior and removable landing gear.

The whole build clocks in at ca. 1700 - 1800 parts.

Length: 38cm

Width: 50cm

Height (flight mode): 31cm

Hadrian's Wall is a stone and turf fortification built by the Roman Empire across the width of Great Britain. It was the second of three such fortifications built across Great Britain, the first being Gask Ridge and the last the Antonine Wall. All three were built to prevent military raids by the Pictish tribes (ancient inhabitants of Scotland) to the north, to improve economic stability and provide peaceful conditions in the Roman province of Britannia to the south, and to physically mark the frontier of the Empire. Hadrian's Wall is the best known of the three because it remains the most physically preserved and evident today.

The wall was the northern border of the Empire in Britain for much of the Roman Empire's rule, and also the most heavily fortified border in the Empire. In addition to its use as a military fortification, it is thought that the gates through the wall would also have served as customs posts to allow trade taxation.

A significant portion of the wall still exists, particularly the mid-section, and for much of its length the wall can be followed on foot. It is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern England, where it is often known simply as the Roman Wall. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. English Heritage, a government organization in charge of managing the historic environment of England, describes it as "the most important monument built by the Romans in Britain".[1]

Sections of Hadrian's Wall remain near Greenhead and along the route, though other large sections have been dismantled over the years to use the stones for various nearby construction projects.

Sections of Hadrian's Wall remain near Greenhead and along the route, though other large sections have been dismantled over the years to use the stones for various nearby construction projects.

The Roman name of the Wall

No stone inscription survives to confirm what the Wall was called in antiquity, and no historical source gives it a name. However, the discovery of a small enamelled bronze Roman cup in Staffordshire in 2003 has provided a clue. The cup is inscribed with a series of names of Roman forts (see also the botrom of this page) along the western sector of the Wall, together with a personal name and a phrase:

MAIS COGGABATA VXELODVNVM CAMBOGLANNA RIGORE VALI AELI DRACONIS

Here we have Bowness (MAIS, followed by what must be the correct name for Drumburgh-by-Sands (COGGABATA) until now known only as CONGAVATA from the late Roman document, the Notitia Dignitatum. Next comes Stanwix (VXELODVNVM), then Castlesteads (CAMBOGLANNA), before we get to the most tantalizing part.

RIGORE seems to be the ablative form of the Latin word rigor. This can mean several things, but one of its less well-known meanings is ‘straight line’, ‘course’ or ‘direction’. This was used by Roman surveyors and appears on a number of inscriptions to indicate a line between places. So the meaning could be ‘from the course’, or better in English 'according to the course'.

The Staffordshire Moorlands cup, which provides the ancient name of Hadrian's Wall.

The Staffordshire Moorlands cup, which provides the ancient name of Hadrian's Wall.

There is no such word as vali, but in antiquity Hadrian’s Wall was known as the Vallum, the Latin word for a frontier which is today incorrectly applied to the ditch and mounds dug by the Roman army just south of the Wall. The genitive form of Vallum is Valli, so one of the most likely meanings is VAL[L]I, ‘of the frontier’. Omitting one of a pair of double consonants is common on Roman inscriptions, and transcribing an inscription from a written note is the easiest way to miss out letters. Another similar bronze vessel, known as the Rudge Cup (found in Wiltshire in the 18th century) has VN missing from the name VXELODVNVM, for example, although the letters appear on the Staffordshire cup. The Rudge Cup only bears fort names.

The name AELI is also in the genitive. This was Hadrian's nomen, his main family name and we know that the Roman bridge at Newcastle-upon-Tyne was called Pons Aelius.

Finally we have the name DRACONIS, which can be translated as ‘[by the hand – or property] of Aelius Draco’. It was normal for Roman manufacturers to give their names in the genitive (‘of’), and ‘by the hand’ would be understood. The form is common, for example, on samian pottery.

The translation, therefore, could be:

‘Mais, Coggabata, Uxelodunum, Camboglanna, according to the line of the Aelian frontier. [By the hand or The property] of Draco’.

This would mean the Romans knew Hadrian's Wall as Vallum Aeli, 'the Aelian frontier'.

Dimensions

Hadrian's Wall was 80 Roman miles (73.5 English miles or 117 kilometres) long, its width and height dependent on the construction materials which were available nearby: east of River Irthing the wall was made from squared stone and measured 3 m (9.7 ft) wide and 5 to 6 metres (16–20 ft) tall; west of the river the wall was made from turf and measured 6 metres (20 ft) wide and 3.5 metres (11.5 ft) high. This does not include the wall's ditches, berms, and forts. The central section measured 8 Roman feet wide (7.8 ft or 2.4 m) on a 10 foot base.

Route

Map showing the location of Hadrian's Wall.

Map showing the location of Hadrian's Wall.

Hadrian's Wall extended west Segedunum at Wallsend on the River Tyne to the shore of the Solway Firth. The A69 and B6318 roads follow the course of the wall as it starts in Newcastle upon Tyne to Carlisle, then on round the northern coast of Cumbria. The Wall is entirely in England and south of the border with Scotland by 15 kilometres (9 mi) in the west and 110 kilometres (68 mi) in the east.

Hadrian

Hadrian's Wall was built following a visit by Roman emperor Hadrian (AD 76–138) in AD 122. Hadrian was experiencing military difficulties in Britain, and from the peoples of various conquered lands across the Empire, including Egypt, Judea, Libya, Mauretania, and many of the peoples conquered by his predecessor Trajan, so he was keen to impose order. However the construction of such an impressive wall was probably also a symbol of Roman power, both in occupied Britain and in Rome. Frontiers in the early empire were based more on natural features or fortified zones with a heavy military presence. Military roads or limes often marked the border, with forts and signal towers spread along them and it was not until the reign of Domitian that the first solid frontier was constructed, in Germania Superior, using a simple fence. Hadrian expanded on this idea, redesigning the German border by ordering a continuous timber palisade supported by forts behind it. Although such defences would not have held back any concerted invasion effort, they did physically mark the edge of Roman territory and went some way to providing a degree of control over who crossed the border and where.

Hadrian reduced Roman military presence in the territory of the Brigantes and concentrated on building a more solid linear fortification to the north of them. This was intended to replace the Stanegate road which is generally thought to have served as the limes (the boundary of the Roman Empire) until then.

Construction

Construction probably started in 122 AD and was largely completed within eight years, with soldiers from all three of the occupying Roman legions participating in the work. The route chosen largely paralleled the nearby Stanegate road from Luguvalium (Carlisle) to Coria (Corbridge), which was already defended by a system of forts, including Vindolanda. The Wall in part follows the outcrop of a harder, more resistant igneous dolerite rock escarpment, known as the Great Whin Sill.

