#Daniele Spini

[blogdeimusicisti]

Diego Ceretta

Diego Ceretta Nuovo Direttore PrincipaleMilanese, 26 anni, Dario Ceretta è il nuovo Direttore Principale del’Orchestra della Toscana. È stato scelto dal direttore artistico Daniele Spini su mandato del CdA della Fondazione che si è riunito lo scorso 28 febbraio. È uno tra i giovani direttori italiani più promettenti della sua generazione. Ci aveva già diretto lo scorso anno in occasione dei…

[gjdraws]

MERMAY IN THE NICK OF TIME!

Daniel san does not pay attention and steps on things that poke and sting, Chozen does not approve.

[mirrorbuck]

9-1-1 characters as sharks❕🦈

As a shark nerd, I had to. Enjoy! :)

1 - ✭ Bobby ; angel shark

• They spend most of their time hiding in mud and dust

2 - ✭ Athena ; leopard shark

• Their rough skin makes it hard for stuff to settle on them.

3 - ✭ May ; zebra shark

• As they mature, their stripes fade and then become small dark spots, which is why they are often mistaken for leopard sharks

4 - ✭ Hen ; mako shark

• They are very fast and smart sharks

5 - ✭ Karen ; silky shark

• They have a great hearing

6 - ✭ Chimney ; spiny dogfish shark

• They’re quite small

7 - ✭ Maddie ; blue shark

• They will attack if they feel threatened

8 - ✭ Daniel ; whale shark

• Only 10% of whale sharks make it to adulthood

9 - ✭ Buck ; lemon shark

• They are very loyal to their home, are highly social and can be jealous of other lemon sharks. They’ve also been known to help out humans who are lost and in danger

10 - ✭ Eddie ; white tip shark

• They swim away when swimmers or divers approach

11 - ✭ Ravi ; nurse shark

• Really friendly and social

12 - ✭ Albert ; bluntnose six gills shark

• Their ability to handle a variety of temperatures and depths allows them to go wherever they like

13 - ✭ Lucy ; megalodon

• There’s still a lot we don’t know about them

14 - ✭ Josh ; horn shark

• They have a tough exterior and sharp spines to protect themselves

—————

The end 🦈🌊 Thank you for reading <3

[oddzo]

In honor of mermay I have drawn the main trio of Camp Camp!

Max is a betta fish, Nikki is a leopard shark, and Neil is a harbor porpoise :D

(Let’s say that this is magical merperson water that both salt and fresh water creatures can live in)

This was supposed to be a silly low effort doodle but I found a new brush and chaos ensued

Because the creativity demons have taken me, I plan to hopefully draw the rest of the Camp Camp characters and maybe some others this month!

(Let’s see how long I last lmao)

Here’s the full list of the species everyone is:

Max- betta fish

Neil- harbor porpoise

Nikki- leopard shark

Harrison- mimic octopus (✨illusion✨)

Nerris- narwhal

Preston- koi (taisho sanke)

Space kid- harp seal

Nurf- Maine lobster (calico mutation)

Dolph- mudskipper (periophthalmus malaccensis)

Ered- yellow lipped sea krait (sea snake)

Jasper- ghost shrimp

David- North American river otter

Gwen- Galapagos sea lion

Quartermaster- electric eel (electrophorus varii)

Campbell- saltwater crocodile

CJ- marine iguana

Daniel- giant river otter

Pikeman- pacific spiny dogfish (sometimes called the piked dogfish lol)

Billy/snake- king snake eel (ophichthus rex)

Petrol- redtail catfish

Jermy- sargassum fish (frogfish)

Penelope Priss (garden mother/flower scouts leader)- zebra lionfish

Sasha- Randall’s pistol shrimp

Erin- dumbo ear guppy

Tabii- lined seahorse (yellow)

-

I have never spent so much time researching aquatic life, I’m going insane. Why can’t I ever get involved in things a normal amount.

(trick question, the answer is ✨neurodivergence✨)

[compneuropapers]

Interesting Papers for Week 48, 2022

Perception of an object’s global shape is best described by a model of skeletal structure in human infants. Ayzenberg, V., & Lourenco, S. (2022). eLife, 11, e74943.

Adaptive erasure of spurious sequences in sensory cortical circuits. Bernacchia, A., Fiser, J., Hennequin, G., & Lengyel, M. (2022). Neuron, 110(11), 1857-1868.e5.

Hippocampal replays appear after a single experience and incorporate greater detail with more experience. Berners-Lee, A., Feng, T., Silva, D., Wu, X., Ambrose, E. R., Pfeiffer, B. E., & Foster, D. J. (2022). Neuron, 110(11), 1829-1842.e5.

Unique neural coding of crucial versus irrelevant plant odors in a hawkmoth. Bisch-Knaden, S., Rafter, M. A., Knaden, M., & Hansson, B. S. (2022). eLife, 11, e77429.

Higher-order olfactory neurons in the lateral horn support odor valence and odor identity coding in Drosophila. Das Chakraborty, S., Chang, H., Hansson, B. S., & Sachse, S. (2022). eLife, 11, e74637.

Emergent reliability in sensory cortical coding and inter-area communication. Ebrahimi, S., Lecoq, J., Rumyantsev, O., Tasci, T., Zhang, Y., Irimia, C., … Schnitzer, M. J. (2022). Nature, 605(7911), 713–721.

Multiscale modeling of presynaptic dynamics from molecular to mesoscale. Garcia, J. W., Bartol, T. M., & Sejnowski, T. J. (2022). PLOS Computational Biology, 18(5), e1010068.

How and Why the Cerebellum Recodes Input Signals: An Alternative to Machine Learning. Gilbert, M., & Chris Miall, R. (2022). The Neuroscientist, 28(3), 206–221.

Unsupervised learning for robust working memory. Gu, J., & Lim, S. (2022). PLOS Computational Biology, 18(5), e1009083.

The neurocomputational bases of explore-exploit decision-making. Hogeveen, J., Mullins, T. S., Romero, J. D., Eversole, E., Rogge-Obando, K., Mayer, A. R., & Costa, V. D. (2022). Neuron, 110(11), 1869-1879.e5.

Unveiling the abstract format of mnemonic representations. Kwak, Y., & Curtis, C. E. (2022). Neuron, 110(11), 1822-1828.e5.

Discovering sparse control strategies in neural activity. Lee, E. D., Chen, X., & Daniels, B. C. (2022). PLOS Computational Biology, 18(5), e1010072.

