iconophilia » NATURAL HISTORY

a forbidden energy state

Nigel — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 04:24:48 +0000

Uncle Wiki tells us: Phosphorescence is a specific type of photoluminescence related to fluorescence. Unlike fluorescence, a phosphorescent material does not immediately re-emit the radiation it absorbs. The slower time scales of the re-emission are associated with “forbidden” energy state transitions in quantum mechanics. As these transitions occur less often in certain materials, absorbed radiation may be re-emitted at a lower intensity for up to several hours. As seen (by flash, so you don’t see their forbidden green fluorescent state) at Penders… aka Ghost Fungus.

I promise you

Nigel — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:15:25 +0000

…it is springtime! (photo by PFMcG)

ngarltultjarra

Nigel — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:25:17 +0000

(which means: poor things) – these were our casualties of the road – a Diamond Dove and a Rufous Whistler…

remember the camel plague?

Nigel — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 09:52:17 +0000

There’s not much you’re allowed to photograph in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands. But there’s no love lost for the feral camels that were culled last year following the invasions of local communities. Remember the uproar last Christmas when there was a camel plague Docker River? See here. This is where the remains of the cull were cremated. And there are still millions out there. Seriously.

And the solution? Some say it’s the dinner table! There’s been some talk of a central Australian camel abbatoir. But harvesting will not address the ongoing ecological issues – the ongoing pollution/loss of waterholes will have a massive impact on core populations of wildlife…

death stare fails on cane toad

Nigel — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 08:06:13 +0000

In this variation on kiss-a-baby politics. Read all about it on the ABC here. Missed it? Go here.

Intrepid whale watchers

Nigel — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:32:49 +0000

discover that The Saint Effect has expired…

camouflage and/or symbiosis

Nigel — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:04:18 +0000

camouflage. noun 1. 1917, from Fr. camoufler, Parisian slang, “to disguise,” from It. camuffare “to disguise,” perhaps a contraction of capo muffare “to muffle the head.” Probably altered by Fr. camouflet “puff of smoke,” on the notion of “blow smoke in someone’s face.” I’m sure this isn’t what Gordon Bennett intended?

And then I wondered, there must be somewhere better than this window-sill for a moth to hang out, relax… which reminded me of

li-chen. noun 1. any complex organism of the group Lichenes, composed of a fungus in symbiotic union with an alga and having a greenish, gray, yellow, brown, or blackish thallus that grows in leaflike, crustlike, or branching forms on rocks, trees, or Ford Anglias.

And special thanks to Sharon Peoples who has lent me the fantastic Thames and Hudson/Imperial War Museum (2007) publication Camouflage by Tim Newark. This you must see.

two rares at the same time

Nigel — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:51:57 +0000

A black-faced cuckoo-shrike and female satin bower bird cross paths in the tree outside my office a moment ago!

vomit bags ready?

Nigel — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 07:05:00 +0000

I nearly titled this post “dog p*rn”. And then I realized I’d be attracting the wrong kind of dog-lovers: if you’re brave, go here at the NYT.

going, going, gone…

Nigel — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:13:11 +0000

Only last month a single bluefin sold at auction in Japan for more than US$175,000. Writes David Ritter on Unleashed… Read and be very afraid.