Guess an #introduction is in order. Not sure I ever did one for my first instance, whoops.
Hi, my name is James an I've moved from an instance that is closing down soon.
I'm absolutely queer but working a boring office job in Germany, trying to remind ppl at work that personal data needs protection and that genAI came fresh out of pandora's box and does not belong in their daily job.
In my free time I #write fic, #draw digital art and #read a lot of books, mostly #scifi. I play a handful of computer games like #GW2. I watch a lot of tv shows and love Star Trek and Doctor Who.
I love #space, #nature, #cats and #photography (although my photos are just taken with my phone). I post them mostly on my Pixelfed account.
Guess that's it for now. I probably forgot a lot of stuff that people write into introductions, but feel free to ask x)
Lade Art of Flora: Pflanzen Puzzle von Klemens Strasser im App Store herunter. Sieh dir Screenshots, Bewertungen und Rezensionen, Benutzertipps und weitere…
"She left civilization to live in the forest with a lynx, a wild boar, and a thieving crow. Scientists called her crazy. She proved them wrong.
In 1975, a young Polish scientist named #SimonaKossak made a decision that baffled everyone who knew her.
She had a doctorate. She had credentials. She came from one of Poland's most prestigious artistic families—her grandfather was Wojciech Kossak, the legendary painter whose work hung in museums.
She could have had a comfortable university position. A modern apartment in Warsaw. A conventional career studying nature from a safe distance. Instead, Simona packed a single bag and walked into the #bialowiezaforest And she stayed there for thirty years.
Białowieża is no ordinary forest. It's the last remaining fragment of the primeval wilderness that once covered all of Europe—ancient, untouched, older than recorded history. Trees there grow so tall they seem to hold up the sky. Wolves still howl at night. European bison, extinct almost everywhere else, roam freely. It's the kind of place where you can still hear what the world sounded like before humans started building cities.
Simona found a small wooden cabin deep in the forest's heart. No electricity. No running water. No neighbors for miles. Just trees. Silence. And the wild things. Most people would have lasted a week.
Simona lasted decades.
But she wasn't alone.
She shared her bed with a lynx named Żabka. Not a pet—lynxes can't be pets. But Żabka had been orphaned as a cub, and Simona raised her. The massive cat would curl up beside her at night, purring like distant thunder.
She rescued a wild boar named Żabka who followed her through the forest like a devoted dog, grunting softly when she spoke.
And then there was Korasek. Korasek was a crow—but not just any crow. He was brilliant, mischievous, and absolutely devoted to chaos. He'd dive-bomb cyclists riding through the forest, steal shiny objects from tourists' pockets, and bring Simona "gifts": coins, buttons, pieces of foil.
He'd sit on her shoulder while she worked, cawing commentary on everything she did.
The locals whispered that Simona was a witch. How else could you explain it? Animals followed her. Birds landed on her outstretched hand. Deer approached without fear.
She spoke to them, and somehow, impossibly, they seemed to understand. But Simona wasn't casting spells. She was listening.
Most people walk through nature talking, making noise, asserting their presence. Simona did the opposite. She learned to move quietly, to observe patiently, to let the forest teach her its rhythms.
She studied animal behavior not from textbooks, but by living among them. She documented species that had never been properly observed. She proved that wild animals weren't just instinct-driven automatons—they had personalities, emotions, complex social structures. Her research changed how scientists understood wildlife.
But her most important work wasn't in journals.
It was in the forest itself.
Because while Simona was studying nature, others were trying to destroy it. #LoggingCompanies wanted to cut down the #AncientTrees. Developers wanted to build roads through the #wilderness.
Bureaucrats argued that the forest was "too wild," that it needed to be "managed," controlled, made productive.
Simona fought them all.
She wrote letters. She filed lawsuits. She gave interviews where she spoke bluntly about what would be lost if the forest fell.
She stood in front of bulldozers. She made powerful enemies. She didn't care.
