Did they actually fly? Or lean on the wind? Because recently there has been news of spiders flying.. not really flying but traveling through the air via wind
Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping
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Re: Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping
#72There are times when you can cross the Atlantic on wind power without stopping. In 2016, Stan Honey, the inventor of car navigation, took a 100-foot sailboat across the Atlantic without tacking, knocking 27 hours off the previous time.[1] They kept the crew on standby until wind conditions were perfect, then set sail. The butterflies were lucky. There must be many others that didn't make it. [1] https://www.yachtingw…
Only tangentially related, but giant tortoises are thought to have floated (they can't really swim) a thousand kilometers to the Galapagos from the coast of South America, where they later went extinct. I imagine most of the tortoises that found themselves floating in the Pacific never made landfall!
Only tangentially related, but humans are thought to have floated (they can't really swim that distance) around fifteen hundred kilometers to the Galapagos from the coasts of Central America, where they later caused the extinction of Giant Tortoises.
Re: Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping
#73There are times when you can cross the Atlantic on wind power without stopping. In 2016, Stan Honey, the inventor of car navigation, took a 100-foot sailboat across the Atlantic without tacking, knocking 27 hours off the previous time.[1] They kept the crew on standby until wind conditions were perfect, then set sail. The butterflies were lucky. There must be many others that didn't make it. [1] https://www.yachtingw…
Only tangentially related, but giant tortoises are thought to have floated (they can't really swim) a thousand kilometers to the Galapagos from the coast of South America, where they later went extinct. I imagine most of the tortoises that found themselves floating in the Pacific never made landfall!
That reminds me of that Werner Herzog documentary on Penguins, and the one Penguin that leaves to group just to wander off into the island towards certain death.
Re: Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Only tangentially related, but giant tortoises are thought to have floated (they can't really swim) a thousand kilometers to the Galapagos from the coast of South America, where they later went extinct. I imagine most of the tortoises that found themselves floating in the Pacific never made landfall!
That reminds me of that Werner Herzog documentary on Penguins, and the one Penguin that leaves to group just to wander off into the island towards certain death. https://youtu.be/mnTU_hJoByA?t=131
yes, the image of that lone penguin setting off to the horizon with (what i read as) resolution had stuck on my mind. perhaps i was seeing too much of myself in it (and i think many others do too).
Re: Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping
#75How is this possible? I cant even walk 10 miles without needing food. Where did the butterflies store their energy? So many questions... Amazing if true.
Yes you can. People vastly underestimate their bodies.
Re: Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
>The butterflies were lucky. There must be many others that didn't make it. "Nature is prolific. There are many more creatures that are born than can possibly survive." -- Carl Sagan It's a feature, not a bug! (pardon the pun)
I’m in awe of the tenacity of life. Over a decade ago, a snowy owl made its way to the island of Oahu on its own. Sadly, it had to be killed because it arrived near Honolulu’s international airport and could not captured by animal control. An autopsy revealed that this owl had expended so much energy crossing the pacific that it almost certainly would have died of exhaustion within a few hours of its arrival. But, it…
Besides from the impact of bacteria on entrepreneurship, the behavior of exploring/foraging bees[2], I think the most likely reason is actually losing one or more senses and relying on other senses which happen to lead you to travel in straight lines (e.g. magnetic) - just as moths use the Moon to travel very far in a straight line. Why these journeys begin and end is another question. Serotonin and dopamine might be involved.
[1] https://hbr.org/2022/07/a-common-parasite-can-make-people-mo...
[2] https://theconversation.com/some-bees-are-born-curious-while...
Re: Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping
#77There are times when you can cross the Atlantic on wind power without stopping. In 2016, Stan Honey, the inventor of car navigation, took a 100-foot sailboat across the Atlantic without tacking, knocking 27 hours off the previous time.[1] They kept the crew on standby until wind conditions were perfect, then set sail. The butterflies were lucky. There must be many others that didn't make it. [1] https://www.yachtingw…
>The butterflies were lucky. There must be many others that didn't make it. "Nature is prolific. There are many more creatures that are born than can possibly survive." -- Carl Sagan It's a feature, not a bug! (pardon the pun)
Once I had this vision in a strong ayahuasca trip...
I met "Mother Nature", but it wasn't the feminine caring image you'd think of. It was an unstoppable force of life that did not had any caring of right or wrong. It only wanted to create more life. It had more a feeling of millions of beings crawling over each other, like a beehive or ants nests. Just devouring everything with "life".
Like a "Squiggle Maximizer" with a vengeance and attitude. It was awesome, but made me seriously reconsider the "sacredness" of life.
Re: Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
>The butterflies were lucky. There must be many others that didn't make it. "Nature is prolific. There are many more creatures that are born than can possibly survive." -- Carl Sagan It's a feature, not a bug! (pardon the pun)
Once I had this vision in a strong ayahuasca trip... I met "Mother Nature", but it wasn't the feminine caring image you'd think of. It was an unstoppable force of life that did not had any caring of right or wrong. It only wanted to create more life. It had more a feeling of millions of beings crawling over each other, like a beehive or ants nests. Just devouring everything with "life". Like a "Squiggle Maximizer" wi…
Abject nihilism is fucking lame, and I don't care whatever chemically-induced experiences you or anyone else has had or whatever value you think you found within them or whatever the fuck, but I'm frankly tired of pretending otherwise.
Re: Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping
#79How do they know that the butterflies weren't aboard a ship?
Birds often take a ride or stop to rest for a while, but for insects ships are probably too slow to survive without any food.
Re: Butterflies flew 2,600 miles across the Atlantic without stopping
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
>The butterflies were lucky. There must be many others that didn't make it. "Nature is prolific. There are many more creatures that are born than can possibly survive." -- Carl Sagan It's a feature, not a bug! (pardon the pun)
I’m in awe of the tenacity of life. Over a decade ago, a snowy owl made its way to the island of Oahu on its own. Sadly, it had to be killed because it arrived near Honolulu’s international airport and could not captured by animal control. An autopsy revealed that this owl had expended so much energy crossing the pacific that it almost certainly would have died of exhaustion within a few hours of its arrival. But, it…
I don't forget, to establish a new owl community you have to convince a lady owl to come with you on the suicidal journey.