In 1995, 14 wolves were released into the wild in Yellowstone National Park. Scientists at the time did not suspect that this would radically change the entire ecosystem of the park. 1/n
The story of the Yellowstone wolves shows that ecosystems are complex and interconnected in ways that we may not fully understand. When all the parts are in balance, nature thrives. 7/end
When sperm whales need a nap, they take a deep breath, dive down about 45 feet and arrange themselves into perfectly-level, vertical patterns. They sleep sound and still for up to two hours at a time between breaths, in pods of five or six whales, presumably for protection. 1/2
Remarkably, the wolves also changed the flow of Yellowstone's rivers. River channels straightened and stabilized, and coastal erosion decreased. This happened because the influence of wolves on deer led to the explosive growth of trees along the banks of the rivers. 6/n
The wolves reduced the population of jackals, which led to an increase in the number of hares and mice. This in turn attracted hawks, ferrets and foxes to the park. Bears thrived on the scraps of prey left by the wolves. 5/n
Fourteen wolves, of course, could not eat all the deer, but they forced the deer to be more careful in choosing places to eat, and to avoid certain parts of the park. In those places, vegetation began to revive. 3/n
No one knew whales slept vertically until a 2008 study documented this behavior. And no one captured really good photography of it in the wild until 2017. 2/2
Trudeau has been forced to abandon his Emergency Act as a staggering amount of money has fled Canadian banks. Canadians have moved accounts to the United States by the tens of thousands following Trudeau’s freezing of bank accounts without a court order. 1/x
1/ The Europe-US superhighway proposed by the head of Russian Railways in 2015. In an alternate universe where the Ukraine war never happened, people could make the trip of a lifetime by driving from London to New York.
Photographer Paul Smith captured these red sprites over Kansas yesterday. Sprites are a high-altitude plasma phenomenon associated with thunderstorms. They've been seen for centuries but were only photographed for the first time in 1994.
1/ The quality of modern lumber is mostly inferior to the quality of lumber used to build homes in the early and mid-20th century. Wood quality began dropping on a serious scale in the 1980s due to old-growth timber being almost completely depleted.
More Africans ‘Milling Around’ European Cities doing not that much en masse - this time in Lisbon, Portugal. You can see the way the social environment is constructed differently to a local European one, people get together in groups to just stand around
The Chronicle of Georgia is a monument located in Tbilisi. There are 16 pillars that are between 30-35 meters tall and the top half features kings, queens and heroes while the bottom part depict stories from the life of Christ. The monument traces the history of the Georgians…
Trudeau’s freezing of bank accounts has undermined confidence in the banking system. Rescinding the Emergency Act is not going to make it all better. Trudeau has driven a stake through the heart of Canada’s economy. 3/x
Canadians began withdrawing all of their money from their bank accounts with most turning to cash, others to gold, and some to BitCoin. The demand for US dollars more than tripled in the past week. 2/x
When a country abandons the rule of law, it creates massive business uncertainty and discourages investment and savings. The money leaving Canada’s banks won’t be available to loan to businesses. Trudeau doesn’t care because staying in power is more important to him.
The Xolo is ancient dog breed from Mexico. For Native Americans they were guardians of the night and the underworld, protectors against evil spirits, companions of wizards and witches, and guides of mortals across the land of the dead. 1/2
International capital will be skeptical about trusting Canada as long a Trudeau is in power. That means that Canadian banks and corporations will have to pay much higher interest rates to attract deposits and borrow money. A recession looms. Thanks, Trudeau! 😠 4/end
Stair dust corners introduced at the end of the 19th century to make sweeping easier. They keep dust from accumulating in the corners. Why did these ever go out of fashion?
Since the passage of the Civil Rights Act, America has moved from a meritocratic society to a society obsessed with equality of results, regardless of competence. This will inevitably end in societal collapse. 1/2
The Anyuaks are a Luo Nilotic ethnic group native to Ethiopia and Sudan. Historically, they have been persecuted by lighter-skinned tribes such as the Tigray and the Oromo. Thousands of Anyuaks have immigrated to the U.S. and mostly live in Minnesota.
What the pyramid of Khafre looked like 4,500 years ago compared to today. The pyramids of Giza were originally covered with highly polished white limestones, with the capstones at the peak being covered in gold.
Nyakim Gatwech is a South Sudanese model who grew up in Ethiopia and then moved to the U.S. as a teenager. She is known as “Queen of The Dark” because of her very dark skin, a result of high levels of melanin.
