Meet the Butterflies Thriving While the World Convulses
At this moment, hundreds of thousands of Painted Lady butterflies are fluttering along one of the most astonishing migrations in the insect world: an epic trip of roughly 4,500 miles from the sub-Saharan region to the Arctic Circle, at a speed of up to 30 miles per hour. Over the course of a year, the butterflies will fly about twice that — more than 9,000 miles in all.
The Painted Ladies are one of the most widely distributed butterflies in the world, appearing on every continent except Antarctica and sometimes crossing the seas and oceans between them. Just last year, researchers discovered that a flock of Painted Ladies rode the wind over the Atlantic Ocean from West Africa to the northern coast of South America — the first documented insect journey across an ocean.
The Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) undertakes the longest known butterfly migration — an annual, multigenerational journey between Europe and tropical Africa. In search of blooming flowers and host plants, these butterflies travel more than 9,000 miles round-trip, crossing deserts, seas and mountains along the way.
Lifecycle stages
Painted Ladies live for about 1–2 months; it takes 6–10 generations to complete
their full migration.
Caterpillar
2-4 weeks
Egg
5-14 days
Chrysalis
1-2 weeks
Adult
3-4 weeks
Enlarged
below
Worldwide range
none
high
low
Migration route
In September, the butterflies head south in search of warmer climates.
In the summer, some butterflies travel as far north as the Arctic Circle.
1
Sept.–Oct.
5
Asia
April–Aug.
Europe
4
Feb.–May
AFRICA
2
Nov.–
Jan.
3
Jan.–Feb.
One Painted Lady flock flew almost 3,000 miles from Western Africa to South America in 2013.
After wintering in tropical Africa, the butterflies turn back to the north in January or
February.
Worldwide range
Caterpillar
Lifecycle stages
2-4 weeks
none
Painted Ladies live for about 1–2 months; it takes 6–10 generations to complete
their full migration.
high
low
Egg
5-14 days
Enlarged
below
Chrysalis
1-2 weeks
Migration route
In September, the butterflies head south in search of warmer climates.
Adult
3-4 weeks
1
Sept.–Oct.
In the summer, some butterflies travel as far north as the Arctic Circle.
Asia
Europe
5
April–Aug.
4
Feb.–May
AFRICA
2
Nov.–Jan.
One Painted Lady flock flew almost 3,000 miles from Western Africa to South America in 2013.
3
Jan.–Feb.
After wintering in tropical Africa, the butterflies turn back to the north in January or
February.
Lifecycle stages
Migration route
Painted Ladies live for about 1–2 months; it takes 6–10 generations to complete
their full migration.
In the summer, some butterflies travel as far north as the Arctic Circle.
In September, the butterflies head south in search of warmer climates.
1
Sept.–Oct.
Caterpillar
2-4 weeks
Egg
5-14 days
Asia
Europe
5
April–Aug.
4
Chrysalis
Feb.–May
1-2 weeks
Adult
3-4 weeks
AFRICA
Worldwide range
none
high
low
2
Nov.–Jan.
One Painted Lady flock flew almost 3,000 miles from Western Africa to South America in 2013.
3
Jan.–Feb.
After wintering in tropical Africa, the butterflies turn back to the north in January or
February.
Enlarged
at right
Source: Dr. Gerard Talavera; butterflymigration.com
Note: Illustrations are not to scale.
The Painted Lady's migration, chronicled in the photographer Lucas Foglia's new book, 'Constant Bloom,' is a powerful reminder of our interconnections with nature and our shared stake in an ever-changing world
The butterflies' resilience shows us that some species are capable of adapting to dramatic changes in climate, food availability and urban development. But they also require humans' attention to continue thriving. If we don't protect their breeding grounds and nectar sources, these butterflies could meet the same fate as many others. While there is no data showing a change in the population of Painted Ladies, a recent study revealed that American butterfly populations decreased 22 percent between 2000 and 2020, in part because of habitat loss, climate change and farmers' use of insecticides.
