The Olm

The Olm (Order: Caudata, Family: Proteidae)

Photo: EDGE of Existence
(http://www.edgeofexistence.org)

The olm are cave dwelling, aquatic vertebrates that have descended from an ancient branch of salamanders: they have evolved independently for one-hundred-and-ninety million years (since the early Jurassic period, in the era of the dinosaurs), but they are now a threatened species due to pollution and loss of habitat.

The olm prefer underground water systems that are calm, well-oxygenated, and maintain a constant, year-round temperature  of 6-12°C. The creatures have found a niche in the underground caves of the Dinaric Alps in north-eastern Italy and Boznia and Herzegovina. They are social animals, and populations have been discovered close to ground-level and as deep as three-hundred meters beneath the surface.

Olm do not metamorphose like most other salamanders; they maintain their larval characteristics throughout their aquatic existence: their eyelids never grow in, and they retain feathery gills and a tail fin.  They are pale creatures with skin-covered eyes; they cannot see objects, but their eyes are light sensitive. They hunt in pitch-darkness, using enhanced senses of smell, taste, hearing, and an additional faculty of electrosensitivity (recently, it has been suggested that the olm may also use the Earth’s magnetic field for orientation).

Olm are capable of consuming excessive quantities of nutrients for storage as fats and sugars in their liver; and, when food is in short supply, they can reduce their metabolism.  If sustenance is unavailable for a prolonged period, they are able to reabsorb their own tissues. They can live for ten years without food.

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Winter Soltice

The first big snowfall of the season came a couple of days before the winter solstice; but, for me, the snow marked the beginning of the Christmas/Winter season. I’m off work now until the end of the year, but two days ago I was wishing my holidays started slightly earlier: it took me three hours to get home, and that was after a half-hour spent digging my car out of the snow bank created by a plough. After a snow dump of 15 cm, it rained, which caused very icy conditions, especially in heavy-traffic areas.

I must admit, a snow-ladened landscape is incredibly stunning, but it’s so much easier to appreciate while at home, sitting on the sofa, warm and comfortable by the fire.

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The Dumbo Octopus

found at http://isite.lps.org

The Dumbo Octopus (genus Grimotheuthis) — named after the famed Disney elephant — has ear-like fins that are used for propulsion through the water. They also use water-jet propulsion and swim with a rhythmic thrust of their arms, like other octopods, but flapping their ear-fins seems to be a favoured form of propulsion.

Not a lot is known about this rarest of the Octopoda species. They have been found as shallow as 400 meters below the surface, but are most commonly found at depths of 3,000 to 4,000 meters. One species was discovered at a depth of seven thousand meters, deeper than any other known octopus. They hover above the ocean floor and feed on worms, molluscs and crustaceans; but, unlike other octopods, they swallow prey whole because they have no radula (a tongue with teeth on it).

The male has an adapted section on one arm that is probably used to convey spermatosphores into the female.

I wonder how many unknown, strange creatures lurk in the dark depths…

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A Stanislaw Lem Euro-Google-Doodle

While attempting to write a review of Stanislaw Lem’s novel His Master’s Voice, I lost my concentration, began to surf the web, and came across a Euro Google-Doodle (from November, 2011) that I’d missed. The doodle commemorated the 60th anniversary of Lem’s first published work. So, for any other Lem fans (or other interested parties) who missed the doodle…

The doodle depicts two characters from The Cyberiad; the creators, Trurl and Klapaucius. The doodle features excellent animation by Sofia Foster-Dimino, who recreated the whimsical characters first drawn by Daniel Mroz, who illustrated several  Stanislaw Lem books.

The doodle is also a game; a series of puzzles (powered by HTML5, programmed by Marcin Wichary). As the player solves each puzzle, an element is collected and a new level is opened. There are three levels (math questions, identification of synchronous waves, and launching robots up to a satellite). When the three elements are collected, the final animation sequence is revealed. Click on the image below to go to the animated doodle-game; or, go to this YouTube video to watch the entire animation (~ 5 minutes). There is also an interesting Washington Post Article on the Lem-Euro-Doodle.

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The Creative Process

When creating, it can be difficult to set the image free without resorting to manipulation: an unbiased hand is required.

Do not force, push or bully… let the image flow naturally from the void.

The creation may not be what you intended, but I think that this makes all the difference between art and intellectualism.

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a challenging week

Wallowing in neutral, spiraling downward…

My work-week has been filled with bizarre electronic problems that — according to every Technical Support person available — are impossible (unfortunately, they are possible, they occurred, they are making it impossible for the Company to manufacture its widgets, and it’s my responsibility to make things work: I can’t really complain; I accepted the job, and knew there would be times like this, but sometimes the waves sneak over the bow and smack me in the face). The school year started this week and traffic is harrowing and frustrating (and I’m in the middle of an experimental novel that has infected my consciousness and something within my mind tells me that my work-week and the novel are connected; but, surely, that is paranoia).

It’s useless to become negative and irritable, yet I still make the attempt…

I searched for positive inspiration and found just what I need, Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Remember ‘Divide and Conquer’ — if you can divide a negative reaction into its parts (mental image, mental talk, and emotional body sensation), you can conquer the sense of being overwhelmed. In other words, eliminate the negative parts by loving them to death.

Shinzen Young, from The Power of  Gone

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Slowly, surely, the week morphed into a manageable string of events, and the weekend is stretching its welcoming arms toward me…

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The wedding season

One of my nieces began an exciting new chapter in life as a married woman yesterday. The wedding ceremony took place in a beautiful, outdoor setting: but, for me, it was two children who truly brightened the event: the Ring Bearer, stolid and steady enough to make Gandalf proud; and the Flower Girl, as carefree as the wind.

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The Red Wheelbarrow

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

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William Carlos Williams

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The world’s fastest punch

[image found at Space Oddity’s Spore Blog]

The peacock mantis shrimp (aka the harlequin mantis shrimp and the painted mantis shrimp) is not a true shrimp, but a species of crustacean (Odontodactylus scyllarus). Their habitat is in the Indo-Pacific, from Guam to East Africa.

The peacock mantis shrimp range in length from about three to eighteen centimeters (1.2 – 7 inches) and their most unusual feature is small appendages, called dactyl clubs, that they use to smash through mollusk shells, the heads of small fish, bivalves, and even glass aquarium walls (they make interesting and colorful aquarium specimens, but they must be kept separate from other creatures, and the walls of their aquaria must be constructed of shatter-proof acrylic).

The dactyl club appendages have been studied by chemical and material engineering scientist David Kisailus and his associates at the University of California, Riverside.

The striking surface of the club is highly crystallized hydroxyapite (a variety of calcium carbonate (bone material)), which provides superior compressive strength. Beneath the calcium carbonate, chitin is cross-layered in a dense array to prevent the formation of fractures. The sides of the club are also constructed of chitin, which places the club under compression. The club’s structure allows it to endure incredible impact forces. The animal’s punching velocity of 80 km/h (50 miles/h) is the fastest ever recorded and the punch acceleration is equivalent to a .22 caliber handgun.

David Kisailus and his colleagues have plans to use their findings to create materials for synthesis and engineering use in protective sporting equipment, crash-resistant vehicles, and body armor.

The combination of intriguing colors (predominant shades of green, with orange legs and anterior spots) and super-human punching abilities begs for a new comic-book super-hero…

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Patterns

Sometimes patterns open mnemonic pathways; yesterday, my wife’s umbrella unfolded recollections of Howie S., licorice, cartography, Mrs. Haffington, chess, mountains, the 1970s, birds, Spirograph, mandalas, and rain:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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