I love these things. When viewed from above I see so many similarities with fundamental physics principles that it reminds me how physics shows up in literally every aspect of nature. You have layers of symmetries and branching that are reminiscent of the phenomena of fingering behavior observed in viscous fluids. Physics, astronomy, chemistry, and biology… they are all the same thing really, just seen from different perspectives.
I am a retired physicist and an avid nature lover. When I hike the trails out at the Indiana Dunes I see all sorts of fascinating examples of physics phenomena all around me. I also encounter an endless variety of biological phenomena which provide new opportunities for learning about the world we live in.
One might think it was the color of this smooth phlox that caught my attention. But in actuality it was the multitude of symmetries that made me take this photograph. The leaves, the branching, the patterns in the clustering of the flowers, the petals of the flowers. Even the overall profile shows a gorgeous symmetry. Symmetry is a phenomena that shows up all the time in nature and is the essence of physical conservation laws.
I am becoming obsessed with the patterns and structures of Dragonfly eyes. The different shapes and patterns correspond to different functionality. They have near 360 degree field of vision and more color receptors than we do.
One of the great things about Dragonflies is how they like to perch in spots that are ideal for photographing them. They also tend to remain very stationary for reasonably long periods of time.
There is simply nothing like the feeling of being down in the marsh. The diversity of plant and animal life in this habitat is obscene. Once you learn how to observe, you literally cannot discover something completely new on every visit for a lifetime.
A Hoverfly, a Jagged Assassin Bug and a Crab Spider walk onto a flower… Two apex predators and one defenseless pollinator. Who made a meal of who? I will never know because I assumed the Assassin Bug was lying in wait for the Hoverfly to get just a wee bit too close, but it turned out it was stalking the Crab Spider instead. Unfortunately I did not discover this until after I got home and examined the sequence of photos I took. If I had stayed one minute longer I’d have watched an encounter between the Assassin and the Crab! Damn… nature can be such a tease.
Humped Bladderwort, a carnivorous plant. I won’t bother trying to explain how Bladderwort captures and consumes prey. Just google it, there are some awesome videos out there that show the whole process. The physics involved is beautiful in its elegant simplicity.
This photo was taken on a clear day as cool air arrived, displacing the wildfire smoke we have been dealing with recently. It was also quite windy, steady 15+mph winds off the lake. Combined with temps in the 70’s it made for a cool day at the beach and a ban on swimming due to dangerous conditions.
I don’t do landscapes all that often, but this trail at West Beach just calls for breaking out the ultra wide angle lens I so rarely use. I should spend more time with it so that I can learn how to really use it, it is such a nice lens for certain subjects.
This trail features 270 stair steps up to the top of a dune, followed by 270 steps back down. 270 steps is about 18 stories. The park put in the stairs so that people can hike up and over a tall foredune. These foredunes are composed of very loose sand and large numbers of people hiking up and down can cause a lot of damage in a short time.
I used to be skittish about wasps like this Red Paper Wasp. They look so mean and scary. But it is amazing how close you can get to them and they completely ignore you so long as you don’t swat at them or make sudden movements. I’ve had a dozen of them zipping by within inches of me at times, never once been stung. Of course by boasting about this I have guaranteed that I will get stung the next time I try to photograph a wasp up close like this.
There are signs at all of the beaches telling visitors they cannot shoot off fireworks. What most folks don’t realize is that the most spectacular fireworks are the flowers to be found one the trails away from the beach.
They don’t call them Prickly Pear cacti for nothing. I would not want to accidentally kneel on one of these.
Spotted Beebalm is a beautiful plant in the mint family. It is also home to an impressive array of predators.
Jagged Assassin bugs are just the most awesome things. And they show up everywhere this time of year. These Spotted Beebalm plants were just packed with them. Makes me feel sorry for the pollinators who came to visit this particular patch.
I see you! Of course I am not in danger of being paralyzed and having my liquified innards sucked out of me like that ant is.
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