Ice and Bubbles

A day to remember MLK. This year the King Holiday Observance falls on January 15th, Dr. King actual birthday. It is a time that we celebrate, commemorate and honor the life, legacy and impact of Dr. Martin Luther King. So I paused today to remember his legacy and hope for the future.

Certainly warmer today, eh! Actually when I went out for my noon walk with all my layers I had to unzip. In fact I was getting warm. LOL. However in the afternoon I was out in the open and the wind was a bit nippy. 🙂

Ok, you may want to get your movie popcorn popping for today’s post with three feature mp4s. 🙂

Our back pond has a sheet of ice. I’m guessing it was over an inch thick. I could not break it with my little stick. However I did not walk on it to test.
The bubbles in the ice!
The willow leaf was frozen solid.
Some of the bubbles in the ice had interesting shapes.

So did you get your popcorn yet? Hurry, the movies are about to start!

The bubbles were about inch or so below the surface.

Second feature! Got your popcorn for sure now, right?

So these tiny beetles ranged in size from about 2 to 4 mm.

And now for the third and longest feature. Surely you have your popcorn now.

The water scavenger beetle (Hydrophilidae) was gathering its air bubbles! FYI, beetles in the Hydrophilidae move their legs alternately vs. hind legs move together in the predaceous diving beetles (Dytiscidae). Source: Insects of North America by Abbott & Abbott.

Indeed ain’t that cool!

The largest great ape to ever live went extinct because of climate change Thanks Suzanne!

What we can learn about the Hummingbird’s gear shifting skills

How a forgotten physicist’s discovery broke the symmetry of the Universe

Keep looking!

The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know

10 Comments

  1. Great videos. Thanks for a night at the movies. I’ve seen bubbles do that under water somewhere sometime. Cool. And that was some thick ice.

  2. Very neat! Do they usually move around under water upside down like that? Or do you think they were scavenging particles that had floated up under the ice with the bubbles so it was like walking on the ice surface, just in reverse of you above ice?
    The whole pond pic was really pretty.
    We found it decently comfortable when dressed properly but notice the wind picked up this evening so that comfort went away.

    1. I dont recall seeing them do that before. So I think they were just walking on the hard surface which to us was upside down. Just my guess. Not sure if they were eating or not. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I do know water beetles do get the bubbles for breathing. And somewhere I read that they carry the bubbles on the underside of their body.

  3. You’re welcome! I spent the whole day today inside again, but tomorrow I will get out. And, yes, I’ve seen diving beetles carrying a bubble of air on the underside of their abdomens.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *