Commons Content Party

Winner of the 2023 Wiki Science Competition in the category of “General category”

The winning submission of General category shows us bioluminescence in the adhesive web of predatory larvae of fungus gnats. It was made by DmytroLeontyev.

More info and runners up available here:

https://www.wikisciencecompetition.org/2024/12/17/winners-of-wsc23-general-category/

Author comment:

I am a professor from Ukraine, PhD, DrSci, specializing in mycology, evolutionary and molecular biology. I am the author of around 400 scientific publications, as well as popular books on the history of art.

Photography has been a lifelong passion of mine, though I see it not as a separate art but rather as a way to share my impressions about the beauty of the world. As a professional, I often photograph my scientific subjects using macro photography, light, and even electron microscopy. For pleasure, I capture architecture, classical art, and living things around me. During a scientific expedition to Australia in March 2023, I was fortunate to find chains of glowing droplets in a deep niche of a rocky cliff.

I already knew they were one of the wonders of Australian fauna, the traps of predatory fungus gnat larvae, and I tried to take a good photograph. However, the fact that this particular photo received such high recognition came as a huge surprise to me, since capturing it did not require significant effort. Nonetheless, these creatures are truly stunning!.

Transcript:

Mickey walks around the Shyster law office, telling himself "I'll rescue Minnie myself!―The only thing that sheriff uses his head for―is to keep his ears apart!!"

Mickey runs along with a plank of wood and says, "I've got an idea!―I'll build a spring board and bounce my way up to his window!!"

Mickey stands on one side of a spring board contraption while holding a boulder and narrates, "I'll just toss this rock on the other end of the board, and I'm on my way!!" Shyster and Minnie are visible in the upper window, while the mysterious figure is visible in the lower window.

Mickey tosses the boulder to the other end of the spring board, saying "The only way anyone can get ahead of Mickey Mouse―is to run in front of him!"

Mick is startled as the boulder lands and the spring board simply snaps in half with a "Crash!!"

Winner of the 2023 Wiki Science Competition in the category of “Wildlife and Nature”

The winning submission of Wildlife and Nature category shows us the eggs of a salamander freshly deposited in a small hole, surrounded by leaves, soil, and roots. It was made by Pablo Jimenez Velayos.

More info and runners up available here:

https://www.wikisciencecompetition.org/2024/12/17/winners-of-wsc23-wildlife-and-nature/

Author comment:

I am a software engineer based in Spain and photography is one of my main hobbies. I’ve been taking photos for most of my life, always fascinated by the ability to freeze a moment in time and being able to relive it later. I also use it to counteract my bad memory.

I was not always a fan of showing my works, deeming them average. It took self-reflection, lots of trial and error and finally, pursuing a degree in photography and video, before I decided to start sharing them with my closest ones. Actually, it was my partner Estela who pushed me to submit some of them to this competition.

The story behind this specific picture is one of cold weather, firewood and foggy mornings. At the time, we lived in a little house in the middle of the forest. Several times a day we would go out to the woodshed to collect logs for the fire that warmed our home. One day, we spotted a huge black and yellow salamander inside the shed. Not far from it, was this little clutch of eggs inside a small hole in the ground.

I took my tripod and tried to get as close as possible to it. I didn’t have a macro lens at hand so I even tried inverting the lens while holding it, but the depth of field was too thin. So, I relied on my 18-35mm while using my phone flash and a hiking headlamp as my sources of light.

After taking some pictures, we covered the hole partially with a log to avoid stepping on them. Day after day we visited to see the progress but sadly, we missed the day the eggs hatched.

Transcript:

Mickey rushes off to get help, saying "I'll get the sheriff to help my rescue Minnie from old Shyster―He's the kind of a guy who would stick a knife in your back―and then have you arrested for carrying concealed weapons

Mickey reaches the sheriff sitting in front of the grocery store and says, "Ah!―There's the sheriff now―and he's playing checkers―well―the next move is up to him!!"

Mickey exclaims to the sheriff, "Quick! Mr. Sheriff!! Old Shyster has Minnie locked in his office―and he's trying to swindle her into selling her estate for almost nothing!!". The mysterious figure looks on in the background through a window.

