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greatworldwar2 · 4 years ago

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• IJN Aircraft Carrier Hiryū

Hiryū (飛龍, "Flying Dragon") was an aircraft carrier built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1930s. Generally regarded as the only ship of her class, she was built to a modified Sōryū design.

Hiryū was one of two large carriers approved for construction under the 1931–32 Supplementary Program. Originally designed as the sister ship of Sōryū, her design was enlarged and modified in light of the Tomozuru and Fourth Fleet Incidents in 1934–1935 that revealed many IJN ships were top-heavy, unstable and structurally weak. Her forecastle was raised and her hull strengthened. Other changes involved increasing her beam, displacement, and armor protection. The ship had a length of 227.4 meters (746 ft 1 in) overall, a beam of 22.3 meters (73 ft 2 in) and a draft of 7.8 meters (25 ft 7 in). She displaced 17,600 metric tons (17,300 long tons) at standard load and 20,570 metric tons (20,250 long tons) at normal load. Her crew consisted of 1,100 officers and enlisted men. Hiryū was fitted with four geared steam turbine sets with a total of 153,000 shaft horsepower (114,000 kW). Hiryū carried 4,500 metric tons (4,400 long tons) of fuel oil which gave her a range of 10,330 nautical miles (19,130 km; 11,890 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). The boiler uptakes were trunked to the ship's starboard side amidships and exhausted just below flight deck level through two funnels curved downward.

The carrier's 216.9-meter (711 ft 7 in) flight deck was 27 meters (88 ft 6 in) wide and overhung her superstructure at both ends, supported by pairs of pillars. Hiryū was one of only two carriers ever built whose island was on the port side of the ship (Akagi was the other). It was also positioned further to the rear and encroached on the width of the flight deck, unlike Sōryū. The flight deck was only 12.8 meters (42 ft) above the waterline and the ship's designers kept this figure low by reducing the height of the hangars. The upper hangar was 171.3 by 18.3 meters (562 by 60 ft) and had an approximate height of 4.6 meters (15 ft); the lower was 142.3 by 18.3 meters (467 by 60 ft) and had an approximate height of 4.3 meters (14 ft). Together they had an approximate total area of 5,736 square meters (61,740 sq ft). This caused problems in handling aircraft because the wings of a Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bomber could neither be spread nor folded in the upper hangar. Aircraft were transported between the hangars and the flight deck by three elevators, the forward one abreast the island on the centerline and the other two offset to starboard.

Hiryū's primary anti-aircraft (AA) armament consisted of six twin-gun mounts equipped with 12.7-centimeter Type 89 dual-purpose guns mounted on projecting sponsons, three on either side of the carrier's hull. When firing at surface targets, the guns had a range of 14,700 meters (16,100 yd); they had a maximum ceiling of 9,440 meters (30,970 ft) at their maximum elevation of +90 degrees. Their maximum rate of fire was 14 rounds a minute, but their sustained rate of fire was approximately eight rounds per minute. The ship was equipped with two Type 94 fire-control directors to control the 12.7-centimeter (5.0 in) guns, one for each side of the ship; the starboard-side director was on top of the island and the other director was positioned below flight deck level on the port side. The ship's light AA armament consisted of seven triple and five twin-gun mounts for license-built Hotchkiss 25 mm Type 96 AA guns. Two of the triple mounts were sited on a platform just below the forward end of the flight deck. Hiryū had a waterline belt with a maximum thickness of 150 millimeters (5.9 in) over the magazines that reduced to 90 millimeters (3.5 in) over the machinery spaces and the gas storage tanks. It was backed by an internal anti-splinter bulkhead. The ship's deck was 25 millimeters (0.98 in) thick over the machinery spaces and 55 millimeters (2.2 in) thick over the magazines and gas storage tanks.

Following the Japanese ship-naming conventions for aircraft carriers, Hiryū was named "Flying Dragon". The ship was laid down at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on July 8th, 1936, launched on November 16th, 1937 and commissioned on July 5th, 1939. She was assigned to the Second Carrier Division on November 15th. In September 1940, the ship's air group was transferred to Hainan Island to support the Japanese invasion of French Indochina. In February 1941, Hiryū supported the blockade of Southern China. Two months later, the 2nd Carrier Division, commanded by Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi, was assigned to the First Air Fleet, or Kido Butai, on April 10th. Hiryū returned to Japan on August 7th and began a short refit that was completed on September 15th. She became flagship of the Second Division from September 22nd to October 26th while Sōryū was refitting. In November 1941, the IJN's Combined Fleet, commanded by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, prepared to participate in Japan's initiation of a formal war with the United States by conducting a preemptive strike against the United States Navy's Pacific Fleet base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. On November 22nd, Hiryū, commanded by Captain Tomeo Kaku, and the rest of the Kido Butai, under Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo and including six fleet carriers from the First, Second, and Fifth Carrier Divisions, assembled in Hitokappu Bay at Etorofu Island. The fleet departed Etorofu, and followed a course across the north-central Pacific to avoid commercial shipping lanes. Now the flagship of the Second Carrier Division, the ship embarked 21 Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters, 18 Aichi D3A "Val" dive bombers, and 18 Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers. From a position 230 nmi (430 km; 260 mi) north of Oahu, Hiryū and the other five carriers launched two waves of aircraft on the morning of December 7th, 1941 Hawaiian time. In the first wave, 8 B5N torpedo bombers were supposed to attack the aircraft carriers that normally berthed on the northwest side of Ford Island, but none were in Pearl Harbor that day; 4 of the B5N pilots diverted to their secondary target, ships berthed alongside "1010 Pier" where the fleet flagship was usually moored. That ship, the battleship Pennsylvania, was in drydock and its position was occupied by the light cruiser Helena and the minelayer Oglala; all four torpedoes missed. The other four pilots attacked the battleships West Virginia and Oklahoma. The remaining 10 B5Ns were tasked to drop 800-kilogram (1,800 lb) armor-piercing bombs on the battleships berthed on the southeast side of Ford Island ("Battleship Row") and may have scored one or two hits on them, in addition to causing a magazine explosion aboard the battleship Arizona that sank her with heavy loss of life. The second wave consisted of 9 Zeros and 18 D3As, They strafed the airfield, and shot down two Curtiss P-40 fighters attempting to take off when the Zeros arrived and a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber that had earlier diverted from Hickam Army Airfield, and also destroyed a Stinson O-49 observation aircraft on the ground for the loss of one of their own. The D3As attacked various ships in Pearl Harbor, but it is not possible to identify which aircraft attacked which ship.

While returning to Japan after the attack, Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo, commander of the First Air Fleet, ordered that Sōryū and Hiryū be detached on December 16th to attack the defenders of Wake Island who had already defeated the first Japanese attack on the island. The two carriers reached the vicinity of the island on December 21st and launched 29 D3As and 2 B5Ns, escorted by 18 Zeros, to attack ground targets. They encountered no aerial opposition and launched 35 B5Ns and 6 A6M Zeros the following day. The carriers arrived at Kure on 29 December. They were assigned to the Southern Force on January 8th, 1942 and departed four days later for the Dutch East Indies. The ships supported the invasion of the Palau Islands and the Battle of Ambon, attacking Allied positions on the island on January 23rd with 54 aircraft. Four days later the carriers detached 18 Zeros and 9 D3As to operate from land bases in support of Japanese operations in the Battle of Borneo. Hiryū and Sōryū arrived at Palau on January 28th and waited for the arrival of the carriers Kaga and Akagi. All four carriers departed Palau on February 15th and launched air strikes against Darwin, Australia, four days later. Hiryū contributed 18 B5Ns, 18 D3As, and 9 Zeros to the attack. Her aircraft attacked the ships in port and its facilities, sinking or setting on fire three ships and damaging two others. Hiryū and the other carriers arrived at Staring Bay on Celebes Island on February 21st to resupply and rest before departing four days later to support the invasion of Java. On March 1st, 1942, the ship's D3As damaged the destroyer USS Edsall badly enough for her to be caught and sunk by Japanese cruisers. Later that day the dive bombers sank the oil tanker USS Pecos. Two days later, they attacked Christmas Island and Hiryū's aircraft sank the Dutch freighter Poelau Bras before returning to Staring Bay on March 11th to resupply and train for the impending Indian Ocean raid.

On March 26th, the five carriers of the First Air Fleet departed from Staring Bay; they were spotted by a Catalina about 350 nautical miles (650 km; 400 mi) southeast of Ceylon on the morning of April 4th. Six of Hiryū's Zeros were on Combat Air Patrol (CAP) and helped to shoot it down. Hiryū contributed 18 B5Ns and 9 Zeros to the force; the latter encountered a flight of 6 Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers from 788 Naval Air Squadron en route and shot them all down without loss. The Japanese aircraft encountered defending Hawker Hurricane fighters from Nos. 30 and 258 Squadrons RAF over Ratmalana airfield and Hiryū's fighters claimed to have shot down 11 with 3 Zeros damaged, although the fighters from the other carriers also made claims. On the morning of April 9th, Hiryū's CAP shot down another Catalina attempting to locate the fleet and, later that morning, contributed 18 B5Ns, escorted by 6 Zeros, to the attack on Trincomalee. The fighters engaged 261 Squadron RAF, claiming to have shot down two with two more shared with fighters from the other carriers. On April 19th, while transiting the Bashi Straits between Taiwan and Luzon en route to Japan, Hiryū, Sōryū, and Akagi were sent in pursuit of the American carriers Hornet and Enterprise, which had launched the Doolittle Raid against Tokyo. They found only empty ocean, as the American carriers had immediately departed the area to return to Hawaii. The carriers quickly abandoned the chase and dropped anchor at Hashirajima anchorage on April 22nd. Having been engaged in constant operations for four and a half months, the ship, along with the other three carriers of the First and Second Carrier Divisions, was hurriedly refitted and replenished in preparation for the Combined Fleet's next major operation, scheduled to begin one month hence. While at Hashirajima, Hiryū's air group was based ashore at Tomitaka Airfield, near Saiki, Ōita, and conducted flight and weapons training with the other First Air Fleet carrier units.

