#Area Flow Meter

[skullzy20]

Maybe I shouldn't have tried to do the kill 1,000 Scaldra troops in one hell scrub mission because I was straight up Suffering

[alphacontrolss]

The Applications of an Area Velocity Flow Meter

The AVFM 50 Area Velocity Flow Monitor and Precision Digital Panel Meters offer reliable, accurate measurements for industrial applications. The AVFM 50 measures flow rate through velocity and liquid level, ideal for open channels and partially filled pipes, while Precision Digital meters ensure precise monitoring and control of critical parameters in various processes.

[reidsapplelady]

ᥫ᭡. SNIPER , SNIPER , SNIPER , SNIPER⊹ — /S.REID/

SUMMARY: The BAU tracks a deadly and arrogant sharpshooter. You, an expert in precision, struggle how familiar the unsub's MO is, and has a genius is always by your side, that looks at you with hearts in his eyes.

PAIRING: s.reid x bau!sharpshooter!reader .. established relationship

WARNINGS: mentions of death & blood.

NOTES: tbh i lowk dont like this?? also i'm experimenting on the layout style on my fics dont mind me raauhfhfjf,, anyways someone needs to give me money lowk i need buldaaakk 💔💔 it was like 2am when i wrote this so i think u should expect somr bad grammar!! i also wrote this i na hurry cause i want to sleep,, angways enjoy!! (word count: 1.7k)

The rooftop was cold. You were standing on a rooftop, and you were carrying your rifle, which was unloaded and disarmed. You weren't here to shoot. You were here to see.

To see how the unsub shot their victim. To observe.

"Around three hundred yards," You mumble to to yourself. You were alone. "Most likely no wind resistance." You say as you observe the area where the victim was shot. A single clean shot. No exit wound. Upper left chest was the usual target for the shooter.

"Impressive." Spencer's voice broke the silence behind you, you flinched when you heard his voice.

"You're late." you murmur.

"Walking up a flight of stairs in a hurry isn't really my thing." He chuckled with a sheepish smile, you turned around to face him, you see that he had a drop of sweat that traveled down his forehead. "Oh, and, I bought you coffee." He held up the cup of coffee as he walks towards you.

You take the cup from him, your fingers slightly brushed against his.

"Thank you." You gave him a small smile before setting the rifle on your shoulder with a hand supporting it, then taking to cup from him to takea sip of the coffee, he gives you a smile back.

You glance back at the slight imprint on the ground, "The tripod was here, I'm guessing the unsub was waiting for the target. they knew the victim's routine." you spoke.

Reid leaned in, "The shot traveled 280 meters, thats almost like 3 football fields. Whoever's doing this is precise and patient. Like a sharpshooter." He hummed.

"I know," you exhale, lips pressed tight. "It's too clean."

"You're worried." Spencer spoke as he observes your face, he sees that your eyebrows are slightly furrowed.

"No, I'm pissed." you corrected him before you put your rifle near it's case, "He knew what he was doing and he wanted us to know." You crossed your arms as you stood up, your gaze went back to the scene.

Everything was now silent, all you could hear was the breeze of the air flowing against your skin and hair, and Spencer was there. Reading your facial gestures, he was there reading you.

"You've gone quiet." He muttered to you.

You didn't look at him, "I'm thinking."

"You do that a lot." He said, his head tilted as he spoke.

You turned your head around to meet his eyes, "You love that about me." You tease as you tilted your head back at him.

"I do." He smiled faintly, "I love everything about you."

The tension between you two thickened, you two were staring at eachother before Spencer spoke.

"We should.. Go back." Spencer suggests as he pointed to the door that led to the staircase. You nodded, you handed your cup of coffee to him before kneeling down to put your rifle in your casing and carrying it with you. You take your coffe back andwalk beside Spencer, having small talk while walking down the stairs to go back to the SUV and head back to the precinct.

Back at the precinct the team gathered around the board littered with crime scene photos and evidence. Three victims, killed from a long distance.

"Two men, one woman," Hotch sighed, "No connection between them that we can currently find. But shot placement is identical, all where the upper left chest is targetted. Fatal, but not instant. Why?"

"It's most likely a showmanship." You hypothesized, "He's basically taunting us by making the fatal shot, he could've killed them in an instant, but he didn't." You shrug as some of the team nodded.

"We charted the elevation points, this unsub likes to do it where he can see everyone and no one can see him." Reid informed as he tapped on the map.

JJ frowned, "So.. We're looking at a pattern based on the environment? Not victimology?"

You hummed, "Every setup so far has minimal wind interference, downward line of sight."

Morgan looked over to you, "You profiling the unsub or yourself?"

You shrug at his words, "Sharpshooters are alike, the difference is the motive. LDSK's are no different."

Hotch looked at you with a measured look, "So the unsub probably has military training. He's confident and arrogant."

You nodded at Hotch's words before turning to Spencer who gives you a small smile. "I think we're ready for a profile." Hotch glances up to the team before heading out of the temporary conference room that the precinct made.

After giving the profile, you sat down in the conference room, you prop your legs on the table as you play with the pen in between your fingers.

Spencer knocked on the open door, "You look.. Stressed." He pursed his lips as he slowly walks beside you, taking a seat to sit with you.

You hummed as you looked at the board in front of you. He watched you for a moment longer. Then, he softly spoke, "You look tired." He repeats his words, but not in an exact way.

"I'm fine, Spence." You turn your head to look at him.

"You say that everytime." He frowned slightly as his hand reached for your stray hair and tucked it behind your ear.

You finally exhaled, "I feel like I've seen this before, but I can't recall who did it."

Soencer didn't offer empty empathy, instead he listened, he listened and read your face. He gently reached out for the pen that you were playing with in between your fingers and set it on the table, then his fingers wrapped around yours. Warm and Comforting.

"We'll see it." He assured you as his grip tightened slightly before letting go, letting his hand relax against yours. "For now, you need rest."

You found the fourth site out of luck, or maybe it wasn't. Either way the UnSub left the shell of his ammunition, with a paper beside it.

The site was a playground.

"He flinched." You murmured as Spencer cane up behind you with a confused look.

"He usually targets left upper chest area. This one was just on the shoulder." You look at him.

He then hummed, "His first mistake."

"He's getting sloppy" You sighed, and something in your head clicked.

"What are you thinking?" Spencer tilts his head slightly as he asks you.

"I don't think this was about the targets."

JJ jogged over the two of you, "We just got something from the precinct." She says as she hands her phone to you.

Hotch sent the image. It was a photo—You. Taken across the street, you were out taking a breather fron things inside the precinct, wearing your leather jacket.

You notice a paper next to the photo. "You look good in black." In red. A color that looked like blood.

You stared at it for a few moments. You hear Spencer's voice next to you. "That looks like blood." He points out. "I think that might be the unsub's, he was no where near the crime scene."

Your breathe hitched, you raise your head to look at JJ. "It's still being processed."

You hand her phone back to her before you walk over to the nearest bench to sit down. Spencer follows you, but doesn't say a thing, until he sits down beside you.

"You're the target. The woman who he shot looked like you." He muttered.

"You think I don't know that?" You snapped, you look at Spencer, wide-eyed, you clear your throat before mumbling an apology to him. He nods in understanding.

After a while, you planned a setup for the unsub. Spencer and JJ disapproved of it, because you would be putting your life at risk. But you assured the team that you wouldn't get killed. Atleast that's what you think.

After you picked the location and time, you had to wait a day before commencing with the plan and it didn't take long for him to find you. You were out in the open, an easy shot, but a bullet flies past you. It makes you suspicious.

