“I was very envious that she had her own chicken manure
From an article in The Economist on the recent increase in the number of Americans raising chickens at home.
billy dalto
An “I heart C. elegans” bib and infant bodysuit. I just learned not only how to spell “onesie” but also that it’s a genericized trademark. Tonight has been a big night.
Researchers have demonstrated for the first time that the locomotor behavior of the roundworm C. elegans is affected by the administration of cocaine. Although further experimentation will be required, my hope is that C. elegans will prove to be a suitable model organism for the study of cocaine addiction in honeybees, which may or may not be rampant.
The above image was found here.
I am extremely pleased to announce that the long-awaited D. Mills Baker International Lawn Refuge has finally been completed and was dedicated today in a very moving ceremony attended by dignitaries from across Ills Manor.
Originally conceived as a place where citizens of Gaia could witness beautiful, undisturbed, uncut, natural lawn, replete with all the fauna and flora that live there, the project -modestly named after one half of the heteroduplex pair who rule Ills Manor and its environs- took on additional urgency when I learned recently that there are some who do not even have lawns.
In a moving letter, the always-wonderful Little Potato lamented that all she has to compensate her for her lack of lawn in the poor district of the United States where she lives, a barrio called “California,” are trifling trees too old to be in style and the occasional small lake.
Moved, I decided to rush the project ahead and finalized the barriers protecting the region from the surrounding land -which continues to be logged and mined to the benefit of Ills Manor’s many citizens. It is now open to visitors from around the world, and admission is completely free.
You’re welcome, Earth.
I spent a few minutes circling the preserve and now feel quite centered.
Update: Namaste.
It seems fitting to announce my return from China with an outsourced GPOYW featuring the untamed morning configuration of my hair.Posting Will’s GPOYW. (In case he forgets)
hahahhahaahahahahahahaah
(source: Mills’ China Pictures)
These are coccolithophores, an algal group I’ve previously mentioned. Unlike diatoms, the siliceous rock stars of the algae world, their shells are constructed of calcium carbonate.
Memorial Day weekend in New Orleans included an epic meal at Jacques-Imo’s, a visit to the new Rock ‘n’ Bowl to see Kermit Ruffins, and a predictably dense eating schedule. I really enjoyed meeting Mandalay, who is relaxed and fun in person, and Elle, whose first visit to New Orleans had no shortage of sensory information to process.
Also, in what has become an unintentional tradition originating with K. Manatee’s visit, I did my best to blend in with the tourists on Bourbon just before Mills once again fueled the DeLorean, in another victory of his taste buds over his digestive tract.
Mills posted his excellent photoset from the weekend here.
While I’m on the topic of recursive branching patterns, I should mention Lichtenberg figures, shared with me by the excellent Mumblelard. Lichtenberg figures are created as an electric discharge flows through an insulating material, which is in this case a human body. Fractal enthusiasts and those acquainted with the burgeoning field of keraunopathy often refer to these burn patterns as lightning flowers.
