KWBaker

FYI. 2,600+ MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are getting underway in November, giving you the chance to take free courses from top flight universities. With the help of Class Central, we've pulled together a complete list of November MOOCs. And below we've highlighted several courses that piqued our interest.

• Moralities of Everyday Life - Yale University (6 weeks)
• America's Written Constitution - Yale University (6 weeks)
• Rome: A Virtual Tour of the Ancient City - University of Reading (5 weeks)
• Introducing Humanism: Non-religious Approaches to Life - Humanists UK (8 weeks)
• In the Studio: Postwar Abstract Painting  - The Museum of Modern Art (4 weeks)
• Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice: Shylock - Harvard University on edX (4 weeks)
• Russian History: from Lenin to Putin - University of California, Santa Cruz (3 weeks)
• Introduction to Philosophy - University of Edinburgh (7 weeks)
• What Is Contemporary Art? - The Museum of Modern Art (4 weeks)
• Emotions: a Philosophical Introduction - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Autonomous University of Barcelona) (6 weeks)
• Ancient Philosophy: Plato & His Predecessors  - University of Pennsylvania (4 weeks)

Here's one tip to keep in mind: If you want to take a course for free, select the "Full Course, No Certificate" or "Audit" option when you enroll. If you would like an official certificate documenting that you have successfully completed the course, you will need to pay a fee.

You can browse through the complete list of November MOOCs here.

Would you like to support the mission of Open Culture? Please consider making a donation to our site. It's hard to rely 100% on ads, and your contributions will help us continue providing the best free cultural and educational materials to learners everywhere.

Also consider following Open Culture on Facebook and Twitter and sharing intelligent media with your friends. Or sign up for our daily email and get a daily dose of Open Culture in your inbox. 

2,600+ MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) Getting Started in November: Enroll Today is a post from: Open Culture. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus, or get our Daily Email. And don't miss our big collections of Free Online Courses, Free Online Movies, Free eBooks, Free Audio Books, Free Foreign Language Lessons, and MOOCs.

The post Best Fujifilm X-Series Kit for Urban Portraits appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Matt Murray.

With a range of feature-packed cameras that are fun to use, and a line of stunning lenses, a Fujifilm X-Series kit is the ideal companion for urban portrait shoots.

I have been shooting with the X-Series for four years and love the system and the results I get from it. However, with so many good options available, one problem you may have is choosing a lens or kit to shoot with!

In this guide, I discuss what you need to consider when choosing a lens for a shoot, and a list of my favorite Fujifilm lenses for shooting urban portraits.

Advantages of using a Fujifilm X-Series Kit

There are a few key advantages that the Fujifilm X-Series has for urban portrait shoots. Being a mirrorless system, it’s generally smaller and lighter than DSLR kits. In practice, though, my camera bag probably isn’t much lighter because I usually fill it with more of the excellent Fujinon lenses.

Excellent ergonomics and usability is a hallmark of the system. I love that I can change aperture on the lens instead of via a menu – in fact, I could never move back to a system where I have to change aperture via a menu now. The camera bodies feature shutter speed and ISO dials on top of the camera, so you have all the elements of the exposure triangle at your fingertips without a menu in sight.

Live view is another feature I couldn’t live without – it’s amazing seeing what your exposure will look like before pressing the shutter button. This is particularly useful in low light situations that you often encounter in urban shoots. Another dial on top of the camera is exposure compensation – you can easily adjust the exposure as you look through the viewfinder, which is perfect for the way I shoot.

Another big advantage of Fujifilm cameras is their stunning color rendition – the best of any digital camera manufacturer. Fujifilm has used their decades of knowledge to produce JPG simulations that bear the names of class film emulsions: Provia, Astia, and Velvia, to name three.

The images in this article are JPGs (Provia simulation) with only small edits made in Adobe Lightroom. You can, of course, shoot in RAW alongside JPG and add your own looks or presets in post-production.

Camera bodies

I prefer to take two camera bodies with me on my shoots: the Fujifilm X-T3 and X-T2.

