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 bizarre little beetle is a species of pill bug from the Monteverde cloud forest of Costa Rica. Just 5 mm long, it can shrink itself even smaller when threatened by curling itself up into a perfect ball.
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.
It's awe inspiring the fact that 100 years ago we were just beginning to experiment with flight. Now we are looking at quantum computers, gene therapy, a colony on Mars, and so much more. Life has been going on for three billion years. It's almost impossible to describe how rapid the recent change in technology has been. The future will be one hell of a sight if we make it that far.
