This is not an illusion or some kind of sci-fi illustration. It's an actual laser beam, being shot at the eclipsed Moon on the 15 April 2014. The laser's target is the Apollo 15 retroreflector, which was left on the Moon by astronauts in 1971.

This is the Wilson's bird-of-paradise, found exclusively on the tiny islands of Waigeo and Batanta in the Raja Ampat archipelago of West Papua. That turquoise cap isn't made of feathers - it's actually a patch of very brightly coloured bald skin.

Believe it or not, a bird made this. Vogelkop gardener bowerbirds from New Guinea go to extraordinary lengths to build a love nest from interwoven sticks and decorative objects to appear more attractive to a female.

NASA's 'Space Needle' (from the 1950s), or X-15, is the fastest and highest-flying manned aircraft. Decades after its record-breaking flights, this speed machine is inspiring a new generation of space planes.

This bright blue fish, named the blue parrotfish, can be found in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, and spends 80% of its time searching for food.

A team of scientist are working to create an edible water-bottle. Rodrigo González and his team first took a frozen ball of water and dipped it into a calcium chloride solution, which formed a gelatinous layer. Then, the ball soaked in another solution made from brown algae extract, which encapsulated the ice in a second squishy membrane to reinforce the structure. Keeping the water in the algae solution for long periods of time allows the mold to become thicker and stronger.

Behold, the fantastically creepy caterpillar of the pink underwing moth (Phyllodes imperials). When it's threatened, this Australian native rears its upper body segments up and curls its head down towards its 'chest', to create the illusion of a much larger, much toothier, head.

I found this wonderful article online that seems to have been abandoned for some time now (source below), it's called:

Timing of Entry from PDAs to Smart Phones: The Evolution of an Industry

Despite having innovative and sophisticated product designs, most of the early PDA companies failed. This was mainly because the success of PDAs was dependent on several aspects of enabling technology that had not been fully developed at the time a flurry of companies ventured into this sector. The success of PDAs was dependent on the invention of enabling technologies such as handwriting recognition software, modems, and power and memory miniaturization.


Several enabling technologies had no capacity to support PDA manufacture. Handwriting recognition was ...

In a 12-week trial, a new drug for hepatitis C has reportedly cured 191 out of 208 patients.

For more information on viruses, visit: http://www.ppdictionary.com/viruses.htm

Meet Solar Impulse 2, an aircraft that can fly for up to five days straight and will reportedly be able to fly around the world. The plane is an impressive feat of engineering, with wings as wide as a 747, but weighing only a little more than the average car. Tests of the aircraft will begin in a few weeks, with the round-the-world attempt planned for next March.

This is a snub-nosed monkey. They are found in Asia, with a range covering southern China as well as the northern parts of Vietnam and Myanmar. These monkey get their name - you guessed it - from the short stump of a nose on their round face, with nostrils arranged forward. They have relatively multicolored and long fur, particularly at the shoulders and backs. They grow to a length of 51 to 83 cm with a tail of 55 to 97 cm.

Stress affects children too. Children who grow up in stressful situations have shorter telomeres, an early sign of genetic ageing that makes them vulnerable to diseases such as cancer. Telomeres shrink when cells divide, but when they get too short, the cell can’t divide and dies.

After winning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922, Carlsberg gave Niels Bohr a perpetual supply of beer. The brewing company had a pipeline running from the brewery to Bohr’s house, so that he could have fresh beer on tap all the time.

This is what hunting for honey from a 90 metre cliff in Nepal looks like. This tradition has been held by the Gurung people of Nepal for thousands of years, and it's only going to get more dangerous, now that bee populations are dwindling around the world.

The strangest moon in the Solar System is bright yellow. Taken by the Galileo spacecraft, this image shows Jupiter's moon, Io, and its incredibly bright colours derived from sulphur and molten silicate rock. Io is covered in volcanoes that are so active, they effectively turn the whole moon inside out. And some of Io's volcanic lava is so hot, it glows in the dark.

Meet the pollen-gilded bat (Phyllonycteris poeyi), really living up to its name. This species, from eastern Cuba, has specialised fur that grips onto pollen, creating a very handy moveable feast.