You can pretty much substitute any of the excellent X-Series lineups into your urban portrait kit, from the X-T series I use to the X-Pro line and the X-E line. I’ve even shot urban portraits with the X100 line of fixed-lens compact cameras.

If you only have one camera body, that is workable – you just need to be careful if you plan on changing lenses in urban environments to minimize the possibility of dust ending up on your sensor. The last thing you want on your mind during a shoot is the feeling of dread that you just let a whole lot of dust bunnies inside your camera.

Lenses for urban portraits

The Fujifilm X-Series boasts a stunning range of superb lenses, with more being added every year. Fujifilm regularly updates a lens road map to let photographers know what new additions are coming. Portrait shooters have many fast primes available to them, as well as weather-resistant primes and a fantastic range of zoom lenses.

When choosing a lens for a shoot, I consider the following things:

Focal length

How flattering is this focal length for portrait photography? The images should flatter your client or model and make them look amazing.

Working distance

What’s the practical working distance of your lens? Ideally, for urban portraits, it’s good to have a lens choice that flatters your client for portraits, but without you being too far away. For me, this rules out some options such as the Fujinon XF 90mm F2 R LM WR lens.

Maximum aperture

The maximum aperture of the lens determines how wide it can open. The smaller the number, the ‘faster’ the lens is, allowing you to take images at high shutter speeds in lower light. ‘Slower’ lenses will not be able to shoot at the same shutter speeds unless you crank up the ISO, which can affect image quality.

During the middle of the day, this may not be important, but with less light after the sun goes down, fast lenses are important for sharp images and to keep the ISO lower. The X-series lineup has a range of very fast prime lenses with many maximum apertures at F1.4 and even F1.2.

Weather resistance

If planning a shoot in the rain or snow, a weather-resistant lens and body are a must. This is generally something I don’t need to think about – if it does start raining during a shoot, I usually move to an undercover location. Usually, clients don’t want their hair, makeup, and outfits ruined by a downpour.

Listed below are my choices for urban portrait lenses.

Fujinon XF 35mm F1.4 R

I love this lens – there is real magic to it. It’s my number one choice for urban portraits. The XF 35mm F1.4 is the closest Fujifilm has to the full-frame equivalent angle of view of 50mm – a classic focal length used by photographers for decades.

One of the three original lenses in the X-Series lineup, it has a fast maximum aperture of F1.4, making it perfect for images with a shallow depth of field and night shooting.

Featuring stunning optics and pleasing bokeh, this lens gives you a relatively short working distance for portraits. Best of all, it’s a lot cheaper than most of the other lenses in this guide.

Fujinon XF 16mm F1.4 R WR

The next choice on my list is arguably one of the best lenses Fujifilm has ever produced – the stunning Fujinon XF 16mm F1.4 lens.

With a full-frame equivalent of 24mm, you may think this is an odd choice for a portrait session, but it’s a perfect lens for wide-angle environmental shots. With a minimum focus distance of just 15cm, this lens is the perfect option when working in confined spaces.

The excellent build quality of the lens is also matched by its stunning optics. Although any distortion is corrected in-body by the camera, you still need to be careful when shooting with it. Place your model or client towards the center of the frame for the best results.

 

Fujinon XF 56mm F1.2 R

The XF 56mm F1.2 R lens is perhaps the jewel in the crown of the X-Series lineup. Stunning image quality and beautiful bokeh make it a winner in anyone’s book.

This is the lens that all Fujifilm portrait photographers either have in their kit or on their wishlist. With a full-frame equivalent of around 85mm, it is substantially lighter than full-frame equivalent lenses for DSLRs. It boasts a super-fast F1.2 maximum aperture, is tack sharp, and has the most pleasing bokeh in the X-Series lineup.

For portrait work, this lens is fantastic. Just bear in mind that in urban environments, it’s not always a suitable choice, as you need a greater working distance when using this lens.

 

Fujinon XF 60mm F2.4 R Macro

Perhaps the most underrated lens in the entire Fujifilm line up, the XF 60mm F2.4 R Macro, was another of the original three lenses released for the system. It had a reputation for being slow to focus, but improvements to the firmware for this lens have made a big difference. I have no hesitation in using it on shoots.

