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  • #198891
    JessiCapri
    Participant

    When you see something like this, don’t be afraid, don’t call the firefighters or the police, don’t move and don’t kill them.
    These are just bees traveling and stopping for just 24 hours.
    Don’t disturb them and avoid getting close to them, they won’t hurt you.
    If you want to help, put a flat plate or tray with some sugar water.
    Bees will eat, gain energy and fly away.
    We all need to protect migratory bees, they are our survival insurance.
    Without bees, there will be no humans on earth.

    #199071
    JessiCapri
    Participant

    Vermilion Cliffs National Monument is located in Arizona, immediately south of the Utah state line.

    The Vermilion Cliffs are steep eroded escarpments consisting primarily of sandstone, siltstone, limestone, and shale which rise as much as 3,000 feet (910 m) above their bases. These sedimentary rocks have been deeply eroded for millions of years, exposing hundreds of layers of richly colored rock strata. Tables, buttes, and large tablelands are interspersed with steep canyons, where some small streams provide enough moisture to support a sampling of wildlife.

    #199073
    JessiCapri
    Participant

    “I’m a tipula (insect in the Tipulidae family) known as a giant mosquito, but I’m not a mosquito. Out of ignorance they are taking my life without being a threat. I don’t suck blood, I’m not a hematophagus. I feed on flower nectar and help pollination.
    Now that you know me please don’t kill me.. “💕
    Let’s help them get out of our homes without killing them, there is no need to destroy and kill everything we can’t understand…

    #199516
    JessiCapri
    Participant

    Hubble on the left and the JWST on the right – same patch of sky, roughly equal the area covered by a grain of rice held at arms length from the observer.

    Amazing, right?

    Here’s something really cool, though. Zoom in on the images and look, say, at the upper left hand corner, away from all the flash and beauty in the middle. You’ll note, first, that many of the structures visible in Webb with clarity are also visible in the Hubble image, but with less resolution. Look beyond those details, and find some of the small red blobs that appear in the JWST frame, but not at all in the Hubble.

    Those are galaxies that we’ve never seen before. They are so far away that all the radiation – visible light wavelength and otherwise – has been stretched out by cosmic expansion until it exists only in the infrared spectrum. Think of it something like a mosquito’s buzz stretched out until it is as deep as a contrabass on the lowest string. Up until today, for all of human history, we didn’t have the capacity to see those galaxies. They were invisible to us, but now they’re there for us to study.

    More than that, they’re also visual imprints of what those structures looked like when the light was emitted from the stars inside those galaxies, and that was long before our sun existed. In fact, the stars that emitted that light we’re seeing today lived and died and formed super novae and then gave birth to whole new generations of stars that lived and died and rebirthed their own new stars before becoming whatever they are today.

    What we’re seeing in those little red smudges are infant galaxies, just forming out of the cooling cosmic background, and precisely what they look like today is simply impossible to know. In the interceding 13.2 billion years, they have long since regressed away from us and are now thirty or forty billion lightyears away. They are probably still burning out there somewhere, but the light that is now being emitted by the descendant stars of those we’re seeing tonight will never, ever, ever reach our neighborhood. It will always be approaching, but won’t ever get here.

    Still, by looking at those little smudges, we will learn a lot about what our neck of the woods looked like back when we were very young – thanks to the isotropic homogeneity of the universe. So, tomorrow, when the first full set of images arrives, expect scientists to begin pawing through the data in order to identify which of those little red blobs might have grown up into a spiral galaxy of about 100 billion stars, as that will allow us the closest thing we’ve ever found to a galactic sonogram of the Milky Way.

    So damn cool.

    #199517
    JessiCapri
    Participant

    In case you missed this, it might make you smile. One of the images released today from the JWST is of Stephan’s Quintet an apparent cluster of five galaxies, though only four are interacting. The galaxy on the left is actually about 250 million lightyears closer to earth than the other four.

