Male king penguins can store food in their stomachs for three weeks to ensure a supply of food for their chicks.

A pigeon can accelerate from a standstill to 60 mph in less than two seconds - that’s faster than a Ferrari

To simulate life on Mars, a six-person crew will live in a dome in the middle of the desert—with almost no connection to the outside world—for eight straight months.

Phillipsia subpurpurea is a species of fungus in the family Sarcoscyphaceae. It is found in Australia where it grows as a saprophyte on wood. It's cup-shaped fruit bodies lack stipes and have purplish interior surfaces.

It shattered the eardrums of sailors over 50 kilometres away, sent shock waves around the world several times over, and could be heard by 50 geological locations covering over 10% of the globe. This was the loudest sound in recorded history occurred in 1883. The sound was caused by a record-breaking volcanic eruption that sent smoke up almost 80 kilometres into the air as ash fell into the ocean some 20 kilometres away. Burning hot debris was shot from the mouth of Krakatoa's volcano at speeds of up to 2,575 kilometres per hour, which is more than double the speed of sound.

The video below gives you an idea of what an erupting volcano sounds like, but of course, nothing close to what was described above!

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This is a full-disk image of Mars, showing nearly an entire hemisphere of the Red Planet. It was captured this week by India's Mars Orbiter Mission and shows a storm brewing in the north (around the 11 o'clock position).

Feeling stressed or tired? Try listening to the sounds of nature to improve your mood. A new study suggests that nature sounds enhance positive mood after a negative experience.

Read the study here: http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/eco.2014.0028