Spencer yelled your name from afar, though, you couldn't hear it because you heard another shot, thankfully you ducked to tie your shoe.

"Shots fired! Two shooters!" Morgan's voice blasted through the earpiece.

You fall on your bottom, you see Spencer running towards you, but you paid no mind to him because you were observing the buildings. Then you saw it.

One on the rooftop while the other was in the third floor.

The original was the one who shot you, you don't recognize the other shot made, you figured it was an accomplice or a prodigy of the unsub.

Spencer dropped beside you, "You okay?" he frowned

"Yeah." You pointed to the building where the shots were fired. "I want both of them alive."

And you had to wait for a few moments, before Emily's voice came through the earpiece, "We got the unsub and his assistant."

You sighed out of relief before you slung your arms towards Spencer, giving him a hug.

He pats your back two times before you let go.

Turns out, the unsub was your colleague who was your shooting partner in the practice range back then in the military, when you weren't at the BAU yet. He liked to shoot from heights, and he was dishonorably discharged from the military.

You leaned against the ambulance as the EMT clears you for any injuries. You notice Spencer walking towards you with a bottle of water. He offers it to you and you chuckle before grabbing it.

You took a sip from the water bottle and set it beside you on the ambulance.

"You were.. Brave." He smiled at you.

"I was about to chicken out before the shots were fired." You joke as you held his hand.

"I think.. We should take a break." You purse your lips.

He blinked at you, "From us?" He asks.

"No silly, just from.. Everything. It's been overwhelming for me and I don't know for you."

He nodded, "Did you know that theres a tree in the Amazon Rainforest that stores rainwater in its bark? It's enough to drink from in weeks."

You cock an eyebrow at him, "What are you implying?"

"I'm saying is that I wanna be that bark for you." He smiles sheepishly, "I wanna support you and be there for you."

You stare at him in confusion for a few moments before laughing, "That's such a weird way to put it."

He looks at you lovingly before he presses a kiss on your lips, his hand cups your cheek.

As you two kissed, everything then felt quiet, like the universe suddenly stopped.

Everything was perfect.

Spencer was yours and you were his.

all rights reserved — © reidsapplelady

[draxofoy]

i haven't posted anything here omg kinda nervous... but here's zutara in traditional javanese wedding attire 🙇🏻‍♀️ commissioned this from my friend she's amazing 😖❗️

some facts about the attire! ☺️😙

The headwear these babies are wearing are called Blangkon and Cunduk Mentul, Blangkon is a traditional headwear worn by men usually in Central Javanese and Yogyakarta (especially the one Zuko is wearing!) The word Blangkon itself is said to came from the word 'blanco' referring to the blank cloth used to make the headwear, tho there are soo many theories about the origin of both the headwear and the name itself cause sadly there aren't many records about it :(

The headwear is also used to represent wisdom and class because back then, these were used to differentiate the nobilities from the commoners (wr don't really do that anymore dw). The Javanese people believe that your hair, head, and face are the most important and treasured parts of your body, so these Blangkon are used to protect those parts. We also believe that Blangkon represent self-control, since Javanese men tend to keep their hair long back then and keep them loose when they're in a state of 'conflict' such as battles or war, representing uncontrollable flow of emotions so keeping their hair up and covered is seen as an act of self control.

As for the Cunduk Mentul, these pretty headpieces are typically worn by brides on their wedding day! They represent 'the sun that shines over the universe' and also... well, it depends on the number of the pieces they use, usually it's 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9, each representing a different value. 1 is used as a symbol of God's singularity, usually worn by muslim brides, 3 is for the Trimurti or the Trinity of Hindu Gods that deeply rooted in Javanese values, 5 is for the five pillars of Islam, 7 symbolizes 'help' or 'aid'- the Javanese believe that 7 is a lucky number since 7 is 'pitu' in Javanese, so, yeah, 'pitu' for 'pitulungan' or help and aid in Javanese language. 9 represent the Nine Saints/Wali Sanga, 9 saints that have a major impact on the growth of Islam in the island of Java.

Their clothing respectively are called Beskap and Kebaya 🤩 Beskap is more of a modern version of Javenese traditional clothing, for it was adopted from the modern suits worn by the Deutsch during the colonization era. The word Beskap came from the word 'beschaafd', meaning civilized (oh!)

Kebaya, on the other hand, has no specific area origin cause each region has their own styles and versions! The one Katara is wearing is a Central Java Kebaya tho, famous for the velvety fabric and dark colors along with the gold motifs. The history of 'modern' Kebaya itself started in the 15th century when Dutch first settled in Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia!) The clothing had taken inspirations from different cultures (like Chinese and Indian) along the way since Indonesia was (kinda still is!) One of the centers of trade routes for both Hindia and Pacific Oceans.

Damn I'm getting tired of writing this, but next 😭 is Kain Jarik! A piece of fabric with Batik motives wrapped around the legs :))) these babies have RANGE, like they could be used daily, for traditional dance attire, sacred rituals, weddings, even used in funerals 😀 they're usually 2 to 3 meters in length and more variations in width, easy to customize! They also usually have dark colors like dark brown and light brown motives, but i asked my friend to draw them with red and blue and gold motives cause why not 😝

Anyways I think i went a little overboard cause my fingers are hurting from typing this lol.

[cheralith]

— defenses.

characters ; michael kaiser || contains ; hogwarts!au, slytherin!kaiser, mild violence, description of injuries, blood mention, gn!reader, they/them pronouns word count ; 2.4k a/n ; a prequel of sorts to this

in his seventh year at hogwarts, michael kaiser ends up with his fifth detention already in the second term of the year. the previous four were merely for petty reasons—detentions, misuse of magic, whatever. this one was probably the most severe one yet, considering he landed a harsh blow to one of ravenclaw's beater's nose and had to be held back by his teammates from starting a full-blown fight with him.

the reason? you.

amidst the heavy rainfall that the ravenclaw and slytherin quidditch teams were playing in, your own teammate had confused you for an opponent just as you were chasing down kaiser, thinking you were a fellow slytherin player tagging behind him. it was difficult to decipher whether your cloak was green or blue since the rain and the silver clouds had melded all the colors together into a dull grey.

your teammate had chucked a bludger in your direction just as kaiser was about to score another goal, the heavy ball hitting your temple and causing you to get knocked off your broom much too harshly to plummet twenty meters. clearly the fall captured everyone’s attention—even kaiser’s, which made a ravenclaw chaser take advantage of the moment and steal the quaffle from him when he diverted his focus from the goalpost to you.

in that moment, however, kaiser barely noticed the steal, his focus solely in your tumbling form and before he could register what was even happening, he dived in headfirst. he didn’t process what was even happening until he saw his hand outreached to try and grab your cloak before you hit the ground.

the rain made had flying ten times more difficult. with every attempt at clutching your uniform as your body tumbled down, you seemed to be getting further and further away from kaiser. it wasn't until the referee had casted a slowing charm to delay your fall that kaiser was finally able to catch up to you and just barely managed to catch you a sly four feet before you collided with the ground.

the sound of the referee's whistle for a time out and the cheers from everyone in the stadium had been drowned out in kaiser's hearing as his vision focused on your unconscious form. he cleared the rain from his rain goggles to get a good look at you as everyone began to descend down and circle around you.

he slowly set your body down onto the grass, one hand cradling your head and the other around your waist. his heart thrummed with every movement he took, trying his best to handle you as delicately as a broken-winged butterfly. only when he took his hands off of you is when he noticed it.

crimson soaked his leather glove that held your head, the area that received the most impact. kaiser stared at it for a moment before glancing at your head and noticing a river of blood flowing down your temple, making him freeze. kaiser scrambled to his feet and backed away from you, as if any other touches might give you more damage than necessary.

everyone circled around you and him as they got off their brooms, with some of the headmasters rushing down the stands to make sure their student's safety was in check. jinpachi ego, the referee, shoved his way into the circle of the crowd, examining your form before calling for medics as he took off your goggles and part your hair to properly display the ugly bruise that was beginning to bloom on the side of your head. he held your head up in his lap and your jaw slacked, another river of red dripping from your lips to pair with the one seeping from your temple to stain your lips ruby.

the ravenclaw headmaster, teieri anri, had covered her mouth in horror as soon as she spotted you, her actions being mimicked by your teammates as they came closer into view. gasps and curses spilled from everyone as they saw your ruined form. kaiser heard your headmaster muttering a few spells to alleviate your pain as the medics quickly came to rush you onto a stretcher, covering you in a blanket to hide your form from the audience.

