MORE Nudis!!!

I have come to the conclusion that everyone likes nudibranchs. Besides the fact that they are so cute and pretty, they are also REALLY FREAKING COOL!!!

Almost ALL nudis (pronounced like nudies) are specialized to eat ONE type of animal! For example, there are some that eat only anemones. When they eat these anemones, they will absorb the stinging cells from the anemone and add them to their own "tentacles" (actually, those furry, tentacle-like things are called cerata). And these same nudis will also start secreting mucus that can protect them from the anemone's stingers!

But here's a nudi that specializes in eating OTHER NUDIS!!!

It's really beautiful and yet, very sad at the same time.

Hope you enjoy!

Whoa, I have just seen into my future...

This video was AWESOME!

Well, you might not enjoy learning about the history of ornithology as much as I do, but this short talk is still quite comical.

Actually, in the next 30 years, I will probably end up becoming this man...making jokes about phallic fungi, over-sized testes, and promiscuous female birds...
Yes, definitely me in 30 years.

Also, Mr. Birkhead talks about an example of how this "frivolous field" of ornithology actually has "real-world" significance! Just for you, Mom!



Linked from TED.com

Blending Science and Art!

Once again, here's a great blend of science and art. I am definitely in love with this form of art!!!

This dude, Nick Veasey is an x-ray photographer. Yeah, that's right, he's doing art with x-rays! His work gives us insight into the world within, allowing us to truly see that "beauty is more than skin deep."

Check it out!

Check out the rest of his amazing work here at his website: http://www.nickveasey.com/

WHAAAAAAT?????

Holy CRAP!!! I cannot believe that this is possible!!!! This man is amazing. I can't believe it. Completely blowing my mind right now.

Mathemagic. Yup. Math-magic. It sounds pretty cheesy, but OH MY GOODNESS, I am in awe.

Random Thought of the Day

Here's an absolutely mind-blowing TED lecture presented by an exploration expert. Bill Stone, deep cave explorer, was commissioned by NASA to design a mission to Europa in search of extra-terrestrial life. He used his extensive experience exploring the unknown depths of our own planet to design a robot capable of autonomously exploring, documenting, and analyzing the unknown depths of the Europan oceans. But then he goes on to propose a truly radical idea. Bill Stone wants to build a fueling station in space! And not only that, but he claims that he can do it in the next 7 years using less than one trillion dollars!!!

This man is crazy, but might actually revolutionize space travel in the next 20 years.

The oldest living things in the world

Can you guess the age of the world's oldest living organism?

2,000 years old? Nope.

4,000 years old? Not even close.

10,000 years old? Still not close.

100,000 years old? Warmer, but no.

The oldest living thing on Earth is more than 500,000 years old. That's half a MILLION years old!!!

Artist, philosopher and biologist Rachel Sussman has spent the last five years traveling the globe in search of the world's oldest living things. She sees this project as an opportunity for humans to reconsider our idea of time. Watching her presentation from the TED Global 2010 conference has helped me fully comprehend the insignificance of this little blip we call humanity. Again, I am left to wonder why humans continue to pretend to be superior to all other life on Earth. I don't understand how we ever got this idea in our heads. Clearly we just don't look around enough anymore.

Take a moment to look around you every once in a while...






Find more inspiring and mind-blowing talks at www.TED.com

Random Thought of the Day

Have you ever heard a male lyrebird sing? No? You are missing out on LIFE!!!

David Attenborough does a nice little segment on this astounding vocalist in his series called The Life of Birds.



Not only is this footage absolutely amazing, but I also loved the subtle commentary on human impacts in the forest. Lyrebirds aren't supposed to be singing like chainsaws...