"This forest has survived for ten thousand years," she'd say. "Who are we to decide it should end on our watch?"
Her cabin became a symbol. Journalists came from across Europe to photograph the woman who lived with wild animals. Documentaries were made. Her story spread.
And slowly, the tide began to turn. Public opinion shifted. International pressure mounted. UNESCO got involved. The ancient forest, in large part because of Simona's tireless advocacy, gained greater protections.
The trees she loved were saved. Simona Kossak lived in that cabin until 2007, when illness finally forced her back to the city. She died in 2007, at the age of 71.
But her legacy didn't die with her. Today, Białowieża Forest stands as one of Europe's last true wildernesses—a living monument to what the continent once was. Tourists walk trails where Simona once walked with Żabka the lynx. Bison graze in meadows she fought to protect.
Scientists still study the forest using methods she pioneered.
And somewhere in those ancient trees, maybe, a descendant of Korasek steals something shiny from an unsuspecting hiker.
Simona Kossak proved something the modern world desperately needs to remember:
That you don't have to choose between science and intuition. Between civilization and wilderness. Between being human and being part of nature.
She proved that sometimes the most rigorous science comes from simply paying attention. That the deepest understanding comes from respect, not dominance.
She proved that one person, living authentically and fighting fiercely for what they love, can change the fate of an entire ecosystem.
They called her a witch because she spoke to animals.
She called herself a scientist because she listened.
And she spent thirty years in a cabin without electricity, surrounded by wild things, protecting an ancient forest from a modern world that had forgotten how to be still.
Simona Kossak wasn't running away from civilization.
She was protecting something far more valuable than anything civilization could offer.
She left civilization to live in the forest with a lynx, a wild boar, and a thieving crow. Scientists called her crazy. She proved them wrong.
In 1975, a young Polish scientist named Simona Kossak...
Painted Sky - Evening thunderstorm over the Raton-Clayton volcanic field, Colfax County, New Mexico, USA. The sky looked absolutely unreal and incredible over the vast, open landscape. I watched this storm build for about 90 minutes as I was driving in its direction.The lone tree is actually a pretty large tree! (June 25, 2025) #NewMexico #sky #clouds #storm #thunderstorm #summer #weather #tree #nature #outdoors #landscape #mountains #highchairs #Fujifilm
Golden aspens blanket the trail at Fish Lake, Utah, in a beautiful autumn display. More than beautiful—it's part of Pando, the largest living organism on Earth. Over 100 acres, sharing one vast root system, a living wonder of nature. Walking here feels like stepping through living history, every leaf connected to a single ancient being.
Dneska máme poslední den dovolené. Vyrazili jsme na vrch Hochwurzen, nahoru lanovkou a dolu tříkolkami 😎 Výhled z 1820 metrů je pořád krásný. S @hana #Dovolena #Hochwurzen #Alps #Nature #Mountains
"With huge waiting lists, public demand for allotments is clear. What’s needed now is political will, and an ability to reimagine cities not just as places to live and work, but as places to grow.
Because as Corbyn warned: once these spaces are lost, they’re rarely replaced"
Strong winds, especially when combined with steep and unstable edges, significantly increases the risk of falling off cliffs when visiting coastal regions.
In der Oranienbaumer Heide kann man laut #reddit Wiedehopfe (Upupa epops, 🇬🇧 Hoopoe, 🇵🇱 dudek) sehen. Das ist nicht weit von mir. Ich habe den Ort in Google Maps auf gut Glück markiert und auf geht's. Als ich dort ankam, hörte ich diesen unverwechselbaren Gesang. Wegen der Entfernung und der Lichtverhältnisse sind die Fotos nicht grandios, aber ich bin trotzdem unglaublich glücklich!
This is Giant Fruit Bat, known as a “flying fox.” Their wingspan can extend to four feet.