Concerned by the US carrier strikes in the Marshall Islands, Lae-Salamaua, and the Doolittle raids, Yamamoto was determined to force the US Navy into a showdown to eliminate the American carrier threat. He decided to invade and occupy Midway Atoll, which he was sure would draw out the American carriers to defend it. The Japanese codenamed the Midway invasion Operation MI. Unknown to the Japanese, the US Navy had divined the Japanese plan by breaking its JN-25 code and had prepared an ambush using its three available carriers, positioned northeast of Midway. On May 25th, 1942, Hiryū set out with the Combined Fleet's carrier striking force in the company of Kaga, Akagi, and Sōryū, which constituted the First and Second Carrier Divisions, for the attack on Midway. Her aircraft complement consisted of 18 Zeros, 18 D3As, and 18 B5Ns. on June 4th, 1942, Hiryū's portion of the 108-plane airstrike was an attack on the facilities on Sand Island with 18 torpedo bombers, one of which aborted with mechanical problems, escorted by nine Zeros. The air group suffered heavily during the attack: two B5Ns were shot down by fighters, with a third falling victim to AA fire. The carrier also contributed 3 Zeros to the total of 11 assigned to the initial CAP over the four carriers. By 07:05, the carrier had 6 fighters with the CAP which helped to defend the Kido Butai from the first US attackers from Midway Island at 07:10. Hiryū reinforced the CAP with launches of 3 more Zeros at 08:25. These fresh Zeros helped defeat the next American air strike from Midway. Although all the American air strikes had thus far caused negligible damage, they kept the Japanese carrier forces off-balance as Nagumo endeavored to prepare a response to news, received at 08:20, of the sighting of American carrier forces to his northeast.

Hiryū began recovering her Midway strike force at around 09:00 and finished shortly by 09:10. The landed aircraft were quickly struck below, while the carriers' crews began preparations to spot aircraft for the strike against the American carrier forces. The preparations were interrupted at 09:18, when the first attacking American carrier aircraft were sighted. Hiryū launched another trio of CAP Zeros at 10:13 after Torpedo Squadron 3 (VT-3) from Yorktown was spotted. Two of her Zeros were shot down by Wildcats escorting VT-3 and another was forced to ditch. While VT-3 was still attacking Hiryū, American dive bombers arrived over the Japanese carriers almost undetected and began their dives. It was at this time, around 10:20, that in the words of Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully, the "Japanese air defenses would finally and catastrophically fail." Three American dive bomber squadrons now attacked the three other carriers and set each of them on fire. Hiryū was untouched and proceeded to launch 18 D3As, escorted by six Zeros, at 10:54. Yamaguchi radioed his intention to Nagumo at 16:30 to launch a third strike against the American carriers at dusk (approximately 18:00), but Nagumo ordered the fleet to withdraw to the west. At this point in the battle, Hiryū had only 4 air-worthy dive-bombers and 5 torpedo-planes left. She also retained 19 of her own fighters on board as well as a further 13 Zeros on CAP (a composite force of survivors from the other carriers). At 16:45, Enterprise's dive bombers spotted the Japanese carrier and began to maneuver for good attacking position while reducing altitude. Hiryū was struck by four 1,000-pound (450 kg) bombs, three on the forward flight deck and one on the forward elevator. The explosions started fires among the aircraft on the hangar deck. The forward half of the flight deck collapsed into the hangar while part of the elevator was hurled against the ship's bridge. The fires were severe enough that the remaining American aircraft attacked the other ships escorting Hiryū, albeit without effect, deeming further attacks on the carrier as a waste of time because she was aflame from stem to stern. Beginning at 17:42, two groups of B-17s attempted to attack the Japanese ships without success, although one bomber strafed Hiryū's flight deck, killing several anti-aircraft gunners. Although Hiryū's propulsion was not affected, the fires could not be brought under control. At 21:23, her engines stopped, and at 23:58 a major explosion rocked the ship. The order to abandon ship was given at 03:15, and the survivors were taken off by the destroyers Kazagumo and Makigumo. Yamaguchi and Kaku decided to remain on board as Hiryū was torpedoed at 05:10 by Makigumo as the ship could not be salvaged. Around 07:00, one of Hōshō's Yokosuka B4Y aircraft discovered Hiryū still afloat and not in any visible danger of sinking. The aviators could also see crewmen aboard the carrier, men who had not received word to abandon ship. They finally launched some of the carrier's boats and abandoned ship themselves around 09:00. Thirty-nine men made it into the ship's cutter only moments before Hiryū sank around 09:12, taking the bodies of 389 men with her. The loss of Hiryū and the three other IJN carriers at Midway, comprising two thirds of Japan's total number of fleet carriers and the experienced core of the First Air Fleet, was a strategic defeat for Japan and contributed significantly to Japan's ultimate defeat in the war. In an effort to conceal the defeat, the ship was not immediately removed from the Navy's registry of ships, instead being listed as "unmanned" before finally being struck from the registry on 25 September 1942. The IJN selected a modified version of the Hiryū design for mass production to replace the carriers lost at Midway. Of a planned program of 16 ships of the Unryū class, only 6 were laid down and 3 were commissioned before the end of the war.

#second world war #world war 2 #world war ii #wwii #military history #history #long post #naval history #imperial japan #japanese navy #japanese history #aircraft carrier #ships #midway

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fatehbaz · 5 years ago

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why are you against the use of the term anthropocene

Well, I’m not totally against its use; I think it can be useful, especially in discussions in popular mediums outside of academia. But I do think that academic discussion of and much of the popular discourse around and involving that term, especially among Euro-American scholars, is Eurocentric and pedantic. Eurocentric, in the sense that the discourse ignores Indigenous criticisms while simultaneously appropriating Indigenous cosmologies and accepting funding/concessions from (neo)colonial institutions. Pedantic, in the sense that the discourse is too focused on finding a specific start-date; too focused on fossil fuels and not enough attention is given to the arguably more-influential role of industrial-scale agriculture throughout human history; and not enough discussion of the human institutions (social hierarchies built to facilitate empires and resource extraction) that inflict social and ecological destruction. I do sometimes like the term as a rhetorical device, but prefer terms like “Plantationocene” which are more specific about which institutions and imperial cosmologies are most influential in provoking both violence against humans and ecological change and apocalypse.

You have probably heard of alternate proposed names for the same era of human influence: Plantationocene, Capitalocene, Cthuluscene. I agree that the distinction matters, and many people (especially Indigenous people and others from Latin America and the Global South) have written about the importance of this name. Indigenous writers and scholars have, in my opinion and not surprisingly, offered the most biting criticisms of Anthropocene discourse. From the perspective of North America, I enjoyed the writing of Dwayne Donald (Papaschase Cree); Zoe Todd (Metis); Kali Simmons (Lakota); and Kyle Whyte (Potawatomi); all of whom write explicitly about the Anthropocene, the ethics of ascribing a name to this era, its Eurocentric discourse, and alternative Indigenous interpretations of global environmental history. And if my rambling is annoying and if this post seems too absurdly long to read, then I would recommend reading what Zoe Todd has written about the importance of how the name of the era influences narratives told about human social and ecological stories; she also addresses other shortcomings and Eurocentric aspects of the Anthropocene concept: Heather Davis and Zoe Todd. “On the Importance of a Date, or Decolonizing the Anthropocene.” December 2017.

—–

Here’s how I feel about the term “Anthropocene”:

Assuming we agree that the intertwined forces of colonialism, imperialism, industrial-scale agriculture, resource extraction generally, and the hierarchical social institutions which support them (including forced labor, severance of community connection to ecosystems through closure of the commons, racial and gender hierarchies, and Indigenous dispossession) are basically the major influences on global ecological change now and over the past few centuries or millennia (including the present-day, the era of overt European colonization across the globe, and earlier manifestations in historical “classic” state-building and early ancient hydraulic civilizations): Instead of looking for a specific date sometime around 1822 in Europe when fossil fuel emissions scarred the soil, like a technical geologist might, I instead try to ask at which point industrial-scale resource extraction (especially including agriculture and deliberate devegetation campaigns even in its ancient manifestations), supported by and to the benefit of social hierarchies and imperial worldviews, begin to alter soils at vast continent-wide scales enough to be the planet’s leading driver of change in soils, vegetation, oceans, and atmosphere?

Did it begin with the advent of industrial specialist guilds in Mesopotamia, when kings would bribe irrigation engineers not to help a farmer water their fields until the farmer had paid tribute or rent? Did it begin in Zhou-era or Warring States period China when deliberate devegetation campaigns, large forest-clearing projects, and flood-prevention dam infrastructure installation led to local extinction of tiger, rhinos, and elephants? Rome? The Columbian Exchange, institutionalized slavery, and plantations in seventeenth-century European colonies in the Americas?

