#ecological vision

[delicatelysublimeforester]

A Celebration of Fresh Beginnings and Deep Connections

Renewal Day: A Celebration of Fresh Beginnings and Deep Connections May 4th marks Renewal Day, a holiday that aligns with the vibrant spirit of spring, ushering in new possibilities and reviving the various facets of our lives. As nature undergoes a rejuvenation, so does Renewal Day become a time for rebirth, regeneration, and the restoration of connections with nature, the environment, family,…

[saber-smithy]

I just had a fucking realization...

[drumlincountry]

So much art about nature & ecology just doesn't ... connect. for me. I dunno. My standards might be too high.

[widowshill]

every dark shadows adaption takes one look at roger and decides ummm instead I will make him a boring rich guy pervert who fucks sooo many women guys he’s not even a little bit fruity just a completely straight sex pest also did we mention he fucks women

[the-huxler]

i have a weakness

im not telling u what fandom this is bout cuz im not brave enough

[borrelia]

i want pocket bugaboo to be finished so badddd thats the EXACT kind of ecology game i dream of in my fantasy knuckles "farming" sim....

[urbanglitterfolk]

The song of cicadas

There have been many times in my life when I have envied foolish women, like Daisy Buchanan. My mother knows this, and when I say it, she just laughs. She laughs because, thanks to her genes, ambition, and dedication, her daughters are not the dazzlingly foolish women of The Great Gatsby. I suppose that’s why I’m here, hiding from mosquitoes in the middle of nowhere in the Peruvian high jungle, like a child playing at camp, with scraped knees and a few cuts on my feet, still chasing after something I can no longer name—a feeling, a state of consciousness.

The mountains greet me with a nonchalant attitude, their familiarity disarms me. They feel so known yet so distant, like the sand I find in my swimsuit—I don’t know if it’s from yesterday or months ago—but none of that matters. All I know is that where there’s sand, there’s happiness.

Six o’clock arrives, and I am ready. I had picked out my dress for the ceremony months ago. I had spent more time than I care to admit thinking about what to wear, but nature had other plans.

"Ready whenever you are!" I text Mayra. She, the hotel owner, is doing me the favor of driving me to the Ashram and introducing me to Don Alberto (we’ll call him “Don” even though he introduced himself as just Alberto—out of respect for his role as a medicine man). Mayra offered to stay with me, but, frankly, I’d rather be stung by a wasp again that same day than force someone to witness and listen to me vomit all night.

I feel like a tribute girl from an ancient tribe, yet not quite. To feel like a tribute girl, I needed my dress.

The sound of cicadas is so loud that it drowns out my thoughts, like an alarm. Mayra, now my friend, mentions that to her, they sound like sirens. At this, I only smile. Always with the sirens.

She doesn’t know that my house is filled with siren crafts, that it all started with a gift and has now become the leitmotif of my home. She doesn’t know that six years ago, when I decided to become the person I longed to be, I felt like I was drowning in the waves while trying to surf, and there, for the first time, I heard the sea. Since that day, the sea, the sirens, and I have been interconnected in ways too numerous to count. But they always appear when something is about to happen, and that’s why I’m here—trying to understand what comes next.

The ceremony began with chants and tobacco. I spent the night in an Ashram in the ecological reserve, where, just hours earlier, I had seen a python (which gave me more nausea than my first dose). The tobacco-infused liquid reminded me of the worst Marlboro hangover of my life. I looked at the stars, felt the guardians, took a deep breath.

On the second dose, the ayahuasca arrived, announced by drums in a giant wave of dolphins and sirens who, though new to me, carried the same intimate familiarity that only the medicine can bring.

I saw the Pacha’s web, the spider, the ant. I saw my mother’s womb. I saw my own womb. But more than anything, I saw myself—I saw myself at 29, 15, 10, 5, and 3 years old. And I saw myself seeing myself, speaking to myself, in suppressed memories that now feel like déjà vu.

I remembered that I have always been there. That, to me, time and space are not linear. And that even though I cannot see myself now, my future self already holds everything I most desire.

It became clear that this time, I wasn’t meant to look ahead but to go back to the beginning. Yet I couldn’t get there. I would have liked to, but it wasn’t the moment.

María Sabina invited me into her body. I traveled to the Peruvian jungle only for an eagle to be absorbed by a tree. I have never been particularly patriotic, but this message had already been given to me—of course, I had ignored it. But it is no coincidence that I am flooded with tears whenever I speak of my home, nor is it a coincidence that when my home found its place, my body disintegrated.

