video screenshot via abc.net.au
Recently besieged by dry weather and Crazy Ants, Christmas Island's Red Crabs are Back, baby. Chariot pulled by cassowaries has posted about their 100 million march to the ocean (and incidental occupation of roads, school grounds, living rooms, toilet drains, and Metafilter threads).
Black-anther Flax-lily is one of the many indigenous species planted by ReSource RICA. Photo by Geoff Nowak on Flickr
"There were four living trees on it, lots of erosion and it was an eyesore ..." chariot pulled by cassowaries posts the wonderfully inspiring story of a group of friends who, over a period of 20 years, rehabilitated "the most degraded, clapped-out piece of farmland they could find."
Image of the F5 Sayler Park/Bridgetown tornado taken near Bridgetown Ohio, just west of Cincinnati, on April 3, 1974.
On April 3 and 4, 1974, thunderstorms spawned more than 100 tornadoes, killing more than 300 and injuring another 6000: backwoods has spun up a whopping megapost on the 1974 Super Outbreak, the most violent tornado outbreak in recorded history, and the changes it wrought.
photo by Steve Wilson on Flickr
Are you drawn to any combination of interesting tidbits about Australia, fascinating flora and fauna, natural history, and huge, fierce, flightless birds with blingy plummage, funky headgear, deadly talons, and an hypnotic stare? If yes, may I refer you to chariot pulled by cassowaries' entire body of work? Today we have the felicitous birth of a VIP (Very Important Puggle).
Twirl Time by The Boy from Bare (cc by)
Among other things, Mefites ponder fashion changes (or lack thereof) in the last 20 years, and whether 96 unfrosted brown sugar PopTarts is too many unfrosted brown sugar PopTarts. Also, bisons are BACK, baby, and, timely: a 24-hour Dr. Who charity livestream event beginning 11/25, POV, Time Lord time.
fear by siette (cc by-nc-nd)
In Ask Metafilter, Jane the Brown has a great answer to ficbot's question, Is there really a monster underneath the bed??
the shallow breath of summer by Mitchell Haindfield (cc by)
Tehhund is seeking websites or accounts that document the changing seasons, such as "what annual things are happening in the natural world daily / weekly / monthly ... like different animals starting migration, different flowers blooming, etc." and, relatedly, dusty potato asks for books, apps, or curriculums to "guide me through nature."
Inaccessible Island Rail (Atlantisia rogersi) by brian.gratwicke (cc by)
There's a reason why chapters of the "Feminist Bird Club" are popping up all over the world and it's part of a larger issue with outdoor recreation, spaces, jobs, and natural/environmental sciences in general that has spawned groups like Latino Outdoors, Outdoor Afro, Unlikely Hikers, and many others: Primalux discusses birding while Latina, poor, queer, and a woman in the Chris Cooper video birdwatch post.
Text TK talks about "my father, Douglas S. Rogers, who lived on Ascension Island from 1966 to 1971, working for Pan-American Airways' Aerospace division ... In his spare time he co-founded the island's historical society, took a ton of amazing photographs with his Hasselblad 500C, and aided visiting scientists" in the How do you get to Inaccessible Island? thread about world’s smallest flightless bird.
My first season, my class had been taught to how handle bees without gloves or even necessarily bee suits, just smokers. Non-africanized bees are gentle enough that they will rarely sting you if you know what you're doing ... Until autumn. Then they switch from "gather the bounty" mode to "protect the spoils at all costs" mode. Which our teacher deliberately did not tell us, because he wanted us to observe it for ourselves. By getting stung: showbiz_liz talks about the "domesticity" of bees in the I Want To Beelieve heart honeycomb thread.
Also recently: birds taking public transit; The Secret Society of Self-Stingers; Why Birds Do What They Do; 'Murder hornets'; "a vicious resource war is being fought between the avians and the rodents"; "Ferris Jabr critiques bird nests and the personalities that build them"; GPS-tracking the movements of eagles; Bird Tableau.
李子柒 Handmade oven
In case you missed them, see the Mahlongwa River breach as a tiny trickle turns into a raging torrent; watch a short, quiet, idyllic video of Li Zikai building a cat-shaped brick-and-clay oven from scratch; read the secrets of a diary written on castle floorboards; view a compendium of four short films about a Kyoto dye workshop that creates a range of rare and beautiful colors solely with plants and other natural materials.
Maria Frostic - Main Iceberg Lagoon by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (cc by)
How fake is fake in nature documentaries? sciatrix on why scientists stage photos of their mice, and ChuraChura reveals that butterflies love pee.
What should I watch, from a huge archive of Russian films? gusottertrout recommends some movies: "One of the great pleasures of watching Soviet cinema is seeing the differences in attitude towards common film tropes."
The real work of fake tears - pseudostrabismus tells us what it takes to film a movie scene with two actors crying: "Frankly it's a wonder actors can cry at all."
Where do tv chyrons come from? Jahaza explains who decides which words appear on screen during news broadcasts.
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