Hacker News with Generative AI: Nature

The teeming life of dead trees (knowablemagazine.org)
Though no one may be around to hear when a tree falls in the forest, countless critters take note. Dormant fungi within the tree awaken to feast on it, joined by others that creep up from the soil. Bacteria pitch in, some sliding along strands of fungi to get deeper into the log. Termites alert their colony mates, which gather en masse to gobble up wood. Bit by bit, deadwood is decomposed, feeding new life along the way.

Ecology, Decomposition, Fungi, Insects, Nature

8 points by rntn 6 days ago | 1 comments

Nature loves patterns (fayziev.com)
As I drift through my winter vacation, detoxing from work, tech and world matters, I notice my little brother crawling toward a heat stove. With a week of rest behind me, my mind wanders into philosophical territory, and I can't help but map this moment to machine learning.

Machine Learning, Philosophy, Nature

12 points by Nurbek-F 6 days ago | 1 comments

A decade later, a decade lost (2024) (meyerweb.com)
I woke up this morning about an hour ahead of my alarm, the sky already light, birds calling. After a few minutes, a brief patter of rain swept across the roof and moved on.

Time, Reflection, Nature, Writing

548 points by ZeWaka 7 days ago | 170 comments

Signs Of Life In A Desert (noemamag.com)
In the dry and fiery deserts of Central Asia, among the mythical sites of both the first human and the end of all days, I found evidence that life restores itself even on the bleakest edge of ecological apocalypse.

Science, Nature, Environmentalism, Ecology

69 points by mindingnever 22 days ago | 12 comments

Snakeskin: It's Fashionable, and It Scares Predators Away from Bird Nests (nytimes.com)
A museum curator with a ladder showed that birds that build cavity-style nests are able to protect their eggs with the skin shed by snakes.

Nature, Animals, Fashion, Science

19 points by Petiver 26 days ago | 4 comments

Rafael Araujo's 20 Mesmerizing Geometrical Masterpieces (2024) (abakcus.com)
Artist Rafael Araujo expresses his love of nature through geometry, intertwining mathematical precision with the organic beauty found within the natural world.

Art, Geometry, Nature

126 points by NoRagrets 31 days ago | 18 comments

LA tree enthusiast shares her love for the city's canopy (theguardian.com)
On a recent Sunday morning, 25 Angelenos gathered under a large rusty leaf fig tree for a walking tree tour in a local Culver City park that was also playing host to an outdoor tai chi class as well as a group of yogis.

Trees, Los Angeles, Community, Nature

3 points by PaulHoule 39 days ago | 0 comments

In search of Europe's rarest wild mushrooms (bbc.com)
In Lithuania’s Dzūkija National Park, losing yourself amongst the pine trees while hunting for mushrooms is an occurrence so common it has its own word: "nugrybauti".

Europe, Mushrooms, Nature, Travel

9 points by andsoitis 42 days ago | 0 comments

Hermit guardian of Budelli dies after three decades on paradise island (theguardian.com)
Mauro Morandi, an Italian man nicknamed “Robinson Crusoe” by the media after living alone on a paradise island for more than three decades, has died at the age of 85.

Italy, Environment, Nature, Obituary, Human Interest

20 points by akbarnama 45 days ago | 3 comments

Hermit guardian of Budelli dies after three decades on paradise island (theguardian.com)
Mauro Morandi, an Italian man nicknamed “Robinson Crusoe” by the media after living alone on a paradise island for more than three decades, has died at the age of 85.

Nature, Italy, Human Interest, Obituaries

12 points by n1b0m 45 days ago | 0 comments

Orca that carried dead calf for weeks appears to be in mourning again (nytimes.com)
Researchers say that the killer whale’s newborn calf in Puget Sound has also died and she’s unable to let go.

Animals, Marine Biology, Grief, Whales, Nature

139 points by pepys 48 days ago | 241 comments

Art Forms in Nature / Ernst Haeckel 100 Plates 300 Dpi Scans (archive.org)
Ask the publishers to restore access to 500,000+ books.

Art, Nature, History, Books, Archives

4 points by MaysonL 53 days ago | 0 comments

Brazilian velvet ant is ultrablack (nytimes.com)
Scientists found that the dark markings on a species of fluffy wasp reflected less than 1 percent of light.

Science, Biology, Animals, Color, Nature

41 points by bookofjoe 59 days ago | 26 comments

Humpback Whale Swims Up to Photographer for Close-Up Picture (petapixel.com)
A photographer had a powerful experience with a whale who swam up close allowing her to capture a close-up photo of the humpback’s eye.