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New York Times
10-04-2025
- New York Times
Meet the Butterflies Thriving While the World Convulses
At this moment, hundreds of thousands of Painted Lady butterflies are fluttering along one of the most astonishing migrations in the insect world: an epic trip of roughly 4,500 miles from the sub-Saharan region to the Arctic Circle, at a speed of up to 30 miles per hour. Over the course of a year, the butterflies will fly about twice that — more than 9,000 miles in all. The Painted Ladies are one of the most widely distributed butterflies in the world, appearing on every continent except Antarctica and sometimes crossing the seas and oceans between them. Just last year, researchers discovered that a flock of Painted Ladies rode the wind over the Atlantic Ocean from West Africa to the northern coast of South America — the first documented insect journey across an ocean. The Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) undertakes the longest known butterfly migration — an annual, multigenerational journey between Europe and tropical Africa. In search of blooming flowers and host plants, these butterflies travel more than 9,000 miles round-trip, crossing deserts, seas and mountains along the way. Lifecycle stages Painted Ladies live for about 1–2 months; it takes 6–10 generations to complete their full migration. Caterpillar 2-4 weeks Egg 5-14 days Chrysalis 1-2 weeks Adult 3-4 weeks Enlarged below Worldwide range none high low Migration route In September, the butterflies head south in search of warmer climates. In the summer, some butterflies travel as far north as the Arctic Circle. 1 Sept.–Oct. 5 Asia April–Aug. Europe 4 Feb.–May AFRICA 2 Nov.– Jan. 3 Jan.–Feb. One Painted Lady flock flew almost 3,000 miles from Western Africa to South America in 2013. After wintering in tropical Africa, the butterflies turn back to the north in January or February. Worldwide range Caterpillar Lifecycle stages 2-4 weeks none Painted Ladies live for about 1–2 months; it takes 6–10 generations to complete their full migration. high low Egg 5-14 days Enlarged below Chrysalis 1-2 weeks Migration route In September, the butterflies head south in search of warmer climates. Adult 3-4 weeks 1 Sept.–Oct. In the summer, some butterflies travel as far north as the Arctic Circle. Asia Europe 5 April–Aug. 4 Feb.–May AFRICA 2 Nov.–Jan. One Painted Lady flock flew almost 3,000 miles from Western Africa to South America in 2013. 3 Jan.–Feb. After wintering in tropical Africa, the butterflies turn back to the north in January or February. Lifecycle stages Migration route Painted Ladies live for about 1–2 months; it takes 6–10 generations to complete their full migration. In the summer, some butterflies travel as far north as the Arctic Circle. In September, the butterflies head south in search of warmer climates. 1 Sept.–Oct. Caterpillar 2-4 weeks Egg 5-14 days Asia Europe 5 April–Aug. 4 Chrysalis Feb.–May 1-2 weeks Adult 3-4 weeks AFRICA Worldwide range none high low 2 Nov.–Jan. One Painted Lady flock flew almost 3,000 miles from Western Africa to South America in 2013. 3 Jan.–Feb. After wintering in tropical Africa, the butterflies turn back to the north in January or February. Enlarged at right Source: Dr. Gerard Talavera; Note: Illustrations are not to scale. The Painted Lady's migration, chronicled in the photographer Lucas Foglia's new book, 'Constant Bloom,' is a powerful reminder of our interconnections with nature and our shared stake in an ever-changing world The butterflies' resilience shows us that some species are capable of adapting to dramatic changes in climate, food availability and urban development. But they also require humans' attention to continue thriving. If we don't protect their breeding grounds and nectar sources, these butterflies could meet the same fate as many others. While there is no data showing a change in the population of Painted Ladies, a recent study revealed that American butterfly populations decreased 22 percent between 2000 and 2020, in part because of habitat loss, climate change and farmers' use of insecticides. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Forbes
24-03-2025
- Forbes
Heat, Rain, Bumpy Roads & Hail, These LiDARs Cannot Fail
