mirror bee orchid (ophrys speculum ssp. speculum)

bee orchids (genus ophrys) are specialized orchids from the mediterranean, which basically exploit horny bees.
instead of producing nectar to attract pollinating insects, ophrys flowers show morphological adaptations (including hair!) which make them resemble their pollinators, both in the visible light and ultraviolet spectrum. in addition, they also produce pheromones which further attract the males of their pollinator species.

when, for example, a male bee is successfully decepted, it will land on the flower and attempt to copulate with it. during this so-called pseudocopulation, pollen will get stuck to its abdomen and/or head. this way, the pollen has a better chance of reaching a flower of the same species, rather than just any flower.

if you’ve become curious, wikipedia (german version) has some more information.

photos: bee orchids, mallorca

related posts:

1. twitter weekly: 2010-04-19
2. botanical excursion to mallorca: group photo

can you help me identify a song?
it’s been stuck in my head for two days now, and all i have is a short sequence from what i believe is the chorus.
you can listen to it with the righthand box (theme repeats once).

some clues:

• i think i remember this song being similar in style to til kingdom come by coldplay.
  other bands that come to my mind: creedence clearwater revival or simon and garfunkel (as in keep the customer satisfied), and – strangely – five for fighting.
• also, i do think that there’s (1) a copula, (2) a personal pronoun and (3) a present continuous verb at the beginning of the clip, such as “(so/and/but) i’m waiting” or “she’s going” etc.
• the first note (pickup) and corresponding word might not actually be in the song.

any ideas?

update: if you kind-of remember the song (more of it) but don’t know the title, you can try hum it to midomi.com

2nd update, 2010-08-17: i just found it: it’s “the captain” by guster (listen at skreemr).
the lyrcs fragment in question was “i’m earning a reputation”.

i had completely forgotten i could actually release that much adrenaline. :)
 

big thanks to stefan for taking pictures.

wolfram alpha: 1985-01-29, screenshot

now get the togas out and celebrate! :)
 

wolfram alpha did miss something, though:

;)

</egocentrism>

A towel, [the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value.
You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth;
wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

happy towel day!

related posts:

1. just a quick reminder…

in an attempt to improve my efficiency and productivity, i’ve spent some time reading up on the most common natural products & substances that increase activity and energy.
 

here’s a short (non-exhaustive) list of things i’ve com across:

caffeine:

increases activity and concentration. stimulates the central nervous system, heart activity and blood pressure.
negative effects: adaption, addiction, nervousness and anxiety, irritability, anything up to cardiac arrhythmia.
overdose (according to wikipedia): 7 to 10 cups of coffee consumed within a short timespan.

guarana:

contains more caffeine than regular coffee. here, the caffeine is linked to tanning agents, which makes it longer-lasting (it’s released little by little).
same negative side-effects as with pure caffeine.
overdose: 20g guarana powder.

kola nut:

also contains more caffeine than coffee. caffeine is chemically bound, thus slightly different effects: enhanced alertness and physical energy, mood elevation, bronchodilatation.
effects last up to 6 hours.
also, the usual side-effects (anxiety, tachycardia) are limited.
kola nuts contain high amounts of N-nitroso compounds which are carcinogenic.

theobromine:

produced by cacao trees.
heart stimulant, vasodilator.
weaker effects than caffeine (less addicting!), but stronger heart stimulation.
may cause sleeplessness, tremors, restlessness, anxiety, cardiac arrhythmia, loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting.
lethal dose: 10 kg of chocolate (who could eat 10 kg at once??)

omega-3 fatty acids:

positive effects on concentration and memory. amongst others, direct positive effects to the communication between nerve cells (in synapses).

available as fish oil pills/dragées.
no known negative effects, beside the eructations that occur if you don’t take the pills in an ideal moment. don’t take one at breakfast!

soy lecithin:

considered to be beneficial to concentration and productivity (by raising the level of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter). improves energy budget during times of stress.
couldn’t find any reliable information on the web, lots of product advertisements though.

ginkgo essence

said to improve memory, but the effects could not be reproduced scientifically.
side-effects: higher risk of strokes and transient ischemic attack (mini-strokes)

ginseng

commonly used against tiredness and bad concentration. said to aid the immune system and cardiovascular system. effects not proven scientifically.
side-effects: sleeplessness, anxiety, diarrhoea, hypertonia. affects blood clotting.

in the end, i think that all the substances which are NOT just correcting deficiencies (such as omega-3 or soy lecithine), DO have adverse side-effects.
for more effect, it looks like i’ll have to resort to the usual: sports, plenty of sunlight and balanced nutrition.

someone once told me, that buddhism says “once a year, you should do something you’ve never done before”.
i’ve had so many different things inside my nose lately that i think that counts for 2009.

some time ago, i discovered two fairly large masses in my nostrils.
searching for information on the internet returned lots of websites that were talking about either nasal haematoma (see photo quiz of the aafp, pictures at meduweb) or haemangioma (e.g. blog post and corresponding picture).
it wasn’t likely to be a haematoma because that is usually caused by being hit on your nose (which i hadn’t been), and the “balloons” in these pictures originated in the septum, while mine seemed to originate on the opposite side.. i didn’t know about the tumours, though.

i was relieved to hear my ENT doctor tell me that i just had very large turbinates (or nasal conchae). turns out this is why my nose had been more or less constantly congested for several years.

in terms of treatment, i had two choices:
an operation which would include a correction of the turbinates and septum, several days in a hospital, and quite some time to fully heal.
…and…
a procedure called “coblation conchotomy”, where radiofrequency is used to destroy parts of the tissue. the resulting scar tissue would then contract (as typical for scar tissue), reducing the turbinates’ size.

coblation only requires local anaesthesia, takes about 30 minutes alltogether, and is, generally, a pretty fascinating technique:
a tiny halo of reactive plasm is formed around the instrument’s tip, which makes it possible to “cut” molecular compounds in a very limited area without even getting hotter than 40-70 degrees celcius. this way, contiguous tissues stay unharmed.
there are some pretty computer animations.

there’s a video demonstration of the technique on youtube – supposedly intended to calm down possible patients. not sure it fulfills its purpose:

this narrator strongly reminded me of craig tucker from southpark – both in his way of speaking, and the blocked-nose sound of his voice.
 

update 2009-04-11: it’s been just over a month now, and i’ve recently had my last of 3 (4?) checkups. during the past weeks, i simply applied a salve to my nostrils, and in intervals of 7, 7, 14 and 14 days, my ENT doctor cleaned out the canals using something like a tiny vacuum cleaner. it’s healing well, i can breathe freely¹ and i can totally recommend the procedure.

related posts:

1. sterile plant culture