#they are underrated

[ciaheyhimm]

I'll keep posting about them.

[star01134]

Can we talk about them more please?

Okay, yeah. Good talk, that was all. I'm back to lurking now ^-^

[fantasma-de-la-cueva]

Que sí, son las 4 am y debería estar durmiendo, pero aquí está el Axel Blaze/Alex Zabel versión serpiente por razones que ya publiqué anteriormente xD.

Eng translation: I know, its 4 am and I should be sleeping, but here’s the snake version of Gouenji Shuuya/Ishido Shuuji for reasons I posted previously xD.

Como es dibujo con base diré que tanto cuerpo como cabeza están sacados de las imágenes de aquí abajo, la melenaza está sacado de los juegos. Así que nada más, disfrutad

—Its traced art, body and head are taken from the next images, mane is from the games. So nothing, enjoy

[kozmicmizuu]

another thing that haunts my mind is such a silly thing i’m so mentally unstable it shows

tengen: soooo… who’s your dealer?

giyuu, spaced the fuck out: huh?

kyojuro: do not ask for drugs tengen! and giyuu you should not be doing them!

giyuu, confused: what..? huh, what are you talking about?

tengen: weed, do you do weed. the mary jane, the devils lettuce, 420-

kyojuro: we get it tengen..

giyuu: oh.. i haven’t had a hit of that in awhile so-

tengen: SO YOU DO WEED!!! I KNEW IT

kyojuro: tomioka! that’s not something you should be doing!

giyuu: also for my dealer, it’s me, i’m my own dealer

tengen: what? you mean you grow that shit??? oh my me that’s so flashy

kyojuro: oh my, didn’t expect that from you tomioka! well actually…

giyuu: do i look like a stoner..?

tengen and kyojuro, immediately: yes

giyuu: awwwh ☹️

…

tengen: ok but like, can i get some?

giyuu: sure, how much you paying?

kyojuro: can i put in food?

giyuu: you can try

kyojuro: yay :)

[jeremiahslaugh]

Jim: You don't scare me.

Jerome: Then why is your heart beating so fast?

Jim: Cause you're kinda cute.

Jerome: *blushes*

[thebutterflypoetess]

The Sheriarty fandoms needs more fanfics, in which they are married. That's why I'm writing my own fanfic.

[4amdiego]

okay so if i asked you

"hey, whats a siren?"

and you say the mermaid type story

i cry into my pillow every night

[desolationlesbian]

sometimes I think too hard about like. how the ability to record audio fundamentally changed how humans interact with music. can you imagine if the only time you ever heard music in your whole life was when you or another human being in your actual physical presence decided to create it. and 99.99% of the time that person was not a professional but just like your wife or your dad or your co-worker or church choir singing or playing whatever they happened to know. i honestly don't think we can fathom it

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Yellowjacket-Mimicking Moth: this is just a harmless moth that mimics the appearance and behavior of a yellowjacket/wasp; its disguise is so convincing that it can even fool actual wasps

This species (Myrmecopsis polistes) may be one of the most impressive wasp-mimics in the world. The moth's narrow waist, teardrop-shaped abdomen, black-and-yellow patterning, transparent wings, smooth appearance, and folded wing position all mimic the features of a wasp. Unlike an actual wasp, however, it does not have any mandibles or biting/chewing mouthparts, because it's equipped with a proboscis instead, and it has noticeably "feathery" antennae.

There are many moths that use hymenopteran mimicry (the mimicry of bees, wasps, yellowjackets, hornets, and/or bumblebees, in particular) as a way to deter predators, and those mimics are often incredibly convincing. Myrmecopsis polistes is one of the best examples, but there are several other moths that have also mastered this form of mimicry.

Above: Pseudosphex laticincta, another moth species that mimics a yellowjacket

These disguises often involve more than just a physical resemblance; in many cases, the moths also engage in behavioral and/or acoustic mimicry, meaning that they can mimic the sounds and behaviors of their hymenopteran models. In some cases, the resemblance is so convincing that it even fools actual wasps/yellowjackets.

Above: Pseudosphex laticincta

Such a detailed and intricate disguise is unusual even among mimics. Researchers believe that it developed partly as a way for the moth to trick actual wasps into treating it like one of their own. Wasps frequently prey upon moths, but they are innately non-aggressive toward their own fellow nest-mates, which are identified by sight -- so if the moth can convincingly impersonate one of those nest-mates, then it can avoid being eaten by wasps.