Dust hangs in the air after a mining explosion near Newman, Pilbara region, Western Australia (Photo ... More by: Auscape/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) The figure above shows the dust generated after explosives are used to loosen the ore so that the heavy machinery can extract and transport it for processing. Mining is dirty - and the environments are harsh and difficult for humans. Optical sensors go through these environments as they deliver critical perception, situational and localization to a computer that processes the data and controls autonomous movement of equipment and tools. The operations occur 24x7 in remote areas and availability of skilled manpower is scarce. Autonomy in mining environments is critical for productivity, efficient capital usage and safety. The challenge is for perception sensors (especially optical cameras and LiDAR) to perform under such harsh environments. Big machine autonomy is big business, as witnessed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2025) earlier this year. It includes mining, agriculture, garbage disposal and airport tarmac operations, tasks which are performed 24x7 under temperature extremes, snow, rain, shock, vibration, dust and fog. Exhibitors at CES included Oshkosh, John Deere, Caterpillar and Komatsu, not necessarily consumer-product oriented, but certainly highly consumer-impacting. Their autonomy solutions address safety, productivity, 24x7 asset utilization, operational optimization and most importantly tackling the shortage of skilled human labor that must work in remote and physically challenging and harsh environments. Applications include tillage and seeding, excavation and transport of construction materials and mining ore, garbage hauling, sorting of recyclables, cargo handling in airports, and eventually autonomous construction on the moon! Figure 1: Planned Excavator for Lunar Construction Physical perception of the environment in which these autonomous machines operate is critical for safety (of people and equipment), navigation, path planning, speed control and optimizing operational protocols. Different sensor modalities are required, including cameras, LiDAR, radar, GPS, IMUs and gyros, along with software and AI-based fusion and decision making. The environments are harsh (compared to the on-road automotive use cases) - wide operating temperature ranges (- 40°C to 110°C), extreme shock and vibration, mud splatter, dust and mining ore contamination of sensors (which causes confusion in perception). Outer space operation adds another layers of environment challenges. Optical sensors (cameras and LiDAR) are especially impacted from a ruggedness and data quality perspective and require special hardware and software strategies to ensure operational integrity over long lifetimes. Caterpillar has been a leader in autonomy for mining, quarrying, oil exploration, and construction for the past 25 years. LiDAR is essential for obstacle detection since its ~1.3M lbs trucks move at 40 mph and long range detection of obstacles is critical for speed control, braking and steering decisions. Caterpillar started off using Velodyne LiDAR and later other suppliers like Leica and Ouster (Ouster acquired Velodyne 2 years ago) who supply products in the mining industry. Given the demanding operating environment, Caterpillar initiated internal LiDAR efforts in 2018 to overcome challenges with harsh environments (see Figure 2, especially the cameras in front of the cab section). Customized software and signal processing to filter false positives due to dust particles and deep ground ruts in oilfields is site-specific challenges. Caterpillar now works with commercial LiDAR companies under license to customize and adapt their COTs (Commercial-off-the-Shelf) products for different applications. Figure 2: The Cat Differential Steering System, designed in the 1980s, allows machines to turn 'on a ... More dime,' increasing productivity so customers can get more done in less time. Michael Murphy is the chief engineer in charge of mining autonomy at Caterpillar. As autonomy capability is tested in one situation (mining in remote regions in Australia), the challenge is to translate it into other locales and applications (like quarrying in semi-urban locations in the USA). Edge cases include dealing with iron ore dust in Australia and deep ruts in oil sands in Canada, confuse the perception stack and are addressed through signal processing and training. According to Mr. Murphy, Caterpillar is committed to providing our customers with reliable and durable solutions. LiDAR with fewer or no moving parts usually leads to increased component durability and reduced component maintenance. Doppler information is useful in some applications where there is a need to