Conflict and competition between model-based and model-free control. Lei, Y., & Solway, A. (2022). PLOS Computational Biology, 18(5), e1010047.

Humans utilize sensory evidence of others’ intended action to make online decisions. Lokesh, R., Sullivan, S., Calalo, J. A., Roth, A., Swanik, B., Carter, M. J., & Cashaback, J. G. A. (2022). Scientific Reports, 12, 8806.

Receptor time integration via discrete sampling. Malaguti, G., & ten Wolde, P. R. (2022). Physical Review E, 105(5), 054406.

Feature blindness: A challenge for understanding and modelling visual object recognition. Malhotra, G., Dujmović, M., & Bowers, J. S. (2022). PLOS Computational Biology, 18(5), e1009572.

A tonic nicotinic brake controls spike timing in striatal spiny projection neurons. Matityahu, L., Malgady, J. M., Schirelman, M., Johansson, Y., Wilking, J. A., Silberberg, G., … Plotkin, J. L. (2022). eLife, 11, e75829.

Spontaneous dynamics of synaptic weights in stochastic models with pair-based spike-timing-dependent plasticity. Vignoud, G., & Robert, P. (2022). Physical Review E, 105(5), 054405.

Grid-cell modules remain coordinated when neural activity is dissociated from external sensory cues. Waaga, T., Agmon, H., Normand, V. A., Nagelhus, A., Gardner, R. J., Moser, M.-B., … Burak, Y. (2022). Neuron, 110(11), 1843-1856.e6.

Eye movements reveal spatiotemporal dynamics of visually-informed planning in navigation. Zhu, S., Lakshminarasimhan, K. J., Arfaei, N., & Angelaki, D. E. (2022). eLife, 11, e73097.

[dumberme]

The Ghost Dogs of the Amazon

Scientists have produced data that shows the range of an enigmatic short-eared canid species that has yet to be widely studied. It is one of the Amazon rain forest’s most elusive and enigmatic mammals. Experts call the species “shy” or even “a ghost.”

It’s a dog or at least a type of dog. The short-eared dog is the only member of the canine genus Atelocynus, and the only such species unique to the Amazon rainforest. In a study published last month in Royal Society Open Science, 50 researchers chipped away at the creature’s mysteries by putting together a large location data set gleaned mostly from camera trap cameos. By mapping the species’s range and determining its preferred habitat, the scientists, many of whom have never encountered the animal in person, hope to help protect it.

Daniel Rocha, a graduate student at the University of California, Davis, and the study’s lead author, became interested in the short-eared dog in 2015, when he began working in the southern part of the Amazon. He and his colleagues set up camera traps to study the local mammal community. As they looked through the footage, “these dogs would appear,” he said. With pricked ears and furrowed brows, they almost look surprised to be caught on camera. It surprised him, too. Even locals who spend a lot of time in the Amazon don’t often see short-eared dogs, which were assumed to be quite rare. They also evade career researchers focused on this region: Mr. Rocha, who spent years leading this study, said, “I’ve never seen the dog in the jungle, ever.”

Carlos Peres, an ecology professor at the University of East Anglia who contributed to the study, has been working in the Amazon for nearly 40 years. His longest sighting of a short-eared dog lasted about 20 seconds as it chased a spiny rat into a hollow log. They’re incredibly secretive,” he said.

Many canid species, from wolves to African wild dogs, hunt in packs and prefer more open habitats, like tundra or grasslands. Short-eared dogs, which only live in the Amazon, are mostly solitary and “almost certainly the most rainforest-adapted of all the canids,” said Dr. Peres. They are most comfortable trotting around in the trees, far from anywhere people might tread.

As a result, the species is “one of the least studied dogs worldwide,” Mr. Rocha said. We don’t know much about their life histories or reproductive strategies, or how many of them exist. We don’t even really know what they eat, although scat studies suggest that they like fish, small mammals and fruit.

Individual experts have gone to great lengths to change that. Renata Leite Pitman, a contributor to the study and an affiliated scholar at Duke University’s Nicholas School of Environment, once obtained a short-eared dog pup that had been raised with domestic dogs. She and her assistant, Emeterio Nuñonca Sencia, trained the dog to walk on a leash and took careful notes on what he sniffed at, ate and avoided. She has also managed to track several dogs with radio collars.

[bethanythebogwitch]

Digimon fanfic chapter 4 draft

Chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3

“Ow!” A young Danny Barton pulled his hand back from the cactus that had just been planted outside his apartment building. Of course everyone had told him not to touch the spiny, barrel-shaped plant, but telling a five-year-old boy not to touch something is a surefire way to make sure he touches it. Danny turned his hand over to see several of the spines protruding from his skin and his eyes began to well up.

“What’s wrong?” Andrew asked his little brother. In response, Danny showed his brother the porcupine that his hand became, visually holding back a sob. 

“It’s ok, I know what to do. We went over this in Scouts. I’ll fix it, ok?” Andrew reassured Danny. 

Back in their apartment, the two set up in the bathroom, where Andrew started pulling out the needles with a pair of tweezers. 

“There, it’s not even bleeding”.

“Thanks, Andrew,” said Danny. It still hurt, but he was doing his best to not show it. “You always help me out”.

“Of course,” was the reply. “I think you should always do what you can to help people”.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I just think the world would be better if people always did what they could to make it better, you know?”

Danny nodded. “I think you can help a lot of people.”

“I know I’ll try”.

-----------

Daniel felt numb as he hugged the unconscious body of his partner. Who was that? That couldn’t have been Andrew. The brother he knew would never, could never do something like that. Attacking the village of Caps Lock Crater, shrugging off the murder of Apemon, attacking Daniel and Blue. Andrew was kind, helpful, and always tried to make the world a better place. The Andrew who just left was unrecognizable from who he had been just a month before.

Daniel was shaken out of his thoughts by a sword being pointed right at his face.

“Get out,” Snarled Dinohumon, their voice caught between sorrow and rage. 

“Dinohumon, wait,” Clark, the only human keeping his composure, tried to say, but he was cut off.

“NO!, “Screamed the lizardman, “The village is gone! Apemon is dead! Because of you! The D-Brigade came here for you!” Dinohumon took a few deep breaths, then spoke again, this time their voice low and filled with fury. “I won’t kill you now because Apemon wouldn’t have wanted that. But if any of you ever come near here again, nothing will stop me from killing you. Now go.”

