Shonzilla, a pattern-seeking animal

Fri May 27

Nature has it way of ruthlessly unleashing cuteness power on us.

How? OMG, just watch how this domesticated (?) slow loris is attached to his cocktail umbrella.

NOTE: next time you need to put a smile on, just search for “slow loris umbrella”. ;-)

Yes, there’s so cute and everyone would like to have one but - don’t think about it! All five slow loris species are either in vulnerable or endangered status because either the exotic pet trade and traditional medicine (you don’t want to know what idiot people do with them). What you see online is enough.

Sat Mar 6

What you’re seeing above is a musical installation composed (pun intended) out of electric guitars rigged to distortion effects and birds flying around them and plucking the guitar wires. The author of the installation is Céleste Boursier-Mougenot at it could have been seen in action at Barbican Centre, London.

Now I believe in a theory that Neil Young used a similar technique to make the soundtrack for the seminal Jim Jarmusch acid western movie “Dead man”. Sorry for the abundance of links. If you understand the context, you’ll understand why it’s important. ;-)

[via BarbicanLondon and ideasareawesome]

Thu Jun 18

The fact that nature doesn’t like competition can be easily observed in this video. :-)

In case it’s not obvious, you’re looking at video from the back of an RC-controlled airplane (with eagle-like wings) that is being followed and almost attacked by a real eagle. After a couple of evasive dives, the plane manages to escape the eagle claws when a crow comes to the rescue just before plane finally lands.

Tue Mar 24

The Most Beautiful Waves… Ever

Hopefully these wonderful pictures will make you think and act about the preservation of nature… starting from the source of life on Earth - oceans.

Thanks to Danijela for sending me this one.

[via TreeHugger]

Mon Mar 2

This is one of the most bizarre creatures of nature I’ve ever seen. It is called Macropinna microstoma and it has an amazing feature - a transparent head! Yes, you can see through its head, and not only you - the fish itself uses this gift of nature to look through its own head to watch for prey directly above its head using its binocular-like eyes.

You need to look at other pictures.

This fish has been first documented in 1939 and it hasn’t been photographed since 2004. Why? The reason is simple - it lives in depths below 600m. We’ll need to wait for advanced SCUBA diving technology similar to one portrayed in The Abyss to look into the eyes and through the head of this bugger.

[via Discovery and MBARI]

Wed Feb 4

Amazing Chemicals Invented by Nature, Rebuilt in Lab

Read about some of the wonders that evolutionary process has created. Learn about what wonderful effects those naturally-occurring chemicals have on our body and mind. Find out more about some of the research that has managed to reproduce those chemicals in labs.

Thanks to Fedja for letting me know about this.

Tue Nov 25

Chicken Head Tracking

The nature sometimes can be funny and pretty darn advanced. Many digital video cameras would like to have such a feature.

[via destinws2]

Sat Nov 22

Green Sea Turtles in the waters of Bora Bora, Tahiti are seen in this undated photograph from an exhibit titled “Irreplaceable: Wildlife in a Warming World,” recently shown at the Peerless building in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. The exhibit showcased animals most threatened by global warming, such as green sea turtles. The gender of sea turtle eggs are determined by temperature, which means global warming would upset the natural gender balance. (Michele Westmorland)

Be amazed with this collection of wonderful animal pictures taken in captivity and wilderness, celebrating the World Animal Day (October 4 each year).

Loving the sea turtles. When you start planning your next diving trip, consider places with chances of encountering turtles. They’re so cool and lovely.

[via boston.com]

Thu Oct 23

Balancing Economy, Equity, and Ecology Through Design

Watch this great lecture about a sustainable mind set, design frameworks and processes that can help us create a self-sustainable, nature- and user-friendly environment.

This one’s for Igor but I think everyone will enjoy this!

Tue Oct 21

Look at this Sistine Chapel of crystals. Truly amazing!

Thanks Gojko for the tip.

[via Cave of Crystal Giants — National Geographic Magazine]