visually infer the speed of actors in the environment. It can also provide extra information useful for training AI models". The company is engaged in various verticals like farming, orchard spraying and lawn mowing tractors, and has invested in autonomy efforts for the past 25 years. A big driver for this is the scarce availability of trained manpower in the short time frames in which farms need to be tilled, seeded and harvested. The autonomy effort was accelerated with the acquisition of robotics company Blue River Technologies in 2017. Aaron Wells is in charge of developing autonomy capabilities.. Autonomous farming tractors are outfitted with 16 cabin-rooftop cameras (4 on each side, providing 3 unique stereo views in each direction. These provide good depth perception at a 20-30 m range in front and rear directions (important since tractors typically are dragging long attachments for different farming needs). Key concerns are addressing shock and vibration effects as well as durability. System calibration is critical (over temperature, lighting conditions, etc.) Insecticide-spraying in orchards presents a difficult perception challenge while maneuvering through tree branches (Figure 2). LiDAR plays a crucial role in mapping vegetation canopies and tree branches, as well as providing accurate localization and path planning for optimal coverage and efficiency. Figure 2: The Autonomous 5ML Orchard Tractor for Air Blast Spraying Uses LiDAR The approach is to pick a COTs LiDAR, and qualify and harden it for the harsh operating conditions. According to Mr. Wells, 'John Deere Autonomy teams are always looking to fit the right sensor to the needs of our application. Specifically for autonomy kits that contain lidar today, solid state lidar could provide benefits in ruggedness and form factor. Regardless of the type of lidar, some of our applications are less sensitive to the need for velocity tracking given the relative slow speed of these off road use cases. We're continually evaluating new sensors to meet these unique off road needs for our customers'. Founded in 1917 by two inventor-entrepreneurs, William Besserdich and Bernhard Mosling, to commercialize their disruptive 4-wheel drive designs for heavy vehicles, the company has grown to become a publicly listed corporation. It generates ~$10B in annual revenues, has 18,000 employees and 12 product brands serving markets in access, defense, fire & emergency, refuse collection, concrete placement and aviation ground support. Defense is a key segment (~25% of revenues) and the company invests significantly in R&D efforts for autonomy and safety. Oshkosh Defense is developing Leader-Follower technology in which a fleet of driverless autonomous vehicles follow a lead manned vehicle (Figure 4), reducing exposure to the dangers associated with battlefield movement, and providing increased flexibility in deployment. Autonomy developments like this are also extended to commercial businesses like refuse collection and aviation ground support (autonomous handling and transport of baggage, aligning passenger access jetways to airplane entrance doors). Figure 4: Oshkosh Autonomous Defense Vehicles Perform in Harsh Off-Road Environments The rationale for incorporating autonomy is to assist human operators, and improve safety and efficiency in physically challenging tasks, typically in outdoor environments. Perception is a key element to achieving this. Oshkosh leverages LiDAR, radar, cameras and GPS, with advanced machine learning algorithms for fusing sensor information to provide actionable situational awareness information capabilities for autonomy. For example, dust clouds are confused as obstacles by LiDAR, and if particularly dense, the sensor is blinded. Fusion with radar information alleviates this. Vibrations effects on camera images and LiDAR point clouds are filtered out by using IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) and fiber-optic gyro data. Adapting such enhancements and edge case solutions to different environments is non-trivial and takes significant human effort. John Beck, Director for Autonomy and Active Safety, has been involved in the Deere's autonomy efforts for 2 decades. Harsh environments (shock, vibration, water and dirt splatter, dust, weather) are a challenge for perception and durability, especially for optical sensors like cameras and LiDAR. The approach is to select performance compatible COTs products and ruggedize them for different environments to achieve required lifetimes. . The point is