#restoration and preservation

[graintrainbrain]

An ex-Manitoba Hydro GE 25-ton switcher and an ex-Canadian Pacific caboose sit on display outside the CP station in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, 06/22/2017. Photo by Colin Arnot via Railpictures.ca

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

cnetizens post souvenir they got at various chinese museums

these are all fridge stickers

[subterraneanna]

I've been scanning and restoring some pieces of original Star Trek: TOS film and wanted to share this before and after from a deleted scene in the episode "Elaan of Troyius":

At nearly 60 years old, the film is in bad shape, exhibiting substantial scratches and color shifting. The magenta/red tint is a good example of dye fading, a sign of deterioration likely due to the film stock it was shot on.

Prior to 1950, color motion picture film was shot in Technicolor, which required a large, cumbersome camera to simultaneously expose 3 separate strips of negative film that then underwent a proprietary dye imbibition process to create a full color image. Though visually stunning and remarkably color-stable, it was a complicated, expensive process reserved only for high budget productions. In 1950, Eastman Kodak introduced Eastmancolor, the first 35 mm “single-strip” color motion picture negative -- in short, a film that was easy to shoot and process, and compared to Technicolor, only used a 1/3 of the film stock. Suddenly color film was an affordable option for studios and its popularity took off. Eastmancolor was composed of a single strip of negative film surfaced with 3 layers of light-sensitive gelatin emulsion. During development, a chemical reaction produced magenta, yellow, and cyan dyes on their corresponding layers, which were superimposed to create a full color image. Unfortunately, these dyes were unstable, something that wasn't apparent until aging films began to lose their color in the following years.

The Star Trek image above is pink because its yellow and cyan dyes have faded away, leaving just the magenta layer. The information may be lost, but digital restoration can improve what's left. But because the yellow and cyan greatly contributed to the overall density of the image, basic color balancing still produces a lower contrast version compared to what the original must have looked like. The missing richness and depth seems most apparent in the skin tones, but hand painting some of the color can bring a little life back to it, as I've done here. It's a challenge because, as far as I can tell, the only remaining footage or still shots of this scene show some level of dye fading. Fortunately, now that the film is digitized, restoration can be an ongoing project. If you own any color motion picture film negatives or prints, the sooner you get them scanned the better. In the meantime, helpful storage information can be found here.

It's been a while since I've shot any film (film major), so it's nice to see it again, even if it's chopped up into single frames. I have a small collection of them so I'll post more restored images as they're completed. BTW @cheer-deforest-kelley has a great post on how this film went from the editing room floor to the hands of fans.

[leroibobo]

really do not think people understand the extent to which palestinian sites/landmarks (especially muslim ones) were destroyed, beginning in 1948 until now, even in cities. the oldest extant mosque in jaffa (al-bahr mosque) was built in 1675, even though islam came there in the 7th century

[marzipanandminutiae]

I see a Craigslist ad titled "apartment in grand Victorian house!"

I click through the interior photos

I see minimalist Landlord White bullshit where period details definitely could have been left while still dividing the house up

now I am no closer to finding a preferable place to rent but I'm filled with rage

[hood-ex]

Do you think Bruce ever gets mad over the fact that his old cave footage of Dick and Alfred isn't HD quality and is grainy as hell. Cuz I feel like he would go back and watch those just to remember the good ole days. Dick would say something but it would be all muffled because the mic on the camera wasn't as good back then, and Bruce would replay it 20 times to try and make it out.

[akabloom]

swapping places

alt text under the cut

[a digital drawing of matoba and natori from natsume yuujinchou. the drawing is in mostly grey scale of the both of them from a role swap au. natori is sitting holding a black cane looking down with a smile and the gecko youkai crawling across his face. he is wearing a kimono with a haori. matoba is in a closer shot on the left side, 3/4 view looking at natori with a neutral expression. he is holding a bow in his hand. in the background, a few of natoris paper dolls are behind him while behind matoba is his youkai pot.]

[solradguy]

Japanese advertisement for Guilty Gear (1998). Central illustration by Daisuke Ishiwatari, logo and poster graphic design by unknown.

Upscaled and texture corrected from a 620x876px JPG file. Original art scan credit unknown.

[voluptuarian]

Was watching the live coverage of Notre Dame's reopening service when I got not one, but two political jump scares of all time

Why is Trump there? He's not even the president??

And of course, where Trump goes the First Lady must follow

[makkapakka-212]

The Shelter tiktok account hasn't posted anything since October 5th. We are in the dark ages it's so over

[graintrainbrain]

A Canadian Pacific freight train led by CP 5756 works its way along the Minnedosa subdivision, passing a handcar and restored CP caboose No. 431970 on display in Minnedosa's Tanner's Crossing Park, Manitoba, 10/04/1976. Photo by Ken Perry via Railpictures.ca

[bisexualmcqueen]

coming back to cars in 2024 is like going crazy. 2004 production crew interviews have been lost to link rot, old old fanfics from when i was 10 have been nuked, disney has pruned most of the cars 3 promo reels from existence (FOR NO REASON???), you cant even save a nice png off of google anymore or take screenshots with captions on, images are Visibly deteriorating to jpeg compression, etc etc (and theres that behind the scenes california sound design segment i literally cannot prove is even real anymore and i feel like im going mad repeating that i saw it)

i just. ive cared about cars for 20 years now. its not going to Go Away. im going to care still when im 85. i need a library. i need to build some sort of goddamn personal cars Library. im gonna turn into the crazy media preservation guy just to prove i didnt imagine it all. so i can read that cars fic again when im 85. im gonna be binding books in another ten years at this rate i swear to god

this is not to make anyone sad, but the reality is that things really are starting to get lost here. its been a long time, its inevitable. save what you love. make backups, etc etc. its just something ive only just now begun to notice.

