Geastrum quadrifidum, commonly known as the rayed earthstar, is an inedible species of mushroom belonging to the genus Geastrum, the earthstar fungi. First described by Christian Hendrik Persoon in 1794, it is a cosmopolitan but uncommon species found in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australasia. The fungus feeds off decomposing organic matter in the litter and soil of coniferous forests. The small, grayish-brown fruit bodies are enclosed by a skin, or peridium, made up of four layers of tissue. The outer layer splits to form star-like rays and expose a spore case, inside of which is the gleba—fertile spore-producing tissue. The spore case, set on a short, slender stalk, has a well-defined narrow pore at the top through which mature spores escape. The mushroom's outer skin is purplish-brown, with four or five cream or yellowish-brown rays whose tips are stuck in the substrate. This species is one of several earthstars whose rays arch downward as they mature, lifting the spore sac upward and allowing it to catch air currents that disseminate the spores. (Full article...)
... that the Sariraka Upanishad, a Hindu text on human physiology(pictured), states that the body is a composite of constituent elements, and that the soul, or jiva, is "the lord of the body"?
Sir Noël Coward (1899–1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer. Coward published more than 50 plays, many of which have remained in the regular theatre repertoire. He composed hundreds of songs, well over a dozen musical theatre works, screenplays, poetry, several volumes of short stories, a novel, and a three-volume autobiography. Coward's stage and film acting and directing career spanned six decades, during which he starred in many of his own works and won an Academy Honorary Award in 1943. In the 1950s he achieved fresh success as a cabaret performer, performing his own songs. His plays and songs achieved new popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, and his work and style continue to influence popular culture.
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