"shit, shit, shit..." igaguri, your teammate that had chucked the bludger mistakenly toward your way mumbled as his panicked eyes followed your covered form as the medics carried the stretcher out. "was that a foul? am i getting kicked off the team?"

kaiser's piercing blue eyes snapped to igaguri. before he could register what he was doing, he was already stomping his way over and clutching igaguri's robes in his fist, pulling his smaller form towards him.

"you fuckin' serious?" he snarled, baring his teeth towards the fifth year. "you just nearly killed your own teammate and you've got the fucking nerve to be more concerned with yourself?"

igaguri's expression turned from fear to angered confusion. his brows furrowed as his own hand wrapped around kaiser's wrist. "i didn't do it on purpose! i thought (y/n) was a slytherin following you!"

"you colorblind, you dumbass monk?!" kaiser's jaw tightened. "how the hell do you confuse blue for green?!"

"it was raining, you arrogant bastard!" igaguri countered, "no one could see shit! and look who's talking!? as if you've ever cared about anybody else except yourself!"

kaiser's scowl hardened, his fist tightening. igaguri was nowhere near his level of skill as a player. he didn't get to decide of how large his ego could get and how much he could display, so for him to be concerned with his own state despite ruining his own teammate's angered kaiser to a degree that he rarely ever felt. seeing igaguri position himself in a space that only kaiser can be one, where only the most skilled and egotistic of people could be in, felt suffocating. there was only room for one person of that caliber, and it solely belonged to him.

it felt humiliating having to temporarily put himself in igaguri's state, where he had to practically shove his concern for another down his throat, but if no one else was going to, he'll be the first.

ice shards formed within kaiser's glare. he pulled the younger boy up to make sure his words could fully penetrate into igaguri like knives.

"you and i and everyone knows that they're the best player on your team and that without their skills, you're fuckin' done for," he muttered.

his teammates glanced at each other worriedly, understanding that the tension of the atmosphere was thickening. if things start to escalate, there could be a chance that slytherin's quidditch team could be doomed and the chance at playing for the quidditch cup could falter.

kuon, one of their beaters, clapped a hand on his shoulder. "yo man, chill out. it's not like he did it on—"

kuon froze suddenly, letting go of kaiser's shoulder as soon as kaiser snapped his head back and aimed his glower at his own teammate. he didn't say anything, but kuon and the rest of the slytherin team understood that his look simply meant, "mind your business."

kaiser returned his attention back to igaguri.

"an ant like you has got no reason to be concerned with himself when clearly your stakes are all reliant on (l/n)," kaiser hissed. "you're nothing without them."

igaguri's frustration wavered at kaiser's words. his lip twisted, trying his best to not fully digest them and to not let them embed themselves into his brain as to not reduce himself to nothing more than just a mere background player. he may not be a chaser, but he still wanted to create a name for himself as a beater and to be the best one in the world.

igaguri glowered, his teeth baring a little too much for kaiser's liking. kaiser furrowed his brows, a little suspicious that his intimidation didn't seem to be working as much as he wanted to.

the fifth year smirked. "all that talk about being 'reliant' when you can't even be bothered to pass to your own teammates."

it was a blur after that in kaiser's mind.

all he remembers that one fist had collided with igaguri's nose and his other to his jaw, bone evidently cracking twice. he remembers more blood staining his glove. he remembers igaguri seemed to get further and further away, three of his teammates having to wrestle and pin him down as to not injure the ravenclaw any more.

it wasn't even that insulting, igaguri's remark.

kaiser knew he had a selfish play. everyone knew that. it was what made him a great player. he just felt the frustration boiling within him that igaguri just completely refused to acknowledge his actions, that he had not only injured his own teammate but also stopped kaiser from performing a goal. he supposes that he was just fed up with igaguri's attitude and that someone should teach him a lesson.

a coma was what kaiser heard. you were stricken with a comatose since the match and hadn't woken up yet, and it's been two months since then. your seats in class continue to collect dust and everyone noticed kaiser was much quieter than normal. kaiser himself wasn't used to it, especially since the silence that would normally arise from the bickering you and him did felt uncomfortable. from the whispers that went around the school, you had suffered severe trauma to the head and part of your jaw had been broken since the bludger was made out of iron, after all. igaguri had been suspended from the team for awhile since hitting a player with a bludger over the shoulders was strictly prohibited.

kaiser hadn't worked up the courage to go visit you in the infirmary, unlike many of your friends and fellow peers. he made such an abrash decision to finally do so in the late evening, where mostly everyone were in their respected dorms and kept their prying eyes away from him. he was used to the spotlight, but doing something as humbling like this? kaiser would rather drop dead.

he snuck out of his dorm as quietly as possible, since ness was quite a light sleeper and he didn't want his roommate tailing him. he made his way to the infirmary at almost the stroke of midnight and crept inside, thankful that nurse pomfrey went to go out and run an errand since visiting hours were over three hours ago and he didn't want anyone to catch him in the act.

he noticed that all the beds' curtain were bunched up, revealing all the empty beds, except for one. the second to last bed nearest to the window had its curtains drawn and kaiser only meant that the obvious was behind it.

he walked slowly over to it and pulled them back.

there you laid in the second to last bed near the window, the moonlight cascading your features. you looked peaceful, despite the horror that had been undone to you. your jaw had been fixed up properly, but it seemed that the head trauma still lingered. a bandage wrapped around your head, clearly fresh since it was still pure white with the exception of the blood that began to stain the side of it.

your breathing was stable, chest lifting up and down so gently like tides, indicating your heartbeat was still working properly despite your vegetative state. the bruise on your cheek was starting to finally yellow and kaiser could only stare at it before gazing at how your lashes softly rest on your cheekbones.

he turned to the small table that sat by your bed and noticed the amount of get-well-soon cards and bouquets that adorned it from friends, fellow students, and professors. kaiser noticed a specific, simple one in his vision, picking it up and reading it with hardened eyes.

i'm sorry, please know it was all an accident. rest up and get well soon. - gurimu igarashi.

he rolled his eyes before tearing it up into shreds and tossing the remnants out the open window.

kaiser pulled up a chair and sat himself down on it, feeling a little dumb that he didn't have anything for you. he sighed and continued to survey you before he rested his arms on your bed and settled his head on them, eyes focusing on your open hand.

"this is stupid," he murmurs, focusing on the stillness of your fingers. "you're stupid. for letting a dumb bludger get to you like this."

he felt stupid now that he remembered you couldn't really combat to his words. a heaviness sought itself onto his chest when kaiser was only responded with the quiet breathing escaping your colorless lips.