The initial plan called for a ditch and wall with 80 small, gated milecastle fortlets every Roman mile holding a few dozen troops each, and pairs of evenly spaced intermediate turrets used for observation and signalling. The wall was initially designed to a width of 3 metres (10 ft) (the so-called "Broad Wall"). The height is estimated to have been around 5 or 6 metres (16–20 ft). Local limestone was used in the construction, except for the section to the west of Irthing where turf was used instead as there were no useful outcrops nearby. The turf wall was 6 metres wide (20 ft) and around 3.5 metres (11.5 ft) high. Milecastles in this area were also built from timber and earth rather than stone but turrets were always stone. The Broad Wall was initially built with a clay-bonded rubble core and mortared dressed rubble facing stones, but this seems to have made it vulnerable to collapse and repair with a mortared core was sometimes necessary.

Roman fort at Corstopitum.

Roman fort at Corstopitum.

The milecastles were of three different designs, depending on which Roman legion built them — the Second, Sixth, and Twentieth Legions, whose inscriptions tell us were all involved in the construction. Similarly there are three different turret designs along the route. All were about 493 metres (539 yd) apart and measured 4.27 metres square (46.0 sq ft) internally.

Construction was divided into lengths of about 5 miles (8 km). One group of each legion would create the foundations and build the milecastles and turrets and then other cohorts would follow, building the wall itself.

Early in its construction, just after reaching the North Tyne (construction worked from east to west), the width of the wall was narrowed to 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) or even less (sometimes 1.8m) (the "Narrow Wall"). However, Broad Wall foundations had already been laid as far as the river Irthing, where the Turf Wall began, and many turrets and milecastles were optimistically provided with stub 'wing walls' in preparation for joining to the Broad Wall; a handy reference for archaeologists trying to piece together the construction chronology.

Within a few years it was decided to add a total of 14 to 17 (sources disagree) full-sized forts along the length of the wall, including Vercovicium (Housesteads) and Banna (Birdoswald), each holding between 500 and 1,000 auxiliary troops (no legions were posted to the wall). The eastern end of the wall was extended further east from Pons Aelius (Newcastle) to Segedunum (Wallsend) on the Tyne estuary. Some of the larger forts along the wall, such as Cilurnum (Chesters) and Vercovicium (Housesteads), were built on top of the footings of milecastles or turrets, showing the change of plan. An inscription mentioning early governor Aulus Platorius Nepos indicates that the change of plans took place early on. Also some time still during Hadrian's reign (i.e., before AD 138) the wall west of the Irthing was rebuilt in sandstone to basically the same dimensions as the limestone section to the east.

Vallum at Hadrian's Wall near milecastle 42

Vallum at Hadrian's Wall near milecastle 42

After the forts had been added (or possibly at the same time), the so-called Vallum was built on the southern side. It consisted of a large, flat-bottomed ditch 6 metres (20 ft) wide at the top and 3 metres (10 ft) deep bounded by a berm on each side 10 metres (33 ft) wide. Beyond the berms were earth banks 6 metres (20 ft) wide and 2 metres (6.5 ft) high. Causeways crossed the ditch at regular intervals. Initially the berm appears to have been the main route for transportation along the wall. The Vallum probably delineated a military zone rather than intending to be a major fortification, though the British tribes to the south were also sometimes a military problem.

The Wall was thus part of a defensive system which, from north to south included:

* a glacis and a deep ditch

* a berm with rows of pits holding entanglements

* the curtain wall itself

* a later military road (the "Military Way")

* a north mound, a ditch and a south mound to prevent or slow down any raids from a rebelling southern tribe.

Roman-period names

The remains of milecastle 39, near Steel Rigg

The remains of milecastle 39, near Steel Rigg

The Roman-period names of some of the Hadrian's Wall forts are known, from the Notitia Dignitatum and other evidence:

* Segedunum (Wallsend)

* Pons Aelius (Newcastle on Tyne)

* Condercum (Benwell Hill)

* Vindobala (Halton Chesters)[2]

* Hunnum (Rudchester)[2]

* Cilurnum (Chesters aka Walwick Chesters)[2]

* Procolita (Carrowburgh)

* Vercovicium (Housesteads)

* Aesica (Great Chesters)[2]

* Magnis (Carvoran)

* Banna (Birdoswald)

* Camboglanna (Castlesteads)

* Uxelodunum (Stanwix. Also known as Petriana)

* Aballava (Burgh-by-Sands)

* Coggabata (Drumburgh)

* Mais (Bowness)

Outpost forts beyond the Wall include:

* Habitancum (Risingham)

* Bremenium (Rochester)[2]

* Ad Fines (Chew Green) [1]

Supply forts behind the wall include:

* Alauna (Maryport)

* Arbeia (South Shields)

* Coria (Corbridge)

* Vindolanda (Little Chesters)[2]

* Vindomora (Ebchester)[2]

Garrison

The wall was garrisoned by auxiliary (i.e., non-legionary) units of the army (non-citizens). Their numbers fluctuated throughout the occupation, but may have been around 9,000 strong in general, including infantry and cavalry. The new forts could hold garrisons of 500 men while cavalry units of 1,000 troops were stationed at either end. The total number of soldiers manning the early wall was probably greater than 10,000.

They suffered serious attacks in 180, and especially between 196 and 197 when the garrison had been seriously weakened, following which major reconstruction had to be carried out under Septimius Severus. The region near the wall remained peaceful for most of the rest of the 3rd century. It is thought that many in the garrison may have married and integrated into the local community.

Part of Hadrian's wall near Housesteads.

Part of Hadrian's wall near Housesteads.

After Hadrian

In the years after Hadrian's death in 138, the new emperor, Antoninus Pius essentially abandoned the wall, though leaving it occupied in a support role, and began building a new wall in Scotland proper, about 160 kilometres (100 mi) north, the Antonine Wall. This turf wall ran 40 Roman miles (about 37.8 mi or 61 km) and had significantly more forts than Hadrian's Wall. Antonine was unable to conquer the northern tribes and so when Marcus Aurelius became emperor, he abandoned the Antonine Wall and occupied Hadrian's Wall once again in 164. It remained occupied by Roman troops until their withdrawal from Britain.

In the late 4th century, barbarian invasions, economic decline, and military coups loosened the Empire's hold on Britain. By 410, the Roman administration and its legions were gone, and Britain was left to look to its own defences and government. The garrisons, by now probably made up mostly of local Britons who had nowhere else to go, probably lingered on in some form for generations. Archaeology is beginning to reveal that some parts of the Wall remained occupied well into the 5th century. Enough also survived in the 8th century for spolia from it to find its way into the construction of Jarrow Priory, and for Bede to see and describe the Wall thus in Historia Ecclesiastica 1.5, although he misidentified it as being built by Septimius Severus:

“ after many great and dangerous battles, he thought fit to divide that part of the island, which he had recovered from the other unconquered nations, not with a wall, as some imagine, but with a rampart. For a wall is made of stones, but a rampart, with which camps are fortified to repel the assaults of enemies, is made of sods, cut out of the earth, and raised above the ground all round like a wall, having in front of it the ditch whence the sods were taken, and strong stakes of wood fixed upon its top. ”

But in time the wall was abandoned and fell into ruin. Over the centuries and even into the 20th century a large proportion of the stone was reused in other local buildings.

