Bow windshield

 

Bow windshield

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Watching the Solent to see if the sea was as rough as we had been led to expect (it wasn’t) we saw the CMA CGM Montmartre leaving Southampton on her one-month voyage to Port Klang in Malaysia.

She is an extremely large vessel, but was making way on her own, without the assistance of tugs, so presumably was relying on large, effective bow thrusters to make the sharp turn into the main channel.

We noticed her large green bow windshield, or wind deflector. Such devices have been fitted on container ships since 2015. They have proved to improve a ship’s aerodynamic profile, reducing resistance, fuel consumption, and carbon emissions.

At present, bow windshields can only be seen on container ships, but it is expected that environmental considerations will see them becoming more widely employed. They can be retrofitted on existing ships in dry dock.

 

Ligers

 

Ligers

Liger

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Ligers result from a mating between a male lion (Panthera leo) and a female tiger (Panthera tigris) They are the largest known cats in the world. They have been recorded since the 1800s, when they were first publicly exhibited.

 Ligers do not occur naturally in the wild, since the habitats of lions and tigers are quite separate and do not overlap. Although there is a small Asian population of lions, they are generally associated with Africa. Tigers are found only in Asia. Therefore, ligers can only occur in captivity, where the two species have been kept together.

It was human curiosity, and an urge to conduct deliberate experiments in controlled breeding, that led to them being mated. The resulting litters produced animals which developed into exceptionally large adults, much larger than either of their parents.

 As with most hybrids, the males, though interested in and capable of copulation, are sterile. Female ligers have the ability to conceive and reproduce viable cubs, but these may be more delicate and prone to congenital defects and other health problems. Tiger mothers often reject their liger cubs. In one well-documented case, in 1824, a terrier bitch was employed to suckle three rejected liger cubs in Thomas Atkins’ travelling menagerie. These were probably the first ligers ever seen in Britain.

Ligers display characteristics of both lions and tigers. They are sociable animals, like lions, whereas tigers are solitary. They enjoy swimming, which is something tigers enjoy. In appearance, they display faint tiger-striped patterning on the tawny background usually associated with lions.

  Cubs produced from a mating between a male tiger and a female lion are called tigons.

House of Commons Select Committee

 

House of Commons Select Committee

House of Commons flag

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

It’s a drizzly morning, so a good opportunity to sit and watch a House of Commons select committee.

Such committees are an excellent example of how cross-party politics could work.  They are composed of small groups of MPs appointed to conduct inquiries, question experts and ministers, and make recommendations. They cover a variety of topics like education, public spending, allegations of misconduct.

This morning’s committees followed Sir Oliver Robbins’ appearance last week. The first to be questioned was Sir Philip Barton, former Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, preceding Olly Robbins. He was followed by Morgan McSweeney, former Downing Street Chief of Staff.

The answers to the questions posed raise more questions about the appointment of Peter Mandelson as British Ambassador to the USA.

The plot thickens!

 

 

 

Axolotls

 

Axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum)

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

On holiday recently, a ten-year-old girl found an axolotl under a bridge over the River Ogmore in Bridgend. Experts said that the axolotl would have died if she had not rescued it, either as a tasty morsel, or because of conditions to which it was not suited. It is possible, though not proven, that this specimen was an unfortunate pet that had outgrown its fascination for its owner. Such is the fate of many creatures.

Axolotls are found in the wild only in the lakes of the Mexican Central Valley. They are a critically endangered species.  They are named after Xolotl, the Aztec god of fire and lightning. The legend holds that he turned himself into an axolotl to avoid sacrifice by other gods. Axolotls are an important feature in Mexican culture, appearing in murals and on bank notes.

They are bred in captivity for research purposes, because they have an extraordinary ability to regenerate parts of their bodies, including limbs, and parts of their eyes, brains, and hearts.

They are neotenic, meaning that they reach maturity without metamorphosing from a fully aquatic form to an amphibious being, as salamanders or tadpoles do. Consequently, they retain their feathery gills and live their entire lives in water.

            They can be triggered into metamorphosis in laboratory conditions through an injection of iodine or thyroxine. Following that, the gills and fins are resorbed, while lungs develop, and eyelids grow, allowing them to adapt to life on land. They then resemble salamanders, though differences are visible. For example, a metamorphosed axolotl’s toes are longer than a salamander’s!

Wild axolotls are carnivorous, preying on small fish, worms, molluscs and other aquatic beasts. They are attracted to food by smell, and suck it into their stomachs. They have teeth, but they are vestigial and serve no practical purpose. The average lifespan of a wild axolotl is five years, though some manage to survive for ten. In captivity, they typically live between ten and fifteen years, though exceptionally, some can reach twenty years.

Axolotls become sexually mature between eighteen and twenty-four months, and reproduce through external fertilisation. The average length of a mature axolotl is 23 cms (9 inches) though there is some variation.