Is an Isconahua community in Amazonia’s forests equally as responsible for global ecological change as a multi-billion-dollar American mining corporation?

This is an example of what might be the most common criticism of the term: The Anthropocene term, by invoking “anthropos,” is imprecise because rather than identifying the actual source of global ecological change (certain systems, institutions, and practices) it implies that blame be ascribed to humans-as-a-species for provoking this global ecological apocalypse. This criticism (”Anthropocene obscures responsibility”) is just one of many.

These are probably my major issues with Anthropocene: (1) According to Indigenous scholars and many writers from the Global South and especially Latin America, the name obscures responsibility and doesn’t adequately imply which human systems and institutions are responsible for global ecological catastrophe, erasing and obscuring the ongoing violence which those same institutions continue to enact, both upon ecosystems and human lives. (2) And given geologists’ common focus on fossil fuels as the key indicators of Anthropocene start-date and human influence on environment, I think that this distracts from the arguably more influential and more important role of agriculture (and associated devegetation for purposes of settlement, rangeland, etc.) as perhaps the more dramatic human influence on global ecological history. Fossil fuels didn’t kill the bison and change the entirety of the Great Plains from boreal climates to the subtropics. Empires seeking resource extraction, accomplished through violence and dispossession, killed the bison and changed the continent. (3) The concept is the result of Euro-American academic discourse and does not adequately incorporate Indigenous and non-Western criticisms. And while paying superficial lip-service to “decolonization, the same academic departments maintain relationships with (neo)colonial nonprofits and government agencies while the discourse also simultaneously engages in continued appropriation of Indigenous concepts. (4) Finally, if we agree that industrial-scale resource extraction (including agriculture) and its associated social institutions are (or at least were, for most of the past) the major human influence on altering ecology, then assigning a specific start-date is extremely difficult and probably just an exercise or thought experiment, because at what point in history did these extractivist cosmologies reach “critical mass” and become the leading worldview through which (some) humans disproportionately exercised so much power over altering landscapes?

—–

I’ll recycle something I’ve previously said:

“Did the Anthropocene begin in 1821, or 1822? Did the year 1821 mark the definitive shift into a global expansion of urbanization and monoculture plantation crops, or was it the year 1822?” These are, to some degree, technicalities. This is not, or should not, be the point of “Anthropocene.” I mean, it is often important to know some specific dates; like the specific date that Russian settlers first encountered Steller’s sea cow; the specific date that English authorities issued permits for corporate monopolies on guano trade in Peru; the specific date that deliberate fire-setting dispossessed Indigenous people in Borneo and signaled arrival of palm oil plantations; the specific dates that certain agricultural, colonial, and imperial institutions invaded, expanded, or consolidated their power. But “the single date when imperial cosmologies achieved critical mass as the dominant ecological force”? I think that’s more ambiguous.

I appreciate that some popular venues or forums like academia, occasionally, are at least attempting to openly discuss a 12,000-year-old trend towards imperial power consolidation which relies on social hierarchy, disconnecting communities from local native species and landscapes, Indigenous dispossession, and the commodification of ecological systems. Glad it’s being discussed. But the discourse has issues and I think we can do better than “Anthropocene” as a term. Even if we treat Anthropocene more like an informal thought experiment, and improve it by renaming it “Plantationocene” or something, I still don’t think formally defining a specific date or “Day 1 of the Anthropocene” is as important as clearly identifying which systems and institutions actually provoked centuries of dramatic ecological change and the current ecological collapse. I think that identifying a technical start-date for a geological epoch is comparably a distraction from the discussion of ecological degradation and extinction; a distraction from the concept’s implied-but-inadequate criticism of imperial cosmologies; and a distraction from how global ecological collapse and crisis is closely related to and deeply intertwined with social hierarchies, institutions, and violence against other humans.

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Thank you for the question :)

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judgement-free-sideblog · 6 years ago

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Ghosts from the rain forest

As I previously stated Captain James Conrad is my favorite character from Tom Hiddleston, and I think I took long enough to write this.

Summary: A simple rescue mission will bring him back to a place full of nightmares, and maybe this time he could find redemption. Situated in 1975, 2 years after the events of Skull Island.

James Conrad x Reader

Warnings: Violence, blood, wounds, mentions of war, cursing.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 1: A Wedding and a mission

The flash of a camera went off and the women in their long gowns smiled, frozen in place before immediately move so the next group of people could get their pictures taken.

"Must be nice to take pictures of flower girl's and bridesmaids for a change" He said to the photographer that seemed pretty uncomfortable in the dress she was wearing but still managed to put a knee on the ground to capture the little nice of the bride and her flower basket.

"What from wild animals and dangerous creatures? Have you seen San Lin this morning when the officiant was late?" Weaver took the hand he offered and stood up "In any case how are you dealing with being back in society, how is the arm?" He instinctively touch the place were a couple months before some vicious fangs almost ripped it off, after that and some days at the hospital Brooks had prevent him to going back to the field and he had ended up as best man in his wedding with San Lin.

"It's better, but I feel I could die from boredom, how is the new job going?" Mason was now part of an anthropology expedition to Etiopia and the recent discovery of Lucy have kept her busy to be around with him or Monarch, it was for the best, she wanted to change the world and lately there was little to no advance in their understanding of the origin of those creatures, so they might as well start trying to understand human's.

"Would it be rude if I said it's amazing?" He grin at her, he was happy she had found something that made her happy, especially since their attempt at being together didn't work out, and he was glad that at least they have managed to save a friendship "I'm meeting so many people and the things they have found, it's just incredible. You should come with me sometime, well if Houston doesn't send you to Antarctica to find more MUTOs, Lin says he wants to talk to you" She pointed behind him and walked away muttering "Good luck" while the groom approached him with two glasses of champagne in his hands.

"Conrad," Houston said firmly putting his hand on his shoulder after giving him one of the glasses, after those years and missions he had grown to respect that men deeply "are you enjoying the pary?" He seemed nervous, as if he was searching for the right way to bring up something.

"Plenty Brooks, I hope Lin and you to be very happy" He said hopping the small talk would encourage him to talk.

"James I have a favor to ask you" He said finally after a big sip of his drink "I understand you are still on medical leave, and in no shape to travel, but this... I mean this is not as dangerous as your previous assignments, and truly I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important" he keep babbling getting nowhere for a minute before James interrupted him.

"Can you tell me what it is? Before you faint and your wife take it on me" Conrad pointed a chair and once both men were sitting Houston spoke calmly.

"Is Randa's daughter, she is lost in some jungle and I need you to get her out of there" He had a desperate look on his eyes.

"I didn't knew he was married or that he had a daughter" Conrad tried to make some sense out of the situation.

"Yeah well after he was discredited for his research on Monarch they grow apart, Y/N, I mean Dr. Y/L/N she goes bye her mother's maiden name" James can understand that, if wasn't because he had actually seen the subjects of said research he would also have said the man was crazy.

"And you said she is lost?" The story was turning interesting for Conrad since Randa never strike him as a fatherly man.

"She worked in the development of agriculture technology, when the Vietnam war started she changed paths and became an humanitarian, so she is in every war zone, or isolated place where she could help people, before we went to skull island Randa was trying to found her, to reconnect with her, and I recently had news that she is lost in the middle of a political conflict in Asia" He said and now Conrad could see where he fit in the story and a had a bad feeling about it.

"Where is she? And why do you need me specifically to find her?" James asked.

"Malaysia" He said and he could feel a strain of pain in his chest about that place, not sure at all if he wanted to go back there. "The last record we have of her is she fled Borneo to carry food and medicine to some villages in Malaysia, and I know is the last thing you want to do, but I don't think there's anyone else who could help me" that was definitely not something he wanted to be doing at his wedding.

"How do you know she is alive?" He asked knowing too Well he was about to make a bad choice.

"We intercepted a telegram about a delivery of medicine in Bandar Seri Begawan, she might be there to pick up things and go back to the forest"

"So she is not lost, just avoiding you?" Conrad was not stupid, but as far as he knew there were no wild vicious creatures in that island so he could actually go there. "Fine I'll go, but it's a favor to you on your wedding day, you can't ever ask for anything else" He said very seriously and Houston knew he was telling the truth.

You look at the post card one last time before turning down your light, there was another week in the forest surrounded by humid nights and mosquitoes before you have to go back to civilization to pick up more medicine, and you couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

That was the last you have known from Randa, a postcard from Washington almost two years ago, it wasn't that wired since he often disappeared for months but the cryptic message on it was telling you maybe this time something have happened to him. "I finally got him baby, you'll see" you shake those feelings out of your head, then you remember the letter you got from some guy in DC named Brooks one year ago, about you needing to come home, and his multiple attempts to contact you. Your heart already knew what had happened to him, but your mind was conveniently avoiding facing it, and you preferred it that way.

You finally fall asleep thinking there was nothing that could actually change your life, nor even your father god knows where in the other side of the world or creepy guys from Monarch.