In fiction

Sycamore Gap (the "Robin Hood Tree")

Sycamore Gap (the "Robin Hood Tree")

* Hadrian's Wall was featured extensively in the movie King Arthur (which depicted the story of the people the Arthurian legends were supposedly based on). The one kilometre (0.6 mi) long replica, located in County Kildare, Ireland, was the largest movie set ever built in that country, and took a crew of 300 construction workers four and a half months to build. The fort in the movie where Arthur and his Sarmatian "knights" were garrisoned was based on the Roman fort named Vindolanda, which was built around AD 80 just south of Hadrian's Wall in what is now called Chesterholm, in Northern England. In the movie, the fort is attached to the wall.

* Sycamore Gap, a section of the wall between two crests just west of milecastle 38, is locally known as the "Robin Hood Tree". This location was used in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, as the setting for an interlude during Robin's journey from the White Cliffs (actually shot at the Seven Sisters Hills) to Nottingham via Aysgarth Falls.

BAY OF BENGAL (Oct. 17, 2021) Sailors from U.K. Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 21 prepare to lift off in a U.K. Royal Navy Wildcat HMA2 on the flight deck Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) during Maritime Partnership Exercise (MPX) 2021. MPX is a multilateral maritime exercise between the Royal Australian Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, U.K. Royal Navy, and U.S. maritime forces, focused on naval cooperation, interoperability and regional security and stability in the Indo-Pacific and is an example of the enduring partnership between Australian, Japanese, U.K. and U.S. maritime forces, who routinely operate together in the Indo-Pacific, fostering a cooperative approach toward regional security and stability. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Megan Alexander)

This picture was taken a few months ago. As you can see I already built one half of the saucer... until I found out my initial plan is not going to work, in cases of stability, weight and tension of the circular arrangement of the segments.

I'm now since weeks and months thinking about alternative ways to built a 85x55 stud wide saucer with as many necessary details as possible... Gonna be a long ride with warp ;-)

____________________________________________________

You can find me as well on Instagram under my username kevin.j.walter or my pictures via #skywalter

Los camaleones (Chamaeleonidae) son una familia, de pequeños saurópsidos (reptiles) escamosos. Existen cerca de 161 especies de camaleones, la mayor parte de ellas en África al sur del Sáhara. En América se llama a menudo camaleones a lagartos de las familias Polychrotidae y Dactyloidae, que aunque pueden cambiar de color, no guardan ningún parentesco con los verdaderos camaleones.

Son famosos por su habilidad de cambiar de color según las circunstancias, por su lengua rápida y alargada, y por sus ojos, que pueden ser movidos independientemente el uno del otro.

En 2015, Glaw reelaboró la división familiar en dos subfamilias:

Familia Chamaeleonidae: Subfamilia Chamaeleoninae (camaleones típicos, de los Géneros Bradypodion, Calumma, Chamaeleo, Furcifer, Kinyongia, Nadzikambia, Archaius, Trioceros)

y Subfamilia Brookesiinae (camaleones enanos, de los Géneros Brookesia, Rhampholeon y Rieppeleon)

Los camaleones varían grandemente en tamaño, desde los pequeños camaleones de la familia Brookesia que miden menos de 3 cm de largo hasta los grandes de 80 cm como el Calumna parsonii. La especie más pequeña vive en la isla de Nosy-bé en Madagascar es Brookesia minima y en su fase adulta difícilmente supera el centímetro y medio. Muchos de ellos tienen adornos en la cabeza o en la cara como protuberancias nasales e incluso cuernos como en el caso de Trioceros jacksonii o largas crestas en la parte superior de la cabeza como Chamaeleo calyptratus. Muchas especies presentan dimorfismo sexual y los machos suelen estar más adornados.

Las características principales que son compartidas por toda la familia son la estructura de sus patas, los ojos, la falta de oído y la lengua. Aunque no tengan oído externo son capaces de detectar vibraciones y sonidos de baja frecuencia, de unos 200Hz.

La familia tiene cada pata dividida en dos "dedos" principales con un suave recubrimiento al centro. Estos dedos están equipados con fuertes garras que le permiten trepar por troncos y ramas. Algo interesante es que tienen dos garras en la parte exterior y tres en la parte interior en las patas delanteras. Y en cambio, tres garras en la parte exterior y dos en la parte interior en las patas traseras.

Se mueven con extrema lentitud. Para atrapar a su presa utilizan la lengua, la cual puede ser extremadamente larga y muchas veces supera en longitud a su propio cuerpo. Consiguen lanzar su larguísima lengua protráctil como un proyectil, con una velocidad y distancia sorprendentes, hasta casi un metro en algunas especies. Con su punta pegajosa atrapan los pequeños animales, principalmente insectos, de los que se alimentan, ingiriéndolos inmediatamente enteros, como es común en los reptiles. Sólo con la ayuda de la fotografías de alta velocidad es posible observar ese proceso en detalle.

Su piel es rica en queratina, lo que presenta una serie de ventajas (en especial, la resistencia), pero igual que en otros reptiles, exige mudas periódicas como única forma de restaurarla.

Los ojos es lo que más los distingue entre los reptiles. Los camaleones poseen un rango oculomotor muy grande de unos 180° horizontalmente y 90° verticalmente. Los párpados están unidos entre sí por una estructura circular única de ápice redondeado, que rodea por completo el ojo, adoptando así una forma cónica. Cada ojo está recubierto por un párpado que se fusiona con el globo ocular siguiendo de cerca sus movimientos y deja libre solo una pequeña área circular en el centro, la correspondiente al iris y la pupila. Sus ojos se encuentran colocados en los laterales de la cabeza lo que les permite tener una vista panorámica. Pueden mover sus ojos, grandes y globosos, de manera independiente, lo que les brinda una visión de casi 360°, con un pequeño punto ciego tras la cabeza. Cuando la presa es localizada ambos ojos convergen en la misma dirección dándoles una visión estereoscópica y una percepción de profundidad.

En su retina solo poseen conos y no bastones, lo que les permite una buena visión diurna y excelente percepción de los colores, pero una deficiencia en la vista nocturna. Por esta razón los camaleones solo cazan durante el día.

La mayoría de camaleones son ovíparos, pero existen también especies ovovivíparas (normalmente del género Trioceros) . Una vez que la hembra está lista para poner los huevos (3-6 semanas después de la fecundación), desciende hacia el suelo y comienza a excavar un hueco de 5 a 30 centímetros dependiendo la especie. Luego, entierra los huevos y deja el lugar. La cantidad de huevos depositados varía de especie en especie desde el Brookesia con 2 a 4 huevos hasta el Chamaeleo calyptratus que pone de 30 a 60 huevos. Los huevos tardan en incubar de 6 a 8 meses, a excepción de Calumma parsonii, en cuya especie la incubación dura 18 meses. Los camaleones alcanzan la madurez sexual entre 4/5 meses y 8/10 meses (aunque el Calumma Parsonii llegan a su madurez sexual entre los dos y tres años). Pueden vivir entre 4 o 5 años, si bien algunas especies de gran tamaño como los Trioceros melleri y los Calumma parsonii pueden llegar a vivir hasta los 15 años.