The sheriff holds up a large hearing horn and responds to a surprised Mickey, "Speak slow and distinct―or I can't hear a word―now!!―Where did you say the fire was?" The sheriff's checkers opponent laughs as he explains, "Wow! What a dumbell! No wonder it took him two years to run down a pair of heels!"

Transcript:

Narration panel explains, "Minnie inherited a mansion and the old lawyer is trying to persuade her to sell it to him!! Mickey received a warning from The Fox! Who is this Fox?"

Mickey braces a foot on the wall as he tugs on the door of Sylvester Shyster Law Office and says to himself, "When a guy gets a warning like that―He'd better get into action―I'll keep Minnie from selling old Shyster her estate―if I have to wreck the joint and tear him limb from bush!!"

Inside of the office, Minne is holding a pen to sign and asks, "What's all that terrible noise Mr. Shyster?" He holds the door shut and replies, "It's nothing Minnie! Just a chiropractor working on the joint next door. Hurry and sign!"

Outside of the office, the handle of the door pops off and sends Mickey flying backwards through a window with a CRASH!

He looks downwards, startled, as he falls from the window

He pokes his up out of the rainbarrel he landed in and sings, "I may be all wet―but I'll save Minnie yet!! A figure is seen in the background that resembles the shadowy figure of The Fox

When Bromma airport opened in Stockholm here in Sweden, it was the first land based airport in the city. Other airports like Barkaby in Järfälla outside the city limits existed but were seen as too cumbersome to get access to.

So Bromma was built.

And in 1936 it was opened with large celebrations and international guests.

If you look closer at the photo you can see aircraft from France and Germany, with the German planes having swastikas on the tail.

Before Bromma, Stockholm had a seaplane airport at Lindarängen, the area of which was later taken over as the freeport of Stockholm expanded over the years, there is still a hangar from back then that is still in use, in this case as a cold storage.

Over they years as Stockholm expanded, airplanes grew in size and speed, requiering longer runways and larger facilities, and in 1962 the new international airport Arlanda opened.

Bromma is still active, mostly serving smaller commuter planes and private jets.

There is a decades long debate on wheather or not to close the airport and when, I suspect it will be closed within ten years or so.

The photo is in the public domain.

The S-363 was a soviet submarine in the NATO designated whiskey-class.

In Sweden she is know as U 137, due to her Soviet name being classified at the time.

S-363 ran aground on 1981/10/27, on the south coast of Sweden, this happened at a time when the Sweden held a naval exercise testing new equipment in the area.

There were a lot of back and fourth between Sweden and the Soviets, with the Soviets blaming faulty navigation having got the boat lost, this was despite the boat having navigated several complicated areas with rocks, straights, and islands to get to their current location.

The Soviets later issued a contradictory statement about how the submarine were forced into Swedish waters due to bad weather.

The Soviet captain was taken to be interviewed on the mainland, and while gone the sub sent out a distress call and two ships from a Soviet armada just outside Swedish waters started to move towards the submarine.

This is when the Swedish Prime Minister Thorbjörn Fäldin gave the order "Håll gränsen", "Hold the border", to the Swedish Supreme Commander.

Coastal batteries, mobile coastal artillery gund and mine station went into action stations, the Swedish Air Force scrambled strike aircraft armed with modern anti ship missiles.

20 min later Fäldin was informed that the ships were not infact Soviet naval vessels, but rather West German merchant ships.

The submarine was stuck for 10 days, before being hauled off the rock by Swedish tugs and permitted to join the Soviet naval escort.

The photographer of this photo is unknown, and it is licensed as CC-BY

Transcript:

Sylvester Shyster has an interested Minnie alone and tells her "My dear Minnie.―Now that we are alone, I must tell you that the old Mortimer estate you've inherited is practically worthless!!―But because you are my friend―and I have a heart of gold―I'm going to take it off your hands for a small sum!!"