#captain james conrad #james conrad #james conrad x reader #james conrad x you #james conrad imagine #captain james conrad x you #captain james conrad x reader #angst #adventure #tom hiddleston #kong skull island #kong skull island fanfiction #mason weaver #Houston Brooks

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onlinetutorhelps · 3 years ago

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Assignment Help Borneo

Borneo is one of the most significant educational hubs in Malaysia. Lots of scholar students from various parts of the world come to study at the best colleges and universities in Borneo. However, the universities of Borneo pressurize the students with a lot of assignments, which they are unable to perform on their own. Assignment Help Borneo has spent considerable time and resources on how things are done and presented in Borneo. Our experts are specially trained to handle the pressure of bundles of assignments at once. Thus you should hire us at the earliest. https://www.onlinetutorhelps.com/assignment-help-borneo/

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rachelroams · 7 years ago

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How to Travel Light This Summer

Time to break out those shades and pineapple floaties, homies – summer is FINALLY on the horizon! I don’t know about you, but I thought this winter might never end. It could be the fact that gray skies hung their insistent presence overhead for what felt like the last MILLION MONTHS... or, it could be that I spent my winter rehabbing a bum shoulder after a snowboarding accident... either way: warmer climes are finally here to stay!

Fellow traveler Kristen Kellogg (@borderfreetravels) arrives to Sukau Rainforest Lodge, Borneo

I’m avidly filling my summer calendar with adventures both near and far. I’m excited to be spending time trekking California’s High Sierras, sailing the Norwegian Arctic on assignment, and bumming around northern Europe for a little R&R. I’m also planning my first-ever assignment in the Galapagos Islands—a trip that’s got me scrambling to assemble my favorite island travel gear!

A recent job in Borneo, Malaysia is inspiring me to travel light this summer. Why? Because I traveled the lightest I’ve ever traveled on that trip… and not because I wanted to, but because the airline lost my luggage en route. Womp womp. What’s wild is, I realized I needed very little “stuff” to get out there and enjoy life on the road! A single outfit, sneakers, sunglasses, socks, underwear and sunscreen were virtually all I needed to successfully explore the remote jungles and bustling city centers of Borneo.

Photographers Meghan Young (@missmeghanyoung) & Kristen Kellogg (@borderfreetravels) track monkeys in Malaysia

The stuff I needed aside from those few personal items was all camera- and tech-related, which I thankfully had with me in my carry-on bag. (Pro tip: never check your camera gear in your checked bag if you can avoid it, as that will keep your cameras safe from both mishandling and potential theft). Truth is, I never board a plane without my cameras—especially if I’m headed to a destination as luscious as an island known for biodiversity. For my upcoming adventures this summer, my gear checklist will be virtually the same as it was in Borneo. Here’s how it’ll look:

- Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III Camera

- M.Zuiko 14-42mm EZ Lens (*kit lens included with Mark III)

- Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II Camera

- M.Zuiko 12-100mm f4 ProLens (*kit lens included with Mark II)

- M.Zuiko ED 40-150mm f2.8 PRO Lens (used for shots requiring a long lens, like landscapes and wildlife)

- M.Zuiko 17mm f1.8Lens (used for low light, portrait, and street photography)

- SanDisk Extreme PRO memory cards ranging from 32-128 GB

- 2-4 batteries per camera

- Camera charger for each camera

- “Shotgun” microphone for audio recording

- Lavalier microphone for audio recording

- Headphones to listen to video/audio playback

- Lens cleaning brush pen

- Lens cloths

- Lens cap “leashes” to ensure no caps fall off while traveling

- Interchangeable camera straps & clips, including 1 Slide, 1 Clutch, and 1 Capture

- Hard drive for memory card backup

Because that’s a fair amount of gear to keep organized, I like to keep it all in a backpack, where the weight is distributed between my shoulders and waist. I like bags that are intelligently designed, water resistant, and full of customizable compartments, like the 30L Everyday Backpack. That’s my go-to gear bag these days, whether I’m headed out on a weekend getaway or a Himalayan hike.

Sunset from the Himalayas along the Bumdra Trek, Bhutan

However you choose to pack your bags for adventure, it’s important not to get too bogged down in the unnecessary, especially when it’s summertime, since carrying any number of bags will make you sweat. How, pray tell, can you cut down on the packing list? Well, you may think you need the extra pair of swagtastic shoes, but you usually don’t. You may also think you need a few extra pairs of underwear, but—gasp!—you actually don’t need those either if you’ve got pairs you can wash in the sink that’ll quick dry overnight (e.g. ultralight mesh briefs).

You can also cut down on the photography gear if you’ve got the right cameras on hand. Mirrorless cameras have made leaps and bounds from the heavy DSLRs of the past, both in weight and technological ability. My favorite super-portable camera is the OM-D E-M10 Mark III, known for being not only lightweight and good-looking, but also super freaking smart.

This little guy weighs in at just 410 grams (including battery and memory card), but packs a ton of features. It has a tilting touch screen, built-in WiFi (which means you don’t need to lug around a memory card reader), and offers four shooting assist modes so users who are switching from smartphones to interchangeable-lens cameras can shoot without the guess work. Bonus: there are a bunch of “scene” modes that offer beautiful results, too. My favorite feature is the 5-Axis Image Stabilization, which helps you capture blur-free photographs (even at night, without that heavy tripod) and 4K video (sans that bulky stabilizer rig you might’ve seen DSLR-owners lugging around).

Crisp dewdrops sit atop a flowering plant in the Borneo Mangroves, shot with the Mark III

If you want to check out the OM-D E-M10 Mark III for yourself, it’s well worth perusing. If you click “Buy Now”, you’ll get $100 off the kit through June 2nd! The kit price (camera + M.Zuiko 14-42mm EZ Lens) is normally $799 USD, but right now it’s down to $699, so you should probably strike while the iron—and weather—are hot.

No matter where this summer brings you, remember: the most important things to pack on any journey are an open mind and a sense of adventure. Oh, and tooth paste. Please pack tooth paste.

Your friend,

Rachel

This piece is written in partnership with Olympus, though all opinions and experiences are compliments of yours truly.

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natsumarucasblog · 6 years ago

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Borneo Project CCA: Day 12 11th of December, Lapathon!

Learning objectives: Undertaking New Challenges, Planned and initiated activities or part of an activity, and Global significance of activity.

It is finally the day of the Lapathon!!!!!!!!

At the beginning we were worried not many people would come (there were only 21 people who signed up), and the drinks and cookies might needed to be sold during break the next day... but instead a LOT of people participated! There were a lot of people who didn’t sign up on the google sheets who came and joined the event (the whole Eagle house came which was surprising) but thanks to all those who joined, we were able to produce a profit of around $100 just through drinks and cookies.

WHAT DID I DO?

The event started at 3:30 as per planned. The registration was quite chaotic as many people did not sign up on the google sheets and had to add their names to the list which took a bit of time. We didn’t manage to get all the people manning before the running started due to issues with communication, but Mr. Sheridan guided the first lap which helped the participants to know the course. This really helped the committee as well since it gave us time to check up with everyone scattered around the course and clarify any confusions.

Some of the other member of Borneo Project came along to help with the manning which was a huge help (we didn’t have enough people in the group to all mann).

Luckily, every job was assigned to all the members in advance so there was little confusion, although there was a little paper cup crisis half way through the event. This problem was solved by asking the participants to keep their paper cups and to NOT throw them away if they think they would want to drink again.

^Photo of where I manned

I manned this corner with Grace and I think this was a good idea since we could communicate with the participants. This place was also good because it was half way between the food/drink stall at the front and the water station - I ran up and down the course to get things into place.

The event finished at around 5:45 as the last runner was running his last lap. After this, we counted up how much we raised and I stayed back to clear up the area including collecting the bottles which were left behind and paper cups which were thrown away in the course.

I learned through this event, that pacing the work is important when there is a lot of time for planning an event. In other words, during this term, our committee finished most of the planning well before the event and I forgot about the medals and awards to give out. This problem was solved by going to the shop the weekend before this event, but I think I should have been more aware of the tasks needed to be done.

#cas #lapathon #service

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amalscas · 5 years ago

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Service - Helping out at Fun w Science CCA (August - December 2020)

Today marked the last day of helping out in the Year 5-6 Fun with Science CCA. Since Borneo Project ended, I actively tried to find more opportunities where I can help out, and since I never tried the service opportunities in school I decided to help out in Fun with Science. Since I do consider myself a science person, I thought that just helping out in a lab would be easy. Not only that, but I felt that I was able to improve and sharpen my leadership skills through helping out as I felt that at times I was awkward in attempting conversations with younger years, and therefore by joining this and given the time to converse with the year 5 and year 6′s, I would be able to improve.

I had to help out every Tuesday, and the activities each week would be different: such as slime, holograms, burning paper as well as smores. What I learnt from this CCA is the ability to communicate with people from a different age. As I am planning to pursue a healthcare profession, this is a vital feature, and I thought that I was lacking in it beforehand. By meeting up with the same group of kids every week, they were able to slowly open up to me, and I felt that progress was made in terms of being able to talk to younger years. Not only that, but I was not the only one who volunteered and there was also a year 10 with me. Since we spent most of the times simply looking over the kids’ shoulders and helped them when they asked for help, I was also able to improve my communication skills with the other volunteer. I also felt that I have improved my communication skills with and age range older than me as the teacher who ran the CCA was very open and friendly, and have actually helped me build confidence to talk to teachers. Now, because of the communication I had with the CCA teacher, I do not fear going up to my teachers and striking a conversation about classwork or an assignment. Overall, I believe that my communication skills have improved immensely from volunteering, and from this I am able to carry my skills forward in life.

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pacificeagles · 5 years ago

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https://pacificeagles.net/the-german-raiders-thor-and-michel/

The German Raiders Thor and Michel

After the loss of the Kormoran on November 19th, 1941, there were no German auxiliary cruisers still afloat anywhere in the Pacific or Indian oceans. Keen to put pressure on the Royal Navy and force it to defend the sea lanes all over the world, the Kriegsmarine had already decided to send more “hilfskreuzer” to prey on British merchantmen in the far reaches of the world’s oceans.

