ultraviolet bats

February 16, 2005 9:57 PM

But who are we to know such things? What if what first appeared as a solid yellow flower was in fact a series of radiating stripes? Another prominent one here. This is the world of ultraviolet as photographed by Bjørn Rørslett, the world as it is seen by insects and... bats and other mammals?
posted by vacapinta (19 comments total)

My thesis is on something like this! (how some spiders use UV to mimic flowers and therefore trap insects). Cool post, vacapinta.
posted by dhruva at 10:21 PM on February 16, 2005

Yes, cool post!
I've always been fascinated by this topic...
It's interesting how our perception (especially sight) is such an integral function of how we define and relate to our world, yet it is so obviously subjective.
Thanks for the link!
num-
posted by numlok at 10:25 PM on February 16, 2005

These are amazing, vacapinta. And I love the linked article about the toxicity to caterpillars of the same chemicals that attract UV-aware pollinators, which notes the natural insect control possibilities. Nice find.
posted by mediareport at 10:51 PM on February 16, 2005

this post reminds me of the Deprong Mori

great stuff!
posted by LimePi at 10:55 PM on February 16, 2005

That Bjørn Rørslett stuff is so damn eerie. It looks like a world of nightmares where everything is familliar, but has never been seen before.
posted by spaghetti at 11:19 PM on February 16, 2005

Awesome, awesome, awesome page. Thanks!
posted by painquale at 11:27 PM on February 16, 2005

(Great post.)
posted by AlexReynolds at 12:27 AM on February 17, 2005

There's something out of my nightmares...
posted by Katemonkey at 2:48 AM on February 17, 2005

Besides being an avid ultra-violet photographer, Bjørn also happens to have one of the most thorough, kick-ass Nikkor lens collections and evaluations anywhere on the Internet.

For those of you who are real photo-buffs, you'll really appreciate how he hacked old Nikkor lenses to make them compatible with Matrix metering (including an f/1.1 monster), as well as a "homebuilt" 28mm Nikkor PC tilt-shift lens. The guy has been in my bookmarks for ages... thanks for giving me an excuse to dig around.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:05 AM on February 17, 2005

This is sooooo Discovery Channel reruns.
posted by Doohickie at 5:22 AM on February 17, 2005

Worth it if not just for the UV/IR tutorial. Thanks!
posted by Eideteker at 5:29 AM on February 17, 2005

Cool! There's also some nice xray photos here.
posted by yoga at 7:14 AM on February 17, 2005

so can i tweak my digital camcorder and walk around viewing the UV and IR spectrums?
posted by GleepGlop at 7:40 AM on February 17, 2005

Beautiful and fascinating, thanks!
posted by carter at 8:08 AM on February 17, 2005

Excellent post! Thank you.
posted by madamjujujive at 9:53 AM on February 17, 2005

so can i tweak my digital camcorder and walk around viewing the UV and IR spectrums?

Probably not UV. I think the shortness of the wavelengths of light involved require long exposures for traditional digicam CCDs to properly render.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:47 PM on February 17, 2005

Too cool! The flowers are nifty and I especially like the landscapes--really amazing. Thank you!
posted by lobakgo at 3:42 PM on February 17, 2005

This is truly wonderful. Kudos to you, vacapinta, and thanks.
posted by melissa may at 3:59 PM on February 17, 2005

Thanks, vacapinta! I especially like the ones that have UV flouorescence, like the photos in the third position on this page, and this page.
posted by taz at 2:05 AM on February 18, 2005