Wildlife Photography, Whales, Photography, Nature

21 points by philip1209 71 days ago | 3 comments

Oldest known wild bird lays egg at 74 (bbc.co.uk)
The world's oldest known wild bird has laid an egg at the approximate age of 74, US biologists say.

Animals, Biology, Nature, Birds

238 points by GeoAtreides 77 days ago | 110 comments

The great abandonment: what happens to the natural world when people disappear? (theguardian.com)
Across the globe, vast swathes of land are being left to be reclaimed by nature. To see what could be coming, look to Bulgaria

Nature, Environmentalism, Climate Change, Population Decline, Bulgaria

145 points by zeristor 85 days ago | 195 comments

Ancient forest world discovered 630ft down sinkhole in China (unilad.com)
Did you know a sinkhole in Asia plays host to a lush, ancient forest where trees tower nearly 130 feet tall?

Ancient Forests, China, Geology, Discovery, Nature

12 points by Brajeshwar 90 days ago | 1 comments

The Physics of Butterfly Wings (wordpress.com)
Some butterflies have shiny, vividly colored wings. From different angles you see different colors. This effect is called iridescence. How does it work?

Physics, Nature, Biology, Optics

71 points by boringg 94 days ago | 14 comments

Wren (wikipedia.org)
Wrens are a family, Troglodytidae, of small brown passerine birds.

Birds, Taxonomy, Nature

22 points by keepamovin 105 days ago | 1 comments

Listening in on the Mysterious Marbled Murrelet (hakaimagazine.com)
The marbled murrelet is an elusive creature. At sea, the stubby seabird dives at the first sign of predators. On land, it lays its eggs high in the mossy branches of the Pacific Northwest’s old-growth forests—a fact only serendipitously discovered by a utility-company employee climbing trees in the 1970s.

Nature, Birds, Conservation, Pacific Northwest, Wildlife

7 points by ohjeez 111 days ago | 0 comments

Recursion, Tidy Stars, and Water Lilies (planktonvalhalla.com)
We live in a universe of forces eternally straining to crush things together or tear them apart. There is no physical law for “forming shapes”, no law for being separated from other things, no law for staying still.

Physics, Nature, Art

44 points by mrcgnc 114 days ago | 3 comments

Man survives monthlong ordeal in US national park on mushrooms, berries andwater (theguardian.com)
A man ingested a mushroom, berries and water to survive getting lost for more than a month in a Washington state national park, he has said in an interview about his nearly fatal experience.

Survival, Nature, Accidents, United States

7 points by bookofjoe 115 days ago | 0 comments

Foxfire (wikipedia.org)
Foxfire, also called fairy fire and chimpanzee fire,[1] is the bioluminescence created by some species of fungi present in decaying wood.

Bioluminescence, Fungi, Biology, Nature, Decaying Wood

4 points by reaperducer 116 days ago | 0 comments

Lichens in cemetaries and a scientist who studies them (atlasobscura.com)

Science, Nature, Lichens, Cemeteries

40 points by diodorus 118 days ago | 13 comments

Our Boundless Love for Big Sur May Be Killing It (nytimes.com)
The 70 miles of California coastline that makes up the unincorporated area of Big Sur has a storied, almost mystical allure, largely thanks to its staggering beauty.

Environment, Tourism, California, Nature

14 points by Thevet 126 days ago | 21 comments

Believe it or not, this lush landscape is Antarctica (nature.com)
A fast-warming region of Antarctica is getting greener with shocking speed.

Antarctica, Climate Change, Environment, Nature

29 points by bookofjoe 138 days ago | 18 comments

Sunflowers and Fibonacci: Models of Efficiency (2014) (thatsmaths.com)
Strolling along Baggot Street in Dublin recently, I noticed a plaque at the entrance to the Ibec head office.

Mathematics, Nature, Design

23 points by scrollinondubs 138 days ago | 0 comments

Sea robins are fish with 'the wings of a bird and multiple legs like a crab' (cnn.com)

Marine Biology, Animals, Wildlife, Nature

21 points by Dore_nova 145 days ago | 6 comments

Mathematicians discover new class of shape seen throughout nature (nature.com)
Mathematicians have described1 a new class of shape that characterizes forms commonly found in nature — from the chambers in the iconic spiral shell of the nautilus to the way in which seeds pack into plants.

Mathematics, Nature, Geometry

272 points by pseudolus 152 days ago | 63 comments

Mathematicians discover new class of shape seen throughout nature (nature.com)
Mathematicians have described1 a new class of shape that characterizes forms commonly found in nature — from the chambers in the iconic spiral shell of the nautilus to the way in which seeds pack into plants.

Mathematics, Nature, Geometry, Biology

48 points by signa11 153 days ago | 4 comments