Although it has the word macro in its name, the lens can only shoot at a 1:2 magnification ratio. (Generally, a 1:1 magnification ratio is regarded as true macro.) With a maximum aperture of F2.4, it’s not as fast as other lenses in this article, but the lens still provides excellent image quality and has a very good bang for your buck.

 

 

Fujinon XF 23mm F1.4 R

The Fujinon XF 23mm F1.4 R is another lens often mentioned as the best in the X-Series lineup. With the 1.5 crop factor, it’s Fujifilm’s closest lens to the traditional full-frame 35mm angle of view. This angle of view makes it perhaps the most versatile lens in the lineup for any given range of shooting scenarios – a big plus.

Another fast lens with a maximum aperture of F1.4, the lens is optically stunning and produces sharp images and beautiful bokeh.

Although I love this lens, I often leave it at home and take along the XF 16mm 1.4 and the XF 35mm 1.4 instead. However, it still deserves a place in this guide as it’s an excellent choice for urban portrait shoots.

 

Conclusion

The Fujifilm X-Series lineup is ideal for shooting urban portraits. The range features a range of compact, feature-packed camera bodies, along with optically stunning fast prime lenses.

Although you could invest some serious money in this system, there are many excellent value-for-money options, including the X-E line of camera bodies, as well as the X-T30 and the X-T20. In terms of lens choices, two of the original X-Series lineup – the XF 35mm F1.4 and XF 60mm F2.4 lenses – represent excellent value for money, blowing the competitor’s budget lenses out of the water in terms of quality.

If you have a bigger budget, also consider the X-T3, the new X-Pro 3, and the excellent XF 16mm F1.4, XF 23 1.4, and XF 56mm 1.2 lenses.

I’ve been using the system for four years and love the images the system produces straight out of the camera, thanks to the magic of Fujifilm’s JPG film simulations. The beautiful rendering of colors makes post-processing work a breeze.

What Fujifilm X-Series camera bodies and lenses do you use for urban portrait shoots? Let us know in the comments below.

 

 

The post Best Fujifilm X-Series Kit for Urban Portraits appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Matt Murray.

The M11 Pro from FiiO looks like an upscale and elegant Android phone. The sound is exceptional.

I don’t know how I stumbled upon this Fireproof Document Bag, but here I am and I am impressed. It’s super good looking and protects your most important documents from water and fire damage.

Here are five of the best cities to visit to explore Switzerland’s Italian spirit.

It’s not easy to juggle the demands of home, family and work under normal circumstances. During the holiday season, we often take on additional responsibilities that stretch us even further—physically, mentally, and financially. Here are 5 signs that you need to take a mental health day.

Spending $50 for a giraffe costume doesn’t exactly make financial sense (come on, though… sometimes it’s worth it).

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to strange spending. Here are some of the bizarre buys we stumbled across this week:

• Macallan Fine and Rare 60-Year-Old 1926, $1.9m: A rare bottle of this hoity-toity hooch recently sold for $1.9m, outpouring previous records to become the most expensive spirit ever sold at auction.
• Kurt Cobain’s dirty cardigan, $334k: A cigarette-burned sweater worn by the Nirvana frontman during his MTV “Unplugged” performance went for top dollar in a recent sale.
• A law degree that doesn’t let you practice law, $35.6k: Some online schools offer an Executive Juris Doctor (EJD) degree. But, as BuzzFeed reports, recipients can’t become attorneys. The only thing worse than student loans? Student loans for fake degrees.
• Christie’s “Princie” diamond, $39.3m: A massive, 34.65 carat pink diamond called “the Princie” recently sold for $39.3m to a member of the Qatari royal family — despite ongoing controversy about whether the diamond was stolen.

The post This week’s weirdest ways to spend money appeared first on The Hustle.

Writing your first novel can be more daunting in life than actually putting pen to paper or finger to keyboard. The untouched page is a frank sign of how much work there is to do.

