This is in my front yard. We've had lots of rain lately and we've gotten random distributions of these before. However, this DOESN'T look Gaussian obviously.
Re: virus: Play WW's New Game -- Find the Tiny Attractor
« Reply #1 on: 2004-06-13 13:07:09 »
--- Walter Watts <wlwatts@cox.net> wrote: > Let's start a new game around the old churchhouse. > > "Find the Tiny Attractor" (see Stuart Kauffman, > "Origins of Order" or > it's cribnote companion "At Home in the Universe") > > Send in your candidate picture and maybe we can vote > for the best answer > or theory for each one. > > Here's the first one: > > http://www.walterwatts.com/images/tinyattractor.jpg > > This is in my front yard. We've had lots of rain > lately and we've gotten > random distributions of these before. > However, this DOESN'T look Gaussian obviously. > > http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/math/gaufcn.html#c2 > > It's either a random statistical fluke of > distribution, or there's a > perfectly logical "tiny attractor" that caused it. > > Any guesses? > > TaTa, > Walter
"Fairy ring" mushrooms grow this way because they are one organism which starts at the center and advances outward gradually as it consumes the organic matter available to it in each spot. The ring will gradually get larger with time. Neat, huh? Googling "fairy ring mushroom" will find you lots of sites on Marasmius oreades (their probable species), and recipes. Here's one site:
Just when I thought I was out-they pull me back in
Re:virus: Play WW's New Game -- Find the Tiny Attractor
« Reply #2 on: 2004-06-13 13:34:43 »
Dog, I love this place. Where else do you find diverse people in the know about diverse subjects, weight-guessers that get it right first time everytime, mystics that love the empirical sciences, Greek people who "think" English better than most Americans and Brits, magicians that like to re-arrange those orange traffic cones in their neighborhood in the middle of the night just to see how people react, people that live in Hollywood and hate popular culture, Aussies who live in hostelries, redneck pharmacists who live in Oklahoma and used to speak in tongues, lawyers from Fort Worth, people who chat daily on the #NanoCryoTranshumanAnarchoChaosDontAgeAIMatrixSL4CyborgLaunchMyNutsIntoSpaceGoth chat channel, teenagers in Fon-du-loc, Michigan, female half-fish half-humans in US/India/Britain/Spain, squids in Wisconsin, angels named Eva, cops, teachers, doctors, waitresses, librarians, cattle-rustlers, I'm just guessing on some of these, etc., etc., etc., etc.
Walter
[Eva Wrote] "Fairy ring" mushrooms grow this way because they are one organism which starts at the center and advances outward gradually as it consumes the organic matter available to it in each spot. The ring will gradually get larger with time. Neat, huh? Googling "fairy ring mushroom" will find you lots of sites on Marasmius oreades (their probable species), and recipes. Here's one site:
This is in my front yard. We've had lots of rain lately and we've gotten random distributions of these before. However, this DOESN'T look Gaussian obviously.
"it looks to me like heavy rain was up over the street and made a puddle of the shape seen in your grass where the solid further out was NOT at the edge. The spores of the mushrooms floated to the edge, and sat there til the puddle went away or dried up"
What do you folks think, the conventional "fairy ring" or flooding?
Walter <My spirits are indefatigable again today......>
"it looks to me like heavy rain was up over the street and made a puddle of the shape seen in your grass where the solid further out was NOT at the edge. The spores of the mushrooms floated to the edge, and sat there til the puddle went away or dried up"
What do you folks think, the conventional "fairy ring" or flooding? </snip>
[Blunderov] No I think Eva-Lise's diagnosis was pretty definitive.
Also bear in mind that the area is right over a drain and there are cracks in the road leading one to wonder whether the structure above the drain is still altogether waterproof. I do admit the grass looks fairly lush there though, so maybe there could have been flooding that did not drain away too fast, but why would the spores float to the edge of the puddle? I can only imagine that they might do this if a current was present but I admit fluid mechanics is a complete mystery to me.