La mayor parte de los camaleones habitan en África y en Madagascar, aunque algunas especies también se encuentran en partes del sur de Europa, Sri Lanka, India y Asia Menor. Diferentes especies habitan diferentes ambientes, como montañas, junglas, sabanas y a veces desiertos y estepas. Se cree que los individuos que viven en los sectores mediterráneos europeos derivan de ejemplares introducidos por el hombre en épocas remotas.

Los camaleones viven, en su mayor parte, en ambientes forestales, pero también se hallan algunos en matorrales, y algunas especies viven en el suelo, debajo de las hojas. Pueden pasar de un árbol a otro gracias a la habilidad prensil de su cola y de sus patas.

En la península ibérica sólo vive el camaleón común (Chamaeleo chamaeleon), que se encuentra en puntos muy concretos de la geografía española, como en Andalucía (en la costa desde Huelva hasta Almería existen poblaciones fragmentadas en varios puntos) o la Región de Murcia y en Portugal, concretamente en el Algarve; también hay poblaciones en Italia y Creta. Otra especie que se puede encontrar en Europa es el camaleón africano (Chamaeleo africanus) con algunas pequeñas poblaciones al suroeste del Peloponeso en el sur de Grecia, donde se cree que es una introducción desde la antigüedad, posiblemente desde Egipto.

Todos los camaleones son animales diurnos. Su periodo de mayor actividad es la mañana y el crepúsculo. Los camaleones no son cazadores activos. En vez de eso, prefieren quedarse horas inmóviles, esperando que una presa pase por allí. Se alimentan básicamente de artrópodos y de pequeños vertebrados. En cautividad, también comen frutas como papayas, plátanos, y hasta crías de roedores. Pero esa dieta solo es válida para animales adultos: las crías son casi exclusivamente insectívoras.

Los camaleones viven la mayor parte de sus vidas en solitario, y son bastante agresivos contra otros miembros de su misma especie. El hábito solitario solo es abandonado en la época de apareamiento, cuando el macho desciende de los árboles en busca de hembras.

Los camaleones pueden morder cuando se les provoca, pero el mordisco no es muy doloroso y en caso de que se produzca no reviste ningún riesgo, basta con desinfectar la zona como cualquier otra herida o rasguño.

Algunas especies de camaleón son capaces de cambiar de color, lo que es su característica más famosa.

Al contrario de lo que algunos creen, no son incoloros, ni mudan de color solo de acuerdo con el del ambiente; en realidad, el cambio de su color básico expresa más a menudo una condición fisiológica (relacionada con la temperatura o la hora del día) o una condición psicológica (provocada por la proximidad de un eventual adversario o pareja).

El cambio de color también tiene un papel importante en la comunicación durante las luchas entre camaleones: los colores indican si el oponente está asustado o furioso. Pueden variar los colores, desde rojizo hasta verdoso.

Accidentalmente, el cambio de color puede ayudar a la ocultación del animal, aunque esta no es una ocurrencia frecuente, y sí ocasional.

Los camaleones tienen células pigmentarias especializadas en varias capas de la dermis, bajo su epidermis externa y transparente. Las células de la capa superior, llamadas cromatóforos, contienen pigmentos amarillos y rojos. Bajo la de los cromatóforos hay otra capa cuyas células pigmentarias, los guanóforos, contienen una sustancia cristalina e incolora, la guanina. Los guanóforos reflejan, entre otras cosas, el color azul de la luz incidente. Cuando la capa superior con sus cromatóforos determina un color amarillo, la luz azul reflejada por los guanóforos se tiñe de verde (azul + amarillo). Aún más abajo se encuentra una capa rica en melanóforos, cargados del pigmento oscuro llamado eumelanina que también tiñe la piel humana. Estos melanóforos regulan el brillo, es decir la cantidad de luz reflejada. Todas estas células pigmentarias pueden regular la distribución de los pigmentos que contienen, ampliándola o contrayéndola, lo que da lugar su vez a las diferencias de brillo, tonalidad y dibujo que distinguen a los camaleones.

En la simbología de algunas tribus africanas, el camaleón es un animal sagrado, visto como el creador de la raza humana. Nunca muere, y cuando se encuentran alguno en el camino, lo apartan con precaución, con miedo a las maldiciones.

En el mercado de mascotas, Trioceros jacksonii y Chamaeleo calyptratus son de lejos los más comunes y se los encuentra frecuentemente criados en cautiverio. También podemos encontrar Furcifer pardalis, Furcifer lateralis, Calumma parsonii, Trioceros quadricornis y Trioceros melleri.

La mayoría de las especies está listada en el CITES, lo cual indica que su exportación está prohibida o sujeta a estrictas cuotas de exportación en sus países nativos. Sin embargo, la falta de órganos de control en los países nativos hace que esta lista pierda efectividad.

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamaeleonidae

Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, being capable of shifting to different hues and degrees of brightness. The large number of species in the family exhibit considerable variability in their capacity to change color. For some, it is more of a shift of brightness (shades of brown); for others, a plethora of color-combinations (reds, yellows, greens, blues) can be seen.

Chameleons are distinguished by their zygodactylous feet, their prehensile tail, their laterally compressed bodies, their head casques, their projectile tongues, their swaying gait, and crests or horns on their brow and snout. Chameleons' eyes are independently mobile, and because of this the chameleon’s brain is constantly analyzing two separate, individual images of its environment. When hunting prey, the eyes focus forward in coordination, affording the animal stereoscopic vision.

Chameleons are adapted for climbing and visual hunting. The use of their prehensile tail offers stability when they are moving or resting while on a branch in the canopy; because of this, their tail is often referred to as a "fifth limb". Another character that is advantageous for being arboreal is how laterally compressed their bodies are; it is important for them to distribute their weight as evenly as possible as it confers stability on twigs and branches in the trees. They live in warm habitats that range from rainforest to desert conditions, with various species occurring in Africa, Madagascar, southern Europe, and across southern Asia as far as Sri Lanka. They have been introduced to Hawaii, California, and Florida.

In 1986, the family Chamaeleonidae was divided into two subfamilies, Brookesiinae and Chamaeleoninae.

Under this classification, Brookesiinae included the genera Brookesia and Rhampholeon, as well as the genera later split off from them (Palleon and Rieppeleon), while Chamaeleoninae included the genera Bradypodion, Calumma, Chamaeleo, Furcifer and Trioceros, as well as the genera later split off from them (Archaius, Nadzikambia and Kinyongia). Since that time, however, the validity of this subfamily designation has been the subject of much debate, although most phylogenetic studies support the notion that the pygmy chameleons of the subfamily Brookesiinae are not a monophyletic group.

While some authorities have previously preferred to use this subfamilial classification on the basis of the absence of evidence principle, these authorities later abandoned this subfamilial division, no longer recognizing any subfamilies with the family Chamaeleonidae.

In 2015, however, Glaw reworked the subfamilial division by placing only the genera Brookesia and Palleon within the Brookesiinae subfamily, with all other genera being placed in Chamaeleoninae.