Concern about the axolotl’s decline has led to attempts to release captive-bred individuals, but the very real fear is that they will suffer the same fate as wild-bred animals. Pollution, the introduction of non-native predators, and greater urbanisation, all threaten the future of these fascinating creatures.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Harry Flakers

 

Harry Flakers

Roxy likes sunbathing!

Last night, as Roxy lay sleeping (sounds like the beginning of a poem!) Barry commented that she was Harry Flakers. She and Gilbert had had a wonderful walk, dashing in and out of ponds and undergrowth, sniffing here, snuffling there, thoroughly enjoying themselves. Playing in water always seems to be more tiring than simply running. Anyway, there she lay. Gilbert was also asleep, accompanied by Jellicoe and Herschel, one either side.

When I was at school, I had to take two buses to travel there. I always met a friend at the second stop, and one day she told me her sister was ‘Harry Preggers.’ I didn’t query what she meant, just noted that she was about to become an aunt. Years later, I wondered why putting ‘Harry’ at the beginning of a phrase was thought necessary.  What did it add? Did it mean ‘very?’

I’ve just looked it up. It was ‘upper class’ British slang, originating in the 1930s and 40s from the upper ranks of the Royal Navy, and Oxford University undergraduates, and not much in use currently. During the Second World War it became part of ‘jackspeak,’ about which I have written before. I have also learnt that ‘Harry’ is a ‘meaningless intensifier.’

So, ‘Harry Flakers’ means extremely tired, or ‘flaked out.’ ‘Harry Starkers’ means stark naked, stark meaning ‘completely.’ ‘Harry Flatters’ can mean a flat, calm sea, or driving at maximum speed, or lying down and resting. ‘Harry Hotters’ would be used in a ship’s engine room.

There are other ‘Harry’ expressions, but ‘Harry Flakers’ is the only one we use occasionally, perhaps because we both, separately, grew up in the Medway Towns, (now known as Medway) and were unconsciously influenced by Naval and Military tradition. I don’t recall my parents or my mother-in-law ever using such an expression. (I just asked Barry, and he thinks he picked it up at Sandhurst. Many of his instructors were Second World War veterans.)

It does, however, perfectly describe the total relaxation of a well-exercised dog, or lively toddler.

Brainy bees

 

Brainy bees

The 'Waggle Dance' is a communication behavior observed in honeybees, where a dancing bee moves in a straight line and then in a semicircle to convey information about the distance and direction of a food source to other colony members.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Image source

Robin at TheCrankyCrow was wondering how people discovered that bees could count. It has long been known that honey bees return to their hive and ‘dance’ to tell the other bees where to go, and how far, to find nectar and pollen. 

Bees have minute brains, yet display behaviour usually associated with larger, more complex nervous systems. Experimenters in the 1990s trained honey bees to discriminate between pictures showing different numbers of shapes. They learned that choosing an image with the required number of shapes earned them a sweet reward. If they chose a picture with ‘fewer shapes’ they were given a bitter treat as a disincentive. 

Once they were indicating a high degree of accuracy, of about 80%, they were tested without rewards to discover if they really recognised number difference. When the shapes were changed, or rearranged, the bees continued to choose the correct images, thus showing that they were responding to number, not pattern.

Bees also showed that they noticed and counted landmarks in their flight path. If landmarks were removed or added, the bees adjusted their flight to find the food.

Further research demonstrated that bees can count to at least five, comparable to many vertebrates, though you’ll never hear them chanting their numbers. They can be taught simple arithmetic and understand that ‘zero’ is a quantity smaller than one.

In attempting to understand the mathematical brains of bees, I have succeeded in confusing myself somewhat.

A bumblebee choosing between two patterns containing different numbers of yellow circles.

 Credit Lars Chittka

Image source

Live and learn (4)

 

Live and learn (4)

Skirret

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Polygon a few weeks ago gave me ‘skirret,’ which is a lovely word in its own right. It sounds as though it should be something to do with cooking, like a skillet.

In fact, skirret, or Sium sisarum is a root vegetable belonging to the same family as carrots and parsnips. The name comes from the Middle English ‘skirwhit’ or ’skirwort’ which means ‘white root.’

The Scots call it ‘crummock,’ while the Danes know it as ‘sukkerrod.’ In Dutch it is called ‘suikerwortel’ and its German name is ‘Zuckerwurzel,’ which means sugar root.

It develops a mass of bright white roots which are best harvested during the winter, before the plant is active. If left until spring, the roots may become woody, more fibrous and covered in hairs. Skirret is prepared and cooked in a similar fashion to other root plants, or it can be grated and eaten raw in salad.

Recipe for Skirret Pie from 'The Family Receipt-Book, 1820'
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

It was a popular vegetable before potatoes became available to Britain in the late 16^th century. However, although it is easy to cultivate, it doesn’t keep well, and is of unpredictable size and quality. In addition, it is awkward to clean. It can be grown as an ornamental plant, producing clusters of small white flowers in the summer.