Two brown millipedes are positioned on the rough surface of a tree trunk, one on the other’s back and bodies closely aligned. Green blurred background.
Arthropod Photo of the Week: April 15, 2026
Millipede
Oxidus gracilis
Polydesmida: Paradoxosomatidae
Observed in Fort Mountain State Park, Georgia USA
By Steve Long (www.longnaturephotography.com), Florida, USA
#arthropodPOTW
Tonight’s waxing crescent #Moon. 🔭
Unregulated AI like speeding with no steering wheel.
AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton insists on the need to strictly regulate the technology, warning that it remains unclear if humanity can co-exist with super intelligent AI
u.afp.com/SE9L
I can’t help wonder what this British astronomer would think.? His Stellarum Inerrantium Catalogus Britannicus mapped 2,919 stars more accurately than prior catalogues and his Atlas Coelestis was the largest that ever had been published at the time (posthumously in 1729).
Space breakthrough: British scientists reveal most detailed 3D map of the universe that captures millions of galaxies
https://www.europesays.com/uk/908151/
British scientists have unveiled the most comprehensive three-dimensional map of the cosmos ever assembled, marking the conclusion of…
Several favorites combined: books, mathematics (or maths for the over the ponders) & scientific art 📚 🧮 🐡
“Lateral line departing from the ring encompassing the eye, like a tangent ascending in a superb curve toward the back”
Anderson’s engravings were for polymath Samuel Mitchill’s treatise, “The Fishes of New-York.” At the top is a species Mitchill described as the “Mathematical Tetrodon.” 🐡 🦑 🧮
Iran’s decision to not be in Pakistan on Wednesday is final.-Tasnim
“Lateral line departing from the ring encompassing the eye, like a tangent ascending in a superb curve toward the back”
Anderson’s engravings were for polymath Samuel Mitchill’s treatise, “The Fishes of New-York.” At the top is a species Mitchill described as the “Mathematical Tetrodon.” 🐡 🦑 🧮
A page from an unpublished medical text by Alexander Anderson. It's reads "Medical Grammar" at the top. At the bottom is someone sick lying on a bed. A doctor is shooting death who is having over the bed brandishing an arrow. Alexander Anderson Papers / New-York Historical Society Library. #virology #virus #medsky #histmed
Anderson was the first doctor at the future Bellevue Hospital, established to deal with the 1795 NYC yellow fever outbreak. He returned during the 1798 outbreak, but resigned after a good portion of his family died from the disease. Here he depicts himself fighting death. (2/2) 🦠
Several fish species illustrated in very fine detail in profile on a very old page. #sciart #booksky #fishes
Engraver, artist & physician Alexander Anderson was born OTD in 1775. Self-taught starting at age 12, he engraved these 🐟 illustrations in my 1815 copy of ‘Transactions of the Literary and Philosophical Society of New York.’ His name under the smaller one means he also was the artist (1/2) 🐡
A photo of the Himalayan Monal. The bird is visible in profile. It is dazzlingly colored in shades of green, orange, and blue.
Meet the Himalayan Monal! 🌈 Males flaunt iridescent feathers to attract mates. Found in the Himalayas, this bird lives at altitudes up to 16,000 ft (4,877 m) in summer! It uses its hooked beak to forage for insects, seeds, and berries.
Hari K Patibanda, CC BY-NC 2.0, iNaturalist
Uh oh…
My photo of a blood sucking tick on a rock.
Lastly, I believe the miracle of evolution that started over 3 billion years ago on spaceship earth creating the mind boggling diversity throughout all of its kingdoms, each species perfectly suited & equally deserving of their existence.
Except these; they can rot in hell (12/n)
Thank you :)
I could find no literature (granted, in a short amount of time) that explains the pentaradial symmetry seen below. Echinoderms are the only animal phylum that possess it.
A close up photo as described in the post. The tip is obliquely pointed toward the viral and covers with waxy looking pentagons. My 📸
Back in the riparian area on the way back, a close up of the silicon rich, hollow stem and spore producing tip of Rough horsetail (Equisetum hyemale). The myriad of pentagons are fascinating. The five-fold symmetry reminds me of echinoderms like you see on a sea lily (crinoid) base (11/n) 🦑
A pinkish orange rock with shine Micah and quartz embedded in it. My 📸 #geology #minerals #mineralsky
As always, the geology was nothing to ignore. Large deposits of metamorphic rocks infused with quartz and mica. Plenty of pocket size pieces scattered along the trail (10/n)
A photo of a swift moving creek running through a forested area. My 📸
The trail finally left the original river and headed up a more significant creek that gave the trail its name. Again, it was running high and swift from recent snow melt. (6/n)
A phot of moss covered rocks with a small waterfall running between them. My 📷 #mossy #fungi #fungifriends 🍄
The trail had crystal clear, tertiary streams running across it, running high from the recent snow melt. (5/n)
A close up of a fern frond wrapped in a tight spiral. My 📸
Of course no riparian ground cover is complete without the beautiful geometry of a fern frond, in this case a northern maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum), another example of how nature loves a logarithmic spiral. (4/n)
A photo of a mossy bank with a variety of riparian broadleaf plants and some ferns. A white flower is peaking out of one of the plants. My 📸
The trail starts parallel to the river through a cool, moist riparian cedar forest. The mossy ground cover was spotted with pacific trillium and other native wildflowers. (3/n)
A sweeping landscape photo from a high elevation with mountainous terrain receding in the distance My 📸
Higher and higher, the river I started is visible on the distance. Again, I was the only member of our species on this entire hours long hike (9/n)
A clump of blue wildflowers growing just above a large boulder . My 📸
Along the trail there were still plenty of native wildflowers well suited for the change, in this case twolobe larkspur (Delphinium nuttallianum). (8/n)
A photo of a trail climbing as per the post. My 📸
The trail rapidly climbed and as it did, the ecosystem quickly changed to a more arid, rocky, alpine landscape
(7/n)
A photo of a swift moving creek running through a forested area. My 📸
The trail finally left the original river and headed up a more significant creek that gave the trail its name. Again, it was running high and swift from recent snow melt. (6/n)
A phot of moss covered rocks with a small waterfall running between them. My 📷 #mossy #fungi #fungifriends 🍄
The trail had crystal clear, tertiary streams running across it, running high from the recent snow melt. (5/n)
A close up of a fern frond wrapped in a tight spiral. My 📸
Of course no riparian ground cover is complete without the beautiful geometry of a fern frond, in this case a northern maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum), another example of how nature loves a logarithmic spiral. (4/n)
A photo of a mossy bank with a variety of riparian broadleaf plants and some ferns. A white flower is peaking out of one of the plants. My 📸
The trail starts parallel to the river through a cool, moist riparian cedar forest. The mossy ground cover was spotted with pacific trillium and other native wildflowers. (3/n)
A photo of a river with some rapids visible in the foreground. A reeling bank is in the far side. My 📸
The trailhead starts at a crystal clear, whitewater river that runs through the surrounding national forest. All images in this thread are my photos (2/n)