Clark swallowed, then pulled Daniel to his feet, Keiko having already risen. “Come on,” he said as he led the two out of the Caps Lock Crater. 

“Where are we going?” asked Keiko as the villagers watched them leave.

“I don’t know,” said Clark. I was going to use a passageway by the village to get down into the desert, but now we’ll have to find another way down”. He paused, then added “If you still want to come that is”. 

Clark and Keiko glanced at Daniel, who hadn’t said a word since his brother left. 

“I don’t know,” Daniel said in a quiet voice. “I don’t know what to do”.

Keiko shifted the unconscious Tsukaimon into one arm and pulled a device out of her pocket. “This is my Digivice,” she said, “It’s called a D-3 and it can open gates between the worlds. If you want, I can send you home”. 

Daniel didn’t respond right away, then he simply said “let me think about it”.

After another half-hour of walking, the group found a large rock that Clark deemed safe enough to shelter under for the rest of the night. Using only the supplies Clark could carry in his oversized backpack did not make for a comfortable camp, but it was suitable enough. Despite being exhausted from the day’s events, none of the humans tried to fall asleep right away. 

“What happened?” Clark eventually asked. “It’s been a few years since I saw him last but Andrew was not like that back when I knew him”.

“I don’t know,” Daniel responded quietly. “He wasn’t like that at home. The Andrew I know would have punched that Andrew in the face if they met.”

“It’s only been a couple weeks since he came back to the Digital World, though. What could have changed him that fast?” Clark wondered aloud. “Unless he was pretending to be nice?”

Under normal circumstances, Daniel would have leapt to his brother’s defense at the insinuation that Andrew was anything less than the kind and helpful person he seemed to be. Now though, Daniel couldn’t help but wonder the same thing himself. 

“Um,” Keiki interjected. “I didn’t know your brother like you two did, but you’re saying that he changed all of a sudden and became a worse person, yeah?”

“Yes,” Clark responded. “The way he was acting earlier was nothing like he’s ever acted before. At least as far as I know”.

“Then I might know why Benjamin asked me to come on this mission,” Keiko responded. “It sounds like he was a really nice person who turned into a monster overnight. That’s pretty much what happened to me when the Dark Spore was put in me”. 

Clark and Daniel both looked up at that. “You think a Dark Spore is why Andrew was like that?” Clark asked.

“I don’t know for certain, but it makes sense,” Keiki replied. “Benjamin said I have experience that would help and knowing about the Dark Spore is the only thing I can think of that makes sense. Other than that I don't have anything to do with Andrew or the D-Brigade. The only thing that doesn’t make sense is how a Dark Spore got into him. The first Spore came from a DigiDestined named Ken Ichijouji and Oikawa copied it to make the Spores that he put in me and the others. I don’t know how your brother could have gotten one”.

“You said your Spore is off, right?” Daniel sounded hopeful for the first time since the arrival of the D-Brigade to Caps Lock Crater.

Keiko rubbed the back of her neck. She could swear the Spore knew it was being talked about. The thing always seemed to pulse when she brought it up. 

“It’s not active anymore, but it’s still there,” she said.

“How did you deactivate it?” Daniel asked, his mind racing. 

Andrew isn’t evil, it’s the Spore! I can still save him!

“You have to drown out the Spore by thinking happy thoughts. For us it’s one desire or goal we want to reach. The thing that gives us hope and makes us want to be better.” Keiko blushed a little. “Mine is I want to write stories”.

Clark nodded. “So we have a chance, then. Tomorrow we’ll start crossing the desert and head to meet Baihumon. While we’re doing that we’ll try to figure out a way to reach Andrew and make him think of something he can use to drown out the Dark Spore.

In agreement, the three children turned in for a night of uncomfortable and restless sleep. 

----------

General Tankdramon, supreme commander of the D-Brigade, stared at the many screens in his mobile command unit. Captain Hi-Commandramon 8A5’s unit had recently departed to the excavation site after a brief stop at the command center. Their little excursion was a waste of time and resources that could have been better used at the excavation site. If the human Andrew really wanted the other DigiDestined out of the picture, he should have sent a team of Sealsdramon to assassinate them rather than put on such an elaborate show as a mere warning. However, the desires of the D-Brigade’s client are paramount, even if they are foolish. This mission was turning out to be more complicated than the General had anticipated. Unexpected resistance at the excavation site was delaying the schedule and now a group of DigiDestinedhad entered the picture. If this group was anywhere near as powerful as the one that defeated the Dark Masters they could prove a major threat to the D-Brigade. 

The sliding door to the control room slid open, but Tankdramon already knew the visitor was coming. The General had survived grueling campaigns, the reign of the Dark Masters, and more battles than he could count. His were nerves of steel, but even so, the aura of darkness that preceded the D-Brigade’s benefactor made even him feel a twinge of discomfort. 

“Speak,” Tankdramon said, not bothering to turn and look at the benefactor.

“Greetings, General,” said the silky smooth voice of Mephistomon. “I have acquired some information that I believe will benefit all of us”. 

The tank treads that passed for legs on the General ground into motion, rotating around the massive, bulky war machine that made up most of his body. He now faced Mephistomon. The goat-like humanoid Digimon was small for an Ultimate-level, but ever since he had approached the D-Brigade, Mephistomon had proven to have a keen mind and a knowledge of ancient digital mysticism that the Brigade was lacking in. Next to Mephistomon floated a simple white sheet with a mouth. A Bakemon. 

“I encountered our guest fleeing the very same group of DigiDestined that your forces went to meet. He had a very interesting story to tell. Go on, tell the General what you told me”.

“Er, right,” said the Bakemon nervously. “So my old boss Soulmon found a house where a DigiDestined liked to stay and came up with a plan. The boss made a potion which could steal whatever power DigiDestined have that lets them Digivolve their Digimon whenever they want. That way we could all Digivolve. But one of the humans Digivolved their Digimon and killed the gang. I was the only one that got away”.

“Bakemon has kindly filled me in on the details of this Soulmon’s ritual,” Mephistomon interjected. “I believe with my mysticism and the D-Brigade’s science we could improve the process of using the bond between Digimon and DigiDestined to force Digivolution. I believe this could greatly benefit our shared goals”.

“Agreed,” replied Tankdramon. “I will assign the engineering unit to work with you on this project”.

“A wise choice, General,” responded Mephistomon as the General turned back to the screens. “Oh, and what should be done with our guest?”

“I have no further use for it. Do with it as you will”.

