And I can post images again!

(I’m guesing the outing was due to server changes that allowed this)

I used to cut them up to use them as kaleidescope mirrors. (The reflected colours make them almost better than normal mirrors)

Edit: I just remembered another one! tie multiple along a string and hang it up as a bird scarer. (Bonus if you make some other place for the birds to be happy (as repayment))

Yep, the only exception I can think of is if its a ladybird, cos then I find the opposite to be true

You said you got it from online so i did a quick search for matching images and the photo comes from Trees South africa (the watermark that is partly cropped out in your image says this to) according to their website it is Harpephyllum caffrum.

https://trees-sa.co.za/tree/harpephyllum-caffrum/

Higher resolution image is on this sight which further back up it being Harpephyllum caffrum (leaf shape and arrangement match) def not karaka as karaka leaves are shaped differently.

Edit: red --> resolution (stupid auto correct)

I would say it would be fine, the only problem would be warping as the pine will be quite thin (plywood is more resistant to this).

But if you don’t care about everything being perfectly straight I think pine would be plenty strong enouph and wouldn’t warp noticeably much either (just pick straight boards from the store). So yea I think it would be fine.

P.s. (if you join multiple boards together its usually less likely to warp but I don’t think this is necessary for your usecase)

The hairs are naturaly made by the plant and are called trichomes.

The “hairs interfere with the feeding of at least some small herbivores and, depending upon stiffness and irritability to the palate, large herbivores as well. Hairs on plants growing in areas subject to frost keep the frost away from the living surface cells. In windy locations, hairs break up the flow of air across the plant surface, reducing transpiration. Dense coatings of hairs reflect sunlight, protecting the more delicate tissues underneath in hot, dry, open habitats. In addition, in locations where much of the available moisture comes from fog drip, hairs appear to enhance this process by increasing the surface area on which water droplets can accumulate.” wikipedia

The stinging spikes of stinging nettles are also a type of modified trichome which is pretty cool

MRS GREEN would still exclude viruses as being alive. As viruses can neither respirate nor reproduce without a host cell and they can also not grow.

I’m weird and think a virus in a system of virus + host cell, is a part of the living cell, even if its a detrimental self-serving part.

Yes but I suppose life by its simplest definition could also be described as an effect from a reaction, rather than a thing, making the living object (the thing) simply a vessel for the reaction. So I suppose the whole fire system would be “the thing” in this scenario.

That’s not the main reason to not buy apple products lol

thank you!from the article you linked It does look like its probably thaInteresting. I didn’t know about major and minor workers, but it makes sense, very interesting thank you. Do you know if all ants have major and minor castes? or is it just some species?

That’s gorgeous! looks a bit like some kind of flying insect.

Sorry for the late reply and thanks for the question,

The Australian 2024 national defence strategy says this: “Our Alliance with the US remains fundamental to Australia’s national security. We will continue to deepen and expand our defence engagement with the US, including by pursuing greater scientific, technological and industrial cooperation, as well as enhancing our cooperation under force posture initiatives”

US has these military facilities in Australia (and more secret ones):

“Australian Defence Satellite Communications Station – located near Kojarena 30 km east of Geraldton, Western Australia. Other U.S. bases in Australia are present and this list does not include ADF bases with U.S. access. The U.S. military has access to many ADF training areas, northern Australian RAAF airfields, port facilities in Darwin, Fremantle, Stirling naval base in Perth, and the airfield on the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean.” Wikipedia

US also has a Rotational U.S. Army, Navy Presence where they bring their submarines and provide financial benefits to many military services they can use (RAAF bases and the assisting in manufacturing of missiles and other weapons). There are 2500 US marines on permanent rotation

According to US gov “The United States is Australia’s defense goods and services partner of choice” and “The U.S. has over $27 billion in active government-to-government sales cases with Australia” most of Australias military equipment comes from the US including their nuclear submarines

