World Building Inspiration

theglittercrayon submitted:

Paris Smart City 2050

Saiid Kobeisy

SOURCE

Rhamphothrix campbelli

(Campbell’s hairy beak)

A person from this time would be hard-pressed to see anything similar to the cat purring in their lap, but the Thrix is indeed a feline, one of the most derived members of the felicetaceans.

It seems odd that aquatic creatures would thrive in the widespread droughts that characterized the mass extinctions at the end of the Anthropocene. However, the jaguarondi (Puma yagouaroundi) exploited its swimming abilities to lurk in the rare watering holes, springing out on prey animals that were obliged to drink there, and over time developed into the large, sleek, otter-like “lake lions” or “river cats” (Gyrinopuma spp.).

The Thrix retains the basic form of a river cat, but has adapted to the chilly, turbulent waters of the high northern mountain creeks. Although they can swim, with their paddle shaped tails, Thrix usually clamber over and cling to rocks at the bottom with their powerful clawed limbs. They are capable of holding their breath an extraordinarily long time.

Thrix typically prey on crawling-hand crabs and creek leeches, using their distinctive long chin armed with stiff vibrissae to prod into the rocks and mud, detecting the slightest movements. In their noisy, silty environment, sight and hearing do very little so the Thrix has reduced ears that are barely more than slits on the side of the head, and small, weak eyes that are mostly used to detect the shadows of predators looming overhead. The large bony pads jutting from the front of the eyes protect them from the claws and teeth of their prey.

Thrix descend from the Guldurgu swamp sabre cats, which shed their coats for a thick, leathery skin and evolved a large flange on their chin which acted as a sheath for sabre teeth, similar to the extinct marsupial Thylacosmilus. Thrix no longer have sabres, and in fact hardly have any teeth at all, instead using a hard, turtle-like ridge on their gums to crush prey. It’s thought that the loss of teeth is genetically correlated with the loss of a pelt. The Thrix does have several denticles on the jaw which serve in place of teeth, however.

A Thrix’s stout, solidly-built body is coated in a thick layer of blubber-like fat, which keeps it warm and serves as a back-up food store. Both sexes have humps of fat on the back, which also protect the spine from their main predator, the snaggle-beaked fishing eagle. Males sport a particularly large hump shaped a bit like a shark’s fin, which not only makes it visually and by disturbance of currents from a female but advertises its fitness and suitability as a mate – a male with a big, firmly-filled hump is clearly a better hunter.

Each Thrix patrols a territory that consists of s stretch of creek, of which it learns every nook and cranny over its fifteen to twenty year lifespan, and which it defends vigorously from intruders. Generally females live in the higher elevations, and males in the lower. When a female comes into heat, her pheromones wash downstream and attract a swarm of males who travel up to court her, fighting each other along the way. Breeding usually occurs during the early spring, when water levels are at their highest and the creeks are fast and cold due to the ice melt.

Coming to America vibes. prom 2016.

Department Store Lunch Break c. 1898-1900

Naomi Campbell for Vogue Brazil June 2016

The world may have been quite a dull place without the chance discovery of synthetic dyes by William Henry Perkin. Learn more about Perkin, and our current exhibition, Color in a New Light, in the Smithsonian Insider blog.

by Walter Gregor.

ADVIE lies on the River Spey, and formed the eastern portion of the parish of Cromdale till lately, when it was disjoined, and formed into a parish quoad sacra. The following superstitions from the district have been furnished me by Mr. M. Macpherson, M.A., a native, to whom they have been familiar from boyhood. The others have been gleaned by myself.

Bird-Cherry.

The wood of the “hackberry” or bird-cherry (Prunus padus) is not used as a staff or for any other purpose, as it is looked on as the witch’s tree.—(Advie.)

Rowan Tree.

The rowan tree is used, as in many other places, as a preventive of witchcraft. It is the common belief that adders avoid the tree.—(Advie.)

The Aspen.

A curse is believed to rest on the aspen. The cross was made of the wood of this tree, and ever since its leaves are in constant motion in consequence of the curse. In parts of Banffshire it goes by the name of “quackin’ aish,” i. e. quaking or trembling ash.

The Holly.

Pieces of holly along with rowan were placed inside over the door of the stable to prevent the entrance of the nightmare. My informant has cut the tree for this purpose.—(Strathdon.)

The Birch.

There used to be hung up in every stable a crooked stick, on which to hang the harness. Its name in Gaelic was “Obair-latha,” i. e. a day’s work. It must be a natural growth, and had to be searched for by a woman. If she found one of the proper shape during the first day’s search, she came to the marriage bed a maiden. A stable was not considered lucky, if it had not such a natural -grown hook. It was commonly of birch, but it was not essential that it should be of that tree.—(Advie.)

The Hedgehog.

It is very unlucky to meet a hedgehog on the road, particularly after nightfall.

