The range of eyes in the animal kingdom is staggering! Humans have two eyes on the front of their head, and those eyes function to deliver both sharp vision and motion detection. But we are not the norm! Jumping spiders have separated the two tasks of sharp vision and motion detection to two different sets of eyes. The central eyes detect patterns and shapes, and see in colour. The secondary eyes track movement and redirect attention. Different eyes for the different tasks, and each set has its own distinct connection to the brain.
I have bifocals, too, but with graduated lenses. I'm not sure I could deal with the distinct viewing sections. An acquaintance accused me of vanity when I got the graduated lenses, thinking I didn't want anyone to know I needed bifocals. Why on earth would I care what someone thought of my eyeglass prescription? People are weird.
AI facial recognition can accurately predict a person’s political alignment 72% of the time, outperforming chance (50%) and human estimation (55%) .
Facial recognition technology can expose political orientation from naturalistic facial images The research shows: Liberals tended to face the camera more directly, were more likely to express surprise, and less likely to express disgust.
I tried the gradients first. I still spend quite a bit of time over a microscope and the hard line of the separation makes it easier, for me anyway, to keep in focus as I work. I may try them again though, as I hate driving with these.
Microscopes and camera lenses are a challenge with bifocals. Even with glasses, I simply cannot zero in the way that I used to. Occasionally I've thought, "This is awful. Everything is blurry. Something terrible is happening to my eyesight." Then I take off my glasses, hold them up to the light, and discover I'm peering though smudged lenses. How on earth I manage to get them so smeared without noticing is beyond me.
I'll have the Live Bird Pie for two. https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/disgusting-ancient-food-0017727
A new comet will be passing by in February, probably for the only time ever, and may be visible with the naked eye. I remember the incredible beauty of Hale-Bopp. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/comet-e3-first-likely-only-appearance-in-recorded-history-earth/
Not sure if this is quite the right thread, but we haven't got a "stone me, look at that" thread running... and it is mother nature at her most incredible... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-derbyshire-64165953
My sister's partner (they live just north of Lake Erie) saw a bald eagle today! I have never seen a bald eagle in person ever. The bald eagle is making a comeback.
Never? One flew over my car on my way to Colorado last week. I used to feed raptors for a bird sanctuary and rehab. A golden eagle fell on my head once and a bald flew so close to me that I could feel the wind from her wings. Magnificent. You come see me next time you wander south of the border. We'll go look for nesting pairs. Wyoming balds usually go to Alaska in the summer, but there're always a few balds that prefer to hang around here in the good weather.
Oh my, wouldn't that be exciting! I have had flocks of wild turkeys in the back yard (we have a couple of acres surrounded by woodlot) and I see the odd hawk, and it is always an arresting sight.
A pair of redtail hawks have nested in a tree near us for the last two years. I also know where some osprey nest. Wild turkeys wander around the downtown area, slowing up traffic, and turkey vultures nest in trees a few block from my museum. No kidding- you come this way anytime, call and we'll go look at birds.
Some ecologically-focused parents are turning to sphagnum moss for diapering their babies. It's what indigenous mothers used (some still do), as well as certain Europeans. In the 1730’s the great Swedish naturalist, Linnaeus, observed, “The Lapland matrons are well acquainted with [sphagnum] moss. They lay it in their children’s cradles to supply the place of bed, bolster, and every covering; and being changed night and morning, it keeps the infant remarkably clean, dry, and warm . . . and makes a most delicate nest for the new-born babe.” Sphagnum moss is soft, absorbent and spongy. The perfect material for diapers, it wicks moisture away from baby's bottom and acts like talcum power. It was also used as a wound dressing during WWI. Sphagnum Moss Diapers
Brussel sprouts actually do taste better than they used to. Scientists from the seed and chemical company Novartis managed to pinpoint the specific compounds that gave Brussel sprouts their undesired bitterness: two glucosinolates called sinigrin and progoitrin. A number of seed companies then sifted through gene banks to look for old varieties of vegetables that happened to have low levels of the bitter chemicals. These less bitter varieties were then cross-pollinated with modern high-yielding ones, aiming to get the best of both worlds: a better-tasting product that could be cultivated on an industrial scale. Why Brussels Sprouts Taste Better Than They Did When You Were A Kid
