What will they think of next? The Scientific Journal Nature published an article about this amazing contraption, a fixed wing drone with legs. Like a bird it can walk, hop, and launch itself into the air with a jump. Legs and feet are important.
Unlike the normal multicopter drones we’re all familiar with, this one has some mobility on the ground and, like all fixed wing vehicles, is more energy-efficient in the air. It can’t hover, at least not yet. Hummingbirds and kestrels can hover though, so who knows what some future development of RAVEN might manage?
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Useful? Interesting?
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As the group size grows, the dynamics change; ten to twenty people will chat together (like the group in the photo), though sometimes there will be more than one conversation going on.
Image 99 – What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye. I’m posting an image every day or so.
Click to enlarge
People like to sit in the sun and chat. Social interaction is central to human nature with group sizes anywhere between two and a hundred; more than a hundred becomes a crowd in which there are some people who don’t know one another at all. And the larger the crowd, the more anonymous the experience becomes.
Group dynamics
A group of two or three has the potential to be quite intimate; close friends who trust one another may share things they wouldn’t discuss more widely.
As the group size grows, the dynamics change; ten to twenty people will chat together (like the group in the photo), though sometimes there will be more than one conversation going on. Generally most people will have something to say; the intimacy is lost, but everyone has a chance to join in.
As group size increases beyond twenty, to say thirty or forty, it’s no longer possible for everyone to hear. If it’s an informal gathering, people will break into smaller groups to chat and often there will be a few left out, not engaging with others at all. Or if it’s a more formal gathering a chairperson may manage things and individuals will take turns to make their points.
Sharing food and drink
The people in the photo are eating and drinking together, this is helpful in getting a group to relax. Here, things are completely informal, but in more formal groups of this size or larger it may help to provide tea and coffee, or even a buffet. This relaxes everyone.
Right-sizing
If you are planning a group meeting for a specific purpose it’s beneficial to consider group size and how it affects things. Often we do this automatically, these group dynamics are so familiar that we don’t need to make any special effort to get it right. Sometimes it’s useful to break a big group up into smaller ones, sitting people at tables of six or so to make sure everyone is able to talk and interact while also being part of something bigger (perhaps with a speaker at the front from time to time). This enables a focus/discuss/focus/discuss dynamic which can be very useful.
When: 21st June 2024 Where: Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England
Favourites
For convenience, here’s a list of my favourite images:
If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. (If you don’t see those links, click the article’s title above the main photo and they will appear.) Send a link to friends who might enjoy the article or benefit from it – Thanks! My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome and encourages me to write more often!
If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. (If you don’t see those links, click the article’s title above the main photo and they will appear.) Send a link to friends who might enjoy the article or benefit from it – Thanks! My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome and encourages me to write more often!
Everything imaginable is on sale, delicious foods, jigsaws, Cotswold beers, British and French cheeses, hand-crafted items from socks to coasters, picture frames, baskets, and much, much more.
Image 97 – What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye. I’m posting an image every day or so.
This is Cirencester’s annual Advent Market, when streets in the centre of the town are closed to traffic for two days and market stalls appear in place of the traffic. Everything imaginable is on sale, delicious foods, jigsaws, Cotswold beers, British and French cheeses, hand-crafted items from socks to coasters, picture frames, baskets, and much, much more. There’s live music and it’s the time of year when the town’s Christmas lights are turned on for the first time.
Donna and I walked into town to see what was happening, we had sausage sandwiches and coffees for lunch at Hugh’s first, then walked around to check out the market stalls.
People love events like this, clearly. It was heaving with far more people than we usually see in town. All ages were represented, people came in from the local villages as well and it was so packed that it was sometimes difficult to see what was on display.
Here’s a short video clip to give you a sense of the atmosphere at the Advent Market. I had to hunt out a less crowded area on the fringe to record this!
When: 30th November 2024 Where: Cirencester Market Place
If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. (If you don’t see those links, click the article’s title above the main photo and they will appear.) Send a link to friends who might enjoy the article or benefit from it – Thanks! My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome and encourages me to write more often!
Is a rose with raindrops on its petals any less beautiful than a rose with dry petals? No, in fact many would say it looks even better with a few raindrops on it.
Image 96 – What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye. I’m posting an image every day or so.
Click to enlarge
‘What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet‘
William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Juliet spoke these words of Romeo, his surname was a practical issue between rival families, but she loved him regardless.
Is a rose with raindrops on its petals any less beautiful than a rose with dry petals? No, in fact many would say it looks even better with a few raindrops on it. They emphasise its freshness, and they highlight its apparent fragility while revealing an unexpected robustness.
A rose in the rain is a lovely thing! I hope you like this one; I just had to take a photo. The cultivar is ‘Queen of Sweden’ and it was released in 2004 by David Austin.
When: 8th September 2024 Where: Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire, England
If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. (If you don’t see those links, click the article’s title above the main photo and they will appear.) Send a link to friends who might enjoy the article or benefit from it – Thanks! My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome and encourages me to write more often!
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