In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott explains the writer’s dilemma:

You are desperate to communicate, to edify and entertain…to make real or imagined events come alive. But you cannot will this to happen. It is a matter of persistence and faith and hard work. So you might as well just go ahead and get started.

Yet getting started is easier once you’ve done some initial prep work on your story; its structure, characters, and how on earth you’re going to get this thing out of your head.

That’s where these free novel-writing templates and worksheets prove handy.

1. Story Premise Worksheet

This worksheet from Evernote is a simple way to outline the main characters, plot themes, events, and conflicts within your story. By teasing them out of your mind and onto a worksheet like this, you’ll be able to plot the broad story arc.

Remember to keep your descriptions specific and concise. This isn’t meant to be an entire plot description.

If you’re an Evernote fan, there are plenty of other Evernote templates you can use. But if you don’t use Evernote, this worksheet can easily be replicated in other programs, or on a sheet of paper.

2. Character Basic Info Worksheet

This straightforward worksheet from The Novel Factory helps you to pad out your main characters. You’ll find yourself adding to, and referring back to this info, time and again as your character develops.

If you want to flesh out your characters in more detail, you could download the accompanying Character Development Worksheet and Character Voice Worksheet.

3. The One Page Novel Plot Spreadsheet

If you’re looking for a more linear approach to plan your novel, this spreadsheet from EA Deverell is especially useful. This customizable resource allows you to break down and describe each of your scenes so that you have a concrete plot before you start writing.

To start using this spreadsheet, open it up, click File then Make a Copy.

4. Freytag Novel Planning Worksheet

The Freytag method of planning out your novel sits somewhere between vague and extremely detailed. If that sounds like the approach you’d like to take, complete this worksheet from Duolit.

The model covers all essentials, without going overboard on planning. From the introduction of characters, through to rising action, and to the final resolution of your story.

5. Setting Worksheet

This PDF from The Writers Craft will help you to flesh out important scenes before writing them out in your first draft.

With this worksheet, you’ll paint a detailed picture of an individual scene from your main character’s viewpoints. You’ll explore the sights, sounds, and smells of the situation to develop a vivid idea of what it is that you need to portray.

6. At a Glance Outline

Writer’s Digest has a number of useful writing worksheets aimed at helping writers pen the first draft in 30 days. One of the most useful of these templates is the At-a-Glance Outline. This worksheet helps you to fill in any gaps and plot holes in your story before you come across them in the middle of your draft.

Working your way through this worksheet may be difficult at first, but when it comes to writing your novel, it’ll make things a whole lot easier.

7. Choose Your Perspective Flowchart

This simple flowchart from Duolit will help you to figure out what perspective and tense you’ll be writing in. This is an often overlooked part of writing a novel, so having this pinned down early on will give you a good advantage.

8. Chapter and Scene Breakdown

Another template from Evernote, this chapter and scene breakdown can easily be replicated in whichever program you prefer to use. Once you’ve planned out your novel in more detail, quickly creating a breakdown like this is useful for easy reference.

This will save you time searching through your notes when you’re in the writing “flow”.

9. Climax Sketch

Another great worksheet from Writer’s Digest is their Climax Sketch PDF. This is where you will plan out the climax of your novel, “the point where the protagonist faces the conflict directly, with his goal on the line”.

It’s important you get this part of your story right, so spend some time on this to make it compelling.

10. Infographic: 10 Ways to End Your Novel

Technically, it’s not a template or a worksheet, but given that figuring out how to end your novel will be one of the biggest challenges you face, this infographic is extremely valuable.

By knowing about the different ways in which you can draw your story to a close, you may well be able to improve your writing and introduce more interesting plot twists and character development than you might have otherwise.

11. Scrivener Story Structure Template

There are plenty of programs for creative writers, but Scrivener is arguably one of the best. Case in point: this seriously detailed Scrivener template for outlining and structuring your novel covers everything you could imagine.

From character arcs, premises, abbreviated outlines, and character details, to props, areas for worldbuilding, planning out a series, and more.

If you’re using Scrivener (30-day free trial available) to write your novel, this free template is certainly worth checking out.

