Botanical Wednesday: Cacti aren’t astronomers, silly!

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1. 1
   

   'Tis Himself

   4 April 2012 at 9:41 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   Cacti aren’t astronomers

   Your evidence for this claim is what?

2. 2
   

   A. R

   4 April 2012 at 9:47 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   You’d better not let Mr. Frothy see this, he might declare it to be teh pr0nz.

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   jasonnishiyama

   4 April 2012 at 10:32 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   But do you think astronomers are prickly?

4. 4
   

   chrispollard

   4 April 2012 at 11:21 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   No but the rib spacing on the cacti surface has evolved to minimize air drag so they don’t get blown over so easily.

5. 5
   

   Markita Lynda—it's Spring after the Winter that wasn't

   5 April 2012 at 12:53 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   Very pretty!

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   Ms. Daisy Cutter, Gynofascist in a Spiffy Hugo Boss Uniform

   5 April 2012 at 6:09 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   Ribbed… for your lack of pleasure!

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   fastlane

   5 April 2012 at 12:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   *sigh* I miss Az. As a fan of both the desert, and astronomy, I heartily approve this image.

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   paulburnett

   5 April 2012 at 12:47 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   chrispollard (#4) wrote: “No but the rib spacing on the cacti surface has evolved to minimize air drag so they don’t get blown over so easily.”

   The “ribs” are actually expansion pleats so the cactus can swell up when it’s wet, and then shrink when it’s dry. (The big cetaceans have expansion pleats in their chins, for their lunge-feeding “big gulp.”)

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   cybercmdr

   5 April 2012 at 12:53 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

   Reading this blog sensitizes you to a lot of the creationist arguments, or at least to what they use for logic. The casual association within the picture makes me think of their inference process.

   Cacti point at the heavens. Therefore, they are astronomers.

   X happened. Therefore God.

   Same process, just as useful.

10. 10
    

    Sili

    5 April 2012 at 2:02 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    Enough with this fake Latin!

    It’s cactodes! Get it right, you Philistines!

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    Markita Lynda—it's Spring after the Winter that wasn't

    5 April 2012 at 2:47 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    A rope wrapped in a spiral around a larger cable or a “spiral staircase” around a chimney also reduces drag.

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    Markita Lynda—it's Spring after the Winter that wasn't

    5 April 2012 at 2:48 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

    …by reducing air turbulence.