5 ms·

Creatures That Don’t Conform

105 points by sohkamyung 3y ago

mcswell 3y ago
I wish they'd have a scale next to pictures (in this article and elsewhere). We're out in the woods a lot, but it's hard to know what to look for as you're walking along.
- ftxbro 3y ago
  I like to pretend they are big like baobab trees. If they put a coin or a banana for scale it would ruin my fantasy!
- david422 3y ago
  I was curious about this too. They are bigger than I was thinking. Wikipedia has a picture of one with an ant for scale: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slime_mold#/media/File:Stemonitis_sp._(Slime_Mould)_with_Ant.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slime_mold#/media/File:Stemoni...
ftxbro 3y ago
It's about slime molds.
- examplary_cable 3y ago
  Thanks
thedailymail 3y ago
The website of Barry White, the slime-mold photographer mentioned in the essay, has many beautiful images. https://www.barrywebbimages.co.uk/Images/Macro/Slime-Moulds-Myxomycetes/ https://www.barrywebbimages.co.uk/Images/Macro/Slime-Moulds-... Edit: As noted below, the correct surname of the photographer is Webb, not White!
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- bqmjjx0kac 3y ago
  Barry Webb!
  - musicale 3y ago
    He's not as good a singer though.
  - chadcmulligan 3y ago
    who's the slime with all the moves, oh yeah
- omnicognate 3y ago
  I don't have time to read the article in full right now but this gorgeous description will have me returning to it and Barry Webb's images later today: > Iridescent rainbow orbs bursting into tangerine spun sugar. Pearly spheres of goo. Sorbet corn dogs leaning into one another with matching bouffants. Bright yellow blackberries. A bunch of Mr. Blobby’s babies. Golden goblets overflowing with effervescent honeycomb. Opalescent spherules in crinkled sweet wrappers. Amaretti flecked with flakes of soap. Honestly, go and check it out if you don’t believe me.
- Baeocystin 3y ago
  Those photographs are of stunningly good quality. Wow!
- Waterluvian 3y ago
  Wow. Otherworldly.
zabzonk 3y ago
> Plasmodium has no brain or nervous system, yet it can perform brain-like, intelligent functions. well, no. i would say it can performs some simple algorithms. > It knows itself this is useful, performing those algorithms, and so will be selected for. > It is able to learn and anticipate. anticipate? don't know about that. > It can learn, for example, to avoid something potentially harmful. bacteria do this, via very rapid natural selection. > It makes decisions not in the sense we do.
- satori99 3y ago
  > anticipate? don't know about that. [...] After three cold snaps the scientists stopped changing the temperature and humidity and watched to see whether the amoebas had learned the pattern. Sure enough, many of the cells throttled back right on the hour in anticipation of another bout of cold weather https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/71-slime-molds-show-surprising-degree-of-intelligence https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/71-slime-molds...
  - zabzonk 3y ago
    not sure a learned cycle is the same as anticipation - but arguable
    - undreren 3y ago
      It would be more constructive, if you defined “anticipate”. Your dismissal really needs that to be taken seriously.
      - zabzonk 3y ago
        > It would be more constructive, if you defined “anticipate”. a term from the OP, not one introduced by me. complain to them.
        hammyhavoc 3y ago
        Does an LLM anticipate? Is a slime mold more intelligent than an LLM?
interfixus 3y ago
Beautifully written. And myxomyceticolous is an indispensible new word for me to have learned.
thih9 3y ago
I know nothing about macro photography; how are photos like this shot? As in: is it a camera and a macro lens? Or is there some focus stacking and image composition involved? Or perhaps some other approach?
- bla3 3y ago
  A macro lens is defined as one having 1x magnification, meaning 1cm in real life at the focus plane is mapped to 1cm on the image sensor. A full frame sensor is 3.6cm across horizontally, so a 3.6cm object fills a photo. These things are smaller, so they need a super macro lens with 2x or even 5x magnification. You can get that by buying such a lens, using macro bellows, clipping a separate magnifying lens in front of your normal macro lens, etc. In any case, with such a high magnification, the plane of focus becomes very narrow, so they're very likely also doing focus stacking. And you need a lot of light, so they're probably also using a flash.
  - agentgumshoe 3y ago
    At least focus stacking these wouldn't be too hard as they aren't moving and not likely affected by the wind! Definitely using a flash, you wouldn't get that even side/shadow lighting without either (diffused) flash or other added light source
- zimpenfish 3y ago
  Macro lens + focus stacking according to https://www.barrywebbimages.co.uk/About https://www.barrywebbimages.co.uk/About Which links to https://amateurphotographer.com/technique/macro_photography/focus-stacking-how-to-achieve-pin-sharp-macro-shots/ https://amateurphotographer.com/technique/macro_photography/... And that further elaborates (in the Barry Webb section): "a Micro Four Thirds system with a 60mm macro lens [...] also often use between one and three extension tubes and, on occasions, a Raynox close-up lens" (plus a whole lot more info.)
BlueTemplar 3y ago
Hmm, seems like at least some of the look of the new The Last of Us tv movie has been inspired more by slime molds than actual fungi ?
automatic6131 3y ago
What a tiresome article. It's laced with the stupidest kind of anthropomorphism - always interpreting a creature in nature as though it is a human mind. For example, the first sentence including "fluid, nonbinary way of being". For those in the know, these are references to genderfluidity, non binary and queer ways of being. None of this - as it applies to humans - is relevant to the study of slime molds! There may be a weak (very weak!) parallel, but such a matter doesn't affect the slime mold, nor inform how a human being should live in the world. And then later it refers to some lesbain poet who talked about slime molds in a poem. And meaningless speculation about how slime molds are "unstudied" due to a revulsion of slime, which is pointed out to be feminine. Not an argument I'm going to buy, for if there extremely well studied from early times, then this article would perhaps be talking about how slime molds are seminal in nature. So, meaningless in the sense it's unfalsifiable. Maybe search for actual reasons why they're unstudied and improperly categorised, like they're difficult to study? Or that good scientists try to be as parsimonious with category as possible, so that those categories retain explantory power? But that has to be ignored, so the Queer theoretic "violence of categorization" can be undermined with nature. It's tiresome. If you've found an interesting creature in nature, then write what makes that creature interesting. It doesn't (ever) need to include what a lesbian writer thought it taught humans how to live. Because it doesn't, really.
- nathan_compton 3y ago
  Eh. 1) Slime molds are cool 2) queerness is cool 3) waxing poetic is cool => 4) this article is cool.
  - automatic6131 3y ago
    Queerness ain't cool fam. I mean, I would explain why actual cool people laugh at those blue haired weirdos, but everyone's life has taught them that. No, actually, I'll say that queerness cannot be cool on its own terms. Queerness is that which rejects normality[0]. Coolness - to analyze it so deeply I reveal myself as deeply uncool - is to be at the peak of social aspiration. It's normativity so easily achieved it makes people feel envious and desirous. It is, in that sense, the antithesis of queer. [0] queer-as-identity allows individuals to transcend or outright reject normative labels https://newdiscourses.com/tftw-queer/ https://newdiscourses.com/tftw-queer/

