Plants are essential for any ecosystem, being both a food source and habitat for living things. Although plants are stationary, many are dangerous to touch or eat, making you sick or cause a bad reaction. Some of the most poisonous plants are described below:

Abrus Precarious or Rosary Pea (Left)

This plant has beans that contain a deadly poison. Ironically, their seeds are often used in jewelry and rosary making, but are not harmful when touched, only if chewed or scratched. The poison is known to stop protein synthesis, leading to organ failure.

Ricinus Communis or the Castor Bean (Center)

The castor bean plant comes from Africa and its seed is the source of castor oil used all over the world. However, the seeds contain a deadly poison called ...

Opals (shown above) are is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·nH2O); its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%. Because of its amorphous character, it is classed as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms of silica, which are classed as minerals. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl, and basalt. Opal is the national gemstone of Australia.

The internal structure of precious opal makes it diffract light. Depending on the conditions in which it formed, it can take on many colors. The one pictured on the left is called the "Virgin Rainbow" opal, being the finest ...

The Panjin Red Beach lies on the Shuangtaizi River estuary, just outside of Panjin City, China. The river isn’t your typical freshwater river. The water has a high saline content and very high alkaline levels. Typically, this leads to plants being unable to grow in the water or on the shore. However, there is a very special plant that has adapted to the conditions of the river and thrives in this environment.

Suaeda (also known as seablite), is a kind of succulent that only grows in the type of habitat found along the river. Like a lot of plants, the suaeda changes with the seasons. During the spring and summer months, the seablite is a typical green color. In the fall, it turns this deep bright red color as far as the eye can see.

Tourist ve ...

Brain freeze is the name used to describe the sensation you get when you consume something really cold, really fast. The scientific name for this temporary cold-stimulus headache is sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia.

When something extremely cold touches the upper-palate (roof of the mouth), blood vessels in this region dilate to increase blood flow to counter the cold. The homeostatic triggers in your body perceive the cold as a threat to the brain, thinking the brain is in danger from the cold. As the warm blood rushes to your brain, this build-up of blood pressure causes the pain you feel. While brain freezes are not dangerous, they are slightly uncomfortable, so the best way to make it quickly go away is to rub or press your tongue against ...

Bullying is not easy to define, namely because there is no one way to bully. It comes in many forms, from physical playground scuffles to verbal attacks. Even governments have a hard time defining it, often referred to as a repeated behaviour with the intent to hurt someone either physically or emotionally. By this definitions, there are many ape and monkey bullies, too. In fact, any hierarchical society is likely to have bullies in its midst.

An unfortunate monkey at the bottom of the hierarchy is repeatedly attacked and picked upon by those higher up in the group - they are sometimes beaten up every day. Bullying amongst rhesus macaques, for example, seems to release tensions among the higher-ups. Bullying seems to reinforce their bonds, a ...

In an epic battle in northern Queensland, Australia, a 10-foot olive python got the best of a Johnson's crocodile. While this is a very natural event for two monstrous animals battling, both the python and the crocodile are apex predators in their environment, so the snake wouldn't always win in this scenario. Big Johnson's crocs eat little pythons too, though olive snakes are known for being phenomenally powerful, pound for pound, and for feeding on large food items.

The python would take around ten days to digest its meal and become relatively dormant. Over the next three weeks it would take what it could get, but since the caloric needs of this type of snake is pretty low, it could certainly go the rest of the season without a meal.

While ...

The manchineel tree (Hippomane mancinella) has taken the title of world’s most dangerous tree. This evergreen grows up to 15 metres (49 ft) tall, and is native to tropical southern North America and northern South America. It has reddish-greyish bark, small greenish-yellow flowers, and shiny green leaves ranging in size from 5 to 10 cm (2–4 inches) long.

All parts of the tree contain strong toxins, some unidentified. The leaves and fruit of the tree superficially resemble an apple tree, however one bite of the tree’s fruit can cause abdominal pain, vomiting, bleeding, or death due to an acetylcholine inhibitor known as physostigmine found in the fruit. In addition, its milky white sap contains phorbol and other skin irritants, producing s ...