My Picks for Top Tweets: 21 August 2017

by | Aug 21, 2017 | Tweets | 9 comments

It’s time to stop counting the days and try and come up with a more imaginative way to start a post on best tweets. (See what I did there! πŸ˜€ )

It’s a magnificent day in my part of New Zealand! It feels like it’s been raining for weeks, which is probably because it has. Today though, I woke up to clear blue skies, warmth, and sunshine. It’s lovely!

The sad news in this part of the world is that rugby great Sir Colin Meads died yesterday morning in his hometown of Te Kuiti. That’s just north of here, and the two towns are in the same region for rugby (King Country). He was named player of the century in 1999. His playing days were mostly in the 1960s, so I don’t remember him playing very well. I met him in the mid-1980s and he was very charming. I was working for a newspaper at the time, and he giving his time in support of IHC. He did a lot of selfless work for the charity over the years.

 

Cat Tweets

Enough said.

Not sure what to say to this.

 

He actually tries to herd cats!!!

 

Just like mum!


 

Eclipse Tweets

I’m pretty jealous of all those in the US getting to see an eclipse. The next one in New Zealand isn’t until 2038! Here’s Lawrence Krauss all ready for the show with a couple of friends.

Pick your spot well!

 

Bird Tweets

How cool is this?

 

Another use for bacon …

Insect Tweets

Are butterflies insects? Someone can correct me if they’re not. I even have trouble remembering that spiders aren’t insects. It’s all science to me!

 

Oh wow!!!

Is it eating those red things or is it’s mouth just like that?

 

Many insects look to me like they could be intelligent creatures from another planet if they were bigger.

 

Great mimicry!

 

Reptile Tweets

Polka dots!

 

Other Apes Tweets

Isn’t it luverly!

 

Scenic Tweets

Wouldn’t this be great?!

 

Picture postcard village in Austria.

There are so many beautiful places on our planet.

 

Stunning photography.

 

This is another place on my bucket list.

 

Lovely to see New Zealand make it onto Life on Earth!

 

Pool Tweets

Believe it or not, pool tweets are a thing. I might look at them more often in future as my dream house has to have a dream pool!

 

Marine Tweets

Gorgeous!

 

More amazing photography!

 

I don’t know anything about nudibranches, but I really like them. (Is that the correct plural?)

 

Religion Tweets

πŸ˜€ πŸ˜€ πŸ˜€

 

This could also have gone in the Healthcare or Political section – unfortunately they all seem to be the same sometimes in the US. But, I had a religion section already so …

 

Political Tweets

And it was a cool movie too!

 

 

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9 Comments

  1. rickflick
    rickflick on 21st August 2017 at 1:58 pm

    I spent a month in NZ in 2013. It was just wonderful. But there’s still so much more to see! The Abel Tasman National Park is just one spot I missed. Also the whole western shore of the South Island. It’s disgusting. I need to go back!

    Reply
    • Heather Hastie
      Heather Hastie on 21st August 2017 at 2:18 pm

      That’s what Jerry keeps saying – he spent a month here but there’s still so much left to see that he has to come back.

      I have to admit though, I haven’t been to the Abel Tasman National Park either! The best I can say is I’ve flown over it. It’s a gorgeous part of the country – every guide book is full of photos taken around there.

      Reply
  2. ratabago
    ratabago on 21st August 2017 at 6:13 pm

    Science lesson for today — if at some stage of its life-cycle it normally has six jointed legs, three main body parts, one set of antennae, and exposed mouthparts then it is an insect. One easy diagnostic is that if it has six jointed legs and wings it will always be an insect. There are three other groups in hexapoda, but you are only likely to come across them if you are looking at leaf litter, preferably with a hand lens. All of the members of these groups have enclosed mouthparts. One of these groups, the springtails, can number more than 100,000 individuals per square metre of leaf litter.

    I’ve been enjoying your top tweets. Good stuff.

    Reply
    • Heather Hastie
      Heather Hastie on 21st August 2017 at 10:44 pm

      Thanks for the lesson, and your nice comments.

      Cheers
      Heather

      Reply
    • nicky
      nicky on 22nd August 2017 at 4:08 am

      Yes, my biology teacher in my first year of secondary school (she was already old, died decades ago) gave a very useful heuristic. Six segmented legs: insect or related, eight segmented legs: spiders, scorpions and their ilk (chelicerata), 10 segmented legs crustaceans: crabs, lobsters and shrimp (although there are crustaceans with more legs).
      As far as I know they are all ‘good’ taxonomic groups, ie. all six-leggers (insects and springtails etc) are more related to each other than to arachnids or decapods, all eight-leggers more related to each other than to insects or crustaceans etc. etc.
      There are other overlapping characteristics taxonomists are interested in, like the 2 pairs of appendages per segment, or having lost a pair, such as the uniramia, which would include hexapoda and myriapoda (centi- and millipedes), but as a rule of the thumb I always found my teacher’s rule quite practical.
      And yes, Heather, the lepidoptera (scaled wings), such as butterflies and moths are indeed insects, as ratabago pointed out above.
      Note, the larvae of the lepidoptera, aka caterpillars, appear to have more than 6 legs, but closer observation shows that only the first 3 pairs are actually segmented legs. The others are pseudo-legs, as you can clearly see in that beautiful photograph of the Great Peacock Moth caterpillar, the red thingies are it’s real legs.

      Reply
  3. Lee Knuth
    Lee Knuth on 22nd August 2017 at 4:28 am

    We won’t get a total eclipse here, only 76%. But in 2024 there will be a total eclipse in New York. Guess we will get inundated with tourists then.

    Reply
  4. nicky
    nicky on 22nd August 2017 at 4:30 am

    I really liked the ‘abortion v assault rifle’ tweet (well I basically liked all of them). And what’s more, there probably is some truth in it too. πŸ™‚

    Reply
  5. nicky
    nicky on 22nd August 2017 at 4:39 am

    Betta’s are fresh water fish, not marine. They are (ab)used in Thailand for ‘fish fights’ -they are very pugnacious little fish- with accompanying betting (no, I do not think there is an etymological link with ‘Betta’).
    They are also used in (male) ‘beauty contests’ . The 2 competitions are mutually exclusive, since fighting severely damages their fins.

    Reply
    • Heather Hastie
      Heather Hastie on 22nd August 2017 at 12:59 pm

      That’s interesting. I’ve never heard of fish fights!

      I assumed they were salt water fish because of the colours and long fins. I used to call this section underwater tweets, so maybe I should go back to that.

      Reply

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