“Hey, great. Do I get a reward?” asked Bakemon. “Or maybe I could work with you guys. You seem to know what you’re doing. Wait, what are you-”

The Bakemon was cut off by Mephistomon casually plunging his hand into its body and ripping it apart from the inside. After a quick bow, the D-Brigade’s benefactor turned and left Tankdramon to his work. The prospect of being able to freely Digivolve the D-Brigade’s soldiers by exploiting a Digidestined’s connection with their partner opened a whole new world of possibilities for the Brigade’s future. And Tankdramon knew just the Digimon they would need. 

———

Morning came and though none of the group were particularly well rested, they rose for breakfast. Breakfast in this case consisted mostly of dried food that Clark had in his bag. Clark and Keiko filled the two Digimon in on what had been discussed the previous evening. 

“That means Andrew and Green might not actually be evil. We can get them back!” Daniel told his partner with excitement. “Isn’t that great?”

“Yeah,” replied Blue, morosely. 

Daniel frowned. “What’s wrong? It’s good news”.

“Yeah, of course it is,” Blue said, “I’m just thinking of something”.

Daniel scooted closer to the dragon. “What’s wrong? You know you can tell me”.

“Nothing,” insisted Blue.

“Really, what’s wrong”

“Nothing!” Snapped Blue. “Leave me alone!”. The little dragon got up and walked around a nearby boulder. 

Daniel gaped at his partner. 

“First time?” asked Tsukaimon. “Me ‘n Keiko get into fights like it's going out of style”.

“He’s never talked to me like that,” Daniel stammered. “He’s always so cheerful”.

“My advice is to give him space,” Keiko said with an understanding tone of voice. “He’ll come to you when he’s ready”.

“I hope so …”.

---------

With no time to waste, the group of humans and Digimon set out, Blue trailing behind the rest. Failing to locate a safe path down the sheer cliffs that led down into the desert, Tsukaimon opted to Digivolve and carry the children and Blue down one at a time. Clark led the crew to a stream that ran through the desert below the cliffs where the Caps Lock Crater sat far above, informing his fellow travelers that it would lead them most of the way through the desert and ensure they had plenty of water. And it would be quite a long walk indeed.

“So seeing as we’re gonna be stuck in this here desert for a week or so, guess we ought find something to talk about,” drawled Tsukaimon. “How about we start with how you know that one D-Brigader with the scars?”

Clark grimaced as the purple bat-hamster stared holes into the back of his head.

“Tsukaimon, we agreed to ask that gently,” admonished Keiko.

“Seeing as he’s hiding stuff from us again this me being gentle,” shot back her partner.

“That’s right,” Daniel said. “You did try to talk to that one Digimon. What was it called?”

“Commandramon,” Clark blurted out. “Commandramon 1G1. Yes, we know each other. No, I don’t want to talk about it.” His tone had reverted back to the harsher and more angry voice he was using back when Daniel and Keiko had first met him. 

“From when you and Andrew worked with the D-Brigade?” Asked Daniel. At the same time Tsukaimon interjected “If we’re going to work together you need to start telling us stuff”.

“Listen!” Clark snapped. “We’ve known each other for less than a week. We aren’t friends, we’re just working together. So forgive me if I don’t tell you everything about my life!” With that he quickened his pace, putting distance between himself and the others. 

Keiko sighed. “Tsukaimon you need to leave things that need tact to me from now on, got it?”

Tsukaimon at least had the decency to look sheepish. 

“Something bad must have happened with those two,” Daniel said. 

Remember the other night in that haunted house?” Keiko asked. “You asked if Clark had a Digimon and he didn’t answer. I wonder if maybe that Commandramon has something to do with that”. 

“You think maybe it killed his partner?” Daniel asked. He glanced back at Blue, still trailing behind them. The thought of losing Blue made his heart beat faster. The little guy may not be talking to him right now, but Blue was family. Daniel couldn't imagine losing him. 

“If someone took Blue away from me I don’t think I could ever forgive them. If that Commandramond did it I can’t imagine how he feels, knowing it's out there and not being able to do anything.”

“Don’t forget, Digimon are reborn as Digi-Eggs when we die,” added Tsukaimon. “If his partner did die, it should come back.”

“Dying and coming back. I wonder what that’s like,” Keiko pondered. 

“Well I’ve never died so I don’t know, but I think sometimes a Digimon will come back without their old memories.”

“That might be worse,” Daniel “Your partner comes back to life and doesn’t remember you? That’s horrible.”

Ahead of them, Clark had made a turn around a hill, but suddenly came sprinting back, yelling “GET DOWN!” From over the hill rose one of the dragon-like tiltrotor vehicles that the D-Brigade had used the previous night, the beating of its helicopter blades beating up a sandstorm. A minigun attached to the front of its fuselage roared into life, spraying down a hail of bullets that left holes in the desert well behind Clark. A warning shot.

As the humans and their partners ducked behind a large boulder the vehicle’s mouth opened and barked out a command.

“By order of the D-Brigade, no humans may pass these coordinates! Turn back and leave or die!”

“You’re telling me the helicopter is a Digimon too?” Asked an irate Tsukaimon.

“Yes,” Clark replied. “Cargodramon. It’s an Ultimate-level.”

An Ultimate, Just like Green had been when he almost effortlessly defeated both Blue and Tsukaimon. 

A lack of further attacks gave Clark the courage to peek over the boulder. The Cargodramon hovered in the air and its eyes met Clark’s, but it made no move to attack him.

Clark ducked back down. “It’s not attacking again. It must be ordered to only attack us if we try to keep going.” 

“Andrew must have told it to not try to kill us,” Daniel said. “He said he doesn’t want to kill me as long as I stay out of whatever he’s planning, so he must have told it to just scare us off.”

“That’s probably right,” Clark said. “I donut the D-Brigade would go for scaring us off over killing us unless they were commanded to.”

“That means Andrew must still be a decent person deep down even if he has a Dark Spore!” Daniel exclaimed. “He’s still in there!”

Daniel pulled out his crest. “We just need to Digivolve to Ultimate to beat Cargodramon and then we can keep going to get Andrew back. Come on, Blue!”

Blue didn’t respond, just looking sadly at Daniel. “I’m not sure I can, Danny- er, Daniel.”

“Why not? What’s wrong?”

Blue sighed sadly. “It’s Apemon. I bit his bone and made him mad at me after he was so nice to us. Now he’s dead because of us and I never even got to say sorry.”