Other Scrivener templates you might want to try are:

• The NaNoWriMo Novel Writing Template
• The Seven-Point Story Structure Template
• Ray Daniel Novel Template

12. Microsoft Word Novel Templates

These five free Microsoft Word book templates from DIY Book Formats (email registration required) are of high quality. And what’s more, they’ll save you tons of time wrestling with document formatting when you could be writing.

Each template includes paragraph and header styling, a cover page, footers, and page numbers, and comes in PDF, DOC, DOCX, and INDD (InDesign) filetypes.

For Google Docs Users: The DOC and DOCX files included in this collection can also be uploaded and used on Google Docs. You may have to slightly tweak line spacing, etc. but most of the formatting is retained.

Start Writing

By the time you’ve worked through a few of the worksheets included in this article, you’ll be in a much better position to finally put pen to paper and become the writer you always wanted to be.

And who knows? After a few rounds of edits, you may even be ready to finally publish your ebook, and get your story printed so you can enjoy the pride that comes with having a physical copy of your work in hand.

Read the full article: How to Plot and Write a Novel With 12 Free Templates & Worksheets

Having problems updating your iPhone or iPad to the latest version of iOS or iPadOS? There are a few reasons why you could be facing these issues. Don’t be disheartened, though—there’s almost certainly a solution to the problem.

Let’s look at some fixes that will help you get the latest software running on your device properly. Here’s how to fix your iPhone or iPad when it won’t let you update iOS or iPadOS.

Preliminary Tips to Fix iPhone Update Issues

Before you dive into advanced troubleshooting, it’s a good idea to check a few basics first. Don’t forget to run through these simple troubleshooting steps when your iPhone won’t update.

1. Charge Your iPhone or iPad

Your device won’t let you upgrade if you don’t have enough battery power. This is to prevent your device from turning off in the middle of an update, which can cause catastrophic damage to your phone.

Make sure you plug in your device and have plenty of charge before updating. It’s a good idea to leave it on the charger while the process runs, too.

2. Make Sure You’re Eligible to Update

Unfortunately, Apple eventually drops support for older devices, so not all iPhone and iPad models can update to the latest iOS iteration. To make sure your device can get the latest release of Apple’s mobile operating system, scroll down to the bottom of Apple’s iOS info page or iPadOS info page and look for your model.

3. Give It Some Time

When you try to update to the latest version of iOS as soon as it comes out, you might run into trouble. Apple’s servers go under heavy load when thousands of people are trying to update at once.

If you receive an error when trying to update to the latest version of iOS, try waiting for a while. You might have better luck later when the update servers aren’t under such a strain.

4. Force-Restart Your Device

A one-off bug can prevent you from updating your iPhone. Restarting your phone will refresh its processes and hopefully clear up any temporary glitches. Follow our guide to restarting your iPhone to learn the steps for your specific device.

Once you’ve done this successfully, you’ll see your screen turn black. Afterwards, an Apple logo will appear, and you’ll be greeted by your lock screen. Your device is now fully refreshed, so you can go ahead and try to update again.

5. Free Up Space

A lack of device storage a common culprit for a faulty update process. Luckily, modern versions of iOS help you free up space easily. Here’s how:

1. Open Settings.
2. Scroll down and tap General.
3. Tap iPhone Storage.

In this menu, you’ll see how much storage you have. Depending on what’s taking up space, your phone will provides a few recommendations, including:

• Offload Unused Apps
• Review Large Attachments
• iCloud Photos
• Auto-Delete Old Conversations

Offload Unused Apps deletes any apps that you rarely use. This won’t delete any of your personal data, though; only the app data itself will be deleted.

Review Large Attachments lets you see the largest photos and videos inside of Messages so you can delete them. This is often an easy way to gain a big chunk of storage, to give your iPhone a bit more room for the update.

iCloud Photos allows you to back up all your photos to iCloud. After doing this, you’re free to delete as many images as you want from your device. However, if you decide to do this, you’ll only be able to access your photos via an internet connection later on.

