A pair of silver-studded blue butterflies
© Misja Smits/Minden Picture
The butterfly effect. Silver-studded blue butterflies
The butterfly effect is a scientific concept coined 50 years ago today, and it has become a literary and metaphorical term to describe the idea that the smallest change may have massive, worldwide implications. It is often associated with chaos theory. American mathematician and meteorologist Edward Norton Lorenz theorized that the flapping of a butterfly's wings, like those of the silver-studded blue butterflies you see in today's image, could weeks later influence the formation of a tornado.
Related Images
Honey bee on lavender flowers
Common chameleon
Group of giant cuttlefish in Spencer Gulf, off Whyalla, South Australia
Short-eared owl hunting in heavy snow
Bee tending a honeycomb
Tiny gecko on a leaf
Monarch butterflies feeding from wildflowers
Tegallalang terrace farms in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Today on Bing
Borobudur Temple, Java, Indonesia
Dec 29, 2024
Oud-West, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Dec 29, 2023
Mountain goats in the Yukon, Canada
Dec 29, 2021
Old Town of Lucerne, Switzerland
Dec 29, 2020