that adapting these enhancements to different environments and applications is non-trivial and takes significant human effort. Per Mr. Beck, 'LiDAR with no moving parts is inherently more robust from a hardware perspective (moving parts tend to wear) and should be less expensive to manufacture and scale production. FMCW or 4D LIDAR using the Doppler effect to provide velocity of detections eliminates the need to calculate the velocity by measuring the returns from an object between 2 or more timestamps. This is highly desirable in some applications." Founded roughly a century ago in the town of Komatsu, Japan, the company today is a global provider of equipment for customers in forestry, construction, mining and quarrying verticals. Underwater dredging and lunar construction are emerging business areas. It is listed publicly on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and has revenues of ~$27B/year and ~65K employees worldwide. The mining business established its headquarters in the United States (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) after the acquisition of Joy Global in 2017. This enabled the integration of Komatsu's surface mining equipment with multiple brands of Joy's surface and underground products. The construction and forestry businesses are centralized in Japan. Wesley Taylor is the Senior Product Manager at the company's Autonomy Center of Excellence for Surface and Underground Mining. The Center is focused on integrating autonomy into Komatsu's suite of mining equipment. This includes hardware, software and physical simulation software of the equipment and processes. The environments encountered in mining are very different from those in automobiles. 24x7 operation is a given in locales ranging from the tar sands in Canada to the semi-desert environment in Western Australia. This requires the autonomy stacks to be tuned and calibrated specifically for a given customer, location and application. Figure 5 shows Komatsu's AHS system (completely autonomous without a driver cab), launched in 2021 and deployed on 750 vehicles to date, with more than 10B metric tons of material moves (at a rate of 6M metric tons a day). Figure 5: Komatsu Autonomous Trucks Operate Leveraging the FrontRunner Autonomous Haulage vehicle ... More (AHV) From a hardware perspective, the autonomy stack uses a combination of high precision GPS and IMUs, cameras, LiDAR and radar along with vehicular sensors monitoring tire and engine parameters. Sensor information is used with simulation models and machine learning to operate the vehicles safely and efficiently. For optical sensors like cameras and LiDAR, keeping the optical surfaces clean is critical and significant effort is expended on packaging and location of such sensors to prevent contamination from dust and ore particles. Sensor monitoring is used to recognize the presence of this contamination and deploy self-cleaning mechanisms. High precision IMU chips are co-packaged close to the LiDAR optical axis to enable filtering of the LiDAR point cloud due to vibrations (which are typically in the 50 Hz range). Komatsu works with its LiDAR suppliers to integrate IMUs in the LiDAR. Given the sensitivity of the LiDAR to performance to temperature, Komatsu engineered specialized thermal management solutions to address a wide operating range (-50 °C - +65 °C). From a LiDAR wish-list perspective, Mr. Taylor indicated that solid state is an attractive feature. Lack of moving parts minimizes shock and vibration, and fatigue-related lifetime failures (5-year lifetimes are a minimal requirement, higher is better). Large Field of View (FoV) is important given the size of the machines and mounting locations, and self-diagnostics to detect and report imminent failure of the LiDAR performance is critical. Doppler LiDAR is certainly attractive but not at the expense of range or point cloud density. The AoT™ (Autonomy of Things) revolution is progressing in areas that solve critical problems in harsh environments where labor is scarce, capital is expensive, and 24×7 operation is imperative. Advances in sensing, perception, localization, computing, and physical AI are making this revolution possible. Designing durable LiDAR sensors that are durable and provide accurate perception information under these environments is challenging and requires strong collaborations between LiDAR manufacturers and users.
Yahoo
16-11-2024
- Yahoo
Forget Houston. This Space Balloon Will Launch You to the Edge of the Cosmos From a Floating Spaceport.