The Raider Thor

The next raider to been sent on a cruise in Far-Eastern waters was the Thor. Known as “Schiff 10” to the Germans and “Raider E” to the British, Thor was one of the smallest of the raiders with a displacement of just under 3,800 tons. Built as a banana boat for the South American trade, she was due to be named Santa Cruz before she was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine in the spring of 1939 before completion and converted into a merchant cruiser. The construction of this ship had been subsidised by the Kriegsmarine, which knew that small, fast merchantmen would make ideal auxiliary warships when the time came. Thor was equipped with six 150mm guns, four torpedo tubes and a suite of anti-aircraft guns. In June 1940 she set out on her first cruise in the Atlantic, during which she sank 12 ships for a total of almost 100,000 ton. Thor had also survived three different encounters with Royal Navy armed merchant cruisers, sinking one of them, before returning to Germany in April 1941.

Thor underwent a thorough refit at Kiel’s naval dockyard. She was given new 150mm guns and a Seetakt radar, the first to be fitted to an auxiliary cruiser. She retained a single Arado 196 floatplane for reconnaissance, to be flown by Flying Officer Meyer-Ahrens. Thor also had a new commanding officer, Kapitän-zur-See Günther Gumprich. Her second cruise got off to an inauspicious start. Departing Kiel under a blanket of thick fog, the raider rammed the Swedish ore carrier Bothnia and sank her. Thor’s bows were damaged and she had to return to Kiel for repairs.

Setting sail again on November 30th, Thor benefitted from poor weather that helped her slip through the English Channel before she reached La Rochelle in France. She remained there for several days before making an abortive attempt to break out into the Atlantic, which was thwarted by British air patrols. Forced to return to port, she finally left France for good on the 17th of January, 1942. Turning south, Thor crossed the equator on February 4th and arrived at her initial patrol area in the South Atlantic by the 25th.

A month later she came across the Greek-registered M.A. Embiricos, took off her crew, and sank her with a torpedo. On the 30th of March Thor shadowed a freighter for several hours before Gumprich sent his Ar 196 into action with orders to use a grappling hook to rip her radio antenna away. This being achieved, the target was unable to escape and after a brief shelling was stopped and boarded. This ship, the British Wellpark, was then scuttled. Two days later another British freighter, the Willesden, was dispatched in similar fashion, and on April 3rd the Norwegian freighter Aust was likewise sunk. A third British freighter, the Kirkpool, followed on the 10th.

Thor was finally ordered into the Indian Ocean when the Michel arrived to take over the South Atlantic beat. She rounded the Cape of Good Hope on April 22nd, evading a British armed merchant cruiser in the process, before meeting the tanker Regensburg to re-provision and transfer prisoners. Consultations with the Japanese Navy had led to a division of responsibility in the Indian Ocean – I-boats were active in the west, where the British were about to initiate landings on Madagascar. To keep clear, Thor was to operate well to the southeast.

On May 10th, 1942, Thor’s Ar 196 was airborne on patrol when it spotted a large liner. The ship’s crew in turn spotted the plane and prepared for an attack. Six hours later the Arado returned and initiated a strafing run, as well as unsuccessfully attempting to rip off the ship’s aerials. Thor soon appeared on the scene and shelled the vessel, but not before SOS messages were sent out. Finally, as the raider’s guns began to find their mark, the captain of the ship – the Nankin – stopped and order his passengers and crew to abandon ship. A German prize crew went aboard the liner and repaired the slight damage caused by a sabotage attempt, before both the Nankin and the Regensburg were sent on to Japan.

On the 14th June of June Thor’s Seetakt radar picked up a target in the dark. The raider closed in to attack and opened fire in the darkness, quickly finding that range and landing hits on target. Almost immediately a fierce fire began to rage on the victim, which turned out to be the Dutch tanker Olivia. Only one survivor was picked up, but 12 more escaped in a boat. Eight of these survivors died before the remaining four washed up on Madagascar a month later.

Five days later the patrolling Ar 196 came across another target, and attacked with machine guns and bombs. A warning salvo that followed shortly afterwards from Thor convinced captain of the Norwegian motor-tanker Herborg to stop. She was carrying a valuable cargo of 11,000 tons of oil. A prize crew was sent aboard and took the tanker to Japan. On the 4th of July another Norwegian tanker, the Rossbach, was discovered and again a combination of strafing, bombing and shelling brought her to a halt. She was in ballast, or empty, but taken as a prize nonetheless.

Thor gave chase to another target spotted by her lookouts on the 20th of July. The ship tried to flee from the raider, but also fired back with her single gun and transmitted an SOS message, necessitating a running fight which eventually resulted in the target’s gun crew and the radio operator being killed. On fire, the freighter Indus came to a stop and 49 survivors were picked up. She was to be the Thor’s last victim. The raider cruised unsuccessfully off Western Australia before passing through Sunda Strait and making for Borneo. She briefly stopped there before heading to Japan for refit, arriving in Yokohama on October 9th 1942.

Whilst moored in Yokohama, disaster struck. On the 30th of November the nearby supply ship Uckermark, herself undergoing refit, underwent a series of explosions and caught fire. The fire quickly spread to Thor, the captured Nankin, and the Japanese ship Unkai Maru. All four ships were soon destroyed by the conflagration with 12 of the Thor’s crew being killed. Gumprich survived and was soon assigned to another raider that would arrive in Japan early in 1943.

The Raider Michel

The final German auxiliary cruiser to reach the Pacific, indeed the last hilfskreuzer to be active anywhere on the world’s oceans, was Schiff 28, known as Raider H to the Allies, and named Michel. This ship was launched in April 1939 as the MV Bielsko in Danzig, but was seized by Germans after the invasion of Poland and renamed Bonn. It was originally planned to fit out the Bonn as a hospital ship, before the decision was made to convert her into a raider. Main armament for the Michel was taken from the raider Widder, a sister of the Atlantis, which had been decommissioned due to her unreliable engines. Michel had the usual raider armament of six 150mm guns, six torpedo tubes with 24 ‘fish’, and anti-aircraft guns. She was also outfitted with two Ar 196s and a light speedboat.

Michel was commissioned on September 7th 1941, under the command of Kapitän-zur-See Helmuth Von Ruckteschell. She departed Kiel on 9th March 1942, but was attacked by British patrol units during her attempt to break through the Channel. This caused minor damage and the death of one officer, but the raider nevertheless safely arrived at La Pallice on March 17th. Three days later she departed and broke out into the Atlantic. Michel was to be assigned the South Atlantic area which had been vacated by the Thor, which had moved into the Indian Ocean. In time, Michel was to follow her predecessor east.

Michel had a busy time of it, sinking nine ships in the Atlantic over the next few months. First, on April 19th, was the British tanker Patella, whose crew was taken off before the ship was sunk with demolition charges. Three days later the American tanker Connecticut went to the bottom. On the 1st of May, however, one potential victim managed to escape. Heading south passed St Helena, the Michel came across a liner and, with her crew disguised as British sailors, order her to stop. Suspicious, the captain of the Menelaus refused and went to maximum speed to escape. The 16-knot Michel could barely keep up and sent the speedboat Esau to intercept, but the liner dodged her torpedoes and eventually escaped – the only ship ever to escape from a raider after an attack had begun.

Normal service was resumed on the 20th of May, when the Norwegian freighter Kattegat was stopped and scuttled. On the 5th of June Michel found the disabled Liberty ship George Clymer after listening in on her distress signals. Esau hit her with two torpedoes but she remained afloat, eventually being finished off by a British ship. Six days later Michel fired without warning on the freighter Lylepark, which soon caught fire. Survivors were taken off, and the burnt out ship later sank.

Michel found and sank the elderly liner Gloucester Castle on July 15th, before finding two tankers on a parallel course the next day. The Esau was sent after one, the tanker Aramis, whilst Michel herself gave chase after the William F. Humphrey. This ship was hit several times by shells and at least one torpedo fired by the raider. 29 of the crew escaped into boats and were picked up by Michel, which then met up with Esau and finished off the Aramis. Heading south again, Michel met with the raider Stier and the pair briefly hunted together without success, then split up again. At night on the 10th of September, Michel came across and quickly sank the US freighter American Leader. The next evening, Michel found the motor ship Empire Dawn and shelled her to a stop. Despite the crew signalling their surrender, Ruckteschell ordered more fire on the ship which killed several of the crew. After the war, he would be tried for this action and others whilst in command of the raider Widder. He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison, however he died in prison in 1948.

Michel then entered the Indian Ocean, after Ruckteschell had a brief ‘discussion’ with his commander in Germany as to the best hunting ground for his ship. The raider refuelled from the tanker Brake on the 14th of November, and commenced hunting. Two weeks later Michel encountered a feighter in the dead of night, and closed quickly to short range before opening up with a devastating salvo that hit the target’s bridge, defensive guns, and lifeboats whilst also starting fires. Torpedoes from the Esau soon followed and the freighter, the US-flagged Sawolka, sank. 39 survivors were fished out of the ocean.