Auto-Delete Old Conversations has your phone clear out messages and attachments that were sent years ago in order to save space.

Once you’ve freed up some space, try the update again. Follow our ways to free up space on your iPhone if you need to clear more.

6. Force Update via iTunes

While most people are used to updating iOS right on their device nowadays, you can still run the update through your computer.

On Windows or macOS Mojave and earlier, you can update your iPhone through iTunes by following these steps:

1. On Windows, download iTunes for Windows if you don’t have it already.
2. Connect your iPhone or iPad to your computer with its charging cable.
3. Open iTunes.
4. Sync your iOS device.
5. Click Check for update.
6. Click Download.
7. Once the download is finished, select Update.

Since Apple retired iTunes in macOS Catalina, you’ll need to do this through Finder instead. Connect your device to your Mac, open Finder, and click the device name on the left sidebar. This will bring you to a panel similar to the old iTunes interface, where you can follow the steps above.

After doing this, the update will install onto your device. If you have trouble, see what to do when your iPhone won’t connect to your computer.

7. Reset Your Wi-Fi Settings

If you can’t update through iTunes either, the next step is to take a look at your Wi-Fi connection. A slow or unreliable Wi-Fi connection means you may not be able to update properly.

Make sure you’re connected to a strong Wi-Fi network when you try to update. It’s worth restarting your router if you haven’t done so in a while. You might also try connecting to another network and seeing if you have the same issue there.

If you can’t update on any Wi-Fi network, you can reset your device’s network settings to start fresh. Note that this will clear out all network preferences you’ve saved, so you’ll need to reconnect to all previously saved Wi-Fi networks again. This will also reset any VPN configurations you use.

To reset network settings on your iPhone or iPad:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap on General.
3. Scroll down to Reset.
4. Select Reset network settings.
5. Enter your passcode and confirm you want to do this.

8. Factory Reset Your Device

If none of the above has fixed your problem, you should consider completely wiping your device. In the Reset menu mentioned above, you can either reset all settings on your device, or perform a factory reset to erase everything.

Resetting your settings probably won’t fix an update issue, but it’s worth a try if nothing else has worked:

1. Launch Settings.
2. Open General.
3. Tap Reset.
4. Select Reset all settings.
5. Confirm with your passcode.

All your settings are now reset. Try to update again. If it works, you’ll need to put all your settings (including app preferences, display options, and similar) back as they were.

Failing that, you can go the more extreme route and reset your device to factory defaults. Keep in mind this will erase all the data on your iPhone or iPad. Make sure you’ve backed up your iPhone before proceeding so you don’t lose any information.

Here’s how to factory reset your device:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap General.
3. Tap Reset.
4. Select Erase All Content and Settings.
5. Confirm with your passcode.

Your device will now revert back to its factory state. Because everything is fresh again you’ll hopefully be able to update without issue. You can restore your iPhone backup when you set up your phone after the reset.

iPhone Updating Troubles: Fixed!

It’s frustrating when your phone won’t let you update. Hopefully, one of these fixes solved your problem and you can now enjoy the latest version of iOS.

Speaking of which, after you’re finished updating, check out the best features you should try in iOS 13.

Read the full article: Can’t Update Your iPhone or iPad? 8 Ways to Fix It

Portrait photographer Miguel Quiles has put together an incredibly useful video that reveals the contents of his personal ‘Mig’Gyver Kit: a set of 21 items that could save your butt during your next portrait session.

We have to admit, when Quiles first sent the video in, we half-expected your standard “don’t forget extra batteries” tips that we’ve seen a thousand times before. What we got instead was a list of random items that could legitimately save your photo shoot… or at least save you hours of time fixing things in post.

We won’t give away the farm, but here are just a few of the handy items Quiles includes in his kit:

• A Leatherman multi-tool
• A travel-size lint roller
• Eye drops
• Safety pins
• A personal groomer
• Chapstick
• Floss picks
• And lots more

It’s a genuinely useful kit that Quiles tells us he compiled over the course of “8 years and thousands of photo shoots where I needed some of the items and didn’t have them handy.”