Many design projects have started with Lego building blocks, but the ship-based launch system for Space Perspective's Spaceship Neptune balloon and capsule is a most unique and remarkable example. 'We kept buying more boxes of them as we reconfigured the mock-up,' says Taber MacCallum, who cofounded Space Perspective with his wife, Jane Poynter, in 2019 and serves as its chief technology officer. SpaceX's Starship Could Launch Its Next Test Flight in Two Weeks The Astronaut Wears Prada? NASA's Newest Spacesuits Are Designed by the Italian Fashion House China Just Unveiled Next-Gen Space Suits for Its Upcoming Lunar Mission The complex roller system aboard the Florida outfit's 294-foot MS Voyager releases the 650-foot-long balloon and its passenger pod using a mere 200 feet of deck space. The enormous mechanized spools resemble a supersize Rube Goldberg machine, working with uncanny precision as they slowly unfurl—in a zigzagging process—the capsule's sole means of propulsion. 'The objective is to be very gentle with the balloon and not put any pressure points on it,' says MacCallum during Robb Report's recent tour of the ship. A trace amount of hydrogen is injected into the tip of the balloon, and the rollers bring it vertical before it's tethered to the capsule on the stern. 'We need just 1 percent of lift gas, since hydrogen expands as it rises,' explains MacCallum, adding that 'by the time it reaches the apogee at 100,000 feet, the balloon's fully inflated.' While the spool arrangement for deployment is certainly innovative, the ship itself is even more noteworthy as the aerospace industry's first marine spaceport for human flights. As such, the company has worked closely with the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard to follow regulations for what is, essentially, a new type of vessel. MacCallum originally dismissed the idea of a floating launchpad, but then realized its safety case was more compelling than land-based options. No parachutes are needed for splashdown (the balloon controls the descent) and the ocean doesn't require a precise landing spot. Plus, the onboard mission control supplements the main operations center in Titusville, Fla. 'It's obviously a working ship,' says Michael Savage, Space Perspective's acting CEO, referring to Voyager's previous life as an offshore supply runner that serviced oil rigs. 'But we've done a complete overhaul and added luxury elements to it.' The two-year $31 million refit entailed modernizing the Caterpillar engines so they could run on a low-emissions biofuel mix, rewiring for advanced electronics, and retooling the 56-foot-wide decks for the massive equipment required, which includes large tanks of hydrogen. The interior was also redone with new offices, a medical center, suites, and a salon area for the guests. In addition, restaurateur David Grutman—owner of Gekko in Miami and Komodo in Las Vegas—is providing high-end culinary experiences 'on the boat and in the capsule,' according to Savage. Voyager's decks bustle with 15 crew and 25 technicians, all preparing for Neptune's launch as well as its remotely controlled six-hour 19-mile climb and subsequent return. Management of the journey takes place in the air-conditioned bridge, which is equipped with a collection of servers, computers, and equipment to monitor life-support systems and thermal levels across the capsule. Four satellite networks offer communications redundancy, and two rigid-inflatable tenders will initially get to the capsule and hold it in place until Voyager arrives. A larger retrieval ship, with deck space for two capsules, will be ready for the debut commercial flight in 2026. 'It can have the capsule out of the water in 20 minutes,' says MacCallum, who foresees a fleet of similar marine spaceports in Europe and Asia. Five years since inception, the vision is now one step closer to reality: The first uncrewed flight went off without a hitch a few days after our visit, proving the viability of the floating-launchpad concept. The Legos were right. The antithesis of the claustrophobic confines one associates with space travel, the Excelsior capsule on Spaceship Neptune is a 19-foot-high sphere with a 16-foot diameter and a living area that has 2,000 cubic feet of volume. The interior lounge, which accommodates eight guests and the captain—all in casual attire, not space suits—includes a stocked bar, a private toilet, Wi-Fi capability, and recliners that face the largest viewing areas ever found on an extraterrestrial craft. 'We've maximized overhead height, and the windows bulge outwards for a full sense of space,' says Michael Savage, acting CEOof Space Perspective. The capsule's environmental-control and life-support system includes an air-revitalization process to recirculate cabin air, as well as active heating and cooling to maintain a comfortable environment. The computers, satellite systems, and batteries are in the lower section for crewed flights, and the conical shape of the bottom makes splashdown less jarring while serving as a stabilizing sea anchor. In the unlikely event that the balloon is damaged or malfunctions on the return from its 100,000-foot apogee, Excelsior has a total of six parachutes to safely control the descent. 'Aerospace is obsessed with weight, but we don't have to worry about every ounce and use more robust parts that can take a beating,' says Savage. 'We've estimated the capsule can do 1,000 flights as long as we maintain it.' In other words, the very definition of sustainability. 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