Field guide No. 731
Starlings trace an invisible tree
A tree, flown from memory.
Over a frosty field, a flock of starlings holds the exact shape of a tree above a sawn-off stump. The tree has gone; the birds kept the plan.
Field noteMurmurations take any shape they like for a second. Holding a felled oak’s outline for longer is just discipline.
Also possible, also breaking physics
An endless orange peelA single strip of peel passes through three shrinking oranges. Each fruit is smaller than its argument.
A horizontal hourglass defies gravityHourglasses stop when laid flat; this one pours sideways and even leaks a trickle past the glass.
Dunes defying gravityLoose sand slumps to its angle of repose. These walls ignore the angle entirely.
Sardine whale in an empty warehouseSardines shoaling in the air of a warehouse, in a whale’s outline. Plenty of room, no water at all.