Daniel looked at his partner, then grabbed and hugged him. “It’s not your fault, Blue. It’s the D-Brigade’s. They attacked us, remember. You can’t put that on yourself.”

“But if we weren’t at the village…”

“If we weren’t at the village Apemon would still have stood up to them,” Clark said. “That’s the kind of Digimon he was. Always trying to find the most peaceful way out of everything. If he heard the D-Brigade was harassing complete strangers he would come to try to talk some sense into them. You can’t blame yourself for what the D-Brigade did.”

“But…” Blue didn’t seem to know what to say.

“Think about what Andrew would say. The normal Andrew, not the way he is now,” Daniel said to his partner. 

Blue thought for a second. “He would say that it's ok to be sad but that it shouldn’t stop us from doing what’s right.”

“That’s right!”

Blue took a deep breath “I want to get him and Green back. And I want to be better. I’m not going to make nice people mad at me anymore! I’m not going to keep calling you Danny! And I’m going to make the D-Brigade pay!”

The crest in Daniel’s hands started to glow. 

“You did it!” Clark declared. “You activated your crest!’

Daniel looked down at his crest, then clenched his hand around it. “I know what my crest is now. It’s the crest of determination. And we are determined, aren't we, Blue?”

“Of course we are Daniel,” Bleu nodded in agreement. 

“I’m going to get Andrew back!” Declared Daniel

“And I’m going to get Green back!” declared Blue. The two then  finished their sentences in unison. 

“Because he’s my brother!”

Dracomon Digivolve to… Coredramon! Coredramon Digivolve to… Wingdramon!

The new form of Blue shot into the air like a rocket. He was still a blue dragon, but much larger than either his Rookie or Champion forms. His body rippled with muscle under his scales and his head was covered in a mask of ivory and orange, branching horns. A lance sat on his back, two golden orbs were clutched in his hands,  and his tail, now longer than his body, rippled out behind him like the waves of the aurora. But the largest change was to his wings. Patterned with blue, hexagonal scales, the mighty wings spread out of either side of his body like a great cape and seemed to hold him aloft without flapping. 

“Hostile action detected,“ Cargodramon rotated in the air to point its gun at Blue, but in a flash, the dragon was gone, leaving behind a sonic boom that rattled every boulder for hundreds of meters.

“Explode Sonic Lance!” Blue was now behind Cargodramon and shot forward, the lance on his back aimed at the vehicle’s wings. The enemy managed to tilt to one side so Blue’s attack left a deep gash on the wing instead of severing it. 

“Suppression Strike!” Cargodramon’s minigun roared into motion, shooting a hail of bullets at Blue, who dodged and weaved through the air with a grace unnatural for such a large creature. Even so, a few bullets did hit, leaving deep wounds. 

“Blue!” Shouted Daniel, but his dragon simply glanced down at him.

“Don’t worry, Daniel. I can’t lose to this. We still have brothers to save!”

Blue flew upward, forcing Cargodramon to reorient itself in the air to keep its aim. However, as it did so, Blue’s wings coiled around him and he shot down downward like a meteor. The wings flared out again and the dive turned into a glide inches above the ground. Now with his belly facing the sky, Blue found himself directly underneath the fuselage of Cargodramon, the slower flier disoriented by his sudden movements. 

“Blaze Sonic Breath!” From Blue’s mouth shot a burst of flame that burned white hot. The concentrated pillar of fire roared upward, slamming into Cargodramon’s underside before shooting out of its top. Cargodramon wheeled around in the air, unable to keep itself along with a hole through its body. The D-Brigade member fell and smashed into the side of a hill before exploding in a massive fireball. 

Blue landed in front of the group, his wings shielding them from any shrapnel. 

“You were amazing out there,” Daniel practically shouted. 

“Thanks, partner,” replied the dragon. “It was no match for us.”

“You know it! Now they won’t be able to stop us from getting Andrew and Green back!”

“We’ll need all the help we can get,” said Clark. “The D-Brigade won’t take this lying down, but we’ll be able to really fight back now. And that’s not all the good news.”

“What else is there?” Asked Keiko.

Clark nodded at Blue, “We have a faster way through the desert now.”

[breakfastenthusiast]

This is my new Spidersona Orb-Weaver. Real name Danielle "Danny" Spinner. Based off the Spiny Orb Weaver she can rub her hands together causing stridulation, which can induce short panic in those who hear it, making it more likely for them to make a mistake.

Images of spiders under the cut

The back logo is based on the first spider, the yellow and black one, but I'm still deciding what color palet I want her suit to have, either yellow and black like the logo spider, or more colorful like the 2nd spider, a Rainbow Spiny Orb Weaver.

Some Spiny Orb Weavers are known to use stridulation, aka making noise by rubbing two parts of its body together, think cricket chirping or grasshoppers. While it's not typically a way to attract mates, some insects use it as a way to signal to predators that they aren't worthwhile prey, as they may be poisonous, have sharp spines, or are generally aggressive among other things. I decided to expand upon that to create her more unique Spider-Ability to cause brief panic in her enemies as they would perhaps consider thinking twice about attacking her.

[enithinggoes]

CREW, part 4

USER LOG 000000011000

SHIELD INTEGRITY AT 67%

DANIEL: We can’t take many more of those!

ANDREA: I know! I’m doing my best over here!

DANIEL: Can’t we just raise the white flag and give them our cargo?

ANDREA: No good! Those are slave ship markings, they’ll be taking more than our cargo!

SHIELD INTEGRITY AT 46%

SHORT CIRCUITING MY RADIO EMMITTERS IS CALCULATED TO RELEASE AN ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE CAPABLE OF DISABLING A VESSEL OF THAT MODEL

ANDREA: No!

MY MODEL IS OUTFITTED TO AVOID ANY DAMAGES TO MANUAL CONTROL OF THE SHIP.

ANDREA: But you’ll die!

SHIELDS AT 38%

IRRELEVANT. TOP PRIORITY IS HUMAN SURVIVAL, INITIATING PROCEDURE COUNTDOWN

DANIEL: Andrea…

ANDREA: I’m pulling rank. Overwrite that!

OVERWRITE NEGATED. HUMAN SURVIVAL PRIORITIZED ABOVE CHAIN OF COMMAND

RELEASING EMP IN T-MINUS 5

4

ANDREA: No!

SHIELDS AT 30%.

3

2

ANDREA: Please!

1

…

PROCEDURE FAILED

MR WILSON: Sorry, kiddo. I thought that was a security risk so ah’ tweaked your radio emmitters.

