What determines the creation and dynamics of spicules remains a topic of active research.
I’m going to save that one for any time I don’t know the answer to something.
“Why didn’t you call me back?”
“That remains a topic of active research.”
Well, it is certainly more boffinesque than “What? I should know?”
Looks like how Van Gogh might paint the sun…
I don’t see it. 
My first thought also. Van Gogh must’ve seen the spicules in everything.
That pic is mesmerising. Makes me think I’m looking at the hair of the hide on a luminous, coppery solar bull.
[thread drift] In the course of Googling around to see where these ideas would lead me, I came across a website wherein it was stated: “Temperament scores showed that Holsteins were calmer than beef cattle.” Ahem, well. I don’t think that’s so hard to imagine from the bovine viewpoint. [/thread drift]
well m’oo
When I took Dairy Production at U. of MD, I was assigned a cow by the name of E.T. (a Holstein) to clean and show. E.T. stood for “embryo transfer,” as she was named before the movie was well known. This was not an easy-going cow. I lost, 8th out of 8. It wasn’t really my fault.
She wasn’t very “dairy”, I take it?
She was stubborn, ornery, difficult, and inclined to bolt. The only way we stayed in the ring was by me placing my 125 lbs in front of her 2 tons. (okay…half-ton. It just felt like 2.) Not sure why it worked. She still took off on the way back to the barn. While the sweet cow in the next stall licked me, I had to bathe, then trim the beastly E.T. with electric trimmers. She freaked out. A farm boy who was working on his placid cow took pity and helped. Then, I tried to cover up the dirt with baby powder (since she was almost all white. She could have at least had the decency to be mostly black.) Powder puffed off in huge clouds in the ring. The judge said, “we don’t usually like to see quite so much powder.”
Powder puffed off in huge clouds in the ring. The judge said, “we don’t usually like to see quite so much powder.”
I can’t believe that the judge was imported for the event from some cave in Borneo and didn’t already know about ET. I mean, c’mon. Everybody had to know about ET. You should have at least gotten difficulty points.
My mom had to take care of the cows when she was a young girl, her pig was big help until they et her. That’s what I always thought ET stood fer.
I should have. No question. At the beginning of the next semester, the next round of students pulled their numbers out of a hat and I happened to be there when an unfortunate girl chose #53. (E.T.'s number.) She was lucky. I was there to urge her to go put that number back and take another one RIGHT NOW. She did.