22 August 2011 by Tristan Gooley
Natural navigation is at its most fun when it is a puzzle and a test of our senses. Have a look at this photo and get ready to test your powers of observation.
This is a photo of a monkey puzzle tree that I have been growing in our greenhouse since early this year. I have taken it out of the greenhouse for better light for this photo. Greenhouses are great places to study the effect of sunlight on plant growth because all the wind effects are cancelled.
Now see if you can tell in which direction this photo was taken. Are we looking north, south, east or west?
Answer time…
In this photo we are looking west. The monkey puzzle tree has grown towards the southern light to the left, an effect known as ‘phototropism’.
‘That’s easy!’ I hear some of you cry, but I did warn you that…
Read More...
Tags: natural awareness, natural compass, natural observation, natural riddle, phototropism, plants, puzzle, south |
19 March 2009 by Tristan Gooley
Although I occasionally get labelled as Mr. Anti-anything-modern-and-would-rather-eat-a-pair-of-hemp-pants-than-use-a-GPS*, the truth is different. I do use a GPS, quite regularly in fact and always take one on serious walks, even if I don’t use it. I was able to use it to test natural navigation skills in the Libyan Sahara recently.
Soon I am hoping to use technology to solve a riddle that is proving elusive to both natural observation and thought. That is the shape of the a shadow stick’s arc as it goes from one side of an equinox to another. It is too subtle for me to gauge from stick and chalk efforts in my back garden. The answer is not in any of the many books and articles that I have on astronomy, ancient or modern. I have put this little riddle to dozens of good minds over recent months, some of them professional scientists, and no-one…
Read More...
Tags: equinox, natural observation, natural riddle, shadow stick's arc |