Some chameleon species are able to change their skin coloration. Different chameleon species are able to vary their coloration and pattern through combinations of pink, blue, red, orange, green, black, brown, light blue, yellow, turquoise, and purple. Chameleon skin has a superficial layer which contains pigments, and under the layer are cells with very small (nanoscale) guanine crystals. Chameleons change color by "actively tuning the photonic response of a lattice of small guanine nanocrystals in the s-iridophores". This tuning, by an unknown molecular mechanism, changes the wavelength of light reflected off the crystals which changes the color of the skin. The color change was duplicated ex vivo by modifying the osmolarity of pieces of white skin.

Color change in chameleons has functions in camouflage, but most commonly in social signaling and in reactions to temperature and other conditions. The relative importance of these functions varies with the circumstances, as well as the species. Color change signals a chameleon's physiological condition and intentions to other chameleons. Because chameleons are ectothermic, another reason why they change color is to regulate their body temperatures, either to a darker color to absorb light and heat to raise their temperature, or to a lighter color to reflect light and heat, thereby either stabilizing or lowering their body temperature.

Chameleons tend to show brighter colors when displaying aggression to other chameleons, and darker colors when they submit or "give up". Some species, particularly those of Madagascar and some African genera in rainforest habitats, have blue fluorescence in their skull tubercles, deriving from bones and possibly serving a signaling role.

Some species, such as Smith's dwarf chameleon, adjust their colors for camouflage by the vision of the specific predator species (bird or snake) by which they are being threatened.

Chameleons have two superimposed layers within their skin that control their color and thermoregulation. The top layer contains a lattice of guanine nanocrystals, and by exciting this lattice the spacing between the nanocrystals can be manipulated, which in turn affects which wavelengths of light are reflected and which are absorbed. Exciting the lattice increases the distance between the nanocrystals, and the skin reflects longer wavelengths of light. Thus, in a relaxed state the crystals reflect blue and green, but in an excited state the longer wavelengths such as yellow, orange, green, and red are reflected.

The skin of a chameleon also contains some yellow pigments, which combined with the blue reflected by a relaxed crystal lattice results in the characteristic green color which is common of many chameleons in their relaxed state. Chameleon color palettes have evolved through evolution and the environment. Chameleons living in the forest have a more defined and colorful palette compared to those living in the desert or savanna, which have more of a basic, brown, and charred palette.

Chameleons primarily live in the mainland of sub-Saharan Africa and on the island of Madagascar, although a few species live in northern Africa, southern Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece), the Middle East, southern India, Sri Lanka, and several smaller islands in the western Indian Ocean.

Chameleons inhabit all kinds of tropical and mountain rain forests, savannas, and sometimes deserts and

steppes.

The typical chameleons from the subfamily Chamaeleoninae are arboreal, usually living in trees or bushes, although a few (notably the Namaqua chameleon) are partially or largely terrestrial. Most species from the subfamily Brookesiinae, which includes the genera Brookesia, Rieppeleon, and Rhampholeon, live low in vegetation or on the ground among leaf litter. Many species of chameleons are threatened by extinction. Declining chameleon numbers are due to habitat loss.

Chameleons are preyed upon by a variety of other animals. Birds and snakes are the most important predators of adult chameleons. Invertebrates, especially ants, put a high predation pressure on chameleon eggs and juveniles. Chameleons are unlikely to be able to flee from predators and rely on crypsis as their primary defense. Chameleons can change both their colors and their patterns (to varying extents) to resemble their surroundings or disrupt the body outline and remain hidden from a potential enemy's sight. Only if detected, chameleons actively defend themselves. They adopt a defensive body posture, present an attacker with a laterally flattened body to appear larger, warn with an open mouth, and, if needed, utilize feet and jaws to fight back. Vocalization is sometimes incorporated into threat displays.

Chameleons are popular reptile pets, mostly imported from African countries like Madagascar, Tanzania, and Togo. The most common in the trade are the Senegal chameleon (Chamaeleo senegalensis), the Yemen or veiled chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus), the panther chameleon (Furcifer pardalis), and Jackson's chameleon (Trioceros jacksonii). Other chameleons seen in captivity (albeit on an irregular basis) include such species as the carpet chameleon (Furcifer lateralis), Meller’s chameleon (Trioceros melleri), Parson’s chameleon (Calumma parsonii), and several species of pygmy and leaf-tailed chameleons, mostly of the genuses Brookesia, Rhampholeon, or Rieppeleon. These are among the most sensitive reptiles one can own, requiring specialized attention and care.

The U.S. has been the main importer of chameleons since the early 1980s accounting for 69% of African reptile exports. However, there have been large declines due to tougher regulations to protect species from being taken from the wild and due to many becoming invasive in places like Florida. They have remained popular though which may be due to the captive-breeding in the U.S. which has increased to the point that the U.S. can fulfill its demand, and has now even become a major exporter as well. In the U.S. they are so popular, that despite Florida having six invasive chameleon species due to the pet trade, reptile hobbyists in these areas search for chameleons to keep as pets or to breed and sell them, with some selling for up to a thousand dollars.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chameleon

BAY OF BENGAL (Oct. 16, 2021) Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) transits the Bay of Bengal as part of Maritime Partnership Exercise (MPX) 2021. MPX is a multilateral maritime exercise between the Royal Australian Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, U.K. Royal Navy, and U.S. maritime forces; focused on naval cooperation, interoperability, and regional security and stability in the Indo-Pacific and is an example of the enduring partnership between Australian, Japanese, U.K., and U.S. maritime forces who routinely operate together in the Indo-Pacific, fostering a cooperative approach toward regional security and stability. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nicholas R. Carter)

SAN DIEGO (Sept. 3, 2020) Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) returns to its homeport of San Diego following the successful completion of a seven-and-a-half-month deployment. The ship operated in the U.S. 7th Fleet’s area of responsibility in support of security and stability initiatives in the Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kevin C. Leitner/Released)

bighugelabs.com/flickr/scout.php?mode=history&id=1352...

[...] True stability results when presumed order and presumed disorder are balanced. A truly stable system expects the unexpected, is prepared to be disrupted, waits to be transformed [...]

-- Quote by Tom Robbins, American Novelist (1936)

(Italian volcano Stromboli vs Sun)

Sunset view from Tropea, Italy (August, 2007)

I was at an event tonight near Piccadilly Circus and took a couple of pictures on the way home so my camera bag did its best to resemble a tripod (in the case of the RA picture). I had to rely on anything else I could find for stability for the other two shots. I generally like to shoot at the lowest ISO if possible. But as I discovered at the event I was at tonight: my pictures at a low ISO using flash were dreadful. The ones using a higher ISO were usable (but admittedly a little grainy). I spoke to a colleague whose son is a professional photographer with the RAF about that dilemma. And he said that his son uses whatever ISO he needs to get the shot he wants. Sounded like pretty sensible advice to me.

I just liked the golden colour of the buildings and the fact that the traffic island mirrored the shape of the street.