Also most aggregiously

“As documented by CIA whistleblower Christopher John Boyce and several authors, including John Pilger,[7][4][6] as well as some Australian politicians,[8] the CIA allegedly backed Governor-General and representative of Queen Elizabeth II in Australia, Kerr, to dismiss Whitlam, due to Whitlam’s perceived left-wing policies[3] including Australian withdrawal from the Vietnam War, as well as his views on Australian sovereignty.[3] His conflict with the CIA is alleged[3] to have come to a head when he discovered several CIA-led operations occurring in Australia and overseas conducted by ASIO and ASIS, leading him to threaten cancellation of the lease on the Pine Gap facility, ending the US-led (nominally joint) operation, which was integral to the CIA’s signals interception operations in the southern hemisphere”

"In a statement to parliament on 3 April 1974, Whitlam said: “The Australian government takes the attitude that there should not be foreign military bases, stations, installations in Australia.”

He was then sacked and replaced by a more agreeing pm by the CIA Wikipedia

There are also numerous traid agreements that leads to Australia relying on US for a lot of its financial security (though it relies on China and Japan as well). And also many Australian companys are US owned/funded

This is all the research I have time to do but there are many, many more examples of American interference and control.

Edit: also America controls most of Australian media including News Corp Australia (owns most newspapers and News Corp is also the controlling shareholder of Foxtel and it owns Sky News in Australia. And much more)

also the American controlled ABC is the most visited site In Australia. And controls a lot of other media

https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/how-much-influence-does-the-murdoch-media-have-in-australia-20201015-p565dk.html

What a cute little vacuum cleaner

I mean if you chose a bamboo variety that loves it outside but hates it inside then it will be a big challenge to keep them alive inside (most bamboos you see growing outside won’t like it inside)

My Earina Autumnalis orchid flowered I have also got lots of other plants Im proud of, but I’m away from home so this is the only photo I’ve got.

Your terrarium is looking beautiful! I’m planning on making a large cooled terrarium for alpine plants sometime. All my current tereriums are small so it will be quite a challenge.

As the fungi are wood eaters and their bioluminescents is likely based on their metabolic activity (and is possibly related to the breaking down of lignin in wood) Im just trying to keep the rewarewa branches in conditions similar as to in the bush to be optimal for this fungi’s growth and metabolism. so I am trying to replicate the optimal conditions of the bush, humid, not to hot but still warm (to not encourage hot loving fungi taking over while still maximising metabolism of the fungi I want). I have had the branches in these conditions for a while now. While the mycelium of lots of different fungi are now present, non of it appears to glow.

also I haven’t had any mushrooms growing and some of our bioluminescent fungi only have bioluminescents in there stem (such as Mycena roseoflava) so yea no luck so far in finding bioluminescent fungi in the first place.

When I do find some I will have some petri dishes with Malt Extract Agar in them and will try and transfer it over, I don’t no if it will glow in these conditions but can always feed it sterilised branches if it needs to be breaking down lignin to glow.

All of this being sucsesfull is very wishful thinking on my part, It probably won’t work this time, but hopefully I will learn enough to get it to work eventually.

Plan B is to go after rain to one of our rainforests in hopes of finding some and transfering it to a Petri dish.

Wdym Australia last, they are practically controlled by the US already

I’m preparing to grow some enoki in autumn as they prefer the cool (autumn is pretty soon where I live), until then I’m trying to culture fungi found in the rotting wood of rewarewa (naturally fallen branches), as I have heard that bioluminescent fungi can occasionally grow in it. No luck so far, I guess I will have to look elsewhere

5 is probabably Asplenium monanthes due to the shape of the leaves and singular sori (info from http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=200004143)

Also your photos are so beautiful

Yea I was quite amazed when I found out about it to, ferns are so fascinating. Please share with me anything you find in your research, there is still a lot more for me to learn aboat ferns and I would love to know whatever you find.