Keeping Tabs

 

What's knocking around in the ol noggin lately?

Well, let me tell you.

It's time for another edition of Keeping Tabs.

In which I select a few open browser tabs I've started

while searching for more information on random topics that

cross my path, through various inspiration points.

1. Why do birds sleep with their heads under their wings?

You've seen them do it. Maybe you've wondered why yourself.

This isn't a new question for me, with my more than passing interest in birds,

but I hadn't really dug into the question too much until now.

It doesn't look like it would be comfortable, but many birds tuck their

head under a wing on their back to rest their neck muscles and 

to keep their faces warm nuzzled in soft feathers.

Many perching birds also have a "locking ligament" mechanism in their legs and feet that

keep their toes gripped to the perch while they sleep.

On a personal note, I'm always happy to see that Zuri feels safe enough

around me to let her guard down and get some snoozing in with me close by.

Makes me feel like I'm a trusted member of the flock.

2. Scarab beetle

More specifically in the ancient Egyptian tradition, the scarab beetle 

is a symbol of rebirth, regeneration, and manifestation.

This is in reference to the habits of the dung beetle (the scarab in question) rolling its ball across

the sands, and its mirror to the sun rolling across the sky every day.

 

I performed the scarab ritual while in the Karnak Temple in Luxor, wherein

you are supposed to make your wish at the scarab statue, then walk around

the statue 7 times. It's said to bring good luck for the wisher.

I was told to walk around it 7 times, but I've also read conflicting

directions for performing this ritual, so who knows?

Maybe one just needs to perform the ritual as an act of 

good faith, and that alone will appease the scarab gods.

Either way, I feel that my wish has come true.

And, no I won't tell you what I wished for.

That's between me and the scarab.

3. Hypatia stone

Fragments of a meteor found in 1996 in Egypt, named for

the Medieval philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer, Hypatia of Alexandria.

It is unusual in its composition, which is different from other meteoric fragments

found and analyzed.

The unusual chemical makeup makes some people believe it is

extraterrestrial in nature (which, to me is kind of reductive, because anything

not of this planet is considered extraterrestrial, but I think what they are

trying to say is that it doesn't match what it is expected to be made of.

Another speculation is that it is a portion of a comet nucleus.

The comet nucleus is the "icy dirtball" center of a comet that

releases gasses when near the Sun, thus creating the tail of the comet that we see.

Other hypotheses for the rock include portions of interstellar dust or

a rock that crashed into the planet before it formed into a planet.

4. Richat Structure

A 45KM diameter circular structure found in the Sahara Desert in

Mauritania.

According to research it is believed to be an uplifted dome, with the

rocks on the inside of the dome being older than the stones on the outside.

Presence of igneous rock indicates that it was formed while the Earth was

still hot enough to turn stone to magma and then cooling between the sedimentary rock.

It is visible from space, and was one of the first identifiable Earth features to be seen

by early astronauts.