Taken using FED2 Analog Camera

Sited along the River Liffey, the new (2017) Central Bank of Ireland building has an amazing facade. This is the national central bank responsible for overseeing monetary and financial stability in Ireland. It plays a critical role in the Irish economy. I just loved the gold mesh. Very extravagant.

The sculpture is only 4 cm large .

right upper arm : You can imagine that arm shooting a disintegrating

Newtonian beam .

Left upper Arm : Triple saw made from vintage brass clock gear .

Top Arm : Made from Mysterious yellow amber .

bottom arm : a single magnetic wheel for an alternative transport and stability .

Beholder's floats/hover above the ground . They are known to be obsessively Tyrannic .

Made by Daniel Proulx A.K.A : CatherinetteRings , Steampunk jewelry designer and sculptor

This sculpture is currently on display for the Oxford Steampunk Exhibition .

BEHOLDER WRITTING COMPETITION STORIES :

1ST PLACE WINNER:

A Light in the Darkness

by Will Steed

Hastings looked down the tunnel into the darkness. He looked down at his feet. The pools of filth lay stagnant on the ground at the edges, while a stream of foulness trickled down the middle. His shoes would have make do on their own. Some yards further into the tunnel, he found a twisted piece of iron left off to the side. He knew he was in the right place. The maker's mark on the iron matched the ones taken from the smith's yard near the docks.

Still further down the tunnel, there was a branch. One would lead to the lower reaches, the other further south, towards the houses on Merchant's Row. The criminal element of the lower reaches were prime candidates for the theft of scrap iron, but something tickled at the back of Hastings' brain. His intuition told him there was a connection between the theft of the scrap iron and rumors of an alliance between technologists and the guild of merchants, but there was nothing to prove it, or even to suggest that it was more than the hunch of a detective on probation.

Hastings listened carefully. Over the rumble of the train passing above, he could hear a deep rhythmic sound coming from the tunnel that lead towards Merchant's Row. He walked cautiously down the tunnel, avoiding the splashing of walking in puddles of Ada-knew-what.

As he progressed, the rhythm grew louder and resolved itself to human voices, chanting, and the flicker of torches bounced off the wall. A cult? he thought to himself. That would be the third one this year. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a metal flask, holding it firmly in his hand. As he approached the source of the chanting and flickering, he unlatched a metal cylinder from the beltloop that held his coat.

Before he made his presence known, he stopped to listen. The chanting was in Latin - Laudamus te, deo omnifacente, adjuta nobis, dea technologistorum. Of course it was in Latin, he thought. Latin is the language of the Roman church, why not of other gods? This cult originator had apparently done his research on cultistry. The chanters had dark robes, chalk designs on the floor, and a brass altar. Upon the altar, the mystic theme was broken by a pile of scrap metal. Among the lead and iron piping lay a large vicegrip, a dangerously oversized blunderbuss and a rotary sawblade.

Hastings drew attention to himself by flicking the lever on the side of the metal cylinder. The snapping of a spring and the sliding of metal against metal drew the attention of two cultists, who broke from the circle of robed enchanters and advanced on him. With his truncheon extended, he let the robed chanters reach him. The chanting from the other cultists changed, growing louder as he faced the fighters: venite, surmitte nobis monstrum mechanicum. The swinging truncheon caught one cultist on the knee, his scream loud enough to be heard over the chant, which grew louder with each repetition. A blow from the second cultist knocked him to the floor, his truncheon rolling out of reach, lying halfway into the chalk circle on the floor.

The lead cultist, with a thick gold chain hanging around his neck, drew forth a glass orb and placed it on the altar as the chanting stopped, leaving a ringing in Hastings' ears, and only the screaming of the injured cultist rang through the tunnel. The cultist who had punched Hastings pulled him up by his coat-front. Hastings shook the flask in his left hand and flicked the lid off it. A smell even fouler than the stench of the effluent in the tunnels rose into the cultist's nose. The grip on his coat slackened as the cultist collapsed to the floor in a stupor.

Covering the flask once more, Hastings returned his focus to the other cultists. The torches had blown out while his attention was distracted, and the tunnel was lit by the golden glow of the orb on the altar. The light was growing fast, and Hastings and the cultists were forced to cover their eyes.

When the light cleared the pile of scrap on the altar had gone. Instead, a metal creature was suspended in mid air above the altar. A large eye in the middle surveyed the room suspiciously while metallic tentacles moved around it. The sight of metal moving like flesh made Hastings' own flesh crawl. Most of the cultists looked as shocked and sickened as Hastings, backing away towards the walls, but the lead cultist held his ground.

'Behold! I bring you forth from the divine workshop' he declaimed. 'I bind you to this place, leaving only to do my bidding! I hold you here under my power until I see fit to remove you to the place from which you came.'

The metal creature regarded the room carefully, floating in silence. Its eye turned to the chalk markings on the floor. It floated to the edge of the circle, where Hastings' truncheon lay across the line on the floor. The eye shifted its gaze back to face the lead cultist, whose eyes had grown wide. The cultist looked at Hastings.

'What have you done?' he demanded of Hastings. 'You've given it its freedom. We have no control over it.'

Hastings knelt on the floor, looking dumbly at the metallic creature, which beheld the scene before it. The creature floated out of the chalk circle, leaving directly over the gap made by the truncheon. The eye beheld Hastings once more, dipping softly, before floating back up the tunnel towards the surface of the city.

The lead cultist fled after it, declaming in Latin. After they had both gone out of sight, there was the scream of spinning metal, the scream of suffering man and the sickening sound of death. A golden light flashed, and the screaming stopped.

Now in the dark, Hastings drew out a small box with a crank on it. After a short winding, a light glowed in the darkness. The whimpering sound of the remaining cultists turned to gratitude, and Hastings led the cultist merchants slowly back to the surface.

In a foggy alleyway, a light yellow glow grew. A scream pierced the night, and then there was silence.

What a proper return from vacation should be like - the first day back on the line and already I manage to catch a classic Lear! Though I had already had the privilege of snapping its brother D-CCCA (www.flickr.com/photos/boran_pivcic/41475148210/in/datepos...), CCCB nevertheless warrants a closer look - if anything for its "uncharacteristic" single ventral fin. Inherited from the original 20 series, this solution increases the aircraft's stability in yaw, something that early Lears had always had trouble with (due to their large tip tanks - a huge mass on a long moment arm - that considerably amplified any disturbance around the vertical axis, and the small vertical stabilizer that could not provide a sufficient righting moment sufficiently quickly).

Ironically, Learjet would get to grips with this issue only on the later model 31 - which lacked tip tanks - using so called "delta fins", twin ventral stabilizers in a V shape that have since become the hallmark of all modern LJs (40/70, 50, 60 & 80).

The success of this solution had soon led a company called Avcon Industries to port them over onto the 35 and offer them as a "third party" option to anybody interested (called the Avcon R/X). The response was so great in fact that even the 35 has since become associated with them - making finding a civilian one in Europe sporting the original variant quite a treat!

Stability, prosperity!

