The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

nanoochka:

p1013:

teacupballerina:

facts-i-just-made-up:

Hepler’s Mold takes over a car-

Ever leave a window open and get snow in your car? Well, in the tropics they have another problem: Hepler’s mold. The bright fungus naturally eats away at trees but naugahyde (the fake leather in most cars) contains ten times more cumulus oophorus cells than the tree bark from which its made.

And here’s the result. The bright fungus has completely consumed the car’s interior. It may look soft and cushy but you’d find no place in the world less comfortable, as the mold can also grow in human lungs. The spores from this car would kill a passenger within ten minutes. The bright fibers of victims erupt from their mouths in a gruesome spectacle that the natives of these regions call “Elmo’s Death”.

damn bitch truffula trees dont fuck around

Holy shit, I just thought someone had terrible taste in upholstery…

I immediately thought of this:

In 2010, as a side-effect of flooding in Sindh, Pakistan, spiders took refuge in trees, and wrapped them in webs (because it took so long for the water to recede). Photos courtesy of the UK Department for International Development’s flickr.

(via kraken-queen)

sciencesoup:

The Remarkable Freezing Salamander

Found mainly in the Arctic Circle, Russia and Northeast Asia, the Siberian Salamander (Salamandrella keyserlingii) is a unique creature that can survive long periods of time frozen. The adult salamander is able to adapt to temperatures as low as –45 degrees Celsius by replacing the water in its blood and cells with ‘antifreeze’ chemicals, thereby protecting its tissues from damage. Other animals are known to use glucose or glycerol for protection in a similar fashion, but the exact mechanism the Siberian salamandar uses to produce its chemicals is so far unknown—but it’s highly effective. They can survive frozen for years, metres under the permafrost, and then they just casually thaw out and walk off again. Local legends claim that salamanders have revived after being frozen alongside mammoths of the Pleistocene age, but although they’ve been found 4–14 m deep in ice, it’s more likely that they just fell down cracks in more recent years. If we could discover how these creatures manage to produce antifreeze chemicals, the process could have useful applications in food storage, medical supplies, and protection of people who live or explore in the snow.

(Image Credit: 1, 2)

landyscape:

42-21578043 (by Steve Loop)

You say storm, I say RETURN OF THE MUMMY.

(via cross-connect)

cjwho:

Swimming pool with New York skyline, Mumbai

The eye-catching swimming pool in Mumbai, India, has been built to raise awareness about the threat of sea level rises as a result of global warming.

It was constructed by attaching a giant aerial photograph of the New York City skyline to the floor of the pool.

The idea was conceived by advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather, who were commissioned by banking giant HSBC to promote its £50million project tackling climate change.

The Ogilvy team came up with an innovative way to show the adverse impact of global climate change. They glued an aerial view of a city to the base of a swimming pool.
When the pool was filled with water, it gave a shocking effect akin to a city submerged in water. The visual of a sunken city shocked swimmers and onlookers, driving home the impact of global warming, and how it could destroy our world someday.

http://www.ogilvy.com

beconinriot:

The “Tunnel of Love” in Ukraine

THE TRAIN TO HOGWARTS. IN UKRAINE.

(via letsbuildahome-fr)

jtotheizzoe:

One of a Kind: All-White Killer Whale Spotted

This orca, nicknamed “Iceberg”, is part of a pod that is native to the North Pacific off the coast of Russia. Scientists don’t know if it’s a true albino, as the only other known white orca suffered from a deadly disease that made it lack pigment. This one seems healthy, and totally unique.

It was a one-time sighting, and they hope to find this social pod again on their next outing to find out more about this beautiful whale. Those other orcas better not make fun of him for being so pale.

Just goes to show you the amazing discoveries that still await us in our oceans.

(via LiveScience)

10 Most Incredible Cave Waterfalls On Earth
→ Pictured here: Ruby Falls, Tennessee, USA. Gaping Gill, UK. Waiahuakua Sea Cave, Hawaii, USA. Natural Bridge, Springbrook Park, Australia.

Beautiful waterfalls all over the world.

(via scinerds)

the-star-stuff:

Eye of the storm: The jaw-dropping images of an enormous ‘supercell’ cloud

It looks like something from the film Independence Day.

But although it may seem like an alien mothership, this incredible picture is actually an impressive thunderstorm cloud known as a supercell.

Windswept dust and rain dominate the storm’s centre while rings of jagged clouds surround the edge.

Photograph by Sean Heavey 

It really does look like an alien invasion

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