Mickey observes through the keyhole and says to himself, "Gosh! He's trying to buy the estate from her―Now I know why he put me out of the office―Yeh―He's got a heart of gold―Yellow and hard!!!" A shadowy figure appears behind Mickey with a piece of paper and pin

Mickey shouts "WOW!" in pain as the note is pinned to his rear and the shadowy figure disappears

Mickey holds the note toward the reader, which says "Warning!―Don't let Minnie sell the Estate!! The Fox!" Mickey also looks towards the reader and asks "Who-o-o-o-o who is The Fox??

Winner of WSC23: Microscopy images, some other really cool photos in there!

WSC23 is the 2023 version of https://www.wikisciencecompetition.org/, billed as "The Wikipedia photo contest around science". You can click around at the link and see lots of really cool images.

The author's comment for this picture:

Since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to understand why leaves are green, how fish swim and how the heart beats. One of the first childhood memories I have is the day my parents took me with five years old to visit the Museum of Natural History of Paris, and I saw this huge whale skeleton suspended in the air. I dreamed about it for years, telling myself that I had to understand the origin of life.

Later, my passion for photography and traveling, made the perfect link with my work. My specialty is cell biology, and more specifically the study of basic cell mechanisms and embryo development using marine models. The ocean has always fascinated me, because its organisms have completely magical ways of adapting to extreme environments. On top of that, they can be useful for understanding fundamental biological mechanisms that also apply to humans!

Currently working at the Institut Jacques Monod in the Nicolas Minc Team (CNRS, Paris), I’m using sea urchin embryos to study the mechanisms that regulate the orientation of cell divisions, a phenomenon linked to human cancer development. This is exactly what we see in this microscopy acquisition. In turquoise we see the membranes of dividing cells, in red the microtubules that serve as “ropes” to pull the chromosomes, and in green the DNA in the form of chromosomes.

Looks like the 2025 competition is over now, and you can see some of the photos already uploaded here:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Science_Competition_2025#Uploaded_files

Winner of the 2023 Wiki Science Competition in the category of "People in Science"

The winning submission of People in Science category shows us a wildlife photographer wearing a ghillie suit. It was made by Giles Laurent.

More info and runners up available here:

https://www.wikisciencecompetition.org/2024/12/17/winners-of-wsc23-people-in-science/

Author comment:

I am a lawyer based in Switzerland and photography is my favorite hobby. I’ve been lucky enough to travel a lot and that’s what made me start photography, as it is such a great way of creating beautiful memories that can be seen again. In 2017 I got a taste for hiking and the magnificent natural landscapes that Mother Nature has to offer and that soon afterwards led me to take up landscape photography. After a hike during which I came into contact with wild ibexes, I enjoyed photographing them and very quickly developed a real passion for wildlife photography. Through my photographs I hope to share with the world the beauty of nature and animals.

Some wild animals are very difficult to approach without disturbing them, and I often wear a ghillie suit when I go looking for them. By remaining undetected, I can observe animal behaviour that would otherwise not be observable if the animal would have had knowledge of human presence.The camouflage also allows me to get closer to animals and get good photographs without disturbing them.

My main goal of the day when this picture was taken was to search for a group of wolves that was seen multiple times in the previous weeks in the area and that attacked a group of cows. Unfortunately I didn’t see wolves that day but that’s just nature!

F2 was a seaplane base for the Swedish Air Force from 1926 to 1949, after 1949 the base was used as a search and rescue base, where the Swedish Air Force stationed it's Catalina aircraft.

The SAR organization were active on the base until 1966 when the remaining Catalina aircraft where moved inland to Barkaby airfield.

Now, some of you reading this may have noticed the part where I mentioned "remaining Catalina aircraft", with the subtlety of an anvil going through a church window during sunday mass.

(Sorry, I have had a long day at work anf thought the phrasing was funny)

You see, whenever someone mentions Catalina aircraft with regards to Sweden, military historians immediately starts paying attention, as they know what is comming.

The Catalina affair.

During the cold war, Sweden flew signals intelligence flights against along the Soviet border in a DC3. The plane was shot down by the Soviets despite flying outside their airspace.

When the air force noticed that the air craft was missing, they sent out an SAR mission with two Catalinas, these departed from F2, one of the Catalina rescue planes were shot down, but the crew were rescued by the West German cragoship Münsterland.