Boston Public Garden

Contax G2, Zeiss 45mm f/2 Planar, Fuji X-TRA 400

An odd photo you might think, but it is quite pertinent in that the 1950s paraffin heater pictured, was manufactured in the factory behind.

The factory was built for WH Paul Ltd in 1948, who in the main manufactured domestic and commercial kitchen equipment. But they also manufactured a small range of domestic paraffin heaters, which were popular for use in homes in the post-war period.

The Paul 'Warma' was a blue-flame heater, so it burned hot, minimising fume output. Indeed, it was advertised as having the equivalent output of a 3kw electrical heater.

On the downside, it had a unsealed fuel tank feed, which seems incredible in a domestic setting. It also employed a large asbestos non-consumable circular wick, and the heater itself had a big footprint to give it stability

With the introduction of smokeless fuels, gas fires and central heating, paraffin heaters had largely fallen from favour for heating peoples homes by the end of the 1960s. Most either got scrapped or re-used to heat garages and greenhouses. That said, 1000s of paraffins heaters got a brief reprieve in the power strikes of the early 1970s.

I don't know when production of the 'Warma' ended, but likely by the early 1960s?

Today, very few of these Paul Warma heaters exist, most having long gone to the scrap man.

WH Paul Ltd was bought out by a competitor in the early 1970s and production moved away from the Breaston factory.

As for the wonderfully original post-war factory, that found use as industrial units for many years. Today, it stands empty and awaits demolition for residential redevelopment; It really should be rebuilt at an industrial museum such as Beamish, as so few of these post-war factories exist today.

>>Paul Warma paraffin heater outside the post war WH Paul factory - Breaston 17oct2021

After we learned that #Starliner wouldn't make it to the International Space Station, I was feeling a tad reluctant to share images of the launch. There was (and still is) a fair amount of prickliness pointed at Boeing for the error that caused the miss, and the whole mood was occasionally unsettling.

But, the Starliner has landed safely, and Rosie the Rocketeer and co-pilot Astronaut Snoopy are presumably fine. Watching the landing with Lauren was really a ton of fun, especially when she realized she has the exact same Snoopy as the one on board the Starliner. And, learning that Suni Williams has named the landed Starliner (that she will herself pilot) "Calypso" was particularly fun.

This will probably be my last image to share from the launch, a picture I was particularly looking forward to capturing -- the pre-sunrise streak. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out as planned for a fairly mundane reason. I had the exposure worked out (thanks to a 3-stop ND filter), but camera stability was an issue. At first, I thought a gust (or two) of wind had jostled the camera, but everyone else (especially the always-great Walter Scriptunas, who was set up mere inches from my camera) had a beautiful, stable image. Most likely, I inadvertently had one of my tripod legs in contact with the railing that stands between us and a 526-foot fall, and whenever anyone leaned against the railing, my camera shook. And did it ever shake. The first version of the streak, posted after launch, is a bit messy.

So, this image takes a few liberties - most notably, the foreground (and the stars) are extracted from a test frame I took 20 minutes before launch, and then for the actual launch streak, I cleaned up the super-jiggly parts. The streak still wobbles a bit, but it's not (entirely) as bad as the original. The exercise was more for my amusement (and therapy), and wasn't necessary, as there were many, many beautiful images (too many to name) captured of this launch. (Of note: the Mobile Launcher, waiting for an SLS rocket, is parked front and center on the crawlerway.)

TL;DR: I'm glad the Starliner is home safe, and I genuinely hope we can safely send astronauts (and Snoopy) to the Space Station sometime soon. And, always, always keep your camera stable.

This was a 3-image handheld HDR composite. I achieved a reasonable amount of stability by resting my camera on the railing along the edge of the river, and simply hoping that I could hold everything reasonably still while I took three long-exposure shots in a row...

In the near foreground, you see the remains of an old wooden freight pier. Behind that is the new concrete pier at 70th Street, constructed by Donald Trump's empire when he built the complex of new apartment buildings along the western edge of Manhattan in this area of the upper west side.

In the far distance is the vast wilderness of New Jersey, where rumor has it that the Dark Side of the Force resides...

****************

As I've pointed out in three earlier sets of Flickr album (shown here and here and here, I do not dance the tango, and I know little or nothing about its history, its folklore, or even its steps and rhythms. I'm vaguely aware that it originated in Argentina in the 1890s, that a new style known as "tango nuevo" began to emerge in the late 1990s, and that various actors and actresses -- including Jessica Biel, Colin Firth, Antonio Banderas, Madonna, Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others -- have performed the tango in various movies. But beyond that, it never really occurred to me that it played any significant role here in the U.S.

That is, not until the summer of 2009, when I happened to return to my hotel, while on a business trip to Washington, DC, just as a local gathering of tango aficionados was dancing to their music in a nearby square known as Freedom Plaza. I photographed the event and learned from one of the participants that there were similar informal events in New York City. I was reminded of the tango again in the spring of 2010, and discovered that a tango "event" would be taking place on a Sunday afternoon at Pier 45, where Christopher Street runs into the Hudson River in Greenwich Village. The event takes place every Sunday, usually from 4-8 PM, and I made my first visit in mid-April, which led to this set of photos. I returned again on a hot Sunday evening in July -- indeed, it was so hot that the music did not even begin until 6 PM. But then the dancers began to appear, one couple after another, until there were a couple dozen couples filling a large space under a sheltering canopy.

Meanwhile, some Internet searches informed me that similar tango events take place at the South Street Seaport, in Central Park -- and even in my own neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, down along the Hudson River in Riverside Park South, at 68th Street. That's where this particular set of photos was taken ... with a very small group of dancers who began trickling onto the scene just as the sun dropped below the New Jersey skyline at 7:30 PM. The temperature was mild, the dusk sky was beautiful, and the music was wonderful ...

If you'd like to watch NYC tango dancing on your own, check out Richard Lipkin's Guide to Argentine Tango in New York City.

PHILIPPINE SEA (Aug. 26, 2020) The forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) and the amphibious dock landing ship USS Germantown (LSD 42) transit the Philippine Sea to maintain stability in the region. America, flagship of the America Amphibious Ready Group, assigned to Amphibious Squadron Eleven, along with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Matthew Cavenaile)

PHILIPPINE SEA (Sept. 29, 2016) The U.S. Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) patrols the Philippine Sea after departing Guam following a scheduled five-day port visit. Ronald Reagan, the Carrier Strike Group Five (CSG 5), is on patrol supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nathan Burke/Released)

Cooperation between the NDC and the US. Navy and Marines for stability in the North Atlantic and Arctic regions have seen increased cooperation between the RNoAF and USMC Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadrons, both using AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters and Bell UH-1Y Venoms or 412 Arapahos in similar fashions.

The scene looking up at 30 Rock. Last one in a series of New York landmarks. I promise!

In celebration of the 31st anniversary of the launching of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers aimed the renowned observatory at a brilliant "celebrity star," one of the brightest stars seen in our galaxy, surrounded by a glowing halo of gas and dust.

