While the Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca) is only known to most Europeans as an invasive species, it once had divine significance in its namesake homeland. Although its original distribution area extended across almost the entire African continent, it was particularly worshipped in ancient Egypt, especially around Thebes. There it was considered a deity, Gengen Wer, "the great cackler," whose loud cackle filled the primordial darkness and who laid the world egg in a mulberry tree in Heliopolis, from which light and the world then emerged. This deity was one of the various manifestations associated with the complex Egyptian pantheon, which included the fertility aspects of gods like Amun. People assumed that creation was a continuous cycle and that every human being hatched from an underworld goose egg.

Seeing in the Dark and the Green: How Eyes and Leaves Share a Lighty Secret

The world of biology reveals surprising connections, and the human eye and a seemingly ordinary leaf share a fascinating one. Both organs rely on sophisticated light-sensing mechanisms to function effectively in their environments, despite their vastly different purposes.

Within the human eye, the retina houses two crucial photoreceptor cell types: rods and cones. Rods, responsible for low-light vision, utilize rhodopsin, a specialized protein, to capture even the faintest light signals. Cones, responsible for color vision, rely on various forms of iodopsin to differentiate colors in bright light conditions. Both rhodopsin and iodopsin function by undergoing a shape change upon encountering light, triggering a biochemical cascade that ultimately translates light energy into electrical signals the brain interprets as vision.

Plants exhibit a similar strategy. Nestled within their leaves lies phytochrome, a remarkable molecule that, like its counterparts in the eye, acts as a light receptor. Phytochrome exists in several states depending on the specific wavelengths of light it absorbs. By sensing variations in light intensity and spectrum, phytochrome provides the plant with vital information about its surrounding environment. This information plays a critical role in processes like photosynthesis, where plants utilize sunlight as an energy source, and regulates growth patterns based on light availability.

In both the eye and the plant, the photosensors function together with chromophores: retinal in the eye and phytochromobilin in the plant.

This unexpected parallel between the human eye and the leaf underscores a fundamental principle in biology – the ability to detect light is a powerful evolutionary advantage. By harnessing the power of light, both humans and plants gain the ability to navigate their environments, grow, and thrive.

What's my state of mind? 🫣
Hopefully the last selfie with this hat.
Even though I have to shave my ears again, I'm looking forward to sunshine and rainbows and moths in my fur.*

🦋🌈🦋🦥🌴🦋🌞

*Metaphorical moths.
Sloths live in symbiosis with sloth moths.
That tingles!✨️🥰

You should also appreciate a slo-mo symbiosis. 🫠🕰

🤍

Bask in the golden glow of a summer sunset, casting its warm hues over a lush rye field, with the majestic silhouette of the Altkönig "Old King" looming in the distance 🫠❤️‍🔥

It was a very special time. In total I was there every weekend for 55 days. Much too little. I wish it would have been infinite.🌠 I will miss it very much!
Goodbye Bad Bodendorf! 😢❤️

🌳🐕👫🏼🌲

✨✨✨💖✨✨✨

Be yourself.
Know what you want.
Stay curious.
Go your way.
Discover beauty.
Come together.
Enjoy each other.
Enjoy the world.
Run around.
Plant some seeds.

🌱🌱🌱🍀🌱🌱🌱

Nature's hide-and-seek ❄️🦆☃️

Seemingly endless..
along the Grote Nete river.

The heath in Kessel, Belgium is characterized by heather, swamps, drifting sand and ponds. Heath landscapes are a beautiful example of the interplay of culture and biodiversity. 6000 years ago 80 percent of Europe was still covered by forests. Heath areas naturally occurred only in very rare cases on coasts, in moorland areas and in the mountains. Then people started to use the forests for themselves. They required grazing land and thus not only changed the landscape, but also created new habitats for many different species. The extensive use of deforested and cleared areas resulted in increasingly nutrient-poor soils and grazing animals were bred that are particularly suitable for these areas. The upper layer of soil was regularly removed, mixed with animal manure and burned or applied to fields as fertilizer. The rain washed out the last nutrients and specially adapted plant species settled there, followed by rare animals.

These unique ecosystems survive only through active human intervention, which has been achieved through centuries of heath farming. However, this type of farming has become uneconomical, and a large part of the land has been converted into arable land by applying fertiliser. Other areas became forest again because keeping animals on nutrient-poor areas is associated with lower yields. With the loss of the heathland, numerous animal and plant species are threatened with extinction. And all the beauty that has always inspired painters and poets could simply disappear. It could hardly have been the biodiversity alone that led to active conservation efforts, but rather the cultural connection to this romanticized landscape form. We keep what we find beautiful and we can only find beautiful what we can see.

A nice memory from today a year ago ✨🦥❤️🐑✨