Links that may or may not be related to gardens, food, travel, nature, or heterotopias and liminal spaces but probably are. Sources in parentheses.
article: Vernal Pools: a Nursery for Amphibians and a Buffet for Predators (Emily Haynes/The Outside Story/Northern Woodlands). Vernal pools are free of fish (because the pools dry up) but other predators looking to them for early spring food: “Barred owls are one of the most prolific predators at vernal pools. Although these predators typically hunt from perches high up in the trees, they’re not averse to getting their feet wet. ‘I’ve seen them hunting by going down into the water and shuffling through and picking salamanders in the shallows.’”
36-min video: Every Eye In The Animal Kingdom (Lars Schmitz/Wired). Schmitz guides us “through a giant tree of life mapping the evolution of eyes in the animal kingdom: how they work, why they’ve taken the form they have, and the evolutionary advantages they’ve unlocked across species.” Informative and beautiful.
list: Two Hundred Fifty Things An Architect Should Know (Michael Sorkin/ReadingDesign). Including The rate at which seas are rising; A comfortable tread-to-riser ratio for a six-year-old in a wheelchair; The migratory patterns of warblers and other seasonal travellers; Jane Jacobs in and out; The direction of prevailing winds; The difference between Winchester Cathedral and a bicycle shed; The proper proportions of a gin martini; The meaninglessness of borders; and The reasons for their tenacity; The depth of the aquifer beneath you; Crepuscule in Dharamshala; Woodshop safety.
short video: Colossal Squid, first observation (Schmidt Ocean Institute/You Tube). 1-1/2 minute video. “The red colouration of the arms and large rust red chromataphores on the mantle suggests that the animal can switch between transparent and opaque.”
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