Mr. Macpherson says: “This I discovered to be the case in the summer of 1886. I was returning home about midnight, and, when on the bridge crossing the Tulchan Burn at Straan, met a hedgehog. Next day, I, in jest, asked some of the older people if there was any superstition connected with such a meeting. They told me it was unlucky, and seemed to predict some calamity to myself. Two nights after a girl was drowned in the Spey, not far from the scene of my meeting the hedgehog.” The hedgehog and the drowning of the girl were connected, and no amount of arguing could drive the idea from the minds of the people. The girl went in place of the one that met the animal.—(Advie.)

The Toad.

It is considered very unlucky for a toad to enter a house.

An old man, named C— N—, who died at Dalvey about twelve years ago, one day found a toad in his house. He immediately cast it out. It however returned. Again it was removed. It made its appearance the third time. The old man seized it with the tongs, threw it on the fire, with the words: “God! my lad, I’ll mack ye ye winna (will not) come in again,” and burned it to ashes,—(Advie,)

The Adder.

The adder’s skin is believed to have curative properties. If rubbed over the wound made by an adder, no fatality follows.—(Advie.)

The Hen.

A hen crowing is a sure omen of the death of one of the household. The saying is:—A whistling maid an a crawing hen Is neither fit for God nor men.—(Advie.)

Corncraik.

If the corncraik is frequently heard, it is regarded as the sign of a “sappy,” i. e. a rainy, year.—(Advie.)

Wild Goose.

When the wild geese are seen making their way towards the North for breeding purposes, it is looked upon as a sign that frost has passed out of the air.—(Advie.)

When they were flying high it was regarded as a token of fair settled weather.—(Keith.)

The Cuckoo.

It is unlucky to hear the cuckoo for the first time during the season before partaking of food. It is indicative of misfortune of some kind or other during the year.—(Advie.)

The Small Tortoise-shell Butterfly.—(Papilio urticce. Linn.)

This butterfly goes by the name of “cut-throat” in Pitsligo, and surrounding district. It gets this name, because it is believed that it cuts human throats. The fisher boys of Pittulie used to chase it to kill it because of its murderous propensities. (Told by one who has done so.)—(Pittulie.)

Fishing Superstitions.

If a bird fly across the line there will be luck. It is considered lucky for the fisher to wet his feet.

Trout-fishers after baiting the hook spit on the worm. This act brings luck.

If the “black swallows” (Hirundo Apus. Linn.) are out, there will be no luck.

It is unlucky to tread on the line.

It is unlucky for the fisher to meet one with “red” hair.—( Advie).

Predatory Bush Cricket (Saga pedo) 

… AKA “Spiked Magician”, the katydid family Tettigoniidae. This species is spread throughout the European part of the Mediterranean, and Asia as far east as China.

It is a wingless bush cricket, with the body size of up to 12 cm (4.7 in), which makes it one of the largest European insects. It is uncommon among its kind due to its carnivorous lifestyle, most often preying on smaller insects, with a known tendency towards cannibalism as well…

(read more: Wikipedia)

This is actual footage of an unknown species of jellyfish. It was discovered four days into the NOAA ship Okeanos Explorer’s mission to investigate the Marianas (both Islands and Trench).  The jellyfish was floating in the waters of the aptly named Enigma Seamount at a depth of about 2.3 miles. 

It is most likely a type of hydromedusa, belonging to the genus Crossota. It has two sets of tentacles - one short and one long - and appears to extend the long set in a predatory pose. According to the scientists, “Within the bell, the radial canals in red are connecting points for what looks like the gonads in bright yellow.”

Wallpaper, like all design, can be a powerful tool for communicating a specific message. Take for example wallpapers printed during the French Revolution that portrayed ribbons of red, white and blue in support of the uprising. On this object, however, a message has been spelled-out right on top of the design, the pattern becoming a mere backdrop. A fairly standard arrangement of Rococo-inspired scrolls was printed with a broadside advertising a performance. Done in mellow ochres and reds, the wallpaper pattern adds visual interest to the poster without obscuring the text, which is printed in one of those great, old-timey Wild West fonts. The show in question was Rip Van Winkle, or, The Sleep of Twenty Years, a dramatic adaptation of the classic Washington Irving tale by Irish playwright Dion Boucicault. It was being performed in Great Falls, Montana, in the year of 1892, and promised such exciting things as “The Wife of a Jolly Dog” and “No Overtures!” The choice to use wallpaper as a backdrop may have been just as economic as aesthetic, because there is a large advertisement for Urquhart & Stevens, the paper’s suppliers, on the bottom of the page. Urquhart & Stevens were Great Falls retailers that stocked wallpapers and other home-decorating goods. In 1891 they advertised “the very latest styles of Glimmer and Bronze Wallpaper. Be sure to take a look at them.” This is not the only instance of wallpaper being used as, well, regular paper in nineteenth-century America. During the Civil War Confederate states faced a shortage of paper, and some newspapers, such as the Daily Citizen of Vicksburg Mississippi, were printed on old wallpaper.