Photographer Hardik Shelat captured the beautiful animal in a rare daytime appearance. It came out of its nocturnal slumber to cool off in the intense Indian heat.
please don't ignore my #trans friend, a #disabled #parent & #photographer, who has been denied benefits. xie hasn't made their goal in 2 months 😭. ze needs help covering food for zir kid & pets, the electric bill, pet supplies, household items, & clothes for zir growing kid. you can buy xyr #art below!
Nicknamed the Grand #Canyon of the Ardennes (fear not, it is much, much smaller!) the #fondrydeschiens is a natural formed sinkhole in #Nismes, #Belgium on the border with France.
It is a little marvel of #nature and well worth a detour. Late spring and summer you will find lots of orchids in the pastures nearby. The place is protected as a natural reserve.
If you decide to go there, try to avoid the weekends and holidays since it tends to get crowded.
From May 03 at 05:00 UTC+1 until May 04 at 06:00 UTC+1, there will be a live stream of sounds from daybreak in various locations around the world to celebrate International Dawn Chorus Day. This is the 12th annual Reveil stream. My stream from central North Carolina should be included in there right at sunrise local time on Saturday morning if all goes well.
To listen starting from 05:00 UTC+1 on Saturday, May 03, go to soundtent.org/reveil
This page is just a countdown at the time of posting.
Newfound world 2M1510 (AB) b appears to orbit not one but two stars...and they are actually failed stars, known as brown dwarfs...and the planet orbits sideways, in a unique up-and-down polar orbit.
Astronomers have found a planet that orbits at an angle of 90 degrees around a rare pair of peculiar stars. This is the first time we have strong evidence for one of these ‘polar planets’ orbiting a stellar pair.
You've probably heard that "we are stardust," but this graphic breaks it down further & tells you what kind of stars your dust came from--and which elements didn't come from stars at all.
This periodic table depicts the primary source on Earth for each element. In cases where two sources contribute fairly equally, both appear. || PeriodicTableOrigins2_print.jpg (1024x682) [251.7 KB] || PeriodicTableOrigins2_Large.
I'm still getting my head around this Mastodon thing, (my last post was 2 years ago)...my millennial brain seems to only compute with Instagram and Facebook marketplace at best - but I'm keen to share my work here as it seems like a welcoming space.
I make things - mostly freehand machine embroidery pieces. I'm fascinated by lichen-like forms - nature's ability to hold and transform is humbling in these current times.
Dnešní den je na #Tenerife čistě procházkový. Takže cíl je jasný #Anaga! První trek byl na výšlap na kousek od Taborno. Bohužel počasí se nám zhoršilo, takže jsme si nemohli pořádně užít vyhledy na oceán. #garmin #beatyesterday #nature #walk #taborno
Matching dinosaur footprints in Cameroon and Brazil record a time when Africa and South America were still connected & herds could wander between them.
I'm not saying the very same dinosaur was stomping around in both Cameroon and Brazil...but it's possible.
Even after the darkest night, the sun will shine. The sea will entertain you with its relaxing noise, and the sand will reflect the light in a warm, ancient colour palette.
"Incorporating wood sawdust and chips into field soils stimulates fungal growth. In particular, incorporation of hardwood material resulted in rapid and long-term stimulation of fungal filamentous growth. The fungi that develop are not the wood rot basidiomycetes found in forests but ascomycetes (sac fungi) that have easy access to the cellulose polymers in shredded wood."
"Stimulating fungi through wood addition fits well with more sustainable agriculture. It suppresses plant pathogenic fungi and the excess nitrogen, which might otherwise wash out, is captured by the fungi. It also increases the overall diversity of soil life by providing fungal-eating soil creatures with a food source."
Of all the components of dead plants, wood is the hardest to break down. How come fungi know how to do this? What issues did they need to solve to achieve this? The Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) tries to find answers to these questions…
but working a boring office job in Germany, trying to remind ppl at work that personal data needs protection and that genAI came fresh out of pandora's box and does not belong in their daily job.
and Doctor Who.
