Nature

Prickly Pear

Posted on July 6, 2020July 6, 2020 by Sam Kornstein in General, Nature

Last month I purchased a few prickly pear pads, and planted them in a couple small pots in my home office. I’d read that it can take weeks or even months for them to properly root and begin developing new pads. And even though they typically flower in the spring – with fruit following a bit after that – I didn’t expect to have any flowers or fruit this year given the root system won’t be robust until later in the summer. So I was quite surprised when both started growing new pads within a few days of being planted, and one of them flowered by the third week! Here are a few pictures: Still waiting to see if the

Iranian Spider-Tailed Viper

Posted on February 25, 2020February 26, 2020 by Sam Kornstein in General, Nature, Science

I recently came across this great example of evolutionary mimicry, where this viper has a tail that it can make to look like a walking spider. It moves it back and forth to trick birds into thinking there’s a spider to eat, and then you can imagine what happens next:

Readers’ Wildlife Photos

Posted on January 28, 2020January 28, 2020 by Sam Kornstein in Nature, Photography, Travel

A few months ago, I discovered Jerry Coyne’s blog, ‘Why Evolution is True‘ via Scott Aaronson’s Blog on quantum computing, ‘Shtetl-Optimized‘ which I’ve followed for over 10 years (full disclosure, I understand about 50% of what Scott writes). Jerry had written some criticism of a YouTube video where Scott shared some thoughts on free will, which ultimately resulted in the two of them connecting, per Scott’s post: A few months ago, I got to know Jerry Coyne, the recently-retired biologist at the University of Chicago who writes the blog “Why Evolution Is True.” The interaction started when Jerry put up a bemused post about my thoughts on predictability and free will, and I pointed out that if he wanted to engage me on those

Hamakua, Waipio, and Pololu

Posted on January 4, 2017January 2, 2017 by Sam Kornstein in Nature, Photography, Travel

For our final two days in Hawaii Laura and I stayed at a B&B on a ranch in the Hamakua region up north. The drive up to the ranch was six miles off the main road, three of which was through a eucalyptus forest: Here are a couple of horses on the ranch: We drove out to Waipio Valley one afternoon, and did the mile hike down and back up: Afterwards, we drove out to Pololu Valley. Unfortunately the weather turned overcast when we got there, but we had some good rainbow sightings on the way: Many more pictures on my photography site.

Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden

Posted on January 3, 2017January 2, 2017 by Sam Kornstein in Nature, Photography, Travel

Laura and I visited the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden outside Hilo on our drive from Volcano to Hamakua. It far exceeded our expectations and I’d highly recommend an hour or so stop if you’re on the Big Island. The garden is along a trail that’s roughly a mile loop. It’s located off a scenic road which was among the best drives we did on the island. Just a mile south of it is the Onomea Bay Trail, which we walked as well. The trail actually passes through part of the garden, but you can’t get into the main area without first buying tickets at the main entrance. Here are some highlights from the botanical garden: And here are a few shots taken from the Onomea Bay Trail:

Photographing the Milky Way

Posted on January 2, 2017January 2, 2017 by Sam Kornstein in Nature, Photography, Travel

I’d never photographed the night sky until last week. Living in the Northeast, it’s rare for me to have a clear opportunity without lots of light pollution. And when I’ve been lucky enough to travel somewhere remote, I’ve generally been without a tripod or the right lens. In Hawaii, light pollution is low and visibility is great, so I decided to give it a try while Laura and I were visiting. Here’s what I used for settings on a Nikon D7200 with a 16-80mm lens: manual mode, ISO 6400, focal length 16mm, f/2.8, shutter speed 25 seconds, and focus just a few millimeters to the right of infinity. I tried a few slight variations of those, but found the results weren’t as good. I shot the first bunch while

Lots of Lava and Steam

Posted on January 1, 2017January 2, 2017 by Sam Kornstein in Nature, Photography, Travel

Picking up from the previous post on where to see lava in Volcanoes National Park, here are my shots from the Kalapana lava flow site. We arrived around 5:30pm, just before sunset. I had a lot of trouble choosing which pictures to post, but these are the highlights. Lots of steam coming off the ocean as the lava hits the water: Here there’s some lava shooting up into the air – it gets a little too close to the boat: This is my favorite shot of the bunch. I love the steam patterns over the ocean with the silver water and boat driving away: As it gets dark, the glow becomes brighter: Lots of explosions in the steam: This was by far my favorite part of our time in Hawaii. I’d never

Two Ways to See Active Lava Flow in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park

Posted on January 1, 2017January 2, 2017 by Sam Kornstein in General, Nature, Photography, Travel

One of the things I was excited to see in the National Park was molten lava flow. This is something that you can only experience at a few places in the world at the moment, and Volcanoes National Park is one of them. After some research, I found that active flow has been relatively consistent in two places, with great visibility. The first option is easy. A couple miles from the park entrance is the Jaggar Museum, which has a viewpoint overlooking the active Kīlauea Caldera. The caldera is about a half mile away, so you can’t get close, but it’s still an incredible view. It’s best to go at night, as during the day it can be difficult to see the lava itself. Even

Two Days in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park

Posted on January 1, 2017January 2, 2017 by Sam Kornstein in Nature, Photography, Travel

Following our beach day in the Kona and Kohala coast area, and then our drive to Volcano, HI with a few stops along the way, Laura and I had two full days in the National Park. Unfortunately, it rained like crazy the first day. We were told it was the heaviest rain the area had gotten in years. But we ventured into the park anyway, hoping to catch a break in the downpour. We stopped at the visitor center for some recommendations on hikes, and Mark, a ranger, convinced us that despite the rain, and despite the forecast for 24 more hours of rain, the park was filled with “micro climates” and there could be plenty of relatively dry areas. So

The Tallest Cow in the World

Posted on October 20, 2014October 20, 2014 by Sam Kornstein in Current Events, Nature

6ft, 4in, from Illinois. Nothing else to add: