Posted: 16^th May 2016

Natural Philosophy

The other day, a man rang our doorbell. It was his bad luck that Elektra answered. 'See all those weeds in your yard?' he asked brightly. 'I can get rid of them for you.' Uh-oh…

Elektra gave him a stern lecture on ecology, and sent him packing. Then she came upstairs and declared indignantly, 'That man wanted to kill our wildflowers!' I chuckled into my keyboard.

It's an old argument in my family: we wouldn't let our dog play in my dad's yard because of the 'lawn care specialists'. The old term for science was 'natural philosophy': studying nature's ways. That's what we do at h2g2: we inquire into the nature of things. And here at the old h2g2 Post, we bring in reports. With pictures. You're going to love it this week.

There's a tenrec. Did you ever get the feeling Willem could populate a whole science fiction series all by himself, without ever making anything up in the wildlife department? The caption photo is human-made, but equally puzzling. Help us with the necessary snark.

Talk about awesome, Tim Peake is out of this world. Figuratively as well as literally. More out-of-this-world wonder shows up at the Flea Market: Bluebottle has a snazzy title, as always. Magwitch has friends in exotic places – like Belgium¹   – and we get gorgeous pics of natural beauty. Lawn care, pah!

Spies are us, and not only in the Flea Market titles. We've got some factual stuff that will surprise you. We've also got the usual humour and writing suggestions and stuffz.

Your Editor shares some confessions of a n00b knitter faced with knotty knitting conundrums. Get the story, and laugh at my fumbly fingers. (A lady at church said that was all right: last year, all the knitted washcloths that she gave to relatives, er, unravelled…so I guess I'm not alone.)

Speaking of natural philosophy, Minorvogonpoet has come up with a fascinating bit of fiction that will have you pondering over the possibilities of magic, cucumbers, crosswalks, and the differently mentated. You're sure to enjoy this one.

Do you have embarrassing stories to tell? Amazing pics to share? Rants that are itching to come out of your typing fingers? Do you need a venue for laying your visions on the waiting world? Look no further, my friends: the h2g2 Post is always accepting submissions at postteamhg-at-gmail-dot-com. Just pop it in our inbox, attach copy and .jpgs.

Go out and enjoy the sunshine this week. And take your cameras along. Share your natural philosophy insights with us.

Next week: h2g2's Core Team share their towel pics with us. You will be astonished, we were.

Dmitri Gheorgheni

• 
  Colours of Wildlife

Admire the tenrec.

• The h2g2 Caption Challenge

Caption this dome.

AWESOME FEATS

• 24 Lies a Second


Assessing the movie.

• 
  The Post Quiz

Sorting out spies.

• Gheorgheniplex

Awesome Tim Peake.

• 
  Writing Right with Dmitri

Perspective.

LIVING ON THE EDGE

• h2g2 Handcrafts

The Looming Disaster.

• The h2g2 Traveller

Belgian spring.

• A Philosophical Puzzle

In the Middle of the Road.

• 
  Art History 101

Don't panic, it's only art.

• Super Market XXXI

The Flea Market Is Not Enough.

• The h2g2 Literary Corner

The name's Bondt, Johannes Bondt.

• Create May


In Loving Memory.

• Peer Review
  

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