This photo shows the base as it looked about 20 years prior to these events.

The photo was taken by the company Ahrenbergsflyg and is licensed as CC-BY

Transcript:

Mickey and Minnie are driving in a car while Mickey says "Gee, Minnie!! Just a few more minutes and we will be at the lawyer's office to sign the papers―and then you are rich!!"

They arrive at Shyster's Law Office and Mickey tells Minnie, "Well!! Here we are, now to climb the golden stairs!!"

They walk into the rundown office and greet Shyster with, "🎶 Hello!! 🎵", who has predatory look on his face. He responds, "Ah!! My dear little girl, I've been waiting for you!!!"

Shyster shoves Mickey out of the door while shaking Minnie's hand and remarks, "BUT!―our business is private!! I'm glad you came ALONE!!!"

Please enjoy this photo of a car that was converted to run on train tracks on on the Roslagsbanan network.

Sadly we don't know the photographers name, but the photo is licensed as CC-BY-NC

I don't know much about this specific car, but the heritage railroad Lennakatten in Uppsala which uses a part of the old network, has a similar but distinctly different rail car, and I do know a few things about that one, sadly I don't have a picture of that one.

That rail car was built from an old Volvo Taxi from the early 1900s, it was used for track inspections and a for a station master's commute.

It has a interesting mechanism for turning it around, there is a wide hydraulic ram at the center of gravity, and a hydraulic hand pump in the boot. You arrange some pieces of wood to be a platform under the ram, you pump it up so the wheels lift of the track, then you just carefully turn it around.

Right, I saw how popular the post about the Stockholm metro control room was, so here is another Swedish control room, this time with nuclear energy!

Ågestaverket was built in the side of a cliff, it was a nuclear powerplant that provided was a bit unusual, it mostly generated district heating for the Farsta suburb south of Stockholm.

It was only run for 11 years, 1963-1974, several issues prevented further operation.

It was decommissioned over decades, this photo was taken as the facility was about to be cleared of equipment.

This photo was taken in 2005 by Nisse Cronestrand, and is released under the license CC-BY.

There are plenty more photos and I will keep posting them and others until the geopolitical situation change as I need the distraction.

Please let me know if you find something particularly interesting.

This was one of the main public radio broadcast stations in Sweden, if you listen to famous old radio broadcasts from Sweden, it is very likely that they will sign on with the call sign Stockholm-Motala.

The station was constructed in 1927, closed in 1962, and is today a museum.

The station broadcast 30 kW at 227 kHz in the start of operations, in 1935 the output was upgraded to 150 kW to compete with other broadcasts on the band.

The station changed the broadcast frequency several times in it's life:

• 1927: 227 kHz
• 1929: 222,5 kHz
• 1934: 216 kHz (never used due to the war)
• 1950: 191 kHz

There is another famous Swedish radio station which you may confuse with this, Grimeton, a radio station in the south west of Sweden, that station is amazing, it is a UNESCO world heritage site, and I will post photos about that later, but this post is all about Motala radio broadcast station.

This photo was taken in 1930 and is in the public domain.

Ågesta nuclear power plant was the first commercial nuclear power plant in Sweden, it was designed to primarily produce district heating with some electrical power on the side.

It was closed in the 70s, about a decade after it was opened, the decommisioning took a long time, and this photo was taken in 2005 by Nisse Cronestrand, it is realeased as CC-BY.

Personally I just find the doors looking amazing, soo thick and really plug shaped.

Transcript:

Mickey and Minnie are walking down the road and come across someone sitting on the fence next to the lane. Mickey says, "Hi!! Horse Collar!! How goes it??" and Horse Collar responds, "Hello Mickey! Hello, Minnie! What's your hurry?"

Horse Collar continues, "I saw Clarabelle Cow today and she was tellin' me all about how you inherited all of old Mortimer's wealth―well, you just look out for old Sylvester Shyster or the only thing you'll have left in the will will be periods and commas!"