"thought you were better than this. did you seriously not see that bludger coming your way? and they call you the ace of ravenclaw," he snarked. "yeah right."

again, you responded in nothing but stillness. kaiser narrowed his eyes.

"that's what you get for trying to chase down someone like me," he scoffed. "you should know your place better. our team would've won, by the way. but no, you just had to go and create a dramatic-ass scene that stopped the entire game."

kaiser rolled his eyes, the frustration from before pooling up again. he wasn't necessarily exaggerating either, slytherin was indeed ahead of ravenclaw by two points during the match, but it was barely even thirty minutes in that you came tumbling down.

he closes his eyes and sees the memory of your rapidly falling figure in his vision. a strange panic had branched out within every nerve of his body during the time and he can almost feel the feeling back again when he remembers how harsh your cloak was draping behind you and how fast you were falling. he hated it, the feeling of immense dread towards something that wasn't a part of the traditional gameplay. you ruined his momentum and kaiser felt embarrassed that you were able to do so when no one else had been able to in the past few years he's played.

while he could do good without another person challenging his spotlight, quidditch had been dull and monotone without a proper challenger. it was his final year, and he wanted to go out with a bang. he scowled slightly, raising his head up to properly look at you. he looked at your open palm and poked it softly, as if to rile a reaction of your unconscious form.

"hurry and wake up soon," he mumbled, not noticing how your fingers twitched. "you stole that match from me. i want a rematch as soon as possible."

with that, he stood up stiffly and walked away from you, a heat rising at the back of his neck and a blush of red dusted his ears.

[reasonsforhope]

Scientists have developed a new solar-powered system to convert saltwater into fresh drinking water which they say could help reduce dangerous the risk of waterborne diseases like cholera.

Via tests in rural communities, they showed that the process is more than 20% cheaper than traditional methods and can be deployed in rural locations around the globe.

Building on existing processes that convert saline groundwater to freshwater, the researchers from King’s College London, in collaboration with MIT and the Helmholtz Institute for Renewable Energy Systems, created a new system that produced consistent levels of water using solar power, and reported it in a paper published recently in Nature Water.

It works through a process called electrodialysis which separates the salt using a set of specialized membranes that channel salt ions into a stream of brine, leaving the water fresh and drinkable. By flexibly adjusting the voltage and the rate at which salt water flowed through the system, the researchers developed a system that adjusts to variable sunshine while not compromising on the amount of fresh drinking water produced.

Using data first gathered in the village of Chelleru near Hyderabad in India, and then recreating these conditions of the village in New Mexico, the team successfully converted up to 10 cubic meters, or several bathtubs worth of fresh drinking water. This was enough for 3,000 people a day with the process continuing to run regardless of variable solar power caused by cloud coverage and rain.

[Note: Not sure what metric they're using to calculate daily water needs here. Presumably this is drinking water only.]

Dr. Wei He from the Department of Engineering at King’s College London believes the new technology could bring massive benefits to rural communities, not only increasing the supply of drinking water but also bringing health benefits.

“By offering a cheap, eco-friendly alternative that can be operated off the grid, our technology enables communities to tap into alternative water sources (such as deep aquifers or saline water) to address water scarcity and contamination in traditional water supplies,” said He.

“This technology can expand water sources available to communities beyond traditional ones and by providing water from uncontaminated saline sources, may help combat water scarcity or unexpected emergencies when conventional water supplies are disrupted, for example like the recent cholera outbreaks in Zambia.”

In the global rural population, 1.6 billion people face water scarcity, many of whom are reliant on stressed reserves of groundwater lying beneath the Earth’s surface.

However, worldwide 56% of groundwater is saline and unsuitable for consumption. This issue is particularly prevalent in India, where 60% of the land harbors undrinkable saline water. Consequently, there is a pressing need for efficient desalination methods to create fresh drinking water cheaply, and at scale.

Traditional desalination technology has relied either on costly batteries in off-grid systems or a grid system to supply the energy necessary to remove salt from the water. In developing countries’ rural areas, however, grid infrastructure can be unreliable and is largely reliant on fossil fuels...

“By removing the need for a grid system entirely and cutting reliance on battery tech by 92%, our system can provide reliable access to safe drinking water, entirely emission-free, onsite, and at a discount of roughly 22% to the people who need it compared to traditional methods,” He said.

The system also has the potential to be used outside of developing areas, particularly in agriculture where climate change is leading to unstable reserves of fresh water for irrigation.

The team plans to scale up the availability of the technology across India through collaboration with local partners. Beyond this, a team from MIT also plans to create a start-up to commercialize and fund the technology.

“While the US and UK have more stable, diversified grids than most countries, they still rely on fossil fuels. By removing fossil fuels from the equation for energy-hungry sectors like agriculture, we can help accelerate the transition to Net Zero,” He said.

-via Good News Network, April 2, 2024

[fatehbaz]

thank you.

endemic species. among "largest (terrestrial) salamanders on planet" (only four species in genus Dicamptodon, only in PNW/Norcal; the other three live on the coast).

isolated, small, limited distribution range. a "rainforest creature" away from the Pacific coast, iconic emblem of a relatively not-well-known and rare terrestrial biome/ecoregion ("inland temperate rainforest").

shares habitat/range with other dramatic creatures (grizzly bear, black bear, gray wolf, wolverine, fisher, lynx, puma, mountain caribou, moose, elk, inland tailed frog, Chinook salmon, lots of snails and slugs and ferns and cedar and hemlock).

superlative larvae (aquatic larvae swim around in cold, clear, steep, small, fast-flowing mountain streams with lots of little waterfalls, rather than typical still-water ponds/pools like many other salamanders; many larvae are neotenic, reaching reproductive maturity while retaining gills/paddle-tail, achieving massive sizes, swimming around in the little stream in pools beneath waterfalls like a dragon).

that thread shows a (large, maybe neotenic, maybe close-to-transforming) larva, but you should see the terrestrial adults. (larvae can be dense in some streams, but adults can be hard to see. i've met ecologists who'd never seen a terrestrial adult. much of their distribution range is designated roadless "wilderness" area and in rugged topography of forested mountains, so the streams can be hard to access. streams can be partially subterranean, and the adults could be underground, hiding under layers of moss mats and cedar debris and tangled sticks and logs and stones and mud, so i go out at night when it's raining.)

they're so pretty. glistening gold, amber, brown, sometimes purple-ish.

typical larva compared to a 32-centimeter-long neotenic adult with larval morphology:

this is one i found crawling in this big cavern space beneath this massive log-jam of dozens of huge cedar logs, but then (incredibly) found again weeks later in the same spot (not the only time i've seen this happen, but stuck firmly in my sentimental memory because of the cave-crawling and there was a thunderstorm):

this is the longest one i'd ever seen (the heaviest/largest i'd seen was gravid and living only one hundred meters away in the same little stream, and she was one of those who i encountered more than once):

[kabr0ztrousers]

Kabr0z Writes episode 31: Bug Buzz

Find the rest of the Kabr0z Writes anthology here!

CWs: Oviposition; aphrodisiac sting; arthropods; noncon; intox; inconclusive ending; implied kidnap

A/N: No requests today, so I'm taking the opportunity to remind you all that you can absolutely send one in. It doesn't even matter if you think it's a good idea for a story, limitation breeds creativity, as they say

##########################################

You've been mapping this forest for a while. Hell, you've alone in this sweating woodland for weeks, but this is your thesis so you're not going back to the Cartographer's Guild without a map. You'd stopped wearing a bra after about the third day, but you're the only person for miles, so what does it really matter?

