Thursday, May 31, 2012

I Spy With My Little Eye

Sometimes I think about how beautiful the world is. I feel blessed to live on such a beautiful planet and to have eyes that allow me to witness that beauty. The human eye contains four different photoreceptors: rods that detect the presence of light (i.e allow us to see in black and white and detect movement) and three types of cones that allow us to see in colour. Each cone type detects a different colour - red, green or blue. All the colours we see are the result of different combinations of those cones being stimulated simultaneously by the light entering the eyes. As humans, our eyesight is one of our more developed senses - one that we rely heavily on each day, or at least I know I do. Yet, Louie Schwartzburg compares our visual range to a single octave of the musical scale.

Many animals have the capacity to see light frequencies we cannnot. For example, honey bees can see ultraviolet, and many flowers have patterns on their petals that are not visible to the naked human eye that become visible under ultraviolet light, that aid bees in locating nectar and pollen. We already admire flowers for their beauty, but imagine being able to see the additional beauty visible to the bees. But there is one creature that makes me marvel even more at its visual capabilities...

The Mantis Shrimp 


This shrimp-like creature is not actually a shrimp, but a group of crustaceans belonging to the Order Stromatopoda. They are predatory creatures found in shallow tropical and sub-tropical seas around the world. The mantis shrimp is noteworthy for several reasons, including its viciousness and strength, its complex signaling behaviours and its extraordinary eyesight.

The eye of the mantis shrimp has at least 16 different photoreceptors, of which 12-13 are cones for detecting colour. Moreover, they are capable of seeing polarised light. If the world looks as amazing as it does through our human eyes, imagine how amazing it would look through the eyes of the mantis shrimp...

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Autumn's Palette: Why Leaves Change Their Colour




Trees and plants use pigments in their leaves to trap light energy, which they then use to produce sugars. The main pigment used by most plants to capture light energy is known as chlorophyll, and gives leaves their green colour. When deciduous trees are preparing for winter, they allow the chlorophyll in their leaves to break down into amino acids which the tree recycles and stores, ready to use in the growth of new leaves in the spring. As the chlorophyll breaks down, it allows other pigments present in the leaves to become visible.



The yellow and orange colours are the result of pigments known as carotenoids. Carotenoids are present in leaves all through the growing season, but their colour is usually masked by the green chlorophyll. 




The reds and purple colours are the result of pigments known as anthocyanins. These are not present in the leaves all year around, but are produced in the autumn as the plant is recycling its chlorophyll and allow the plant to capture light energy for a little bit longer.







                                                                  




Combinations of these pigments add further to the range of colours to be found in autumn leaves and produce autumn's palette.










In addition to vast array of colours (the only colours that are missing are the blues, but on a nice clear autumn day, the sky makes up for that), I love the array of patterns the different colours make on individual leaves - each one is uniquely different and rarely a single shade. Here are a few for you to enjoy :)













Thursday, May 10, 2012

Autumn Leaves and Sunshine

Autumn is well and truly here and fast turning into winter. I love watching the seasons change. Each has something special to offer. Autumn offers her vast array of colours and the way the light shines through the coloured leaves on sunny afternoons always makes me marvel at the beauty. It is a dynamic season - the sight you witness today will often be gone tomorrow, as the leaves continue to change and fall. Recently I have taken several walks with my camera to enjoy the autumn leaves and sunshine. Here are some of my favourites... Enjoy!



















Friday, May 4, 2012

Little Red Oak Leaf




 
Little red oak leaf
lying in the sun

Are you sad that your life is over?
All you have to look forward to
to be trampled beneath the feet of man
lost amongst the golden carpet
of leaves upon the ground?

Did you worry before you fell
of future's certain fate?
when Autumn's first chill
down your spine did run?

When you wake up on a frosty bed
do you mourn your home above?
Your life in the lofty heights
and the warm sunny skies?

Does life seem cruel and harsh?
Or are you happy
now all your work is done?
Most beautiful of leaves
are you happy to play your part?
although no eye may ever see
the climax of your beauty
in your dying breath?