Friday, May 22, 2009
what is optimum shape for trees?
what is optimum shape for trees?
I think that I worked out that this is a rather difficult question to pose sensibly.
certainly timber is the result of competition. height is obviously a weapon of mass destruction.
you clearly want it to be all surface and no volume, and the standard maths tricks of cutting out shapes,
means that solid objects such as spheres and cones are not in the running.
also the latitude would appear to make a difference, which is rather strange, until you realise that actually
it just makes a difference as to how you perceive the shape of the tree.
I think that the solution, for non-competing trees is basically a flat surface, facing south at the poles, and
horizontal at the equator. for competing trees, the answer is more difficult at the poles since height really
does not work so well. I think you have to grow horizontally south ( say) and then up. or a random mixture of the two.
anyway I am happy how evolution worked it out for trees. I wonder what we should be doing for solar-panels,
which is the same problem??
cheers
martinw
Thursday, May 07, 2009
healthy meat comes from a healthy animal?
healthy meat comes from a healthy animal?
I heard someone on Quirks and quarks saying that there really was too much fat on domestic animals to be healthy.
I thought this was so simplistic as to be dangerous.
If the animal itself is not healthy, then we should be ashamed of ourselves. We have a duty of care.
If the animal is healthy, then it seems very strange that it should not be healthy for us. If it isn't then we probably
should be eating more of other things, rather than saying effectively that we should cut out the fat.
Of these, I think that very little work gets reported on whether we have healthy ( rather than disease free) animals.
Maybe that is the attraction of game nowadays.
The one animal that definitely has too much fat is humans. And I bet that is more to do with processed sugars,
and not fats.
cheers
martinW
when will earlier generations be thought clever?
when will earlier generations be thought clever?
actually I am thinking about more than generations, rather animal kingdoms.
Why has it taken so long for us to recognise the amazing intelligence of birds, and before them
dinosaurs? we are slowly getting there.
But insects were around way before this, and yet we have only just begun to understand some
of their intricate and clever behaviour.
is that we have difficulty separating consciousness from intelligence? is it that we cannot cope with the idea that
something small might actually have amazing powers? Is it that we think nurture is essential?
My bet is that we will take some time to realise that insects such as butterflies are just as amazing as birds in
much of their behaviour, including roosting, migrating, displaying. We will get there, but it will take some time to
shake off our mammalian centric views
just some musings
cheers
martinW
where would insects roost?
where would insects roost?
I have never thought of insects in the same light as birds. See my previous comment on birds roosting.
I think that I would worry about being hemmed in by spiders and such like, so roosting in bushy areas seems a
slightly dangerous idea. You might wake up in the morning and not notice that you are in prison.
You want to be able to get an early burst of sunshine.
I think that I would roost high up on a tree, where there is not much food, preferably on the east side with my
wings out flat to get the morning sun. This would be on the main trunk of course. The higher the better.
Interestingly I have seen what I think was a green hairstreak, flying up to the top of a tall pine, after
spending much of mid-morning low down on a gorse bush. Also interesting is that their colour on the underwing is
very different from that on the top surface. The underneath is a green matching the spikes and buds of gorse,
whereas the upper surface is dark brown. Note that on the gorse the wings are always held together, even when
collecting the sunshine.
I have seen other comments about different afternoon behaviour, without apparent explanation.
How on earth would one test this?
Does it apply to many types of insects? When trapped indoors, do they always tend to go to the ceiling?
Roll on tiny transmitters.
cheers
martin
Friday, May 01, 2009
Green Hairstreak
Green Hairstreak
very sedentary. Moved one metre in two days. stays even when observed very closely.
looks just like a gorse shoot or needle.
keeps its wings closed, and seems to always angle them towards the sun.
how on earth do you find them, other than by luck
martinW