On the 9th December, a storm had forced the Michel to halt and ride out the swells, but a surprisingly another ship emerged from the gloom and all hands were quickly ordered to their battle stations. This was the Greek freighter Eugenie Livanos, whose crew was busy celebrating St. Stephen’s day. Torpedoes put and end to the party, and more survivors were plucked from the sea. The raider was then ordered back to Germany, to the joy of her crew. She re-entered the Atlantic and on 2nd January her Ar 196 spotted the British freighter Empire March. Michel and Esau together stalked the target, before the cruiser opened fire with guns and torpedoes, and the speedboat added her own fish as well. The freighter quickly went down, with 26 survivors taken aboard Michel. This was the first time on the entire cruise that the pilot, Konrad Hoppe, had found an enemy ship whilst patrolling.

Ruckteschell then received a change to his orders, forbidding him from attempting to break through the Allied blockade and return to Germany. Instead, he was ordered to Japan. By February 7th lookouts spotted the island of Bali, where the Michel briefly docked at Batavia. She then headed for Singapore, where her prisoners were landed. On the 2nd of March, Michel arrived at Kobe in the Japanese Home Islands, 358 days after she had left Germany. Ruckteschell took the opportunity to request his relief, due to ill health, and spent the rest of the war in various Japanese hospitals. He was replaced as commander of the Michel by Kapitän-zur-See Günther Gumprich, who had been unemployed since the destruction of the Thor in November 1942.

After undergoing a thorough refit, on May 1st Michel departed Japan and headed back to the Indian Ocean. By June 14th she was 300 miles west of Australia, where her Ar 196 reported a ship heading west. Michel closed and launched a surprise attack at night in Gumprich’s preferred style. Fires broke out and the crew began abandoning ship. This was the Norwegian freighter Höegh Silverdawn, which was heading for the Persian Gulf. Two days later lookouts spotted a large tanker which was shadowed until nightfall. This was another Norwegian vessel, the Ferncastle. The Michel again closed in to attack. 2 torpedoes from the Esau caused damage but Ferncastle’s captain thought they came from a U-boat. When Michel came into view, the crew realised that escape was impossible and surrendered, although several escaped in the dark in lifeboats. Worried that the escapees might report his location, Gumprich then took the Michel south of Australia into the Pacific. Pickings were slim for the Michel and she crossed the entire ocean without encountering any shipping and was off the coast of Chile by late August. There she narrowly avoided destruction when she spotted the American light cruiser Trenton, but Michel managed to slip away without being spotted.

Heading back west, in the vicinity of Easter Island Michel spotted a tanker, Again, she was shadowed until nightfall and then attacked. Almost at the first salvo the tanker, the Norwegian India, split open and a huge fire engulfed the vessel. There were no survivors. Michel then had a miraculous escape when, in foul weather, she found herself coming across an American convoy with strong escort. Carefully moving away she allowed the distance to open, and slipped into the gloom. With increasing Allied strength and limited opportunities, Gumprich elected to return to Japan.

On October 17th, as the raider was heading for Yokohama, she was spotted by the American submarine Tarpon, which shadowed and attempted to gain attack position. This achieved, a spread of torpedoes was fired, two of which hit the Michel. The ship stopped and began to list, before the Tarpon fired a second salvo of torpedoes which caused Michel to explode. Only 110 of the crew of 373 survived, Gumprich not amongst them. Michel was the last of the raiders, and with her demise the hilfskreuzer were consigned to history.

#german raiders #michel #thor #Burma-India #Central Pacific #History

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williamsmithh · 5 years ago

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bujeetles · 8 years ago

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The day it happened was the most ordinary kind. The kind of unobtrusive, unremarkable day that generally isn’t worth remembering. The weather was decent, the traffic only mildly annoying. Now that he was no longer assigned a nemesis Perry had to report to OWCA headquarters daily and meet up with his team, where they would be given a new mission or continue along one previously assigned.

That day they were on the tail end of a mission for the Swiss government involving embezzlement, organized crime, and mechanical adding machines. All the interesting business had been dealt with, leaving only paperwork in all four official languages of the country in triplicate. Perry had obtained an extra-large oolong tea and a stack of two-language dictionaries for this purpose.

The whole task was made slightly easier by having a native German speaker, though admittedly if a very different dialect. Yet when Perry arrived in the board room he had requested, Heinz was not there. Maggie and Harry were getting set up, the former on French, which she had taken in college to fill out a semester, the latter on Romansh, as he had drawn the short straw. Karen was also in attendance, though mostly symbolically. Aside from fighting she had a somewhat lazy disposition, which not even the black band could sufficiently reform.

Heinz’s absence was not in and of itself surprising, he was still late more often than an agent of their status should be, and had the most uncanny knack for getting himself into trouble. But Perry could think of nothing that could have impeded the Drusselsteinian today. He had already made it to headquarters, his name had been scrawled with usual illegibility across the sign-in sheet, and it was only a few hundred feet from there to his current location. Perry’s brow creased as he tried to find some explanation, but the lack of any infrastructural damage made most of them impossible. Finally, he decided to consult the others, regardless of the teasing he would certainly receive.

“Where’s Heinz?” he signed, trying and mostly failing to keep the anxiety off his face.

“Got a phone call.” Maggie said, her voice clipped and somewhat squawkish, as per usual.

“He-He-He didn’t seem to like it very much.” Harry added, twisting his fingers together and pulling apart with a nervous energy. “Couldn’t understand it though, all in Ge-er-erman.” He was shaking slightly, eyes moving wildly in his sockets. Harry never stood still if he could help it.

“From the embassy?” he asked, Heinz had never been particularly tactful with members of bureaucracy, considering his brother. Perry hoped he wouldn’t have to arrange for another fruit basket.

“Nah, it was on his cell phone.” Karen said, looking over the edge of hers. She pointed with one finger, the dangerously sharp bright pink nail sticking out like a serrated knife. “He went that way.”

Perry nodded and dutifully followed the direction, peering through the branching hallways of the corporate maze that half reminded him of the offices in Monsters Incorporated - one of the boys’ favorite movies. Unlike that sterile environment, the offices of OWCA were lively, full of chatter and laughter and frustrated noises as the internet suddenly dropped mid-report. It was so chaotic he almost missed that faint, pitiful little sound from behind the closet door. He opened the door carefully, an inch at a time, and the light spilling in caused the shadows to form long spindles towards the epicenter. Towards Heinz.

Heinz had been crying and it seemed that he was an ugly crier. His face had turned a blotchy-red white, the skin around his eyes swelled, his long distinctive nose dribbled like a steady stream. The thing that Perry realized with a chill was that he had never seen Heinz cry like this. Oh there were tears that welled up occasionally, but his sadness was always tearless. It was too old for crying, instead worn with weary little frowns and the inverted slant of his eyebrows. These tears were raw, and that scared him.

“Oh, it’s you, Perry the Platypus.” he said, his voice limpid and the words half on autopilot. “I suppose you’re wondering why I’m hiding in a supply closet. Well the habit all started back in Gim-” he stopped abruptly, sighing. “What’s the point? For all the pain and torment that place left on me, it doesn’t remember.” Perry wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say to that. He never had. That was the reason he never commented on his tragic backstories when they were nemeses, too angry and lost for words.

“Vater’s dead.” he stated clearly, no wobble to his voice. “It wasn’t exactly a shock, considering the state of his health. He didn’t seem to think the laws of nature or economics applied to him. Stubborn, mean, downright cruel at times.” His mouth attempted something like a smile but didn’t make it.

“I’ll miss him, but that’s not the reason for all this, oh no. You see, while I only learned the news this morning, it happened a month and a half ago. Everyone in the Doofenshmirtz line was called up, all the cousins and niblings, Vanessa taught me that one. Though Uncle Justin always just called me fickfehler, you know, before he fled to Borneo. Anyway, everyone showed up at the funeral, even Mother, who hadn’t spoken to Vater since they separated. Roger gave this big speech and everyone got to cry and laugh and grieve while I was in Switzerland, tracking adding machines.” he bunched up the papers that had been lying at his feet and hurled them into a bucket with such force Perry was surprised the thing didn’t fall over.

“I don’t care about being loved anymore, I know I didn’t earn it, but Gott im Himmel I deserved to be at Vater’s funeral! At the very least I deserved to be told directly, not find out after the fact from a lawyer who assumed Roger had to be the oldest son, the one who inherited everything, not one three cent coin for me, of course. Who cares about pathetic Heinz Doofenshmirtz?” he ranted, his hands wringing at the air as if he could choke it, fresh tears falling like Sisyphus’ boulder.

Perry couldn’t stand it any longer. He crossed the length of the closet, grabbed Heinz by his collar and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug, the kind that left no air for words or sobs. It was a painful, rough, and exactly what was needed at the moment, judging by the hard scrabble of his limbs as Heinz held onto him. When he pulled away there was a smile there, small but genuine.

“Thank you, Perry the Platypus.”

A nod, a pat on the back. And after a moment of hesitation, a tap to his chest, fingers curling across his chin, a press of his palm across Heinz’s heart.

“I care about you.”

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ramajmedia · 6 years ago

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Hellboy: 10 Things That Make No Sense About Liz Sherman

When it comes to the Hellboy comics, films and animated productions, there are plenty of things that don't make sense about everyone, from the big red monkey himself to all of the humans in his life. Elizabeth Sherman is probably the most normal person among them all, but she also has plenty of skeletons in her closet, including some that make zero sense.

RELATED: The 10 Biggest Differences Between Hellboy Comics & Films

Comic Liz varies greatly from Movie Liz, particularly in terms of her relationship with Hellboy himself. But in all incarnations of the character there are various characteristics, capabilities and occurrences in her life that just boggle the mind.

