Category: Nature
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The mushroom-shaped Kannesteinen Rock sculpted by the sea
Above the coast near Måløy, Norway exists one of the most elegant rocks you’ll ever see. Known as the Kannesteinen Rock, the mushroom-shaped rock took thousands of years to be sculpted by the sea. Strong westerly winds, ice, and strong waves shaped this natural wonder over time. As the waves crashed on the rock, they…
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The face-like underside of a sawfish
You may have seen a sawfish from up above or from the side but have you ever seen one from below? The underside of a sawfish houses their nostrils and gills. But what they look like up close is a person’s face in the midst of making some judgment. Just look at this thing: Take…
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How the Mary River Turtle breathes for 72 hours underwater
The Mary River Turtle is a remarkable creature for two main reasons. One, it possesses specialized glands on its bottom that allow it to stay underwater for 72 hours—yes, it breathes through its genitals. It does this by releasing oxygen bubbles through its cloaca, the hole (aka butt) it excretes waste through. Two, the animal…
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Meet the first flower grown entirely in space, a zinnia flower
“The earth laughs in flowers,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson in Nature and Selected Essays. We, humans, spend our entire lives blistering through space on a giant rock we call Earth with flowers in abundance. It is fascinating to know that we too can pollinate the cosmos. NASA astronaut and American engineer Scott Kelly captured the…
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Watch this octopus change colors as it dreams
New research suggests that octopuses experience ‘quiet’ and ‘active’ sleep states like humans, even undergoing brief dreaming periods. While there’s no evidence to conclude that they dream the way people do, they do light up in different colors when they snooze. That’s according to a marine biologist who captured this octopus snoozing away in a…
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Jimmy Chin joins Masterclass to teach adventure photography
I was compensated for this post. This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Please see the disclosure for more info. Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Jimmy Chin is renowned for his work with National Geographic and other outdoor adventures. His two most recent films…
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Meet the Dracula Parrot, the most metal birds on the planet
Thinking of parrots usually conjures up images of the brightly colored blue, red, and green creatures. But with the shape of a parrot and the dark beak of a vulture, Pesquet’s parrot, commonly known as the Dracula parrot, is one of the more unique-looking parrot species. Pesquet’s parrot can produce sounds, but unlike African Grey…
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The unique Queensland Bottle Tree
The Queensland Bottle Tree, or narrow-leaved bottle tree, is native to (you guessed it) Queensland, Australia. The gorgeous tree sports a potbelly of sorts that gives it the look of a bottle. But its swollen trunks of water help the tree withstand temperatures of -17 degrees to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. The bottle tree is also known for…
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The pink-eyed hover goby
The pink-eyed hover goby (Bryaninops natans) is a fish with a see-through body and yellow organs. No bigger than an inch, it’s so transparent you can even see its bones in its body. The pink-eyed goby hovers above the tips of Acropora corals in shallow lagoon reefs of the Indo-Pacific area. Here are few more images of…