Environmental Graffiti

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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.

11. June 2009

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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.

10. June 2009

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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.

2. June 2009

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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?

29. May 2009

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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?

27. May 2009

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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.

12. May 2009

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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.

6. May 2009

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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?

20. April 2009

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Face to Face with an Ant Seeing Red

This incredible microscopic image makes you glad you're five or six feet tall, not five or six inches. If we were that small, of course we wouldn't stand much of a chance against these formidable insects, which may form up to a quarter of the mass of living creatures in a given ecosystem. But even though you wouldn't want to get bitten by an even vaguely oversized ant's mandibles, it's strange how like ants we are.

17. April 2009

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The Metamorphosis of Butterflies

There are few insects that fascinate us like butterflies: In their filigree moth or butterfly stage, they are often breathtakingly beautiful. As caterpillars, they can be cute, but also cause devastation if in huge numbers. Humans, too, have a secret desire to metamorphose…