Starship Asterisk*

Ann wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2024 5:51 pm Yesterday the weather here in Malmö was nice, and I was out walking in the parks downtown, taking many pictures with my fairly simple mobile phone.

Hmm. Springtime in Malmö. Here's Springtime in Guffey. Yesterday at 9am, today at 9am.
_

Just in time for most of us to say "Finally spring", just for mother nature to take it all away, I think she might do that a couple more times this year, I remember it last a few years back, she did the same thing in the middle of spring

Ann - that's a really nice picture. It's cool that it was picked up by your local news. Two questions:
1. Is that a historic cemetery? Or perhaps historic plots the city has grown around? It's always interesting in older cities to find remnants of the past.
2. Are there a lot of waterways for paddle boating? That looks like fun...

Chris - without context I would have guessed that bottom picture was the dead of winter. That said, I suppose I shouldn't complain about a couple of "April morning ice scrapings" we had early this month. In the PNW we'll have some "perfect spring days" - that is, 65 - 70 and blue skies. But generally speaking, spring is a pretty consistent 45 - 55, mostly overcast with off/on precipitation.

Orca wrote: ↑Mon Apr 29, 2024 4:45 pm Ann - that's a really nice picture. It's cool that it was picked up by your local news. Two questions:
1. Is that a historic cemetery? Or perhaps historic plots the city has grown around? It's always interesting in older cities to find remnants of the past.
2. Are there a lot of waterways for paddle boating? That looks like fun...

Chris - without context I would have guessed that bottom picture was the dead of winter. That said, I suppose I shouldn't complain about a couple of "April morning ice scrapings" we had early this month. In the PNW we'll have some "perfect spring days" - that is, 65 - 70 and blue skies. But generally speaking, spring is a pretty consistent 45 - 55, mostly overcast with off/on precipitation.

Malmö started out as a fishing village in about the 12th century, when the Strait of Öresund was teeming with fish, and the demand for fish was very high in Catholic Europe, where people typically ate fish on Fridays. And because of its geography, Malmö was an excellent fishing port.

The oldest building in Malmö is S:t Peter's Church (Petrikyrkan). It was finished in the early 14th century.

Malmö became rather important in the 16th century, when Jörgen Kock was mayor of Malmö and also the mint master of Denmark. (Malmö belonged to Denmark back then.)

Jörgen Kock's house from 1525 is one of the oldest buildings in Malmö:


I like this map of 16th century Malmö:


The cemetery where I took the picture was built in 1820, so it is 200 years old. Before this cemetery existed, people were buried in a churchyard near Saint Peter's Church, and wealthy and important people were buried underneath the floor of the church! The stench on hot days was terrible!

Do we have a lot of waterways? Only downtown:

Ann

Ann - thanks for the information, Malmö sounds like an interesting place. I have always been fascinated by the depth of history in so many places around the world. I had a boss that grew up in England and told me about walking along Roman roads or near Norman ruins. You read in the news about farmers digging in fields or construction workers in London finding artifacts from various periods.

While there were Native cultures here long ago, US history on the West Coast doesn't go that far back. Most of the older/established towns and cities in my state were founded in the first half of the 1800s. For us, any building that is more than, say, 120 years old is "old." Folks in Boston or New York would say, "hold my beer," and show us buildings that are 300+ years old. Across Europe they'd say, "hold my beer," and show off buildings that are 600+ years old. In Greece they'd say, "hold my beer" and show us structures from antiquity.

I went to a concert in Portland a couple of months ago. Walking from the parking space I walked past a large tree and noticed this plaque in front of it:


The city has grown all around the tree; it's flourished and become quite large. Which is pretty neat...nice work, Sylvester!

Orca wrote: ↑Sun May 05, 2024 8:36 pm I went to a concert in Portland a couple of months ago. Walking from the parking space I walked past a large tree and noticed this plaque in front of it:


PXL_20240211_205553559 (1).jpg


The city has grown all around the tree; it's flourished and become quite large. Which is pretty neat...nice work, Sylvester!

Wow. Do you have a picture of the tree itself?

Rauf wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 10:53 am

Orca wrote: ↑Sun May 05, 2024 8:36 pm I went to a concert in Portland a couple of months ago. Walking from the parking space I walked past a large tree and noticed this plaque in front of it:


PXL_20240211_205553559 (1).jpg


The city has grown all around the tree; it's flourished and become quite large. Which is pretty neat...nice work, Sylvester!

Wow. Do you have a picture of the tree itself?

Originally from that neck of the woods, I was curious too.

Fred the Cat wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 2:16 pm

Rauf wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 10:53 am

Orca wrote: ↑Sun May 05, 2024 8:36 pm I went to a concert in Portland a couple of months ago. Walking from the parking space I walked past a large tree and noticed this plaque in front of it:


PXL_20240211_205553559 (1).jpg


The city has grown all around the tree; it's flourished and become quite large. Which is pretty neat...nice work, Sylvester!

Wow. Do you have a picture of the tree itself?

Originally from that neck of the woods, I was curious too.

Thanks! Btw, it mentions that "based on its species and history, it will probably be there for another 100 years."
Why 100 years? What will happen after that?

Rauf wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 3:49 pm

Fred the Cat wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 2:16 pm

Rauf wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 10:53 am

Wow. Do you have a picture of the tree itself?

Originally from that neck of the woods, I was curious too.

