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Seeds on the Wind, Amherst, NH, November 2007, Canon PowerShot SD870 IS, 35mm equiv. focal length 27.8mm, Exposure 1/125 sec @ f8, ISO 80, no flash, © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge] |
Nature surely is ingenious. Take a look at that seed delivery mechanism -- wow, what a design. The next breath of air that comes this way will carry those milkweed seeds far and wide. Which is cool, because the milkweed is the plant where monarch butterflies undergo their metamorphasis.
Now with this being such a good design, you might think nature would patent it, mass produce it, and make it as cheap and efficient as possible ;-) But even better, nature just loves diversity. Why take the risk that you end up with an evolutionary dead end. So there are seeds that cling to animals. Seed that are tasty to eat (but aren't digested), and so get the added benefit of, um, fertilizer wherever they are dropped. And so on, and so on.
It is really mind boggling how vast, how elegant, how diverse, and how fascinating our world has become through the universal principle of evolution.
Oh, and here's something pretty ingenious too. It's a human invention, and sure, it is primitive, but it certainly is clever. Check out the short video of the man-made creatures that their Dutch creator hope will once day live on the beaches in the Netherlands.
- Donation: to Azada Bagirova via a Kiva loan to assist in creating her own business
- Exercise: Nice walk with Frito and Carol (45 mins)
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