A local fisherman made a once-in-a-lifetime catch two weeks ago at Blue Creek on Lake Mitchell in Clanton, Alabama. The enormous Snapping Turtle he caught weighed almost 200 pounds and is likely over 100 years old. The turtle was released unharmed and will no doubt be a legend…
This week a juvenile godwit landed in Ansons Bay in northeast Tasmania. It had been tagged in Alaska and departed there on October 13, 2022 before flying non-stop to Tasmania. 1/2
“Project Ireland 2040” envisions one million people settling in Ireland, plus an additional 600,000 people working in the country by 2040. That’s a 30% population increase. Where will those people come from and why does Ireland need them?
The saltwater crocodile grows up to 21 feet long and weighs 3000 pounds. It's the world's largest living reptile. You want to stay as far away from it as possible.
A young woman from Vedbaek, Denmark, buried with her baby son who had been placed on a swan's wing, c. 4000 B.C.
“Swan wing burial” Grave 8 is the most famous of Vedbaek’s burials, containing a young woman who may have died in childbirth, and a premature baby.
The symbolism of…
In England, it's not uncommon to see "wavy" brick walls. The design uses fewer bricks than a straight wall. A straight wall that is just one brick thick is not sturdy enough to stand alone but a wavy "one-brick" wall stands just fine on its own.
@wrathofgnon
Duntrune Castle is the oldest continuously occupied castle on mainland Scotland. It was originally built by the MacDougall clan in the 13th century. The castle is now owned by Robin Neill Malcolm, current clan chief of the Clan Malcolm.
No matter how bad things get in France, the French will not be allowed to leave the GAE. If a right-wing government did gain power, the U.S. would sanction it and possibly invade it. Mass immigration and chaos keeps European countries weak and subservient, which is what the U.S.…
Euros infuriate me.
France is not a real country,
If France’s government veers far right and does what it maybe should do: Expulsions, America will instantly crush it with sanctions use its alliance network to geostrategically crush France, and then Either make the…
2/ Most wood used today is grown very fast - not only can you visibly see the difference in quality, but the newer lumber is more prone to rotting due to a lack of heartwood. Slow growth wood yields much more heartwood, which is the longest lasting part of the tree, whereas sap…
Here is a chart of the Deposit Interest Rate as of Feb. 18. It's shot up since January, which may indicate that banks are trying to stem outflows of deposits.
This is late-Roman Empire levels of dysfunction. No one running the U.S. cares about its future, which means that everything is going to collapse in a few years.
In 2019, Norwegian fisherman Joar Hesten was astonished when a beluga whale approached his boat. Even stranger, the whale was wearing a harness equipped with multiple camera mounts. 1/n
@GraduatedBen
@greg_price11
The Republicans have become a fake opposition party. Very few politicians actually represent the interests of their constituents.
3/ Modern lumber is also a lot more prone to termite damage as it is softer and easier to consume, whereas old lumber is extremely resinous and naturally termite resistant. 🐜🐜🐜
In the 1980's, the world's celebrities banded together to help Ethiopia's 40 million people, who were starving. Two generations later, Ethiopia now has 123 million people. 1/2
@Stalin_Frog
When Ukraine loses, as it inevitably will, a lot of normies are going to be stunned, disbelieving and very, very upset. Maybe that’s what the elites want.
The tropical rock lobster is a large spiny lobster with 11 larval stages. It migrates annually from the Torres Strait to Yule Island in the Gulf of Papua in order to breed. The babies are carried away by ocean currents and dispersed all across Australia’s eastern coast.
In 1965, excavations in Mezhyrich, Ukraine, revealed the presence of four huts, made up of a total of 149 mammoth bones. These dwellings, which are about 15,000 years old, are some of the oldest shelters known to have been constructed by prehistoric man.
@Paracelsus1092
Michelangelo Buonarotti was only 23 years old when he created the famous Pietà. A French cardinal commissioned the work and it took Michelangelo only two years to complete (1498-1500). It was made from a single block of Carrara marble and it's the only sculpture the artist ever…
Mason thought he lost everything in last week's tornado in Mississippi. He went back to recover what he could and found his cat sitting on the pile of rubble that use to be his house, waiting for him.
Dolly Parton and asphalt contractor Carl Dean, Tennessee, 1964. They’ve been married since 1966. In 2011, Parton said, "We're really very proud of our marriage. It's the first for both of us. And the last."
Putting his show on Twitter is a brilliant move by Tucker. It guarantees that he'll have a major platform and a huge audience in time for the 2024 elections, relatively free from censorship. The Biden Administration must be apoplectic.
The Administration will now pull out all…
Scientists recently announced the discovery of the oldest human footprints in North America. These fossilized prints were made between 23,000 and 21,000 years ago along the shores of an ice age lake that once filled the Tularosa Basin in south-central New Mexico. 1/3