Day 5176: Reads on my bedside table. & Koala Fingerprints.

"Emmanuele": acrylic, ink, junk paper collage on Banana skin paper.

  

  

Want music?

   Click: Etta James, Somethings Got a Hold on Me.

2GN2S

While in Nevada recently, I took 3 books to read, and bought another while I was there.

A. One was recommended by my cousin Michelle and I am 1/3 in.

B. One was given by my friend Michelle, and I am 3/4 through.

C. One I had bought on a whim and it is completely read.

D. And one, I bought and have barely started. 

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is which is which?

If you don't accept, or don't want to play that's okay too. 

I'm just curious, one? no-one? no problem.

Of course, if you have read any of the four, I'd love to hear your thoughts? 

Do you want any when I'm done, let me know?

 Koalas have fingerprints so similar to ours that even forensic experts struggle to tell them apart from a human print.

Look closely at a koala's fingertips and you will find ridges that look almost identical to human fingerprints. Their patterns form loops, whorls, and arches — even though koalas are marsupials, only distantly related to us.

Researchers Maciej Henneberg, Kosette Lambert, and Chris Leigh described this eerie similarity in a 1997 paper in Natural Science. Working from the University of Adelaide, they found the resemblance holds both to the naked eye and under magnification.

Scientists call this convergent evolution: distant species independently developing the same solution. Koala and human lineages split over 70 million years ago, yet both evolved ridges — likely because gripping branches and handling leaves demands fine touch.

And here is the twist: a partial print at a scene could confuse an examiner who assumes it must be human. It rarely causes real problems, but the patterns are close enough to create genuine doubt.

Source: Henneberg, Lambert & Leigh, Natural Science (1997)

  

 

A 4 minute video,  Lost Penguin, 

 

Just because ...

Crested Guineafowl

Monday's Smiles ... 

Hoping you feel all the good things in your day.

  

 

 

 

Day 5175: Sensei Anthony Rios & Last Two Northern White Rhinos.

"Antoine": junkr paper collage, digital.                j.long

   

                                                                        

Want music?

   Click: Smokey Robinson, Daryl Hall, Sara Smile.

2GN2S

 

I went to a Memorial Service today. I haven't been too peppy lately and it was hard to get up to be ready when Mitchell and Noriko picked me up at 11 am. But at 10 am when I was dressed and just about to start silly putty-ing my weary face, good friend Irene called and just her voice helped me to get going. Isn't it wonderful what a friend can do, even long distance. I knew I could cancel and it would not really matter, except to me. I have learned that I never regret going and doing what is difficult for me, but I do regret when I don't.

Good friend Mitchell and I had visited Tony when he was in hospice. Even-though he was in pain and medicated, he was himself, the kind, funny caring person as always. So when we received word that he had passed it was still a shock. I had always admired Tony for his big heart and how he cared for his student and inspired them. So as many spoke today sharing their memories and their love for he and his wife, Cindy. One man who had trained with Sensei Rios (Tony) since a child, told of the Northridge earthquake causing his family's apartment to be condemned and they were moved out to the parking lot. Tony and Cindy invited them into their home for the next two months! There were many tributes and so much love and respect shown. The church was full with many standing in the back, all there on a warm California day to say goodbye to one of the real good guys, Anthony Rios. 

Only two northern white rhinos remain alive under constant security in Kenya. Najin and Fatu, a mother and daughter, are the world's final two northern white rhinos living at Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy. With no surviving males left, dedicated keepers and armed guards protect them 24/7 while scientists attempt to save the subspecies by creating embryos using preserved genetic material and southern white rhino surrogates.

#photography #Rhinos #Kenya

  

 

A 3  minute video, Little Red Hen, here.

 

 

Just because ...

Baby Owls

Sunday's Smiles ... 

Hoping you see all the good things in your day.

  

 

 

 

Day 5174: ‘Street Photography Africa’ & Cusco Stones.

"Mamaronic": photo, postcard, digital collage.                 j.long

 

  

Want music?

   Click: Glass Animals, Gooey.

2GN2S

 

‘Street Photography Africa’

Kothegrapher, Old Wall, A Balancing Act, Gwagwalada FCT, Abuja, Nigeria (2024).

From the markets of Dakar and Lagos to the sidewalks of Abidjan and the Beherawi neighborhood of Addis Abab, a bold new book by Nadine Barthand Azu Nwagbogu travels from country to country to present a vast portrait of life on the continent. Street Photography Africa compiles hundreds of images from 33 photographers who each turn their lens to public spaces, documenting cultural moments with musicians and dancers alongside more everyday fashions and routines. While vast in scope, location, and style, the nearly 300-page survey is connected by the central premise that “the street becomes a stage.”

Street Photography Africa is out this month from Thames & Hudson. 

arah Waiswa, Untitled, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire (2024).

 

Delali Ayivi, Looking Beyond, from the series Racines de l’Imaginaire, Lome, Togo (2021).

Stephen Tayo, Michael, Lagos, Nigeria (2018).

Naëtt Mbaye, from the series Marché 100 Francs, Dakar, Senegal (2024).

Alexandre Gandaho, Yellow Blue Car Rapide, Dakar, Senegal (2023)

Kothegrapher, We Dey Road Dey Come, Wuse Abuja, Nigeria (2024).

On a narrow street in Cusco, one block does what seems impossible.

The Twelve-Angled Stone, set into an Inca wall from the 15th century, has twelve precisely cut sides that interlock with its neighbors without a drop of mortar.

Inca masons shaped it using only harder stones as hammers, grinding each face until the joint was so tight not even a blade could fit. That precision is why the wall still stands.

While colonial buildings around it collapsed in earthquakes, this dry-stone puzzle flexes and holds, centuries after it was laid by eye.

#IncaEngineering #CuscoPeru #AncientHistory

  

 

A  3 minute video, Adopted Street Dog, here.

 

 

Just because ...

Rufous-bellied Niltava

Saturday's Smiles ... 

 

Hoping you feel all the good things in your day.