Check out the video up top to see the full list of 21 items, and then feel free to drop your own “secret weapon” into the comments. These items are primarily for portrait photographers, so we’re sure the landscapers, macro photographers, product shooters, etc. have their own specialized, assortment.

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Image credits: Photo by Miguel Quiles and used with permission.

Ever heard of O.F.C Vintage bourbons? Didn't think so.

It was 2013, and botanist Seana Walsh had a pollen problem. She was working at the National Tropical Botanical Garden on Kaua’i, trying to breed a severely endangered Hawaiian plant. Brighamia insignis is known as the ‘ōlulu in Hawaiian; in English, it’s jokingly called “cabbage on a stick.” But when Walsh tried to collect pollen from the staminal columns of different flowers in the garden, almost nothing came off. The little pollen Walsh did collect turned out to have extremely low viability—similar to low sperm count in animals. For the ‘ōlulu, this meant low odds of the plants successfully reproducing.

The urgency of Walsh’s work came from an alarming fact: Only one ‘ōlulu plant was known to exist in the wild, hanging from its preferred cliffside habitat on Kaua’i’s Nā Pali coast. Walsh had never seen that particular individual, but she’d visited other plants in botanical gardens across the Hawaiian Islands. Now, she was studying the plant’s breeding strategy (likely accomplished with help from moths in the wild) and attempting to coax the reproductive process along by hand.

Walsh wasn’t sure what had caused the paltry pollen harvest. Maybe it was the result of environmental differences between the botanical garden and the natural habitat—it might be hotter or drier, for example, or lacking certain nutrients in the soil. Or maybe there was some Hapsburg effect happening: the plants had experienced too much inbreeding.

But what if Walsh could play matchmaker for Brighamia insignis plants with drastically different genes? Botanical gardens and private greenhouses around the world have cultivated thousands of them and other plants, in part to study and preserve species that are rare, or potentially useful. Maybe she could mix and match distinct individuals from the same species, creating a more genetically robust population of plants, and then return those healthy cabbages to the wild.

Walsh and colleagues envision what they call a plant studbook. The idea came from a tool for captive breeding in zoos: population management software, or PMX, which works to track the lineage of different species. Say you’ve got Siberian tigers in a dozen zoos around the world, but don’t know which individuals would be best suited as mates. If the species is being tracked by the software, it’s relatively easy to answer that question. (The logistics of bringing the new couple together may be a lot more complicated.)

Often, when plants are as rare as the ‘ōlulu, they’ll be preserved in seed banks such as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. But only 80 percent of plant species are amenable to the seed banking technique. The other 20 percent don’t tolerate freezing, fail to produce enough seeds, or have some other quality that makes them less than ideal candidates for storage. In these circumstances, having a studbook available for breeding plants would be a huge advantage. “It’s a piece of the puzzle that doesn’t yet exist for botanic gardens,” says Kayri Havens, a plant scientist at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Havens and a handful of others have teamed up with Walsh to test the idea out on three plants other than the ‘ōlulu: a cycad endemic to the Bahamas called Zamia lucayana, currently managed by the Montgomery Botanical Center in Florida; the Quercus oglethorpensis tree, threatened by chestnut blight; and Amorphophallus titanum, the famously smelly and seldom-blooming “corpse flower.” The researchers are currently working to document the lineage of these plants in garden collections around the world, either by genetic sequencing or based on their collection history. “There are as many as 50,000 species that might benefit from this approach,” Havens says.

We live in an age of extinctions, and plant species are going extinct even more frequently than animals. In 2010, 844 plant taxa were found to be extinct in the wild. Recent research found that since 1900, an average of eight plants have gone extinct per year. Botanic gardens are in a unique position as stewards of the last living individuals of numerous species. “We know these species will go extinct if we don’t do something, because we’re the last place they’re at,” says Andrea Kramer, another botanist at the Chicago Botanic Garden who’s involved in the project.

To understand the ancestry of Brighamia insignis, Walsh and molecular ecologist Jeremie Fant looked at the genetics of the plant to see how much diversity was left in garden populations, and identified three genetic clusters for the plant. This is too expensive a strategy to be used on every species, so for now the idea is to track mother populations, which produce the seeds or cuttings that grow into new plants.