Thanks! Btw, it mentions that "based on its species and history, it will probably be there for another 100 years."
Why 100 years? What will happen after that?

Well, they have a lifespan of a few hundred years, depending on conditions. Maybe it will be there for another 200. But not forever.

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 3:54 pm

Rauf wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 3:49 pm

Fred the Cat wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 2:16 pm
Originally from that neck of the woods, I was curious too.

Thanks! Btw, it mentions that "based on its species and history, it will probably be there for another 100 years."
Why 100 years? What will happen after that?

Well, they have a lifespan of a few hundred years, depending on conditions. Maybe it will be there for another 200. But not forever.

Yes, but why a tree can't live forever? I mean, some have been living for more than a millennia. Why this tree can't live that long?

Rauf wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 9:40 am

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 3:54 pm

Rauf wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 3:49 pm

Thanks! Btw, it mentions that "based on its species and history, it will probably be there for another 100 years."
Why 100 years? What will happen after that?

Well, they have a lifespan of a few hundred years, depending on conditions. Maybe it will be there for another 200. But not forever.

Yes, but why a tree can't live forever? I mean, some have been living for more than a millennia. Why this tree can't live that long?

DNA gets damaged over time, toxins accumulate over time. Some pest, parasite, or disease will eventually win. And evolution doesn't favor organisms that don't die and make room for future generations.

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 12:41 pm And evolution doesn't favor organisms that don't die and make room for future generations.

Yes, it is a very powerful theory, evolution, to be able to derive such a conclusion, for it apparently would apply to every living organism, or are there any exceptions?

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 12:41 pm

Rauf wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 9:40 am

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 3:54 pm
Well, they have a lifespan of a few hundred years, depending on conditions. Maybe it will be there for another 200. But not forever.

Yes, but why a tree can't live forever? I mean, some have been living for more than a millennia. Why this tree can't live that long?

DNA gets damaged over time, toxins accumulate over time. Some pest, parasite, or disease will eventually win. And evolution doesn't favor organisms that don't die and make room for future generations.

How can evolution favor an organism's death?

Rauf wrote: ↑Sat May 11, 2024 6:05 pm

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 12:41 pm

Rauf wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 9:40 am

Yes, but why a tree can't live forever? I mean, some have been living for more than a millennia. Why this tree can't live that long?

DNA gets damaged over time, toxins accumulate over time. Some pest, parasite, or disease will eventually win. And evolution doesn't favor organisms that don't die and make room for future generations.

How can evolution favor an organism's death?

In the big picture, no species can evolve for long if the old versions aren't eliminated. You need reproduction for adaptation and evolution, and you can't have reproduction without death in any system with limited resources.

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sat May 11, 2024 6:08 pm

Rauf wrote: ↑Sat May 11, 2024 6:05 pm

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 12:41 pm
DNA gets damaged over time, toxins accumulate over time. Some pest, parasite, or disease will eventually win. And evolution doesn't favor organisms that don't die and make room for future generations.

How can evolution favor an organism's death?

In the big picture, no species can evolve for long if the old versions aren't eliminated. You need reproduction for adaptation and evolution, and you can't have reproduction without death in any system with limited resources.

OK, let's say that hypothetically, some genetic mutations have made it possible for a certain species to live for thousands of years. How can evolution stop them and make room for others?

Rauf wrote: ↑Sat May 11, 2024 6:13 pm

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sat May 11, 2024 6:08 pm

Rauf wrote: ↑Sat May 11, 2024 6:05 pm

How can evolution favor an organism's death?

In the big picture, no species can evolve for long if the old versions aren't eliminated. You need reproduction for adaptation and evolution, and you can't have reproduction without death in any system with limited resources.

OK, let's say that hypothetically, some genetic mutations have made it possible for a certain species to live for thousands of years. How can evolution stop them and make room for others?

Evolution has no agency. Some species do live for thousands of years. A long-lived species is likely to be less able to deal with environmental change. So if a change occurs, the entire species may go extinct! And if it reproduces at a high rate, it will likely consume all the available resources.

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sat May 11, 2024 6:17 pm

Rauf wrote: ↑Sat May 11, 2024 6:13 pm

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sat May 11, 2024 6:08 pm

In the big picture, no species can evolve for long if the old versions aren't eliminated. You need reproduction for adaptation and evolution, and you can't have reproduction without death in any system with limited resources.

OK, let's say that hypothetically, some genetic mutations have made it possible for a certain species to live for thousands of years. How can evolution stop them and make room for others?

Evolution has no agency. Some species do live for thousands of years. A long-lived species is likely to be less able to deal with environmental change. So if a change occurs, the entire species may go extinct! And if it reproduces at a high rate, it will likely consume all the available resources.

I see.. Aren't we reproducing at a high enough rate? Maybe that's the reason we are depleting some of the Earth's natural resources?

Fred the Cat wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 2:16 pm

Rauf wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 10:53 am

Orca wrote: ↑Sun May 05, 2024 8:36 pm I went to a concert in Portland a couple of months ago. Walking from the parking space I walked past a large tree and noticed this plaque in front of it:


PXL_20240211_205553559 (1).jpg


The city has grown all around the tree; it's flourished and become quite large. Which is pretty neat...nice work, Sylvester!

Wow. Do you have a picture of the tree itself?

Originally from that neck of the woods, I was curious too.

Rauf, the first image on the page you linked - that is in fact the specific tree in question! In one of the pictures you can clearly see the plaque I shared in my earlier post: