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The Terrifying Truth About Jellyfish
They are a dash of colour on the high seas, bringing both beauty and death wherever they go. Largely ignored by science for decades these poorly-understood creatures have recently been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Scientists have begun asking questions about jellyfish, and the answers may just undermine what we think we know about the origins of diversity on earth...
Continue reading...12. June 2009
Vegetables That Look Suspiciously Animal
The biodiversity on this planet is just astounding. Even with loss of habitat and the threat to flora and fauna, there is still so much to uncover and appreciate. Here we've gathered just a few interesting specimens of plants and fungi for you to discover. Some are more common while others are super strange, and to make things even more interesting for you, they all resemble animals and human body parts. Enjoy!
Continue reading...11. June 2009
Snails Trailing Beneath the Skin of the Water
Snails are creatures that provoke quite extreme reactions in humans: often either disgust or culinary desires. But these slimy creatures actually deserve our respect as they can do what humans will never achieve – walk on water! And we’re talking its liquid form here, not ice. Let’s how these amazing creatures manage such a feat.
Continue reading...11. June 2009
The Soliloquy of the Blue Whale
My species is the largest that ever lived, with one of the longest life spans on record – 150 years or more... and you nearly killed us all! That’s right, I’m a giant blue whale, over 100’ long, and if you had a scale that could handle me, I’d weigh about 170 metric tons. Nothing that big that ever lived on land can match this.
Continue reading...10. June 2009
Release the Geese!
Far from being dumb, geese are actually quite smart and funny animals. What they lack in grace, they make up for in fervour, especially when it comes to putting someone in their place. But see for yourself as we take a wander among the great and the good of these wonderful birds. We promise it won’t be a wild goose chase.
Continue reading...2. June 2009
Could Insects Feasibly Evolve To Be Monsters?
Insects make perfect movie monsters. There’s something about the mix of cruel claws, impenetrable exoskeletons and bulging compound eyes that has continued to chill audiences for decades. It’s easy to conclude that mankind’s lot would be a pretty poor one if insects were much bigger than they are. But on a scientific level, how plausible are they?
Continue reading...29. May 2009
10 Amazingly Beautiful Cactus Flowers
How anything so prickly and less inviting as a cactus can produce something as delicate and beautiful as a cactus flower seems a miracle. But then again, don't we all hide our most sensitive qualities under a prickly exterior sometimes?
Continue reading...27. May 2009
Where Majestic and Deadly Rays Glide Beneath the Waves
This image featuring a whale shark, a school of stingrays and another school of unidentified yellow fish almost appears more like a painting than a photo, so fortuitously full of life does it seem. Yet for all the majesty and beauty of the other creatures in this shot, it is the rays that take centre stage. Gliding through the depths, wing-like pectoral fins outspread as they ride the ocean currents, rays are the free birds of the blue, swimming with a grace that is difficult to fathom.
Continue reading...12. May 2009
Mankind’s First Island Voyages
Would you have dared to cross the oceans in a primitive boat, long before navigational routes were charted, to an unknown destiny? Find out more about the earliest sea voyages in history. Homo erectus rafting to undiscovered islands barely visible on the horizon is more than a courageous and dangerous sea voyage. It is a fascinating journey into the evolution of cooperative social behavior and the cognitive capacities of the human mind.
Continue reading...6. May 2009
Homo Erectus Crosses The Open Ocean
Imagine a group of Homo erectus, the earliest members of our family genus, living near a coastline on an Indonesia island and well aware of a lush island that is visible only a few miles offshore. One day while on the coast, a herd of elephants emerges from the nearby forest and crosses the beach. They enter the ocean and swim successfully to the offshore island. Could this be the experience that triggers a creative process in our ancestors who are watching nearby?
Continue reading...
16. June 2009
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