But it’s a tricky process. Plant reproduction is significantly more complicated than most animal reproduction: Some plants reproduce asexually, some are pollinated randomly by the wind, some rely on specific birds or insects to act as pollinators (in the case of botanic gardens, humans fill in). The team thinks its technique could revolutionize how botanical gardens manage their collections. Even if the plants can never be returned to the wild, keeping them healthy will still mean they won’t go completely extinct.

Christine Edwards, a conservation geneticist at the Missouri Botanical Garden who is not affiliated with the project, thinks the concept holds great promise. “This type of software may allow botanical gardens to maintain fewer individuals while preserving a large proportion of the genetic diversity of a species,” Edwards writes in an email. “This may allow them to have additional capacity to conserve a greater diversity of endangered plant species.”

There are even bigger plans afoot for the ‘ōlulu. If the researchers can produce more robust plants, the goal is to get them planted back in the wild by 2023 or 2024. Right now, researchers aren’t sure there are any wild plants left—drone surveys are currently ongoing to see if the lone Kaua’i plant is still there. Any specimens that they plant in the wild will still have to contend with all the things that pushed them to the edge of extinction: hurricanes, ravenous goats, competition from invasive plants. But at least they’ll be genetically hardy.

Walsh is cautiously optimistic that the ‘ōlulu could come back from the brink. “If you asked me if I thought it was going to be possible to restore Brighamia insignis to the wild before I knew about these possibilities, I probably would’ve said no,” Walsh says. “But now I’m excited to see what comes out of all this.”

* Correction: This caption previously identified the plant as the "only known wild specimen of the ‘ōlulu." It was one of the last wild specimens.

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A cast-iron griddle is the ideal cooking surface for smash burgers. (Colin Kearns/)

At our annual deer camp in the Adirondacks, we haven't had the best luck with filling our tags (that's, um, putting it lightly), but we sure do eat well. Breakfast burritos and pancakes for breakfast. Peanut butter, bacon, and honey wraps for an in-the-woods lunch. And a rotating dinner menu of feasts that usually showcase game meat—mule deer spiedies, venison Bolognese, cassoulet, and, when it's my night to cook, venison smash burgers.

I have the inimitable Guy Fieri to thank for this recipe. Years ago, for an episode of "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives," he paid a visit to White Manna Hamburgers, a Jersey institution, and the short-order cooks there gave a clinic in the art of the smash burger. As soon as I saw those perfect burgers come off the flat-top, I knew that’s how I’d cook my venison burgers from then on. Here’s how it’s done.

Ingredients

• <p>2 pounds ground venison (80 percent venison, 20 beef fat), portioned into ¼-pound patties.</p>
• <p>Vegetable oil</p>
• <p>White onion, thinly sliced</p>
• <p>American cheese</p>
• <p>Potato buns</p>
• <p>Salt and pepper, to taste</p>

Directions

1. <p>Get the griddle ripping hot, then add some oil to the cooking surface.</p>
2. <p>Place the patties on the griddle, season generously with salt and pepper, then smash them thin with a spatula. Add a small pile of the onions on top of each patty, then give them another smash so the onions stick to the patties. Cook for about 2 to 2 ½ minutes.</p>
3. <p>Flip the burgers, so they continue to cook onion-side down. Top each patty with a slice of cheese, then add the buns. The bottom bun goes on top of the cheese, cut-side down, and the top bun rests on the on the bottom bun (see photo above), also cut-side down. This steams the buns while the burgers finish cooking. Let the burgers cook for about 1 to 1 ½ minutes.</p>
4. <p>Lift each burger from the griddle with the spatula, then remove the top bun and place it, cut-side up, under the spatula, temporarily sandwiching the spatula and patty between both buns. Gently squeeze the top and bottom buns with one hand and slide the spatula out with the other. Pass the burger off to hunting buddy, and repeat with the rest. Each hunter gets two burgers.</p>

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