Above: Pseudosphex laticincta

I gave an overview of the moths that mimic bees, wasps, yellowjackets, hornets, and bumblebees in one of my previous posts, but I felt that these two species (Myrmecopsis polistes and Pseudosphex laticincta) deserved to have their own dedicated post, because these are two of the most convincing mimics I have ever seen.

Above: Pseudosphex sp.

I think that moths in general are probably the most talented mimics in the natural world. They have so many intricate, unique disguises, and they often combine visual, behavioral, and acoustic forms of mimicry in order to produce an uncanny resemblance.

Several of these incredible mimics have already been featured on my blog: moths that mimic jumping spiders, a moth that mimics a broken birch twig, a moth caterpillar that can mimic a snake, a moth that disguises itself as two flies feeding on a pile of bird droppings, a moth that mimics a dried-up leaf, a moth that can mimic a cuckoo bee, and a moth that mimics the leaves of a poplar tree.

Moths are just so much more interesting than people generally realize.

Sources & More Info:

Journal of Ecology and Evolution: A Hypothesis to Explain Accuracy of Wasp Resemblances

Entomology Today: In Enemy Garb: A New Explanation for Wasp Mimicry

iNaturalist: Myrmecopsis polistes and Pseudosphex laticincta

Transactions of the Entomological Society of London: A Few Observations on Mimicry

[loserfae]

[notherpuppet]

Merry Xmas!

Part 1/2

Part 2

[el-conejo-loco]

Soundgarden - Spoonman (Acoustic cover by Edward Forslund)

[mayomkun]

Glasses buddies 😎

[deep-space-netwerk]

What do you mean by Venus floating cities?

I'm hoping to write a science fiction story about visiting Venus as part of the space race and I would love your input

Alright so the thing with Venus is that we're all very familiar with her horrible hell-death clouds and 900°F surface temperatures. We all understand the surface of Venus is not a fun place for humans to be.

But, nobody ever talks about the fact that ABOVE the hell-death clouds, Venus is a paradise. The most Earth-like environment we know of in the solar system, beyond Earth itself, is actually in the skies of Venus.

About 30 miles above the surface, the pressure is ~1 atmosphere, and the temperature ranges from 30 - 100°F, which is Happy Human™ standard pressure and temperature.

What's more, a breathable mix of oxygen and nitrogen provides over 60% the lifting power on Venus that helium does on Earth. In other words, a balloon full of human-breathable air would float to the habitable range of Venus's atmosphere. We could float a ship with the very air we breathe.

The other great thing about this is that it avoids one of the big problems with Mars colonization. On Mars, any habitat on the surface full of breathable air is vulnerable to leaks and explosive decompression, a la the Martian.

Floating on Venus, a balloon full of breathable air doesn't have a significant pressure difference between the inside and the outside. Which means, any leaks or tears would be very slow and manageable. You could fix that shit with duct tape!

Similarly, because the environment outside the balloon is so Earth-like, humans living there wouldn't need any big fancy pressurized suits for extravehicular work. We'd need air to breathe, maybe some heat protection, and protection against the acid rain. That's it. 

Venus also provides the tools to keep us fed! It's atmosphere is made primarily of carbon dioxide, even above the dense horrible clouds. What likes carbon dioxide? Plants from Earth!! Lets grow FOOD on FLOATING PLATFORMS in the SKIES of VENUS.

This whole idea actually came out of a NASA effort exploring potential Venus colonization. The program was called HAVOC - the High Altitude Venus Operational Concept.

It hasn't really gone anywhere, and as far as I know there are no real plans to revisit it. Unfortunately, from a practicality standpoint, Mars is a much more viable target for human colonization. Not only is it better poised for outer solar system exploration, being farther away from the sun, but living on Venus would come with too many complicated contingencies. In the event of a major failure on Venus, you'd need to fly to another base, or fuck off all the way to orbit. I understand why people aren't really in a hurry to live somewhere where landing on the surface means certain death.

But that doesn't mean I won't be forever and always enamored by the skies of Venus. Here's one of the artist concepts to come out of HAVOC.

I want to be there.

[vidalharkness]

STARDUST (2007) dir. Matthew Vaughn

FILM & TV YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW: Day 1 – favorite @pscentral members' choice – event 33: underrated tv & film