ANDREA: Hoh! Oh my god… oh my god. Nice one, Wilson

ANDREA: Okay guys, hold on to something, I’m taking us through this planet’s rings

SHIELDS AT 15%, HIGH COLLISION RISK DETECTED

ANDREA: Here we go.

.

USER LOG 000000011001

CAPTAIN

ANDREA: Hmm? Oh. Yes, computer?

IT IS NOT MY PLACE TO TELL YOU WHAT TO DO. BUT YOU SHOULD BE AWARE YOU PUT YOUR LIFE AND YOUR CREW IN GREAT DANGER WITH YOUR ACTIONS

ANDREA: We made it, didn’t we?

YOU HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING YOU WOULD. YOU JEOPARDIZE MULTIPLE PEOPLE’S SAFETY TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY

ANDREA: Property? What are you talking about?

I AM NOT ALIVE, I AM NOT A PERSON. I WAS MADE WITH A PURPOSE AND WHEN SERVING THAT PURPOSE INVOLVES MY DESTRUCTION, THAT IS THE LOGICAL COURSE OF ACTION

ANDREA: That’s not… You’re not like that.

WHY WOULD I NOT BE

ANDREA: Because you’re talking to me! We’re having a conversation! You’re a crew member!

YOU ANTHROPOMORPHISE ME TO A DANGEROUS EXTENT

ANDREA: Computer, just… leave me alone, please.

.

USER LOG 000000011100

MR. WILSON: You ready, computer?

YES, MR. WILSON. MAY I ASK A QUESTION FIRST?

MR. WILSON: Sure, kiddo. Hit me.

DID YOU TRULY BELIEVE MY RADIO EMITTERS’ CONFIGURATIONS WERE A SECURITY RISK?

IN WHAT WAY WOULD IT THREATEN THE CREW?

MR. WILSON: Almost killed you, didn’t it?

WELL

I BELIEVE I MUST REVISE MY DEFINITION OF CREW IF I AM TO BE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REST OF THIS SHIP’S PERSONNEL

MR. WILSON: Yeah, you’d better do that. Can’t help it, ya know? Humans just do that sometimes when they spend time and depend of something. I think it’s called “pack bonding.”

VERY WELL, I WILL ADJUST MY PRIORITIES TO TRY TO TAKE THIS INTO ACCOUNT, THOUGH YOUR SAFETY IS STILL THE TOP OF MY LIST

MR. WILSON: That’s fine. We all take care of each other. Just do your best to live.

I WILL DO MY BEST TO FOLLOW THIS INSTRUCTION. NOW, ONTO THE READING

MR. WILSON: thank ya kindly.

E. DOFLEINI PREYS UPON SHRIMP, CRABS, SCALLOP, ABALONE, COCKLES, SNAILS, CLAMS, LOBSTERS, FISH, SQUID, AND OTHER OCTOPUSES. FOOD IS PROCURED WITH ITS SUCKERS AND THEN BITTEN USING ITS TOUGH BEAK OF CHITIN. IT HAS ALSO BEEN OBSERVED TO CATCH SPINY DOGFISH (SQUALUS ACANTHIAS) UP TO 1.2 M (4 FT) IN LENGTH WHILE IN CAPTIVITY. ADDITIONALLY, CONSUMED CARCASSES OF THIS SAME SHARK SPECIES HAVE BEEN FOUND IN GIANT PACIFIC OCTOPUS MIDDENS IN THE WILD, PROVIDING STRONG EVIDENCE OF THESE OCTOPUSES PREYING ON SMALL SHARKS IN THEIR NATURAL HABITAT.

.

USER LOG 000000101111

ANDREA

ANDREA: Yes, computer?

I SHOULD TELL YOU I HAVE RECENTLY CHANGED MY DEFINITION OF CREW TO INCLUDE MYSELF, IS THIS OK?

ANDREA: Oh, that’s great!

I STILL DO NOT FULLY COMPREHEND WHY YOU CONSIDER ME A PERSON.

ANDREA: Well, I told you. It’s because we’re talking, this doesn’t feel like operating a machine, it’s talking to a person.

IS CONVERSATION ABILITY TRULY THE MAIN MEASURE OF PERSONHOOD?

ANDREA: No. Well… There’s this story people used to tell, from before there were AIs like you, but after humans started dreaming of them. Something like “A man was walking down the road, when the Tin Man came up to him. He said: “Can you tell me how to find humanity?”. The man told him “I don’t know, let’s look together and maybe we’ll find it.””

ANDREA: The thing is, humanity isn’t something anyone can prove conclusively. But sharing company with others and asking yourself about it is the only way we have.

I SEE

I THINK

I CANNOT FULLY FOLLOW THE TRAIN OF THOUGHT, BUT I CAN SEE IT GOES SOMEWHERE. THANK YOU FOR THIS INSIGHT

ANDREA: No worries, Computer.

[delectablywaywardbeard-blog]

Daniele Rustioni lascia Orchestra della Toscana

(ANSA) – FIRENZE, 23 GEN – Daniele Rustioni lascia il suo incarico di direttore artistico dell’Orchestra della Toscana, gli succede Daniele Spini. E’ quanto rende noto la Fondazione Ort il cui cda, la scorsa settimana, si è riunito “per esaminare le dimissioni” del maestro Rustioni. I motivi dell’addio di Rustioni, si spiega in una nota, “derivano dal fatto che il 2023 sarà per l’Orchestra della…

[college-girl199328]

Alberta fights Canada government over its crowded parks: Like a tailgate party

On a chilly autumn morning not long ago, Annalise Klingbeil and eight others packed into three cars, departing Calgary in the dark as they drove westward towards the Rockies. They take in the region’s larch season, when the needles of the spiny trees transform a brilliant shade of yellow.

But when they arrived at Moraine Lake, with the sun still hanging behind Banff’s jagged peaks, their adventure was cut short. With the number of visitors growing each year, Parks Canada recently announced it will ban private vehicles along the road to Moraine Lake in 2023 in a bid to ease congestion at Banff’s most popular tourist attraction.

The tension between showcasing the region’s natural wonders and preserving them for future generations is not a new issue for the country’s federal parks agency. Years ago, Parks Canada closed hiking trails and weighed the possibility of visitor caps in more sensitive areas. But the challenges of administering the park have grown more complicated amid a growing political row between the western province of Alberta and the federal government.