The journey ends almost as quickly as it begins; I step outside to look at the stars, the cicadas continue. I think of my friend Ally and a haiku that began one of his, now many, documentaries: "Nothing in the cry of cicadas suggests, they are about to die."

I think this journey began six years ago, out of fear of dying without having truly lived. And a year ago, I understood that it all begins in the mind. I understood my achievements as just that—achievements, not coincidences. That’s why I write today.

Here, in the middle of nowhere, yet at the center of the planet’s lungs, I know that every breath brings me closer to death—but also to joy. Alas, more time than life.

[lynothy]

In a worse alternate universe megabytes are called millibytes and millipedes are called megapedes and that’s the only thing different

[dr-otter]

OOOH! I wonder if that's at play in birds with bright reds and greens, if their primary predators are mammals (like, say, small wild cats)? SOMEONE PLZ WRITE THIS PROPOSAL.

There is an inherent tradeoff between good color vision with high acuity and low light vision. Cone cells (for seeing colors) work because they only respond to photons within a narrow range of frequencies. That means that if a photon hits them that's outside that range it gives no signal; you're losing overall light perception. Rod cells respond to ANY photon within your entire visual range so none are "wasted". Animals that are really good at low light vision also have a mirror behind their retinas called the tapetum. That's what gives them that bright laser-eye looking eyeshine at night when a light hits them (not just mammals; look into the tall grass in a damp, wild or semi-wild area some evening with a headlamp. Wolf spider eyes make hundreds of tiny sparkles in the grass!). That mirror means that photons can activate a response TWICE, so light looks twice as bright! (I assume). It also isn't going to bounce perfectly and with zero scatter, so images will be a bit fuzzy and less precise. And that's the real reason why dogs can't read the newspaper; they can't make out the tiny letters well enough.

Not to critique evolution, but I would think orange and black stripes wouldn’t be as good for camouflage in a forest as, say, green and black would.

[its-a-date]

In the 1780s, British mining engineers were already worried about "peak coal." But breakaway growth in the nineteenth century inspired new visions of cornucopian plenty: limitless growth, the substitutability of scarce resources, the power of human ingenuity to overcome ecological constraints.

"Plagues Upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History" - Kyle Harper

[dropsofsciencenews]

Can You See Red?

ITA version ESP version

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If we could step into the shoes of other animals, we would quickly realize that their perception of the world—starting with color—is very different. While humans have three types of cone cells in their eyes, a trio of photoreceptors detecting red, green, and blue wavelengths (which combine into millions of shades between 380 and 700 nanometers—the so-called "visible light"), other animals, like most birds, bees, reptiles, and some bony fish, can detect even higher frequencies, like ultraviolet (UV). Cephalopods seem to see only blue, while dogs have cone cells specialized for yellow and part of the UV spectrum.

Among insects, vision is typically sensitive to UV, blue, and green. Even though bees seem attracted to red, in reality, they follow UV reflections on flowers of that color. However, there are beetles in nature that regularly visit poppies, anemones, and buttercups—flowers known for their vibrant red. A group of researchers wondered: are these beetles truly “red-blind” too?

To find out, they collected specimens of Pygopleurus chrysonotus, from the Glaphyridae family, in Greece, Albania, and Israel. In the lab, they exposed isolated retinal cells to constant-intensity lights, recording electrical activity with ultra-fine microelectrodes. The results revealed the presence of four distinct types of photoreceptors: UV, blue, green, and red.

But simply having red receptors doesn’t prove they are used. So in a second phase, the researchers tested the visual choices of P. chrysonotus using paper discs—3 red and 12 gray, all identical in size but with varying brightness. If the beetles relied solely on brightness, they could have chosen a lighter gray. Instead, 22 out of 23 flew directly to the red disc, regardless of the gray intensity.

Finally, in the field, they set up colored traps in a meadow: cups of water with inserts in red, white, blue, violet, or yellow. Again, the majority of beetles ended up in the red cup.

These findings suggest that P. chrysonotus has developed a rare sensitivity to red among insects—perhaps to exploit a chromatic niche less accessible to other pollinators. In return, flowers may have intensified their red pigments to attract these beetles more effectively.

See You Soon and Good Science!

Source Pic by Johannes Spaethe / Universität Würzburg

[delicatelysublimeforester]

Saskatoon’s Wild Stats

[untitledgoosegay]

I agree with the vast majority of the commentary here, but I'm feeling complicated about the screenshotted tags' proposition of ecotourism as a solution. It's definitely an option, but tourist economies have their own consequences and problems -- just ask Hawai'i about that.

