|
Subject |
Comments |
Views |
Author |
Date Written |
The bleeding tooth fungus
|
view preview
The bleeding tooth fungus grows in Europe and North America. While young, the fungus looks like it is oozing blood. The red liquid is actually an anticoagulant. It lives on the roots of conifer trees and exchanges nutrients in a mutually beneficial relationship. And, if you're wondering, they are inedible.
|
|
|
1 |
2415 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Colorful trees
|
view preview
These are rainbow eucalyptus trees ( Eucalyptus deglupta) and they hail from the Philippine Islands. The trees get their name from the striking colours observed on their trunks and limbs. Although it may look like someone took a paintbrush to them, these colours are entirely natural. Unlike most trees, the rainbow eucalyptus does not have a thick, cork-like layer of bark on its trunk. The bark is smooth and as it grows it 'exfoliates' layers of spent tissue. This exfoliation technique occurs at different stages and in different zones of the tree. Once a layer is shed, a new fresh green bark is exposed. As this new bark ages, we can see the tissue change colour to dark green followed by a bluish colour, then to purple and pink-orange and then f ...
|
|
|
0 |
4066 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Surviving nuclear war
|
view preview
This Bonsai tree was planted in 1626, and survived the atomic bomb at Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945, 68 years ago today. It was given to the people of the United States as a Bicentennial Gift in 1976.
|
|
|
0 |
3114 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Largest animal that has ever lived
|
view preview
Blue whales are not only the largest animal alive right now, but they are believed to be the largest animal that has ever lived. They are listed as endangered by the IUCN, but a group of researchers hopes to designate 10% of the ocean as protected by 2020. Despite their slow reproduction times, researchers believe this will be enough to help rebound their number
|
|
|
0 |
7027 |
savio |
10 years ago |
A parrot with a wicked hairstyle
|
view preview
This is a Palm Cockatoo, also know as the Goliath Cockatoo. Palms are distinguished by their size, huge beak (second only to the Hyacinth Macaw among psittacines and largest proportionate to size), solid black feather coloration, large open crest, bare red cheeks, and red and black tongue. You have to see their tongues to believe the coloration. It's amazing. Palm Cockatoos are severely threatened. They are CITES Appendix I birds and are protected in Australia. As a testament to their rarity, typical prices in the U.S. for Aterrimus Palms are around $8000 and Goliaths around $14,000. Perhaps contributing to their rarity is the fact that, according to both Low and Forshaw, they lay only one egg per clutch. ...
|
|
|
1 |
5910 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Baby blue eyes
|
view preview
Waardenburg Syndrome is a rare autosomal genetic disorder that has possible bright blue eyes as one of its qualifying criteria, along with possible deafness (common). Actually, the cause of the blue eyes is a form of albinism that may include patches of non-pigmented skin or forehead hair, regardless of ethnicity. There are four types of Waardenburg Syndrome, with a mix of possible characteristics as the determinant. Medical challenges increase with type. The boy in the picture is displaying two major symptoms of type 1; bright blue eyes and dystopia canthorum, a condition where the inner corners of the eyes are set more widely apart, but with normally distanced eyes. ...
|
|
|
3 |
3942 |
savio |
10 years ago |
|
1 |
6001 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Ever seen a potoo?
|
view preview
Potoos are a small New World family of solitary and nocturnal birds. Most are so poorly known they seem more fiction than substance, their gruff or wailing cries ghostly delusions of the dim nocturnal world they inhabit.
|
|
|
2 |
2735 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Commensalism
|
view preview
Sloths have a commensal relationship with several insects. Their thick fur readily traps bacteria and algae, which makes a good home for many beetles. The beetles are able to lay their eggs in a place that is rich in nutrients upon hatching, and the sloths don’t care either way. One sloth was reported to have over 900 beetles living in its fur!
|
|
|
0 |
4605 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Fewest feathers of all birds
|
view preview
Hummingbirds, like this little golden rufous hummingbird, have up to 1,500 feathers, which is the fewest number of feathers of any bird species in the world.
|
|
|
0 |
3225 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Ink poisoning
|
view preview
Varieties of the inky cap mushroom can be around the world. While they are edible, ingesting alcohol while eating the mushrooms increases symptoms of nausea and vomiting, and can even cause a heart attack. After the mushroom has released its spores, the cap begins to liquefy. The thick black liquid that is seen dripping from the edges is how the inky cap got its name.
|
|
|
1 |
4556 |
savio |
10 years ago |
We are the stars, we are the universe
|
view preview
I'd like to share this mind-opening video. Astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson was asked by a reader of TIME magazine, "What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?" This is his answer. By far, one of the best...
|
|
|
0 |
4501 |
ehd123 |
9 years ago |
Floaters
|
view preview
Have you ever chillaxed (chilling and relaxing ) under the sun, cloud watching, and all of a sudden noticed transparent blobs floating around? Did you know what these things were? I know I didn't until I saw this:
|
|
|
2 |
6486 |
ehd123 |
9 years ago |
|
0 |
24634 |
ehd123 |
8 years ago |
|
1 |
12692 |
ehd123 |
8 years ago |