10 She Used Prayer To Control Her Powers

Poor Liz didn't understand her powers after they manifested when she was 10 years old, so when her Catholic parents told her it was because of her sins, she desperately tried to force them to stop, with prayer. Her sheer willpower was what kept them at bay, but they were so powerful that even that didn't work for long, and when she was 11 she destroyed an entire block of over 30 people, including her parents and younger brother.

Of course it makes no sense to pray away pyrokinesis, but Liz could not have known that. It's the reason why the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense took her in at such a young age.

9 She Doesn't Melt Metal

When Liz wants to melt something, it melts. Sometimes she has little to no control over it either, and Hellboy's even had to step in to help, like he did in the animated movie, Sword of Storms. It was a nod to his brotherly feelings for her as well as his ability to get close due to his fireproof status.

RELATED: The Ultimate Hellboy Gift Guide

With this in mind, the metal around Liz should also melt. From the metal she leans against to the filing cabinets in rooms, if she's melting everything, metal certainly shouldn't be immune to her powers —especially since she melted the crown in The Golden Army right before our eyes.

8 Her Fire Gives Her Life

During one assignment, Liz found the opportunity to give away her power and seeing the chance to be normal, she took it, transferring her pyrokinesis into the body of a man-sized homunculus. It was brought to life, but without her fire, Liz began to slowly waste away into nothing.

No medical cure could help Liz as she disintegrated without her abilities, which makes no sense, since she'd lived without them perfectly for a decade in her childhood. Hellboy was able to bring her powers back and restore her health, but the question remains: Why couldn't she just live without them?

7 She's Left The BPRD A Bunch Of Times

Fans of the movies know that Liz has come and gone over the years, but comic readers know that it's much worse than that. Liz loses control of her powers, takes out a bunch of people or at least endangers them, then decides she needs to go into hiding to save them. Except sometimes she still hurts people while she's in self-imposed exile. Even when Liz gets full control, something supernatural and terrible happens to her, returning her to a state of uncontrollable power.

RELATED: Guillermo Del Toro’s Unfinished Projects, Ranked by How Badly We Want Them

It makes no sense that Liz would just keep disappearing and endangering humanity to the point of destroying entire islands if she knows it's a possibility. She ought to stay in their fire-proof room where she and everyone else is safe if she is really worried about being a danger.

6 She Admits Herself Into An Asylum

In the first Hellboy film, Liz admits herself into an asylum for help. This makes absolutely zero sense, since she knows what kind of danger she can be to others without proper paranormal supervision. She has done an incredible amount of damage before and needs to be in a place that's either away from people or with the kind of people who get her and can both protect her and others from her powers.

Staying in a mental hospital is the worst thing Liz could do. Not only is it vulnerable to anyone who would want to use her powers, such as Rasputin, but it's full of vulnerable people who could be harmed by her own powers — and they certainly are. We are left to assume that she's not being incarcerated for the fire that must've taken out at least some residents.

5 She Is Above The Law

Speaking of taking out everyone at the mental hospital, and the islands Borneo and Sulawesi, and every other time Liz lost control and took a bunch of lives on accident, why is she never held culpable for these actions? It makes sense to label the first incident a tragedy, but if the BPRD allows it to go on over and over again, something ought to be done.

RELATED: 10 Ways The New Hellboy Will Be Different From Guillermo Del Toro's Films

Liz is dangerous to everyone, and despite the lives she's saved, she takes out quite a few too. Without Hellboy around to help, she's the Bureau's only defense against the Ogdru Jahad, but she's also Rasputin's best bet at awakening it in the first place.

4 She Didn't Just Burn That Crown In The First Place

Did Hellboy really need to defeat that entire Golden Army in Hellboy II when Liz could have destroyed the crown that controlled the army all along? Could they not have somehow sent the crown flying where she could have blasted it, caught it and set it on fire, or otherwise destroyed it?

Sure, it makes sense on a cinematic level, since that was a really cool fight and Liz's involvement would have just prevented it from happening, but watching her burn it afterward was rather anticlimactic now that we know she could have used her powers to shut the whole thing down all along.

3 She Got Pregnant With Little Red Monkeys

While no one is denying how adorable it is that Hellboy and Liz are expecting — and have been for 11 years, since The Golden Army was released — fans have to wonder how it's even genetically possible. Depending on his source material, HB is either a full demon baby or the spawn of a human and demon together. The demon and human were pretty special though, as he was descended from King Arthur. So is his DNA even compatible with a generic human (who happens to also have pyrokinesis)?

RELATED: Guillermo Del Toro's Movies, Ranked By Rotten Tomatoes

David Harbour has stated that his version of Hellboy certainly can't mate with humans, which only leads to further questions about Hellboy's anatomy, genes and whether or not he and Liz could really have a family.

2 She Doesn't Always Roast Everyone In The Room

When Liz tells someone to leave the room so she can set the entire thing ablaze, you hit the ground running if you don't want to be liquefied. That's why it makes no sense that sometimes she roasts the whole room and yet, people can just duck and cover and be okay — especially when Liz is not in full control of her abilities.

While Liz does learn to control her fiery powers better with practice, in the first film when she tells Agent Myers, "You should be running," he doesn't get far before she takes out all of the resurrection hounds. He should've turned to goo too.

1 She's Hellboy's Girlfriend

In the Dark Horse comic books, it's clear that Liz Sherman and Hellboy are nothing more than friends. In fact, he looks at her like a little sister rather than a romantic love interest. Guillermo del Toro's pairing them for the first two Hellboy movies doesn't make sense if they're even loosely based on the comics.

Even so, many fans love the pairing together, which makes it such a shame that we will never witness del Toro's final vision for the couple, which we can assume included not only their children but also Hellboy's demise.

NEXT: 5 Ways The Hellboy Reboot Is Better Than The Original (& 5 Ways It’s Worse)

source https://screenrant.com/hellboy-liz-sherman-no-sense-confusing/

#screenrant

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spicynbachili2 · 7 years ago

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World’s Oldest-Known Figurative Paintings Discovered in Borneo Cave | Science

Hidden in a distant cave buried within the inaccessible rainforests of Indonesian Borneo, a sequence of rock artwork work are serving to archaeologists and anthropologists to rewrite the historical past of creative expression. There, scientists have discovered, enterprising painters might have been among the many very first people to embellish stone partitions with pictures of the traditional world they inhabited.

The oldest portray in Lubang Jeriji Saléh cave on Borneo, the third-largest island on the earth, is a big wild cattle-like beast whose kinfolk should still roam the native forests. The determine has been dated at 40,000 years outdated and maybe older, presumably created about 51,800 years previously.

These estimates, just lately calculated utilizing radiometric relationship, might make the portray the oldest-known instance of figurative cave artwork—pictures that depict objects from the true world versus summary designs. The figures additionally present extra proof that a creative flowering occurred amongst our ancestors, concurrently, on reverse ends of the huge Eurasian continent.

A whole bunch of historical pictures, from summary designs and hand stencils to animals and human figures, have been documented in Indonesian Borneo’s distant caves since scientists turned conscious of them within the mid-1990s. However like different indicators of historical human habitation on this a part of the world, they’re occasionally seen or studied. Borneo’s Sangkulirang–Mangkalihat Peninsula is a land of hovering limestone towers and cliffs, riddled with caves under and blanketed with thick tropical forests above that make journey arduous and have hidden native secrets and techniques for 1000’s of years.

Limestone karst of East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo.

(Pindi Setiawan)

Maxime Aubert, an archaeologist and geochemist at Griffith College, Gold Coast, Australia, says the trouble to check the cave work was effectively price it, not least due to the distinctive connection one feels right here to the distant previous.

“After we do archaeological digs, we’re fortunate if we will discover some items of bone or stone instruments, and often you discover what individuals have chucked out,” says Aubert, lead writer of a brand new research detailing the Borneo work. “While you take a look at the rock artwork, it’s actually an intimate factor. It’s a window into the previous, and you may see their lives that they depicted. It’s actually like they’re speaking to us from 40,000 years in the past.”

The relationship of this historical southeast Asian cave artwork pens a brand new chapter within the evolving story of the place and when our ancestors began portray their impressions of the surface world. A painted rhino in France’s Chauvet Cave had till just lately been the oldest-known instance of figurative cave artwork, dated to roughly 35,000 to 39,000 years outdated. Chauvet and some different websites led scientists to imagine that the delivery of such superior portray had occurred in Europe. However in 2014, Aubert and colleagues introduced that cave artwork depicting stenciled handprints and a big pig-like animal from the identical time interval had been discovered on the opposite aspect of the world on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

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“The 2014 paper on Sulawesi made a really huge splash, because it confirmed that cave artwork was practiced each in Europe and in southeast Asia at about the identical time,” Paleolithic archaeologist Wil Roebroeks says in an e-mail. Roebroeks, of Leiden College within the Netherlands, added that Aubert’s group’s analysis, “killed Eurocentric views on early rock artwork.”

The Borneo discover compliments this earlier work and expands an more and more broad and intriguing worldview of historical artwork—one with as many new questions as solutions.