I saw this post and idk it made me feel some type of way. I may get flack for this but idc I feel it must be said. Poaching is a lot more nuanced than “bad people kill animals.”

Poaching, especially in Africa, is a byproduct of colonization and poverty. Although poaching existed prior to European colonizers, it was not done at a scale and frequency that would threaten wildlife populations. Poaching exploded under colonial rule where things like ivory, pelts, hunting trophies, and in some cases, land were prized and sought after by European settlers. This led to an initially boom that devastated local animal populations and cause some tribes to become very reliant on poaching as a means of subsistence.

Additionally, due to poverty, people are still being driven to poach animals, even endangered animals because it’s a more profitable way to support oneself and community, and predatory animals can be poached because they threaten and devastate local livestock. Anti-poaching measures rarely take into account the human and economic drive behind poaching. You’re shooting and killing poachers but what about their families and communities that they support? Are those animals in a better place when there more people waiting to hunt them? Anti poaching measures don’t actually care about eliminating poaching, if they did they’d come from the angle of human and economic development and community improvement. Because let’s be real, if those people living in their poor, rural, undeveloped, undereducated*, regions with not many opportunities turn to poaching, it’s not from a moral standpoint, they’re chasing survival.

African governments be corrupt af, keeping all the money for themselves and leaving masses in poverty then erect some anti-poaching laws to please smug westerners as if they aren’t driving people into desperation. And then poaching rings take advantage of this desperation, much like a gang would, and supply them with guns and a promise of a better life. And bam, you have a poaching problem. So long as you have people in desperation, poaching will still be a problem.

Like many social issues; drugs, violence, crime; a closer look and you’ll find that poverty and lack of opportunity are at the bottom of it...

[beemovieerotica]

which 3 US presidents do you think would be the best omegas and which 3 bisexual pop stars would be their best matched alphas

1) John Adams

John Adams was a tireless advocate for the revolution (i.e. topping from the bottom) and he once described himself as "obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular" - "he was known for his bluntness, impatience, and tendency to be easily frustrated with those who disagreed with him." As a brat in Congress, his personality was repulsive, but everyone listened to him and they all still wanted him. They wanted him so bad they made him president. Kind of makes you think.

His match:

Adams needs someone with a strong personality to challenge his - someone who's not afraid to repel the mainstream in order to realize their vision. Gaga has it, and he needs it. "Bad Romance" in many way encompasses Adams' struggles through the 1776 Continental Congress. They could teach each other much.

2) Theodore Roosevelt

A man dedicated to the preservation of natural parks and ecological wonders - and for what? To run through the trees under the full moon as his pheromones wafted through the air? We know.

His match:

Grimes once described herself as becoming "way less gay" after she became pregnant, which is 1) weird, and 2) the reason I'm sticking her with Teddy. I don't think that he could fix her completely, but she seems the type to maintain no moral compass of her own, simply adopting the political ideology of whomever she's with, so maybe there's hope. Maybe Grimes could introduce Teddy to shrooms, and Teddy could take her out on trips in the forest. And then we can find out if Grimes getting a man pregnant makes her more or less gay.

3) Richard Nixon

Best known for his one legendary debate with the handsome JFK, wherein he became a stuttering, sweating mess, unable to focus or say what he meant. Interesting!

His match:

Bisexual icon Taylor Swift is also struggling to appease both sides of the political aisle. They could share their woes and their love of good ol' fashioned Americana, and then Taylor could tie him to the wall and make him bark like a dog. The pregnancy would be difficult on both of them with Taylor's extremely busy schedule, and Nixon would regrettably terminate it in the second trimester, causing a rift in the relationship that would never be mended. The resulting laments that Taylor composed about Nixon's abortion would of course be dissected and attributed to a secret relationship with a woman - Nixon's wife.

I welcome critical analysis.

[unnamed-atlas]

I'm about to be really normal about the ghastlings and helsknight.

[redstonedust]

in my mind if dragons were real then western and eastern dragons would be only distantly related species filling the same ecological niche across different continents. but due to visual similarities got called the same thing in English. and it would be one of those things that you hear on trivia game shows and go "oh that's neat" about and then move on with your day, like how tanuki get lumped in with racoons even tho racoons are musteloids and tanuki are canids. do you see my vision.