insects, Simmons says that to fully understand human behaviour, we will need to more closely study ourselves. The cave-dwelling Neotrogla might give gifts to their partners for sex, but âif you want to understand what a box of chocolates means, you have to understand human courtshipâ, he says. Romance lives.
The past may not make you feel better
Lost in a floral desert
Copulate to populate: Ancient Scottish fish did it sideways
Light
Sarina Noordhuis-Fairfax
Attempts were made to construct light.
It is possible, but by no means easy, to prepare
something clear, bright.
Troubles may arise if solutions with fancy names
fade in the dark or are found to have an irritating brilliancy.
One formula
presented a peculiarly difficult problem
becoming pink in damp weather
and having a tendency to produce fog.
An excellent method is to follow a comet
and place it inside a deep box
lined with velvet or black cloth
that absorb all electric sparks.
Intended to be viewed a little at a time
so that dazzle is avoided,
a hole cut into the lid
producing a momentary brilliant light.
Inventors of a curious process
driven by a clockwork motor
to restore clouds in landscapes
by rubbing with a tuft of cotton wool.
Note that true light
is sure to have collected
amid dark châlets and pine forests
during the winter months.
However as a long time is required
this arrangement is now obsolete.
Instead of starting with darkness
they found the following formula to be reliable.
Dissolve one part of pure gold
by waving continuously through the steam of a kettle
until it has the colour and consistence of honey.
From time to time check for the presence of air-bubbles.
To ordinary candle-ends melted in a jam pot
add seven luminous wrist-watches and a lighted match.
Into this decant the gold solution.
It will have the appearance of tangled ribbons.
Left for twenty-four hours
it appears yellower than daylight.
When beams of rays emerge
it should be filtered through swansdown.
Working in one direction,
a little nearer or a little further away,
the presence of a few dark shadows will make almost no difference.
They can be folded back out of the way.
This keeps for long periods
in a light-proof, dust-proof cupboard.
It may be diluted to half-strength for softer effects
or used at double the strength for half the time.
By the act of a sideways and sliding movement
a pool of it should be poured into the centre of a mirror
balanced on the fingers and thumbs of one hand
coaxed by tilting until it is made brilliantly luminous.
These notes are but suggestions.
Sunshine is best.
Found poem sourced from A.L.M. Sowerby (ed.), Dictionary of Photography , London: Iliffe and Sons 1956 (18th edition)
Itâs all in your mind: The feeling of âwetnessâ is an illusion
The women who fell through the cracks of the Universe
Playing God
Bridie Smith
The noise is piercing and poignant. It starts as a determined drill reminiscent of the âtut-tutâ of Skippy â but delivered with a bit more chirrup â then accelerates to a pitch and pace rivalling that of a lorikeet. Then it goes quiet. Thatâs it. The last call, made by the last Christmas Island pipistrelle bat. It lasts barely 40 seconds.
Before the Christmas Island pipistrelle left the world for good, he was recorded over three nights as he moved through the rainforest. Using ultrasonic pulses of sound to forage for food, this bat was feasting on the fly: expertly catching and consuming insects mid-air. If he was aware scientists were tracking him, he wasnât obliging them. More than 250 kilograms of equipment had been lugged to the tiny island outpost in the Indian Ocean, 1500 kilometres north-west of the Australian mainland, as part of a desperate attempt to rescue his species.
But he was having none of it. He gave the harp nets and mist nets the slip, zipping over the top, night after night. And he ignored a
The past may not make you feel better
Lost in a floral desert
Copulate to populate: Ancient Scottish fish did it sideways
Light
Sarina Noordhuis-Fairfax
Attempts were made to construct light.
It is possible, but by no means easy, to prepare
something clear, bright.
Troubles may arise if solutions with fancy names
fade in the dark or are found to have an irritating brilliancy.
One formula
presented a peculiarly difficult problem
becoming pink in damp weather
and having a tendency to produce fog.
An excellent method is to follow a comet
and place it inside a deep box
lined with velvet or black cloth
that absorb all electric sparks.
Intended to be viewed a little at a time
so that dazzle is avoided,
a hole cut into the lid
producing a momentary brilliant light.
Inventors of a curious process
driven by a clockwork motor
to restore clouds in landscapes
by rubbing with a tuft of cotton wool.
Note that true light
is sure to have collected
amid dark châlets and pine forests
during the winter months.
However as a long time is required
this arrangement is now obsolete.
Instead of starting with darkness
they found the following formula to be reliable.
Dissolve one part of pure gold
by waving continuously through the steam of a kettle
until it has the colour and consistence of honey.
From time to time check for the presence of air-bubbles.
To ordinary candle-ends melted in a jam pot
add seven luminous wrist-watches and a lighted match.
Into this decant the gold solution.
It will have the appearance of tangled ribbons.
Left for twenty-four hours
it appears yellower than daylight.
When beams of rays emerge
it should be filtered through swansdown.
Working in one direction,
a little nearer or a little further away,
the presence of a few dark shadows will make almost no difference.
They can be folded back out of the way.
This keeps for long periods
in a light-proof, dust-proof cupboard.
It may be diluted to half-strength for softer effects
or used at double the strength for half the time.
By the act of a sideways and sliding movement
a pool of it should be poured into the centre of a mirror
balanced on the fingers and thumbs of one hand
coaxed by tilting until it is made brilliantly luminous.
These notes are but suggestions.
Sunshine is best.
Found poem sourced from A.L.M. Sowerby (ed.), Dictionary of Photography , London: Iliffe and Sons 1956 (18th edition)
Itâs all in your mind: The feeling of âwetnessâ is an illusion
The women who fell through the cracks of the Universe
Playing God
Bridie Smith
The noise is piercing and poignant. It starts as a determined drill reminiscent of the âtut-tutâ of Skippy â but delivered with a bit more chirrup â then accelerates to a pitch and pace rivalling that of a lorikeet. Then it goes quiet. Thatâs it. The last call, made by the last Christmas Island pipistrelle bat. It lasts barely 40 seconds.
Before the Christmas Island pipistrelle left the world for good, he was recorded over three nights as he moved through the rainforest. Using ultrasonic pulses of sound to forage for food, this bat was feasting on the fly: expertly catching and consuming insects mid-air. If he was aware scientists were tracking him, he wasnât obliging them. More than 250 kilograms of equipment had been lugged to the tiny island outpost in the Indian Ocean, 1500 kilometres north-west of the Australian mainland, as part of a desperate attempt to rescue his species.
But he was having none of it. He gave the harp nets and mist nets the slip, zipping over the top, night after night. And he ignored a
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