You got to today's square mile easily enough. You're not exactly blazing trails, but making maps from ground level in this kind of environment means you either get real good at navigating the forest floor or go home early.

Mapping this kind of terrain is simple enough, but takes forever. Ranging poles are brilliant if you have long sight lines along gradients. Issue is every ten yards, there's another tree. You sigh and get to work, setting up equipment, taking readings, gathering up your kit, and repeating the process, meter by agonising meter.

What got you was how lonely this forest is. Only a tiny part of the world has been charted, and a big part of the Cartographer's Guild remit was identifying indigenous populations, seeing which are friendly and open to trade, and which would rather be left alone. That's then passed on to the Anthropologist's League who do their thing later. So far though, you haven't found anyone. That means either the area is actually unpopulated or, much more likely, whoever lives here has decided not to make themselves known to you.

The sky had just opened. The rain here was never cold, so you didn't mind it, even if it did plaster your thin shirt to your tits and show off your curves to the world at large. It also meant the world was filled with a constant white noise of pattering raindrops on the foliage around you. The rain always relaxed you. You stretched, letting the water flow over you before settling down for your lunch break.

You heard something behind you, before you're forced over a log. You yelled out as something ted your skirt and pushed your knickers aside. Something hard and angular was pressed up against your pussy, rubbing against it.

A sharp pain rocketed through your leg. Something big just stung you. The effects were immediate. You felt your legs instinctively spread as both your mouth and your pussy started to drool, fluids dripping from either end of you. The angled appendage slipped inside of you, you could feel fluid oozing from it and adding to your own as it started to fuck you. Six pairs of limbs wrapped around you as a pair of mandibles locked on to the back of your neck. The warmth of the venom and the fluid being pumped into you was making you ache and whine. Your pussy was throbbing and swollen around it already and your clit felt hot and erect

You could feel the thing on your back taking shorter and shorter thrusts, already buried inside you. Your hand strayed to your clit, rubbing yourself to orgasm. You fell to your knees when you came, jolting the creature out momentarily. It responded by madly thrusting back in, coating your skin with the thick slime that refused to wash off in the rain. It burned where it touched you, drawing blood to the surface and making your skin so sensitive. A lot of it coated your pussy lips and your clit, only making them ache more. You hadn't recovered from the last climax when the thrusting brought you to another.

You felt the cock in you expand. The base filled out first. You'd had a canid lover before, so you knew what it's like to be knotted, but then you felt the tip open and latch on to your cervix, spurting the thick aphrodisiac directly into your womb.

It was too much. You half screamed, half moaned. Your orgasm was coming from the deepest parts of you as your womb clenched. It would've been the most agonising period cramp of your life, but something about that sting had rewired you. You almost choked on your copious drool as you panted and bucked, desperate for more.

Then it gave you more.

You felt it. Something travelling down this thing's cock. Pushing past your cervix, numbed from the toxins and the repeated orgasms, and planting itself in your belly.

"Yes. Yes. Please" you panted, you cried, you moaned and screamed "Fill me, give me your eggs"

You don't know if it understood you. It definitely obliged. More and more of the eggs passed into you. Your stomach bulged with them. The shapes of the shells visible in your belly. You looked like you had twins on the way, then triplets, then quads.

At last the creature pulled itself out of you and took flight, spurting more of the toxic cum onto your back so every raindrop felt like an electric jolt against your spine, and every gust of the breeze became the caress of a lover.

You stayed there for hours. Still rubbing your aching hole and your engorged clit, forcing out orgasm after orgasm until you couldn't move from the exertion.

You were rolled over. Your eyes wouldn't focus. Vision bleary and swimming you watched a pair of figures tie your hands and ankles over a pole and lift it, before carrying you away

You wonder where you're going

##################################

And that's a wrap on the month of January! A total of 6 stories were requested as of 10pm today, my time, which wound up making 8 total episodes!

As always, if you want to see something, if something in particular revs your engine, or you just want to see me take something on, please submit it in an ask or a DM, and I'll probably make it happen!

See y'all in February!

[vestaignis]

Чарующая красота озера Малайн в лучах закатного солнца и в свете звезд.

Малайн — озеро в Национальном парке Джаспер, расположенном в Канадских Скалистых горах на территории провинции Альберта.

Озеро расположено в 44 км к югу от города Джаспер. Является наиболее крупным озером национального парка Джаспер а также наибольшим естественным озером Канадских скалистых гор. Длина озера равна 22,5 км, наибольшая ширина — 1,5 км. Площадь озёра составляет 19,71 км². Высота над уровнем моря — 1670 метров. Средняя глубина равна 35 метрам, максимальная глубина в южной части озера — 97 метров. Питание озеро получает от одноимённой реки, сток также по этой реке.

Долина, в которой лежит озеро, имеет U-образную форму и сформирована благодаря комбинированной работе ветра и воды, но в большей степени благодаря работе ледников в течение длительного периода. Само озеро было запружено мореной оставленной ледником, стекавшего в долину по направлению к реке Атабаска.

The enchanting beauty of Maligne Lake in the rays of the setting sun and in the light of the stars.

Maligne Lake is a lake in Jasper National Park, located in the Canadian Rockies in the province of Alberta.

The lake is located 44 km south of the city of Jasper. It is the largest lake in Jasper National Park and the largest natural lake in the Canadian Rockies. The length of the lake is 22.5 km, the greatest width is 1.5 km. The area of ​​the lake is 19.71 km². The height above sea level is 1670 meters. The average depth is 35 meters, the maximum depth in the southern part of the lake is 97 meters. The lake is fed by the river of the same name, the runoff is also along this river.

The valley in which the lake lies has a U-shape and was formed due to the combined work of wind and water, but to a greater extent due to the work of glaciers over a long period. The lake itself was dammed by a moraine left by a glacier flowing down the valley toward the Athabasca River.

Источник://t.me/+E4YBiErj0A8wOGUy, //www.kudatotam.ru/pages/ 4427-ozero-malayn.html, first10em.com/a-photographic-break-from-covid/jsm1534-edit/, /hdqwalls.com/maligne-lake-jasper-national-park-alberta-wallpaper, //www.wallpaperflare.com/search?wallpaper=maligne+lake, /thebanffblog.com/maligne-lake/.

[sims-dynasty]

*** Now available on Patreon *** Link

Step into this stunning residential build designed to enhance your Sims' lifestyle and keep their happiness meter soaring! 🏠

Main Level: An inviting open concept living space featuring a seamless flow between the living room, dining area, and modern kitchen. Perfect for entertaining guests or enjoying cozy family moments! Also includes two charming bedrooms and one stylish bathroom, providing comfort and functionality, with laundry room.

Finished Basement: A private retreat for extra family members or visiting Sims! Includes one spacious bedroom and full bathroom.

Whether you're starting fresh, raising a family, or hosting unforgettable gatherings, this thoughtfully crafted home has all the essentials you need.

Patreon items are not included in download!

As always Happy Simming

[dailyoverview]

The Merowe Dam, built along the Nile River in Sudan, is the largest hydroelectric project in Africa. River diversion began in 2004, with construction finishing in 2009. Upon completion, the dam doubled Sudan’s electricity supply. As the dam backed up and expanded the flow of the river into a reservoir, the surface area of the Nile increased roughly 270 square miles (699 square kilometers) and displaced 70,000 indigenous people who relied on the land for farming. Because of the warm climate in the region, combined with this increase in surface area, the reservoir is now experiencing evaporation losses of 396.3 billion gallons (1.5 billion cubic meters) of water every year, roughly 8 percent of the water allocated to Sudan from the 1959 Nile Waters Treaty.