[plethoraworldatlas]

As U.S. conservationists continue to fight for federal protections that would cover gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains, research released Wednesday highlights just how important the apex predators are to the western United States.

The study was published in the journal BioScience and led by William Ripple, a scientist at Oregon State University (OSU) and the Conservation Biology Institute known for his work on trophic cascades and carnivores as well as his demands for climate action.

The paper uses gray wolves to show the trouble with "shifting baselines," which, "in ecology encapsulate the gradual and often unnoticed alterations in ecosystems over time, leading to a redefinition of what is considered normal or baseline conditions."

As the study details:

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) in North America have experienced a substantial contraction of their historical range, at one point almost disappearing from the contiguous 48 United States. However, their conservation is important in part because of the potential cascading effects wolves can have on lower trophic levels. Namely, the proliferation and changes to behavior and density of large herbivores following the extirpation or displacement of wolves can have major effects on various aspects of vegetation structure, succession, productivity, species composition, and diversity, which, in turn, can have implications for overall biodiversity and the quality of habitat for other wildlife.

"By the 1930s, wolves were largely absent from the American West, including its national parks," Ripple said in a statement. "Most published ecological research from this region occurred after the extirpation of wolves."

"This situation underscores the potential impact of shifting baselines on our understanding of plant community succession, animal community dynamics, and ecosystem functions," he continued.

The researchers examined journal articles, master's theses, and Ph.D. dissertations from 1955 to 2021 that involved field work in national parks in the northwestern United States for whether they included information on the removal of gray wolves.

They found that "in total, approximately 41% (39 of 96) of the publications mentioned or discussed the historical presence of wolves or large carnivores, but most (approximately 59%) did not. The results for the theses and journal articles were similar."

While the researchers focused on wolves, Robert Beschta, co-author and emeritus professor at OSU, noted that "in addition to the loss or displacement of large predators, there may be other potential anthropogenic legacies within national parks that should be considered, including fire suppression, invasion by exotic plants and animals, and overgrazing by livestock."

Ripple stressed that "studying altered ecosystems without recognizing how or why the system has changed over time since the absence of a large predator could have serious implications for wildlife management, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem restoration."

"We hope our study will be of use to both conservation organizations and government agencies in identifying ecosystem management goals," he added.

Amaroq Weiss, senior wolf advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), welcomed the study, tellingInside Climate News that "I think this is a really important paper, because sometimes science advances at a certain rate without a self-introspection."

"Nature is a really complex tapestry," she said. "It's woven together by threads that hold it together and keep it strong. When you start to pull threads out like you remove apex predators, the whole thing begins to unravel."

The paper comes amid a wolf conservation battle that involves Weiss' group. In February, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) determined that Endangered Species Act protections for the wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains were "not warranted."

Two coalitions of conservation organizations, including CBD, swiftly filed notices of their intent to sue over the decision if FWS didn't change course. After the legally required 60-day notice period passed, they filed the lawsuits in April.

Earlier this week, "the cases were voluntarily dismissed and immediately refiled to avoid any potential arguments from the defendants that the plaintiffs failed to give the secretary of the interior proper 60-days' notice under the Endangered Species Act," Collette Adkins, an attorney who leads CBD's Carnivore Conservation program, told Common Dreams in an email Thursday.

"Plaintiffs believe that their case was properly noticed," she said, "but we refiled to avoid any further disruption of the proceedings."

[asgardian--angels]

Just wanted to thank you for taking the time and effort to put together the long climate/environment post, especially the online resources. I've wanted to replace the neglected/dead non-native plants at my place with native plants for months, but didn't know where to start my search for species except to walk around my local nature preserve trying to find something that isn't invasive lol. I'll be able to start (re)introducing native plants this month because of you :-)

Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad the post has been helpful and inspiring. If you'd like more directed guidance on native plants, I can probably point you in the right direction if you can give me a general area to work with (state would suffice!). In general, go for keystone species- those that are common in your area and support many kinds of insects- or pollinator favorites, or host plants for rare/imperiled butterflies/bees/moths.

[worstloki]

Is there any evidence that MCU Odin does paperwork or has everyone been imagining he has an office and written peace treaties stashed somewhere

[conservallama]

When you're a conservation student, you're taught that every object requires intense background research before any actions are taken. You can spend several weeks finding out interesting details about an object that will inform your intervention. When you start a museum job in what we call "bench conservation" (meaning you sit down - presumably on a bench - and work on the objects), you might get given 20 things and told they need to be done by yesterday, so extra care will need to be taken and maybe extra off-work hours too! So, if you're a student, enjoy your research time! Chances are you'll never have as much of it again after you graduate. ___ Follow for more conservation and museum-related memes.