Horse Collar continues, "―that is, if there is anything left at all now―I understand old Mortimer's son got away with most of it before old Sylvester Shyster got a hand in it!!!", alarming Mickey and Minnie

Mickey consoles Minnie as they walk away, with Horse Collar yelling after them, "Remember!!―Where there's a will, there's a lot of relatives!!". Mickey says "Never mind him, Minnie. He's only a wet blanket. Every time he takes off his hat, the woodpeckers chase him!!"

Transcript:

Mickey and Minnie are pumping water as someone rides up on a bike. Mickey says "Oh, Minnie, here comes Clarabelle Cow, the town gossip. I heard she had her tonsils removed so she could talk more freely!!!

Clarabelle reaches them and greets Minnie, saying "Oh, dearie! I'm so glad to see you! They say you are an heiress―I must tell everyone the good news―The Mortimer estate belongs to you. And they do say they were so wealthy―now you can even have a cheese-lined bathtub!!

The narration says "One hour later" as Clarabelle continues "Just think!―You can have new dresses, and you can go abroad and study music!―I love singing―Do you know singers run in my family?" Mickey mutters to himself on the upturned pail of water, "You bet singers run in her family. If they didn't―they'd get shot!!"

Clarabelle takes her leave, saying "Well, I hope wealth don't turn your head―remember―I'll always be interested in you, and watch how things go!! I'm sorry I haven't any time to really talk to you―but I'll see you again soon!!" Mickey looks at the reader and says "Wow!! She must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle!!!"

The SAAB 105 was used in the Swedish Air Force under the name Sk60, it was decommissioned from service in 2024.

The Austrian Air Force also used it until 2020.

This photo is in the public domain.

This was unexpected!

I was just looking at photos of the Stockholm Metro and suddenly I found this which I had no idea about!

This photo was taken by an unknown photographer, and belongs to the Stockholm Public Transport museum, they have licensed it out on a CC-BY-NC license.

I believe this photo was taken at the central metro station, though the listing does not say, it mentions however that the Shah got to travel in the driver's cab of a train on the metro's green line between T-centralen and Stora Mossen.

The Shah was a horrible dictator, there is no denying that, if I made him seem sympathetic in this post, that was not my intention, I just wanted to share an interesting photo I found.

This is the first central control room of the Stockholm Metro, it controlled what is now known as the green line.

Before this central facility, there were two control rooms as the Stockholm Metro had started as two separate systems which were later connected.

For those who want to learn more about the history of communications (with a focus on radio) used in public transport in Stockholm, I recommend this (Swedish) website, it is very informative:

https://fordonsradio.se/

As for the photo I linked, it is licensed CC-BY-NC, sadly the original photographer is unknown at this time.

Transcript:

Mickey and Minnie sit together on a bench beneath a tree in the countryside. Minnie looks up the path and Mickey points excitedly as a tall, thin man in a top hat approaches in the distance. Mickey says, "Look, Minnie!! Here comes old Sylvester Shyster, the lawyer. I’ll bet he’s on his way to read habeas corpus to somebody!!"

Sylvester Shyster reaches them and tips his hat in greeting as they stand expectantly. He says, "Well! Well! If it isn’t my good friend, Minnie Mouse! --Just think, I’ve walked all the way from town to tell you the good news,—what do you think has happened??" Mickey replies, "We don’t know!"

Sylvester leans in and says, "-----Minnie, you have been made the sole heir to the old Mortimer mansion―If you will come down to my office tomorrow, I’ll tell you all about it!!" Mickey exclaims, "Oh, boy!!"

Sylvester walks off and Mickey and Minnie run off together along the path dancing together. Mickey sings, "Tomorrow! Tomorrow! How happy we will be!! Just think Minnie, you are rich!!" A narrative aside adds, "Ah! Minnie is about to become an heiress—but ?"

I'm going to try posting public domain daily comic strips here, in addition to any other posts I make. I'll start with Mickey Mouse and see how it goes. Posting of any other PD comics also welcome!

Fun fact: "Terrible Tom the Vile Villain" is a one-off name used only in this strip for Peg Leg Pete

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Picnic_(1930_film)

Notable for introducing Pluto (named Rover in this short)