18.668889°, 32.050278°

Source imagery: NASA / Google Timelapse

[cobaltperun]

Woe out the Storm (16) - A War You Cannot Win

Wednesday Addams x female Reader

Chapter summary: With your life on the line you are given an impossible choice. To save your life, by killing another, to sacrifice one life, so another can continue, or both lives would be lost.

Spotify playlist

Story masterlist / First Part / Previous part / Next Part

Word count: 3.1k

-Said no, hell no, I am not yours to rule, I won't be your fool-

It came out of nowhere, like lightning out of blue. Your dad hit the brakes, so hard the car stalled, and grabbed you, blasting the back of the car and jumping out. “Dad?!” he ignored your yell, yellow lightning engulfing him as he shifted into his bear lightning beast form and began running. All your confusion and the question that died on your lips vanished as a loud explosion destroyed your dad’s car.

You dared to look behind, seeing the remains falling onto the road as a figure emerged from the smoke and flames, and you recognized him immediately, just by feeling alone.

The Raijin, the thunder god, returned.

Your heart stopped for a moment, that fear, that despair returning. You trusted your dad, you knew he was strong, but not even he could go up against Raijin. He ran off the road, jumping down the hill and enhancing his speed through lightning, his speed much higher than your own. You were a raiju as well, but his lightning was much stronger, and you felt it electrocuting you bit by bit, but you gritted your teeth, you could deal with some numbness as long as you got away from the monster. He wasn’t running after you and for a brief, naïve moment you thought he just meant to scare you.

How naïve you must have been, to believe someone like Raijin would have to chase after you.

And then the birds flew up abruptly, each and every one of them fleeing. You saw other small animals you were running past fleeing in any direction, the entire forest being engulfed in existential panic and something primal within you, an instinct born from being a raiju told you there was no escape.

Then it happened. Everything around the two of you just exploded in a burst of blue lightning and you only survived because your dad managed to jump into the air and shift back into his human form, grabbing onto you and hovering in air with lightning.

“What the…?!” you couldn’t believe what you were seeing, an entire area, easily a mile in radius, was just destroyed. The ground cracked, trees burning and uprooted, the smell of smoke and burnt flesh of the animals that failed to flee engulfed your sense, what somehow survived was left to die a painful death, screeching, crying in pain as smoke rose above you and your dad.

You were dead. Both of you. You couldn’t even hope to match this. Your body went limp and you saw several teardrops falling from your face to the scorched ground. Wednesday told you Diego, Goody’s raiju, was no match for Raijin, but you didn’t think the difference in power was this large. And you doubted he was even trying.

“Damn monster. If he took his time to charge that up he could easily destroy entire Nevermore grounds, school included,” your breath hitched as your dad said that, and this monster had something to do with Laurel’s plan, or so you and Wednesday guessed. You couldn’t even tell Wednesday to run, to find a way to get out of that mess, your phone was in the car, all you had left was the knife you got from Wednesday, strapped to your back.

“That’s your kid? Elijah?” you heard his voice, booming, powerful voice and dared to glance to the side as your dad lowered the two of you back to the ground. The monster took the hood of his cloak off, and he was exactly the way Wednesday described him. Long, spiky blue hair, flowing behind him, animalistic, angry-looking face, and pale blue eyes that sent chills down your spine. He still looked like he was around forty. And he looked like a giant, tall, easily taller than two meters, muscular, he towered over your dad.

“Raijin,” your dad spoke through gritted teeth, not even trying to attack, he just lowered you down to the ground and stood in front of you, your one last line of defense as you remained on your hands and knees, frozen. “I’ll do whatever you want, just let my daughter live,” he suggested, bargained, desperate, and the thunder god knew that.

He tilted his head to the side with a raised eyebrow. “Your arrogance amuses me. What could a beast ever offer to a god?” he raised his hand, and you saw blue lightning gathering around his palm. “On second thought, you could die for her,” he lowered his hand and sat down.

“You promise you’ll let her live?” your dad asked, and you stumbled to your feet, only for him to hold you back before you could get in front of him.

“Yes. There is one catch though. I choose how you die,” he vanished in a burst of lightning and appeared behind the two of you, just several feet away, proving that your father standing in front of you meant nothing to him. Neither of you even realized he moved until you felt his presence behind you.

You didn’t even dare to look behind you. You kept your mouth shut, your brain desperately trying to come up with a way out of this, but nothing, absolutely nothing came to your mind. He was faster, stronger, even if you were as strong as your dad there would be nothing you could do.

“Tell me?” your dad requested, just as still as you.

“Easy. She kills you,” the almost gleeful way he said those words made them sound eve more sinister. He was having fun.

The entire world shattered as those words registered in your mind.

He took a step closer to you and leaned down and you saw your father flinching, of all the things the monster could have asked for, he asked that of you. You watched as your father relaxed, he wasn’t even going to try to fight, this was it. “You hear that? You just have to kill your dad, and you’ll live. How lucky is that? Getting spared for the second time?”

You survive the second time, but the cost of your survival is your father’s life? Your eyes narrowed and you nodded. “It is lucky,” you said, took a deep breath and your eyes met his. “Let me shift. I want to make it as painless as possible. Dad’s lightning is stronger than mine, it’ll take a while to kill him unless I even things out by shifting,” from the corner of your eye you saw your father turning to look at you with a smile on his face. It was like he was already forgiving you, like the only regret he had about this was the fact that you would have to kill him.

Raijin laughed, genuinely laughed as he stepped away from you. “Of course, I shall grant you that wish. Say, child, how about you come with me. Work for me, do my biddings, be what you were meant to be! My beast!” he offered, clearly serious, seeing as your dad once more went stiff.

“Do I die if I say no?” you asked, just to be sure.

Raijin shrugged. “No, you don’t. You just get to live a long life, instead of dying the next time you see me. Besides, a tiger would fit in well with my beasts,” so, he wasn’t alone. Somehow you expected that.

“I won’t join you,” you rejected him, red sparks circling you as you prepared to shift.

“Y/N, forgive me for getting you in this situation. Don’t let this affect you, think of everyone else. Your mom, your friends, unless you kill me here, they’ll all suffer,” your dad said, his arms spread wide, accepting of your attack. Accepting this as his grave, this ruined, scorched remains of a forest.

You did think of them. Of your mom, of Enid, Thing, of Wednesday. Flashes of something you couldn’t remember came to your mind, her body leaning against yours, her eyes, the smile on her face, calling you ‘Mi Rayo’ and you wished you knew what it meant. You understood that was what happened the night after Crackstone was defeated, while you were depleted of electricity, the two of you nearly kissing. Her lips so close to yours, you could almost feel them brushing against your own. That’s what you forgot, that’s what hurt her, and you would apologize to her if you could.

The red lightning turned orange and your body changed, shifting into your tiger form.

You were aware this time, for the most part, you understood what was going on around you, you knew what you had to do, and you gathered all of your lightning around your right paw. You watched as your father smiled and Raijin smirked right next to you.

And you swept your paw, claws out, lightning bursting from it, and slammed it right into Raijin’s chest.

“What are you doing?!” you heard your dad yelling as you discharged all the lightning you had and roared, putting more strength into your attack and sending him into a fallen tree. “Y/N!” your dad screamed your name as you charged at Raijin at full speed, lightning engulfing your body as you slammed into him and bit down on his arm before tossing him up and blasting him with several lightning strikes.