The price for the monster star's opulence is "living on the edge." The star, called AG Carinae, is waging a tug-of-war between gravity and radiation to avoid self-destruction.

The expanding shell of gas and dust that surrounds the star is about five light-years wide, which equals the distance from here to the nearest star beyond the Sun, Proxima Centauri.

The huge structure was created from one or more giant eruptions about 10,000 years ago. The star's outer layers were blown into space – like a boiling teapot popping off its lid. The expelled material amounts to roughly 10 times our Sun's mass.

These outbursts are the typical life of a rare breed of star called a luminous blue variable, a brief convulsive phase in the short life of an ultra-bright, glamorous star that lives fast and dies young. These stars are among the most massive and brightest stars known. They live for only a few million years, compared to the roughly 10-billion-year lifetime of our Sun. AG Carinae is a few million years old and resides 20,000 light-years away inside our Milky Way galaxy.

Luminous blue variables exhibit a dual personality: They appear to spend years in quiescent bliss and then they erupt in a petulant outburst. These behemoths are stars in the extreme, far different from normal stars like our Sun. In fact, AG Carinae is estimated to be up to 70 times more massive than our Sun and shines with the blinding brilliance of one million suns.

"I like studying these kinds of stars because I am fascinated by their instability. They are doing something weird," said Kerstin Weis, a luminous blue variable expert at Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany.

Major outbursts such as the one that produced the nebula occur once or twice during a luminous blue variable's lifetime. A luminous blue variable star only casts off material when it is in danger of self-destruction as a supernova. Because of their massive forms and super-hot temperatures, luminous blue variable stars like AG Carinae are in a constant battle to maintain stability.

It's an arm-wrestling contest between radiation pressure from within the star pushing outward and gravity pressing inward. This cosmic match results in the star expanding and contracting. The outward pressure occasionally wins the battle, and the star expands to such an immense size that it blows off its outer layers, like a volcano erupting. But this outburst only happens when the star is on the verge of coming apart. After the star ejects the material, it contracts to its normal size, settles back down, and becomes quiescent for a while.

Like many other luminous blue variables, AG Carinae remains unstable. It has experienced lesser outbursts that have not been as powerful as the one that created the present nebula.

Although AG Carinae is quiescent now, as a super-hot star it continues pouring out searing radiation and powerful stellar wind (streams of charged particles). This outflow continues shaping the ancient nebula, sculpting intricate structures as outflowing gas slams into the slower-moving outer nebula. The wind is traveling at up to 670,000 miles per hour (one million km/hr), about 10 times faster than the expanding nebula. Over time, the hot wind catches up with the cooler expelled material, plows into it, and pushes it farther away from the star. This "snowplow" effect has cleared a cavity around the star.

The red material is glowing hydrogen gas laced with nitrogen gas. The diffuse red material at upper left pinpoints where the wind has broken through a tenuous region of material and swept it into space.

The most prominent features, highlighted in blue, are filamentary structures shaped like tadpoles and lopsided bubbles. These structures are dust clumps illuminated by the star's reflected light. The tadpole-shaped features, most prominent at left and bottom, are denser dust clumps that have been sculpted by the stellar wind. Hubble's sharp vision reveals these delicate-looking structures in great detail.

The image was taken in visible and ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet light offers a slightly clearer view of the filamentary dust structures that extend all the way down toward the star. Hubble is ideally suited for ultraviolet-light observations because this wavelength range can only be viewed from space.

Massive stars, like AG Carinae, are important to astronomers because of their far-reaching effects on their environment. The largest program in Hubble's history – the Ultraviolet Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards – is studying the ultraviolet light of young stars and the way they shape their surroundings.

Luminous blue variable stars are rare: Less than 50 are known among the galaxies in our local group of neighboring galaxies. These stars spend tens of thousands of years in this phase, a blink of an eye in cosmic time. Many are expected to end their lives in titanic supernova blasts, which enrich the universe with heavier elements beyond iron.

Hubble Trivia:

- Launched on April 24, 1990, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has made more than 1.5 million observations of about 48,000 celestial objects.

In its 31-year lifetime, the telescope has racked up more than 181,000 orbits around our planet, totaling over 4.5 billion miles.

- Hubble observations have produced more than 169 terabytes of data, which are available for present and future generations of researchers.

- Astronomers using Hubble data have published more than 18,000 scientific papers, with more than 900 of those papers published in 2020.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, D.C.

For more information: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/hubble-captures-giant-s...

PHILIPPINE SEA (July 19, 2020) - The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group and units from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JSMDF) and Australian Defense Force (ADF) participate in trilateral exercises supporting shared goals of peace and stability, while enhancing regional security and the right of all nations to trade, communicate, and choose their destiny in a Free and Open Indo-Pacific. The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is the U.S. Navy's only forward-deployed strike group and one of America's most visible symbols of resolve. (Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jason Tarleton) 200721-N-RF825-0168

** Interested in following U.S. Indo-Pacific Command? Engage and connect with us at www.facebook.com/indopacom | twitter.com/INDOPACOM |

www.instagram.com/indopacom | www.flickr.com/photos/us-pacific-command; | www.youtube.com/user/USPacificCommand | www.pacom.mil/ **

Hoegh Osaka beached on The Brambles bank off Cowes after stability problems on sailing from Southampton on 3 January 2015 bound for Bremerhaven and the Middle East with 1,400 cars and construction machinery (JCB's etc)

The Red Funnel service from Southampton to Cowes was well patronised that day ! They sailed past to the west on the way out, and to the east on the return trip, so day return ticket holders got to see both sides of the incident..

Hope they get her off in time for the cricket season !

6 January 2015

(0125)

Swahili racing teams come together several times a year to compete in traditional hand-crafted arabic-styled Mashua dhows in the Lamu Archipelago just off Kenya's northern Swahili Coast.

Intense village rivalries build over the years, often reaching pitch fever on race day. This magnificent racing dhow and crew are in the lead as they move into the final leg of the race. They are the ultimate winners and will return to their village on the island of Pate with team bragging rights and a certain village swagger that will likely last several months until the next race.

Six crewmen in the lead dhow are perched on an adjustable plank that hangs out over the choppy waters for added balance, speed and stability. About sixteen young crewmen all together are crowed into each dhow to give the necessary weight, balance and stability against a stiff coastal trade wind.

The ubiquitous trade winds have been instrumental in the evolution of Swahili culture and commerce over the years since it was first established in the 14th Century as an Omani trading outpost and settlement on the classic coastal run between Zanzibar and the Arabic world further to the north.

The art of Swahili dhow racing requires considerable team skill as the dhows tack and manoeuvre back and forth through the Manda channel and ultimately out to the edge of the open sea. The finest dhows are selected from each village to race under sail through a complicated series of buoys, combining speed and balance with elaborate tacking and maneuvering competence.

The races are usually organized in conjunction with a cultural festival or an Islamic religious holiday. This particular Shela-based race on the island of Lamu is organized yearly by Peponi's on New Year's Day.

Dhow Culture | Social Documentary | Fluidr Faves

Version 3:

Improved articulation, stability, new weapons and a new head