Aubert and colleagues had been capable of decide when Borneo’s historical artists plied their commerce by relationship calcite crusts, often known as “cave popcorn,” that seeping water slowly created excessive of the artwork. The group dated these deposits by measuring the quantity of uranium and thorium within the samples. As a result of uranium decays into thorium at a recognized price, uranium sequence evaluation can be utilized to calculate a pattern’s age. And since the work lie beneath these crusts, the researchers conclude they should be older than the calcite deposits. Indonesia’s Nationwide Analysis Centre for Archaeology (ARKENAS) and the Bandung Institute of Know-how (ITB) additionally contributed to the research revealed at present in Nature.

The world’s oldest figurative art work from Borneo dated to a minimal of 40,000 years.

(Luc-Henri Fage)

Despite the fact that the uranium relationship suggests these figures are the oldest-known instance of such artwork on the earth, Aubert is much more within the putting similarities between the Borneo cave artwork kinds and people discovered throughout Europe. Actually, two kinds of portray present in Indonesia’s Lubang Jeriji Saléh cave—which had been superimposed over each other by peoples who frequented the identical cave maybe 20,000 years aside—additionally seem at roughly the identical instances greater than 7,000 miles away in Western Europe.

The primary type, which started between 52,000 and 40,000 years in the past, makes use of pink and orange hues and consists of hand stencils and work of huge animals that lived within the surrounding space. A second distinct type appeared round 20,000 years in the past. It makes use of purple or mulberry colours, and its hand stencils, typically linked collectively by branch-like traces, function inside decorations.

By 13,600 years in the past, the Borneo cave artwork had undergone one other vital evolution—it started depicting the human world. “We see small human figures. They’re carrying head attire, typically dancing or looking, and it’s simply wonderful,” Aubert says.

Human figures from East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. This type is dated to at the very least 13,600 years in the past however may presumably date to the peak of the final Glacial Most 20,000 years in the past.

(Pindi Setiawan)

“It’s extra a couple of sample that we will see now. We’ve actually outdated work in Europe and southeast Asia, and never solely did they seem on the identical time on reverse sides of the world, however it appears that evidently they’re evolving on the identical time on reverse sides of the world,” Aubert says. “The second distinct type appeared across the time of the final glacial most, so it may even be associated to the local weather. We simply don’t know.”

Rock artwork painters may need developed concurrently in a couple of place, Roebroeks suggests. Alternatively, as he wrote in a 2014 Nature essay, rock artwork might have been “an integral a part of the cultural repertoire of colonizing trendy people, from western Europe to southeast Asia and past.”

“We will solely speculate concerning the kind of contemporaneous ‘emergence’ of rock artwork in western Eurasia and on the opposite excessive of the distribution of recent people, Insular South East Asia,” Roebroeks says.

The concept that rock artwork was an “integral half” of recent human tradition from the start appears most certainly to Durham College archaeologist Paul Pettitt, who says a variety of proof helps the interpretation that non-figurative artwork had developed in Africa by 75,000 years in the past or earlier.

“This might have originated as a solution to enhance the physique with particular meanings,” he says in an e-mail, “and included shell jewellery recognized from the north and south of the continent as early as 100,000 years in the past.” The creative expressions “had developed to incorporate using pink ochre and engraved indicators on ochre lumps and stone by 75,000 [years ago] and ornament on ostrich eggshell water containers by 65,000. If we assume this repertoire left Africa with among the earliest dispersals of Homo sapiens, maybe on their our bodies, it would clarify the persistence of a type of artwork which, by at the very least 40,000 years in the past had come to be prolonged off of the physique, and issues carefully related to it, to cave and rock shelter partitions,” he says.

Composition of mulberry-coloured hand stencils superimposed over older reddish/orange hand stencils. The 2 kinds are separated in time by at the very least 20,000 years.

(Kinez Riza )

However even when we may perceive the complete story of early human artwork, we would nonetheless be lacking a good larger image.

A 2018 research describes Spanish rock artwork so outdated that it will have been created greater than 20,000 years earlier than trendy people arrived within the area—that means the artists should have been Neanderthals. Although the dots, traces and hand stencils aren’t the identical kind of figurative artwork present in Borneo or Chauvet, the photographs counsel that creative expression was a part of the Neanderthal toolkit at the very least 64,000 years in the past.

Roebroeks cautions that scientists ought to hesitate to deduce that sure instances or locations are key to the emergence of a specific cultural habits, just because proof for them is missing in different eras or locales. As evidenced by the surprisingly outdated dates just lately assigned to the Neanderthal rock artwork, or the emergence of Pleistocene rock artwork exterior of Europe in Indonesia, these assumptions are sometimes primarily based on the absence of comparable phenomena in neighboring locales or time intervals.

Simply because we haven’t discovered them, nonetheless, doesn’t imply that they don’t exist. “One of many classes we will be taught from the research by Aubert and colleagues on rock artwork from Sulawesi and now Borneo is that such methods of reasoning might be severely flawed.”

Prehistoric artwork might have been created within the distant previous, however the future is more likely to deliver stunning discoveries that additional remodel our view of human creative expression tens of 1000’s of years after the paint has dried.

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natsumarucasblog · 6 years ago

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Borneo Project: Log 4 & Log 5

Log 4 - Today we visited the Upper Years and Middle Years Office to ask whether those places can be used for a place where students can give their donations. I started creating a sign up sheet and a donation sheet so that students can just fill in the form (and to make money collection easier). We also visited the health centre so that they can come to the event in case of any injuries.

Log 5 - I got everyone to physically walk the route so that everyone is familiar with it and we decided on where the event should start and where to put the water stalls and food stalls. We also decided on where we should have people to man the route (to make sure the people went the right direction (and didn’t cheat). I also assigned Vapi to be in charge of the Lapathon poster as he knows most about editing in the committee. I reviewed the sponsorship form dates.

I talked to the football fun day group for any advice they have on running the stalls (how well did you sell the drinks? what did you sell?). This really helped us as it gave us a standard to go by.

^the starting place of the Lapathon

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kathleenseiber · 5 years ago

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New Guinea is #1 for island plant diversity

In terms of plants, New Guinea is the most diverse island in the world, according to a new study.

The study presents a list of almost 14,000 plant species, compiled from online catalogues and verified by plant experts. The results are invaluable for research and conservation, and also underline the importance of expert knowledge in the digital era.

Almost 20 times the size of Switzerland, New Guinea is the world’s largest tropical island. It features a complex mosaic of ecosystems—from lowland jungles to high-elevation grasslands with peaks higher than Mont Blanc.

View of mature forest and mountains taken from the Lae-Madang Highway at Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. (Credit: Zacky Ezedin)

Botanists have long known that this mega-diverse wilderness area is home to a large number of plant species. Efforts to identify and name thousands of plants collected in New Guinea and archived in herbaria all over the world have been ongoing since the 17th century.

However, since researchers have worked mostly independently from each other, a great uncertainty remains as to the exact number of plant species, with conflicting estimates ranging from 9,000 to 25,000.

“Compared to other areas like Amazonia, for which plant checklists were recently published, New Guinea remained the ‘Last Unknown’,” says Rodrigo Cámara-Leret, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Jordi Bascompte in the University of Zurich’s evolutionary biology and environmental studies department.

Under his lead, 99 scientists from 56 institutions and 19 countries have now built the first expert-verified checklist for the 13,634 vascular plant species of New Guinea and its surrounding islands.

The researchers began their large-scale collaborative effort by compiling a list of plant names from online catalogues, institutional repositories and datasets curated by taxonomists.

“Such high endemic species richness is unmatched in tropical Asia…”

After standardizing the scientific names, 99 experts on New Guinea flora checked almost 25,000 species names derived from over 700,000 individual specimens. For this, they reviewed the list of original names in their plant family of expertise and assessed whether these names were correctly assigned in the online platforms. Finally, an independent comparison was performed between the list accepted by experts and a list contained in “Plants of the World Online” for New Guinea.

The resulting checklist contains 13,634 plants, demonstrating that New Guinea has the world’s richest island flora—with about 20% more species than Madagascar or Borneo. By far the most species-rich family are the orchids and almost a third of the species are trees. One particularly remarkable finding is that 68% of the plants are endemic—they are only found in the region.

“Such high endemic species richness is unmatched in tropical Asia,” says Cámara-Leret.

“It means that Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, the two states into which the island is divided, have a unique responsibility for the survival of this irreplaceable biodiversity.”

“We estimate that in the next 50 years, 3,000 to 4,000 species will be added.”

The new authoritative checklist will improve the accuracy of biogeographic and ecological studies, help focus DNA sequencing on species-rich groups with high endemism, and facilitate the discovery of more species by taxonomists. Thousands of specimens remain unidentified in the collections and many unknown species have yet to be discovered in the wild.

“We estimate that in the next 50 years, 3,000 to 4,000 species will be added,” says coauthor Michael Kessler, scientific curator of the botanical garden of the University of Zurich. These efforts will be important for conservation planning and modeling the impact of changes in climate and land use.

The collaboration also underscores that expert knowledge is still essential in the digital era—reliance on online platforms alone would have erroneously inflated species counts by one fifth. However, many of the New Guinea plants experts are already or soon to be retired, and almost half of them are non-residents. The researchers therefore advocate building a critical mass of resident plant taxonomists.

Policy-wise, the study shows that long-term institutional and financial support is critical if significant advances are to be made over the next decades.

“Our work demonstrates that international collaborative efforts using verified digital data can rapidly synthesize biodiversity information. This can serve as a model for accelerating research in other hyper-diverse areas such as Borneo,” says Cámara-Leret. “Such initiatives pave the way for the grand challenge of conserving the richest island flora of the world.”

The research appears in Nature.

Source: University of Zurich

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