Yellow lightning burst from behind you and you saw your dad, once again in bear form zapping up and hitting Raijin from above, smacking him into the scorched ground just as you slammed your front paws on the ground in front of you and made the earth Raijin just landed on explode from a burst of lightning.

Your dad let lightning engulf his body entirely, easily looking three times as large as before as he struck Raijin, closing his jaw around the monster’s neck and trying to kill him while constantly electrocuting him and trying to paralyze him. But the single swipe of Raijin’s hand ended the struggle.

Your eyes widened as the golden lightning vanished, consumed by blue lightning, and you saw your dad falling toward Raijin, still in his bear form but clearly unable to zap out of the way. You zapped forward, slamming into him and getting him out of the way of blue lightning. You skidded across the ground, your legs not giving out despite the weight of the huge bear on your back.

“I have to admit,” Raijin sighed, opening his cloak and touching his chest. You could smell blood. “Though it wasn’t caused by lightning, the pure strength behind your attack was mildly impressive,” he was looking at his fingertips, at the drops of blood you managed to draw from his chest. How long has it been since he bled?

You roared, lightning bursting from your body. You would fight until your very last breath. Your dad could no longer fight, you just noticed his back legs were completely useless, burnt by the initial blast, and Raijin probably neutralized his strongest attack as if it was nothing. You were nothing as well, by that logic, but you would keep going.

A desperate last stand of a human being, too stubborn to give up without a fight.

You saw blue sparks and jumped above the ground, dodging a blast from the ground, the same kind of attack you used just now. You kept jumping, just barely dodging the bursts of lightning with your father still on your back. At least he shifted back into his human form. “There’s no use, you’ll tire yourself out,” he gave up, he completely, entirely gave up.

How you wished you could talk in this form, instead, all you could do was roar at him, and that split second of distraction was enough, your dad took the burnt of the damage by jumping of your back and in front of the blast, but you still got hit, and the pain so intense you instantly went back to your human form consumed you. You felt lightning ripping through you, leaving deep wounds on your chest as the two of you fell to the ground. Mortally wounded, bleeding out, and at Raijin’s mercy.

You had it easy though, you saw your dad’s left arm was gone, as well as a good portion of his chest. He was no longer breathing, he couldn’t be saved! “Damn it!” you slammed your fist on the ground as you stumbled back onto your feet.

“Passing grade for effort,” Raijin told you, not even taunting the two of you, just genuinely praising your attempt to stay alive. You watched as an orb of lightning gathered in front of his palm and gritted your teeth.

You still had some strength left, if this was going to obliterate you, you’d at the very least give it one last try. You raised both of your hands, an orb of red lightning forming in front of you.

“Ridiculous. I guess you are still somewhat human, you just won’t give up,” he smirked and threw the ball of lightning toward you.

With a defiant roar you hurled your own lightning right at it and sent several lightning bolts after it. The two orbs of lightning collided, but yours wasn’t consumed right away, they clashed in the middle, lightning crackling around them, ground splitting as red and blue mixed together and you felt your own strength skyrocketing. You felt lightning bursting all around you, consuming you, burning your wounds closed, strengthening you, as you pushed back against Raijin’s blue lightning. And bit by bit red absorbed blue, turning purple in the process. The lightning between you and Raijin exploded and you stumbled back and fell onto the ground.

~X~

He sighed, the few scratches from the explosion stinging for an entirely different reason. “In the end your body couldn’t handle it,” he approached you, your wounds closed, but you couldn’t survive the sudden increase in power. “Your fang did reach me, stubborn tiger. Rest easy, I’ll let your loved ones grieve in peace,” he crouched down next to your body and closed your eyes. “How tragic is it, to see potential squandered for the sake of dogged ideals of love,” he took out a phone, not to taunt the girl, but to let her know she lost her raiju, and he sent the video, proof of your demise.

~X~

Wednesday heard her phone beeping again as she stepped inside her home. It was dreadfully familiar, the smell, the sound of her footsteps, the entire house looked just the way it did when she left. Not that it surprised her, the house was more or less the same as it was years ago, let alone the brief time she spent at Nevermore.

She pulled her phone out of her bag as she took her shoes off, you would probably reach your own destination by now. And you did promise to send her a text and though she refused to be a slave to technology she did figure this was a convenient way to handle brief communication. Instead of a text message she saw some kind of media attachment and clicked on it.

Her eyes widened as her family came into the hall to greet her. But her eyes were glued on the phone and she just barely felt Thing on her shoulder. He froze on her shoulder, and she realized she wasn’t seeing things.

“Wednesday?” her mother spoke up, but Wednesday didn’t respond.

She just watched the video, your body, covered in blood, next to your father, both of you clearly dead and it felt like the whole world was spinning, like someone pulled a rug from under her feet, like she was in a dream she couldn’t wake up from.

You couldn’t be dead. She saw you hours ago! But this…

“Lurch get back in the car!” she yelled, putting her shoes back on and rushing outside, her bag forgotten on the floor as her family went after her.

~X~

Elijah managed to roll onto his stomach and drag his body closer to you once Raijin was gone. He was dead. His heart stopped, he wasn’t breathing, he bled out, his body was completely dead, and he couldn’t move anything aside from his right arm and head.

Everything in the body functioned through brain signals, and those were electrical impulses, so as long as his brain still worked he could somewhat function. But he was running out of time. Once heart stopped beating he only had three to four minutes left, and with each passing minute his capabilities would be severely worsened. He still needed to keep you alive. You wouldn’t bleed out, your wounds were for the most part closed, he just needed to get your heart beating again. So, with what little time he had left he raised his bloody palm above your heart and sent lightning to your heart.

He looked at you, at your unmoving body. No matter what you weren’t dying with him here! He was your father, he was supposed to protect you, yet even with him there you still got this hurt! He failed as a father, but he would not let you die, his lightning gradually restarted your heart, slowly forcing your brain to send signals to the stopped organ once more, until your heart began steadily beating and he saw you breathing, each breath was shallow, but you were alive.

Raiju resilience would do the rest, you’d recover, stronger than ever before. He only wished he could speak and tell you how proud of you he was, how much he loved you, and how much he wished he could have given you a normal family, with both parents present in your life instead of the way things ended up.

In the end, him fleeing, hiding from Raijin didn’t keep you safe.

He raised his hand, brushing some dust from your face with the back of his finger. You’d be fine, you were stronger than loss. ‘Grieve, cry, process all the emotions however you want, but then get up and keep on living’ if he could have, that’s what his last words to you would be.

He pushed away from you and his right arm fell onto the ground, about a foot away from you and he closed his eyes, his brain shutting down completely. His life flashed in front of his eyes. His childhood, his first shift, his time at Nevermore, meeting Anna, your birth, it was a good life, he wished for more time with you, with your mother, but he was content knowing you were still alive. All things consider, he was fine with this being his end.

And so, Elijah, the raiju that shifted into golden bear, died, the last act of his life saving the life of his daughter.

A/N: I need season 2! Until then 3 chapters of Woe out the Storm, just to resolve the cliffhanger from the chapter 15. Gimme thoughts!

Story masterlist / First Part / Previous part / Next Part

Taglist: @brocoliisscared @alexkolax

[beautifulmars]

A Layered Plateau in Pavonis Mons

This plateau is one of the few hypothesized glaciovolcanic landforms on Mars with well-exposed areas and meter-scale and smaller structures. The large outcrops are the only ones in the plateau that face the inferred down-flow direction of the ancient glacier that left a fan-shaped deposit. Any differences in shape between these outcrops and the up-flow facing outcrops in the plateau will help to interpret the landform’s origin.