105 points by sohkamyung 3y ago

I wish they'd have a scale next to pictures (in this article and elsewhere). We're out in the woods a lot, but it's hard to know what to look for as you're walking along.

ftxbro 3y ago
I like to pretend they are big like baobab trees. If they put a coin or a banana for scale it would ruin my fantasy!
david422 3y ago
I was curious about this too. They are bigger than I was thinking. Wikipedia has a picture of one with an ant for scale: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slime_mold#/media/File:Stemonitis_sp._(Slime_Mould)_with_Ant.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slime_mold#/media/File:Stemoni...

ftxbro 3y ago

It's about slime molds.

examplary_cable 3y ago
Thanks

thedailymail 3y ago

The website of Barry White, the slime-mold photographer mentioned in the essay, has many beautiful images. https://www.barrywebbimages.co.uk/Images/Macro/Slime-Moulds-Myxomycetes/ https://www.barrywebbimages.co.uk/Images/Macro/Slime-Moulds-... Edit: As noted below, the correct surname of the photographer is Webb, not White!

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
bqmjjx0kac 3y ago
Barry Webb!
- musicale 3y ago
  He's not as good a singer though.
- chadcmulligan 3y ago
  who's the slime with all the moves, oh yeah
omnicognate 3y ago
I don't have time to read the article in full right now but this gorgeous description will have me returning to it and Barry Webb's images later today: > Iridescent rainbow orbs bursting into tangerine spun sugar. Pearly spheres of goo. Sorbet corn dogs leaning into one another with matching bouffants. Bright yellow blackberries. A bunch of Mr. Blobby’s babies. Golden goblets overflowing with effervescent honeycomb. Opalescent spherules in crinkled sweet wrappers. Amaretti flecked with flakes of soap. Honestly, go and check it out if you don’t believe me.
Baeocystin 3y ago
Those photographs are of stunningly good quality. Wow!
Waterluvian 3y ago
Wow. Otherworldly.

zabzonk 3y ago

> Plasmodium has no brain or nervous system, yet it can perform brain-like, intelligent functions. well, no. i would say it can performs some simple algorithms. > It knows itself this is useful, performing those algorithms, and so will be selected for. > It is able to learn and anticipate. anticipate? don't know about that. > It can learn, for example, to avoid something potentially harmful. bacteria do this, via very rapid natural selection. > It makes decisions not in the sense we do.