    Anyway, what’s just charming about this image, to me, is that Stephan’s Quintet is the home of the angels, including Clarence, in Frank Capra’s perfect movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

    If you’ve watched it as many times as I have, you’ll remember them blinking back and forth during these lines:
    Senior Angel : A man down on Earth needs our help.
    Clarence : Splendid. Is he sick?
    Senior Angel : No, worse. He’s discouraged.

    Things turned out okay for George Bailey with a little help from his friends, as they did for the James Webb Space Telescope on its long journey to Lagrange 2, a million miles away from Earth.

    Who knows? Maybe we’ll be okay in the end, too.

    #199884
    JessiCapri
    Participant

    #200333
    Vaughan
    Moderator

    Orionid meteor shower to light up night sky

    Skygazers are set for some celestial fireworks as Earth passes through the debris left by Halley’s Comet.

    The Orionid meteor is active throughout October but is expected to peak on Friday night, producing up to 25 meteors every hour, and remaining visible until the early hours of Saturday.

    The phenomenon gets its name from the Orion constellation – which is one of the brightest groups of stars in the sky.

    Jake Foster, a public astronomy officer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, told the PA news agency: “One of the things that makes this meteor shower extra special for some is that each meteor is a tiny piece of Halley’s Comet.”

    Meteoroids from Halley’s Comet strike the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 148,000mph, burning up in streaking flashes of light.

    As both the Earth and Halley’s Comet have elliptical orbits around the Sun, the two intersect twice every year, causing not only the Orionids but also the Eta Aquariid meteor shower in May.

    The Orionids will be visible in both northern and southern hemispheres until November 7.

    Mr Foster told PA: “This year the Orionids will peak on the night of October 21 between midnight and dawn, with a maximum of 25 shooting stars per hour.

    “The shower will be emanating from the constellation of Orion, which will rise from the south-eastern horizon shortly before midnight.”

    Skygazers are advised to get as far away from all artificial lights as possible and allow some time for eyes to adjust to the dark.

    Mr Foster told PA: “You won’t need any kind of specialist viewing equipment to see the meteor shower, just clear skies and warm clothes.”

    #200809
    Vaughan
    Moderator

    The birth of a bison calf at a conservation project in the Kent countryside in the UK.

    European bison were released into woodland near Canterbury, UK, in July as part of a rewilding project to help restore the area to its natural state.

    In July 2022 three female bison were reintroduced to a woodland in Kent as part of a rewilding project that aims to return the forest to a more natural and biodiverse habitat. It is now known that one of these females was already pregnant before being released. It was not known at the time.

    Bison roamed the UK until around 6,000 years ago, but it is thought they were hunted to extinction.
    They were reintroduced in the woods to help nature thrive – but the new arrival was something of a surprise.
    Forest rangers Tom Gibbs and Donovan Wright spotted the birth on September 9 2022.

    This is the first bison to be born in the UK wild in thousands of years.

    Bison clear undergrowth, allowing other plants and insects to move in. They also de-bark conifers, allowing native species to flourish, and their moulted fur provides insulating material for nesting birds.

    The rewilding project, led by Kent Wildlife Trust and the Wildwood Trust, is taking place in West Blean and Thornden Woods – one of the largest areas of ancient woodland in the UK, with parts of it over 1,000 years old.

    #200994
    Vaughan
    Moderator

    People have flocked to see an icicle “phenomenon” created by a burst water main on a street.

    The strange structure in Staunton, Gloucestershire in the UK was formed as cars drove past the water main in freezing conditions this week, splashing the water onto a hedge by the side of the road.

    #201001
    Vaughan
    Moderator

    Just sad at the crap we dont clean up

    A man collects plastic from the polluted Citarum River in West Bandung, West Java, Indonesia.

