Air Tiwow

Lots of cool stuff out in the desert.

Spike Lee and Samuel L. Jackson when ‘BlacKkKlansman’ wins Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars

Rasing the Gate, “Memento”

I could watch this all day.

The atmosphere above us is a thin layer enclosing our planet, but it roils with activity and energy. Photographer Camille Seamon captures the grandeur of our turbulent skies in her storm shots. These dramatic atmospheric vistas – including mammatus clouds (top), swirling supercells (middle), and turbulent storm clouds (bottom) – are all driven by the flow of heat and moisture. (Image credit: C. Seaman; via Colossal)

I know it’s been centuries since I last posted photos of my own here, but I HAD to share these.

Spiders are often among the first colonists on newly formed volcanic islands. Thanks to their aerial skills, they are able to travel nearly anywhere by ballooning on strands of their own silk. Exactly how spiders as large as 20 milligrams manage this is still relatively known. A new study shows that crab spiders, like any careful aviator, use a foreleg to monitor wind conditions for 5 or more seconds before attempting take-off. The spiders will only spool out ballooning threads if the wind is warm and gentle. Wind speeds higher than 3 meters per second are an automatic no-go. When the spider decides conditions are favorable, they release as many as 60 nanoscale fibers that are several meters in length. The wind catches the silks and lifts them away to their next adventure. (Image credit: Science Magazine, source; research credit: M. Cho et al.)

Temple of the Goddess Hathor, Egypt.

T’Challa on Black Jeopardy! (Saturday Night Live, 4/7/18)

Stargate Atlantis: “Rising”