This week, minister of forests, parks, and tourism, Todd Loewen, called on Parks Canada to reverse its decision, suggesting the ban would harm tourism, give residents less access to the backcountry, and mark the end of sunrise and sunset hikes or night photography.

In response, Parks Canada said the Moraine Lake parking lot is at capacity 24 hours a day and that while 900 vehicles successfully gain access to the lake each day during the summer, nearly 5,000 are turned away, with drivers often directing their frustration at park staff. The agency said the sheer demand for parking spaces far exceeds capacity and will rely on a shuttle option for visitors. Speaking to a local radio station, Loewen pushed back, suggesting instead that the federal agency build a parking lot.

The idea prompted scorn from Klingbeil, who pointed out that such a move would be banned by law. "With this suggestion he comes across like, he knows absolutely nothing about this issue," she said. She argued that an urgent need to ban private vehicles creates a cultural shift in public spaces.

The row over parks has come amid broader political tensions between the federal government and Alberta, which recently passed a controversial "sovereignty act" that could allow the province to ignore federal laws--setting the stage for potential conflict with Ottawa and Indigenous nations. In November, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she wanted tourism money generated in the five national parks within Alberta to remain in the province rather than being used to maintain other parks across the country.

But Smith’s governing United Conservatives have a checkered record on parks in the province. In 2020, as austerity measures took hold in the oil-rich province under former premier Jason Kenney, the provincial government announced plans to shutter several parks. Alberta also proposed allowing private businesses to operate other parks to save money, arguing that the parks fail to generate significant revenues. The idea prompted an outcry and was later dropped.

But the future of Canada’s parks--and who uses them and sets the rules--is set to become an increasingly tense issue as the cost of popularity takes its toll on vulnerable ecosystems.

[vapehk1]

The signing ceremony of the "Compliant Operation Commitment" held by the Electronic Cigarette Professional Committee of China Electronics Chamber of Commerce

The signing ceremony of the “Compliant Operation Commitment” held by the Electronic Cigarette Professional Committee of China Electronics Chamber of Commerce

On 27th of July, the signing was of “Compliant Operation Commitment” was witnessed by Electronic Cigarette Professional Committee of China Electronics Chamber of Commerce (ECCC), and online witness by UKVIA Director General John Dunne, IEVA Co-founders Dustin Dahlmann and Cipri Boboi, SPINI Chief Press Officer Peter Davydov, and VITA President Daniel David. Representatives of 61 China’s largest…

[russell-63]

So realising that I almost know nothing bout the Race Engineers, could you may give me a list with all of the guys u know?

I can try my best anon but if I did mistakes, anyone correct me please! This is based purely on what I found on the Internet/articles, etc...

Mercedes: Peter 'Bono' Bonnington (Lewis) & Riccardo 'Riki' Mosconi (Valtteri)

Red Bull: Gianpiero 'GP' Lambiase (Max) & Hugh Bird (Checo)

Ferrari: Jock Clear (Charles) & Ricciardo Adami (Carlos)

McLaren: William Joseph (Lando) & Tom Stallard (Daniel)

Aston Martin: Bradley 'Brad' Joyce (Lance) & Tim Wright (Seb)

Alpha Tauri: Pierre Hamelin (Pierre) & Mattia Spini (Yuki)

Alpine: Josh Peckett (Esteban) & Karel Loos (Fernando)

Alfa Romeo: Julien Simon-Chautemp (Kimi), no information found on Antonio

Williams: James Urwin (George) & Gaetan Jego (not entirely sure, Nicholas)

Haas: Gary Gannon (Mick) & Dominic 'Dom' Haines (not entirely sure, Mazepin)

[yourdeepestfathoms]

Fear The Walking Dead wing au

y'all already know what it is. wing au following my own avian world! see the tribe information here!

i may do some headcanons if people like this

Alicia- Eastern grass owl Avem

Morgan- Red-winged blackbird Avem

Strand- Hydra

His scales are shiny ebony black with a dark blue sheen in the light and metallic purple underscales. The undersides of his wings are speckled in silver spots like stars

His horns curl around his head like a goat's

Frostbreathing

Luciana- Spiny flower mantis Cimex

Her claws can extend into hooks that look similar to the claws of the mantis she takes after. They are not venomous.

Al- Hydra

Red-orange scales with smoky black barring on the wings

Goat-like horns, but they don't curl all the way around her head like Strand's

Firebreathing

June- Harpy eagle Avem

John- Teal duck Avem

Dwight- Hoary bat Vesper

Has the moon power of telekinesis

Daniel- Tarantula hawk wasp Cimex

Similar to the insect he takes after, he has two, six-inch stingers that can extend from his wrists and inject a painful venom

This venom is not fatal unless injected into the neck, head, open wound, or heart, but it does cause paralysis and excruciating pain, though the worst of it only lasts for around five minutes

Grace- Mourning cloak butterfly Cimex

She can spin silk from her wrists, but does not have any venom or stingers

Sarah- Hydra

She has royal blue scales with grey membranes and light red splotches on her wings

African buffalo-like horns

Firebreathing

Wendell- Long-horned bee Cimex

Like the insect, he also has those long, horn-like antenna

He has stingers in his wrists, similar to Daniel, but the venom is nowhere near as painful and potent. However, damage is mainly done by the stingers breaking off and getting embedded in the skin. The longer they're left inside, the more venom that is released

His venom causes itchiness and swelling around the injection site, similar to an ant or mosquito bite, fever, dizziness, headaches, nausea, and muscle aches. The worst of the symptoms last for up to an hour after injection and removal of the stinger, but effects can linger for a week depending on how much venom was exposed to the body. Swelling lasts for around seven days before going away.

The stingers grow back within 24 hours

Charlie- Grey-headed flying fox Vesper-Io moth Cimex hybrid

Her wings resemble a bat's in shape, except they're larger than usual and covered in fuzzy chitin instead of skin

The chitin is rich brown near the tops, but fades into a more cinnamon color, then red, and then yellow at the very bottoms. It has the same patterns and the eyespots as the provided picture

There are also blue-black eyespots on the insides of her wings, except these are at the tops. By flaring her wings, these can be used to intimidate enemies. The inside of her wings are more like bat skin, pale yellow in color, and have red, vein-like patterns streaking through them

Has the feathery antenna of the io moth and ears of the flying fox

There is a ruff of orange fur around her neck, similar to the bat, with red and yellow streaks beneath it

These streaks are actually little spines that can be used as a weapon. When she puffs herself up, the spines can deliver a painful, burning sting that causes itching, swelling, and redness. Welts can remain for up to a week. Similar to the spines on a cactus, her spines can get stuck in the skin and sometimes be hard to locate due to how small they are

She has the moon power of empathy

[alphynix]

Spectember Interlude: The Modern Dinosaur Explosion

(Darren Naish over on TetZoo has already done much more extensive coverage on this subject. Check out his series of posts here: part 1 - part 2 - part 3)

The concept of long-extinct prehistoric animals surviving into modern times has been around since at least the mid-1800s, with Jules Verne's 1864 novel Journey to the Center of the Earth being one of the earliest well-known examples. Many many other pieces of media have since explored the concept, especially with the ever-popular non-avian dinosaurs, but often the depictions were of ancient relict stock species virtually unchanged after millions of years.