satori99 3y ago
> anticipate? don't know about that. [...] After three cold snaps the scientists stopped changing the temperature and humidity and watched to see whether the amoebas had learned the pattern. Sure enough, many of the cells throttled back right on the hour in anticipation of another bout of cold weather https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/71-slime-molds-show-surprising-degree-of-intelligence https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/71-slime-molds...
- zabzonk 3y ago
  not sure a learned cycle is the same as anticipation - but arguable
  - undreren 3y ago
    It would be more constructive, if you defined “anticipate”. Your dismissal really needs that to be taken seriously.
    - zabzonk 3y ago
      > It would be more constructive, if you defined “anticipate”. a term from the OP, not one introduced by me. complain to them.
      - hammyhavoc 3y ago
        Does an LLM anticipate? Is a slime mold more intelligent than an LLM?

interfixus 3y ago

Beautifully written. And myxomyceticolous is an indispensible new word for me to have learned.

thih9 3y ago

I know nothing about macro photography; how are photos like this shot? As in: is it a camera and a macro lens? Or is there some focus stacking and image composition involved? Or perhaps some other approach?

bla3 3y ago
A macro lens is defined as one having 1x magnification, meaning 1cm in real life at the focus plane is mapped to 1cm on the image sensor. A full frame sensor is 3.6cm across horizontally, so a 3.6cm object fills a photo. These things are smaller, so they need a super macro lens with 2x or even 5x magnification. You can get that by buying such a lens, using macro bellows, clipping a separate magnifying lens in front of your normal macro lens, etc. In any case, with such a high magnification, the plane of focus becomes very narrow, so they're very likely also doing focus stacking. And you need a lot of light, so they're probably also using a flash.
- agentgumshoe 3y ago
  At least focus stacking these wouldn't be too hard as they aren't moving and not likely affected by the wind! Definitely using a flash, you wouldn't get that even side/shadow lighting without either (diffused) flash or other added light source
zimpenfish 3y ago
Macro lens + focus stacking according to https://www.barrywebbimages.co.uk/About https://www.barrywebbimages.co.uk/About Which links to https://amateurphotographer.com/technique/macro_photography/focus-stacking-how-to-achieve-pin-sharp-macro-shots/ https://amateurphotographer.com/technique/macro_photography/... And that further elaborates (in the Barry Webb section): "a Micro Four Thirds system with a 60mm macro lens [...] also often use between one and three extension tubes and, on occasions, a Raynox close-up lens" (plus a whole lot more info.)

BlueTemplar 3y ago

Hmm, seems like at least some of the look of the new The Last of Us tv movie has been inspired more by slime molds than actual fungi ?

automatic6131 3y ago

What a tiresome article. It's laced with the stupidest kind of anthropomorphism - always interpreting a creature in nature as though it is a human mind. For example, the first sentence including "fluid, nonbinary way of being". For those in the know, these are references to genderfluidity, non binary and queer ways of being. None of this - as it applies to humans - is relevant to the study of slime molds! There may be a weak (very weak!) parallel, but such a matter doesn't affect the slime mold, nor inform how a human being should live in the world. And then later it refers to some lesbain poet who talked about slime molds in a poem. And meaningless speculation about how slime molds are "unstudied" due to a revulsion of slime, which is pointed out to be feminine. Not an argument I'm going to buy, for if there extremely well studied from early times, then this article would perhaps be talking about how slime molds are seminal in nature. So, meaningless in the sense it's unfalsifiable. Maybe search for actual reasons why they're unstudied and improperly categorised, like they're difficult to study? Or that good scientists try to be as parsimonious with category as possible, so that those categories retain explantory power? But that has to be ignored, so the Queer theoretic "violence of categorization" can be undermined with nature. It's tiresome. If you've found an interesting creature in nature, then write what makes that creature interesting. It doesn't (ever) need to include what a lesbian writer thought it taught humans how to live. Because it doesn't, really.

nathan_compton 3y ago
Eh. 1) Slime molds are cool 2) queerness is cool 3) waxing poetic is cool => 4) this article is cool.
- automatic6131 3y ago
  Queerness ain't cool fam. I mean, I would explain why actual cool people laugh at those blue haired weirdos, but everyone's life has taught them that. No, actually, I'll say that queerness cannot be cool on its own terms. Queerness is that which rejects normality[0]. Coolness - to analyze it so deeply I reveal myself as deeply uncool - is to be at the peak of social aspiration. It's normativity so easily achieved it makes people feel envious and desirous. It is, in that sense, the antithesis of queer. [0] queer-as-identity allows individuals to transcend or outright reject normative labels https://newdiscourses.com/tftw-queer/ https://newdiscourses.com/tftw-queer/