Re:virus: Play WW's New Game -- Find the Tiny Attractor
« Reply #7 on: 2004-06-14 19:57:58 »
I'm with WWs mystery friend. I have no objection to fairy circles, though I don't frequent them myself.
There are a few reasons why I do not think it is a fairy circle, aside from the lack of dancing men in tutus.
1> there is no damage to any of the grass in the picture 2> the species does not look the same, from these pictures, as those in the fairy circle links. Of course, mushroom IDing is notoriously iffy for the casual observer and I am casual in the exteme. 3> WWs experience stateted that previously the mushrooms sprouted randomly throughout the yard. I am assuming that these are the same species as those he had in the past. 4> The street drain is very close to this location - so if there was a clog, it would pool there.
Why I suspect it is from water movement. I do not know a lot about fluid dynamics, but I do know a little. Ever go to to a pond and watch what happens to leaves or other things that hit the water? they sink, or they float to the edge and remain. Same with a swimming pool, or the bubbles in your coffee, or the ocean. Ever notice how the ring in your coffee cup is above the evaporation line if you leave it for a few days? I suspect that on the boundry between water, air, and some other material like grass there is much greater friction between the water contaminants and and the other material than there is on the water alone. In other words, it's not that the pollutants or in this case spores, are pused to the edges, but that when they get to the edge, the friction is enough to keep them from returning back to the water where surface tension is the only source of friction. And since floating on the surface in a rain storm, or the wind, would be far from peaceful there are lots of opportunities to reach the edge of the puddle and get stuck.
This is also how foam fractionators (devices used in water purification) work - they create bubbles and most small foreign materials, proteins, and waste product in the liquid will stick to the bubbles. This is because there is a friction area between the water and the air. Then, when the bubble burst at the surface of the foam fractionator, a waste container keeps the material from being returned to the water stream.
That's my thought, though I suppose it could be a fairy circle - why arent' there any mycologists or hydrologists here to answer this critical question?
> Hi Walter, > > NIce to see you posting again on a regular basis. > > Your photo, in my opinion, of classic fairy ring. Not good for the > lawn. > Just feed the grass and mow once a week. It will probable go away. > If not, > Deconil 2687 at one tbs. per gallon (spray) will knock it out. Or, > let it grow and watch your > very on science experiment. I know you like that stuff. Do not eat > though. Not worth it. > > I doubt very much in the puddle theory. Wet weather propagates > fungus spores, but dose not usually > design round shapes of mushroom. "Fairy ring" grows like this all > the time. > Good Luck, > > > Bill MacKinnon > Premier Horticulture > Miami, Fl. > > > > On Jun 14, 2004, at 4:58 PM, Walter Watts wrote:
> An off-line friend suggested this..... > > http://www.walterwatts.com/images/tinyattractor.jpg > > "it looks to me like heavy rain was up over the street and made a > puddle of the shape > seen in your grass where the solid further out was NOT at the edge. > The spores of the > mushrooms floated to the edge, and sat there til the puddle went away > or dried up" > > What do you folks think, the conventional "fairy ring" or flooding? > > Walter > <My spirits are indefatigable again today......> > > Blunderov wrote: > >> <snip> >> Any guesses? >> >> [Blunderov] 1. fairy ring, fairy circle -- a ring of fungi marking the >> periphery of the perennial underground growth of the mycelium >> >> http://www.yourdictionary.net/fairy_circle.html >> >> Best Regards >> >> --- >> To unsubscribe from the Virus list go to >> <http://www.lucifer.com/cgi-bin/virus-l> > > -- > > Walter Watts > Tulsa Network Solutions, Inc. > > "Pursue the small utopias... nature, music, friendship, love" > --Kupferberg-- > > > --- > To unsubscribe from the Virus list go to > <http://www.lucifer.com/cgi-bin/virus-l> >
Re:virus: Play WW's New Game -- Find the Tiny Attractor
« Reply #9 on: 2004-06-14 22:59:19 »
WW, it looks to me like everyone is pretty sure about the Fairy ring - If I was you, I'd go with them since it might mean bad things for your lovely lawn.
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