ID: ESP_075541_1840 date: 7 September 2022 altitude: 264 km

NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

[upinteriors]

Casa Vargem Grande by Juliana Ayako and Zebulun Arquitetura

Casa Vargem Grande deals with topography through the creation of a continuous spatiality that unfolds over the slope of the land.

The house is divided into 5 staggered slabs connected by a continuous and open staircase-corridor that guarantees the maintenance of the view that crosses the land from the front to the back, where there is the condominium's forest reserve. The views vary along the percouse throughout the staggering slabs, unfolding at times towards the base of the valley, at times towards the reserve, and at times towards the peak of the mountains.

The module of the BTC brick and the slope of the terrain determined the size of the slabs and the difference in elevation between them. In this way, the project was measured through rows and blocks instead of centimeters and meters.

The lateral facades are blind and structural in BTC brick - with the exception of a small window - creating an axis that connects the reserve at the back of the house to the valley located in front. These plans guarantee the creation of an interior courtyard which the house faces, closing off the dense context on its sides.

To generate the feeling of a single-story staggered house, a lightweight metal roof rests on the structural BTC walls of the side facades and the round metal pillars of the front and back facades. This continuous roof makes an inflection in the height of the third slab, opening the view towards the top of the valley and creating a mezzanine.

The direct dialogue between the house and the topography and the use of concrete and BTC blocks reflect the weight of the work. The building is placed on the ground, rests on it and ensures that all bedrooms, living room and kitchen have access to the patio and external areas. At the bottom of each slab, the construction touches the ground where the continuous beams-columns meet. Its front, always elevated, guarantees the downward flow of water, avoids major cuts in the land and allows the passage of some small animals that move between the houses.

Design: Juliana Ayako, Zebulun Arquitetura Location: Teresópolis, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Year: 2023 Photography: Federico Cairoli

[elbiotipo]

I have a worldbuilding question about maps,

when you are making an underground map (of a scale like continents worth) what are some ways to make it less homogenous (aside from aquifers and water and such, I am planning on having those, but I dont know what to add besides that)

Sorry for answering this so late, I am planning on doing a better post about this, but I hope this will be helpful!

Lately I've been also wondering about "underworlds" and such underground cavern systems, how would they work? Are underworlds like in Journey to the Centre of the Earth possible? First, I think it's a good idea to understand how they work in real life.

Big cavern systems in real life are basically created in two ways: "solutional" caves, that is, caves created by rock dissolved by water, often limestone or other carbonaceous 'soluble' rock (which, interestingly enough, often come from sediment made from the shells and calcium skeletons of ancient marine life), and "primary" caves, often called "lava tubes"; these are formed when lava flows through "harder" rock, leaving empty "tube" structures on it. Mars has many of these and they are being considered for habitation in future missions. There are other kinds of caves made by sea erosion or glaciers, but when one thinks big cave systems, these are the ones.

The shape of a cave usually depends then on the "hardness" of the rock, that is, how much of it is dissolved by water. The classic shape is a branched one, like rivers or tree branches, but depending on the type of rock, you can get some that are more like sponges or shattered in structure. However, cave systems depend very much on the rock available, big cave systems are found where big limestone and such rock are found (China and parts of the US and Europe have the biggest, while they aren't really found in South America for example).

There does seem to be, according to Wikipedia, a limit of 3000 meters of depth to caves before the pressure of the rocks above makes their formation impossible. Also, again, karst deposits are found usually in the upper layers. I do wonder, for example, in a fantasy world with different rocks and minerals, if you could have some kinds of rocks that could dissolve more in water, while still being hard enough to sustain the pressure from the rocks above.

One question I had is that if you could have "vault-like" caves, with underground lakes or oceans, like in classic fantasy. The largest such chamber found is the Miao room in the Gebihe cave system in China, which is a respectable 852m in lenght and 191 in width. And I'm very sure there are many more not found. However, these are very far from the huge underground vaults of fantasy, like the sea from Journey to the Centre of the Earth:

For the reasons stated above, I think these structures, if possible at all with the mechanics of the rocks, would be very vulnerable to erosion and collapse, not to mention earthquakes and tectonics. Realistically, you couldn't have a sea with ancient plesiosaurs and such surviving millions of years.

In fantasy, of course, you can think of believable worldbuilding around this. You could very well have gods or other beings to create these caves, and it has a very poetic ring to it, the "pillars of the world". You could have volcanic intrusions or dikes that are then dissolved by natural or magical means, resulting in these vault-like structures. So if you want to think about geography, instead of continents or big rooms, I would rather imagine archipelagos of caves, connected by tunnels, sometimes in different layers.

Another thing to consider is temperature. Caves are thought of cool places, in fact, they're just very insulated and dark, so their temperature is stable. However, the deeper you go, the more temperature increases. Temperature increases roughly 25-30°C for every kilometer, more if the area is geologically active. Deep mines, for example, need air-conditioning and even then they are hot, humid, horrible places to work. I think the habitable underground zone would be no more than one or two km deep.

Now, the most interesting part is of course, what does life look in caves. There's plenty of life adapted to caves, but what really strikes me is that the supply of nutrients and energy comes from the outside ecosystem rather than the cave itself. There's plenty of guano in bat-filled caves for example, but the bats of course hunt on the night outside. Caves aren't very productive environments on themselves, they don't have many options for producers, that is, the first link in the food chain that. Of course they're dark, and while there's some very extreme algae and bacteria that can photosynthesize and very interesting chemosynthetic ecosystems, like those found in oceanic undersea vents. Perhaps the most extreme case is that of Movile Cave in Romania. It's a fully contained ecosystem based in chemosynthetic bacteria, whose biofilm supports fungi and others, and they support a complete system of endemic invertebrates from crustaceans to mollusks. I really cannot do the uniqueness of this justice, so I'll just link to the Wikipedia article.

(it's likely that there are many caves like this not yet discovered!)

However, these ecosystems are very, very fragile, and very, very slow paced. Again, there's lot of organisms that adapt to caves, but the tendency is almost universally, besides losing pigmentation and vision, to slow down activity and metabolism as much as possible. The most emblematic example to me is the olm/ulm, a cave salamander that reaches a respectable half a meter, the apex predator so to say, can spend months or even years without moving, only for feeding and mating. Same for example with the growth and reproduction of many other animals in caves, or for that matter, fungi or microbes. Everything is done to reduce metabolism to a minimum.

For a fantasy setting, assuming creatures who live and build cultures in this underworld, this has implications. Sentient creatures need a lot of energy, a lot of calories. What do they eat, what does their lifestyle looks like? I've seen some worldbuilding (like in Age of Wonders IV) assuming fungus forests, but what makes those fungus grow into forests instead of just biofilm? Unless there's some magical means introducing light and nutrients into the environment, some kind of crystal or bioluminiscent fungus or a base producer like some really good biofilm, one has to wonder what the base of the food chain looks like.

Instead of seeing this as a limitation, I think this is a great chance for writers to do something original and explore this! Just think about how different a cave ecosystem could be. And what's more interesting to me is to imagine the flow of nutrients and energy with the outside world... bats, fishes, salamanders, cave dwelling animals, and of course, peoples...

I'm already writing way too much here, but I would like to finish with an awesome video video which expands on what I've said and also has a very interesting conclusion, that salamanders are uniquely predisposed to take the top spot in the food chain of cave ecosystems!

Also, this IS NOT a demand at all, but if anyone reading loved this post and would like to see more, you can always check out my #biotipo worldbuilding tag, and give a tip to my ko-fi! I really like doing these kind of posts even if I take a while to get to them, and I hope you find them interesting!