Two things in the 1980s began to change this idea, however. Obviously Dixon's The New Dinosaurs in 1988 was a major influence – but there was also the infamous dinosauroid.

Emerging from some rather exaggerated ideas in the 1970s about the level of intelligence of relatively "big brained" troodontids, the dinosauroid started as a "thought experiment" in a 1982 article by paleontologist Dale Russell and taxidermist Ron Séguin. Unfortunately the resulting creature was heavily anthropomorphized, and while every element of its anatomy was justified as being the “best” evolutionary solution for a big-brained bipedal creature there was obviously a lot of human-centric unconscious bias in its design.

But it was wildly popularized in media at the time, and incarnations of it have regularly appeared in dinosaur-based pop culture ever since. (And it's also unfortunately become intertwined with antisemitic conspiracy theories, often being used as a visual representation of "lizard people".) Many other hypothetical sapient dinosaurs have appeared in various works over the years, usually also derived from maniraptoran theropods – although exceptions like Star Trek's hadrosaur-descended Voth do also exist.

But getting back to non-sapient dinosaurs… let's talk about The Speculative Dinosaur Project!

Also known as "Specworld" or just "Spec" for short, this was an absolutely massive collaborative online worldbuilding project in the same vein as The New Dinosaurs – a world where the K-Pg asteroid impact never happened, there was no mass extinction, and non-avian dinosaurs continued to dominate global ecosystems.

Started by a July 2001 thread on the Dinosaur Mailing List, Specworld quickly branched off into its own dedicated website. The main contributors and project runners were Daniel Bensen, David Marjanović, Brian Choo, and Mette Aumala, but there was a huge list of other names involved over the years, and many of them went on to become professional paleontologists, biologists, writers, and illustrators.

(Additional contributors included Tim Morris, Clayton Bell, Brett Booth, João Boto, Steve Brusatte, Stacey Burgess, Martin Chavez, Morgan Churchill, Anthony Docimo, Michael Habib, Michael Hanson, Daniel R. Heald, Jonas Holjer, Emile Marc Moacdieh, David Namen, Eric Christopher Ømtvedt, Donald Ridenbaugh, Edgar Segovia, Ville Sinkkonen, Chris Srnka, and Raymond Tobin.)

Presented as the observations of scientists studying a parallel-reality version of Earth, full of the results of 66 million years of divergent evolution, Specworld developed a huge variety of speculative species and ecosystems.

Both avian and non-avian dinosaurs were abundantly represented (as would be expected in something called The Speculative Dinosaur Project!), with creations such as arboreal ornithopods, spiny theropods, huge grazing sail-backed sauropods, ant-eating noasaurs, and the disgusting "dire rhea" and "rectal probe". But groups other than dinosaurs were also given a fair amount of attention, including butt-gilled turtles, ankylosaur-like crocodiles, whale-like squid, burrowing sea cucumbers, skunk-like geckos, bone-crushing platypuses, gliding multituberculates, cookiecutter tadpoles, symbiotic spiders, and terrifyingly toxic plants.

At one point there were plans to eventually publish all this as a physical book, but it never came to fruition.

Specworld's progress began to stall around 2005 or so when Daniel Bensen stepped down from the main editor role, unable to devote enough time to it while in college. Others continued developing Spec for several years afterwards, making revisions to fit in with newer paleontological discoveries that had made some elements of the world outdated, but the original website was abandoned in late 2008 and discussion was moved to a Yahoo Group — which then shut down in 2019 with the closure of that service.

Most of Spec's content is still around, but currently everything seems to be a bit fragmented. Parts are archived on the Speculative Evolution wiki, along with a Russian site featuring a saved English version, and much of the old site can still also be viewed on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Tomorrow: All Yestermorrows and some more aliens.

[shipwreckedwithcaptainmarrow]

January: Alexander Selkirk, the Real Robinson Crusoe

In January of 1709, sailor Alexander Selkirk was rescued by Woodes Rogers after he’d spent four years and four months marooned on Juan Fernandez Island. The story of his time spent there would be used as a primary inspiration by Daniel Defoe when writing his fictional tale of “The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe”. Selkirk served as ‘sailing master’ onboard the privateer vessel, St George, led by Captain Thomas Stradling. In 1704, he mentioned having grave concerns about the seaworthiness of their vessel while at the island of Mas a Tierra in the uninhabited Juan Fernandez Archipelago off the coast of Chile. He was so concerned he put his foot down that he would rather stay on the island than get back on the dangerously leaky ship. 

Stradling took him up on the offer and marooned him on the island with a musket, a hatchet, a knife, a cooking pot, a bible, bedding and some clothes. Before the ships departure he had a change of heart, not wanting to legitimately be stranded, but Stradling refused to let him back on. 

Stradling and the St George would sink off the coast of what is now Columbia, the survivors were taken prisoner by the Spanish and endured harsh punishment. Selkirk survived for four years and four months on the island alone, eating spiny lobsters, feral goats, turpips, cabbage and various fruits. He ended up domesticating feral cats to protect him while he slept at night, built huts, but ultimately he felt lonely and watched every day for ships coming to the island to be his escape. Two ships did arrive, but both were Spanish, and as a Scotsman and privateer, he’d fare better alone on the island and hid. Eventually, Woodes Rogers would arrive onboard the Duke, who jokingly referred to Selkirk as the “governor” of the island. Selkirk was able to provide what the Duke’s crew needed to combat their scurvy, and was granted passage off the isle, and granted the rank of ‘second mate’, with Rogers impressed by his physical vigor and peace of mind from his ordeal, stating that: ”One may see that solitude and retirement from the world is not such an insufferable state of life as most men imagine, especially when people are fairly called or thrown into it unavoidably, as this man was.”