    #201737
    JessiCapri
    Participant

    #201854
    JessiCapri
    Participant

    #202903
    JessiCapri
    Participant

    Every spring, fish swim right through Utrecht, looking for a place to spawn and reproduce. Some swim all the way to Germany. There is a problem, however: they often have to wait a long time at the Weerdsluis lock on the west side of the inner city, as the lock rarely opens in spring. We have come up with a solution: the fish doorbell! An underwater camera has been set up at the lock, and the live feed is streamed to the homepage. If you see a fish, press the digital fish doorbell. The lock operator is sent a signal and can open the lock if there are enough fish. Now you can help fish make it through the canals of Utrecht.

    Season 2023 comming to an end

    Spring has past and summer has begon! That means that the Fish Doorbell is nearing its end for this season. Friday 30st of June, the camera will be shut down. But don’t worry, on the 1st of March 2024 the Fish Doorbell will be back again. So we can welcome all those beautiful fish back into our beautiful city.

    On behalf of all the fish and the lock keepers, thank you for your help!

    How it works

    Pressing the fish doorbell notifies the lock operator that there are fish waiting to pass. The operator can decide whether or not to open the lock. The lock seldom opens in spring, but can now be opened daily, if necessary. The fish doorbell allows us to work together to ensure that fish do not have to wait as long at the Weerdsluis lock. This is good news, because it means they are less likely to be eaten by other animals, such as grebes and cormorants.

    Why the fish doorbell?

    Fish are essential to the quality of rivers and canals in Utrecht, as they play a role in keeping the water healthy and clean. The fish doorbell helps fish in their annual trek to find a place to spawn and reproduce. We also want to show Utrecht’s residents and visitors how much life there is underwater in the canals. The doorbell also provides information on the species and numbers of fish travelling through Utrecht’s waterways. We can use that information to improve the quality of underwater life in Utrecht.

    Tip

    Did you know that fish prefer to swim in the dark when travelling from one place to the next? It is safer than during the day, as there are fewer birds and other predators about. Make sure to check out the live stream when it is dark outside, as that is when you are most likely to spot fish.

    Collaboration

    The fish doorbell is a project by the Municipality of Utrecht, Waterboard De Stichtse Rijnlanden and Water Authority Amstel, Gooi and Vecht. Together, those organisations are in charge of water management and quality in the Vecht and Utrecht’s canals.

    The camera goes dark tomorrow 30th June but will be on again come March.

    The livestream can be found here….Be sure to ring the bell if you see a fish!!

    De visdeurbel

    #203407
    Vaughan
    Moderator

    We are the custodians of our planet and countryside.
    Let us make sure we look after it for years and generations to come.

    Seven Principles of Leave No Trace
    The seven principles of Leave No Trace were written by the National Forest Service in the 1970s to help people understand how to best interact with the environment when they’re outside. They basically boil down to making as little impact as possible.

    1. Plan ahead and prepare.
    2. Travel and camp on durable surfaces.
    3. Dispose of waste properly.
    4. Leave what you find.
    5. Minimize campfire impacts.
    6. Respect wildlife.
    7. Be considerate of other visitors.

    Sometimes, it takes a few reminders. Not everyone understands right off the bat that you can’t toss food scraps on the trail. Even though they’re biodegradable, they could pose a hazard to wildlife and the ecosystem.

    Going to the Bathroom in the Backcountry
    Backcountry bathroom etiquette in particular is something that’s easier to learn when you’re out on the trail than it is to memorize when you’re reading about it online. So when Wildland Trekking brings customers out on backpacking trips, they’ll make sure everyone understands how to bury their waste properly (at least 6 to 8 inches deep, and 200 feet from water, camp, and trails), and that they pack out toilet paper (easy dissolvable, non plastic). They camp on durable surfaces to protect fragile ecosystems, and avoid burning food scraps, which can attract wildlife.

    Why not do this free online course and encourage your friends and kids to do it too.
    Right click on link below and choose the option “Open Link in new tab”
    This will open it in a new tab or page for you, whilst staying in Achat’s Forum.

    https://learn.lnt.org/courses/101

    #203462
    JessiCapri
    Participant

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