mothernaturenetwork:

Student science experiment finds plants won’t grow near Wi-Fi router

Ninth-graders design science experiment to test the effect of cellphone radiation on plants. The results may surprise you.

meta-maieutics:

facts-i-just-made-up:

Nature can be cruel and this is a prime example.

Here, several small water droplets are seen making fun of an obese water droplet. The larger droplet is ostracized and will evaporate more slowly than its leafmates, resulting in further social difficulties as vapor.

Ah yes, yet another sickening example of attractive privilege.

Attractive privilege means never having to dry alone.

laboratoryequipment:

Captive Hyenas Are Better Problem Solvers

When it comes to solving puzzles, animals in captivity are, well, different animals than their wild brethren.

Testing animals’ ability to solve new problems has been historically conducted on animals in captivity. Only recently has a shift been made to run these tests on animals in their natural habitat. In a study appearing in Animal Behavior, however, researchers at Michigan State Univ. found vast differences in the problem solving skills between captive and wild spotted hyenas. Applying lessons learned from captive animals is potentially problematic because they may not accurately portray how wild animals respond to novel challenges.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/01/captive-hyenas-are-better-problem-solvers

This makes plenty of sense. Imagine the cognitive capabilities of a “wild human.” It would face different mental challenges, and develop to be able to face those in particular.

jtotheizzoe:

Glowing to Mimic Toxic Beetles

This South American cockroach species has a cool trick, using fluorescent bacteria to glow in this spooky pattern at night. It turns out that they are mimicking the glow of a neighboring toxic beetle, using their little bacterial helpers.

Of course when I saw it, I immediately thought of EVE. Where’s the Wall-E beetle?

(via Discover Magazine)

This is freaking terrifying. (As if roaches needed to get any scarier.)

threehundredcats:

Scars from being struck by lightning.

i wanna get struck by lightening!!! :-)

You want to get struck by spellcheck.

These “Lichtenberg figures” are the result of the current or shock wave causing capillaries under the skin to rupture, leaving fractal markings. 

i-iswirda:

1994 on We Heart It. http://weheartit.com/entry/30262448

futurescope:

Mantis shrimp may hold the secret to lighter, tougher body armors

via gizmag:

The mantis shrimp is a fascinating creature that has the ability to punch its prey into submission with a club that accelerates underwater at around 10,400 g (102,000 m/s²). By studying the secrets behind this formidable weapon, a Californian researcher (UCR) hopes to develop an innovative, hi-tech material that is one third the weight and thickness of existing body armor.

[read more] [UCR] [paper] [image credit: Silke Baron]

Fun fact of the day: The Mantis Shrimp’s punch has roughly the acceleration of a .22 caliber bullet.

“Wikipedia stoically acknowledges the cuteness of frogs.”

A rare natural phenomenon turns one of Austria’s most beautiful hiking trails into a 10 meter-deep lake, for half the year.

Located at the foot of the Hochschwab Mountains, in Tragoess, Styria, Green Lake is one of the most bizarre natural phenomena in the world. During the cold winter months, this place is almost completely dry, and used as a country park where hikers love to come and spend some time away from urban chaos. But as soon as temperatures rise, the snow and ice covering the mountaintops begin to melt, and the water pours down, filling the basin below with crystal-clear water.

Water levels go from one-two meters at most, to over 10 meters, in the early summer. The waters of Green Lake are highest in June, when this extraordinary place is invaded by divers, curious to see what a mountain park looks like underwater. Fish swimming over wooden benches, a grass-covered bottom, trees, roads, roads and even bridges create a surreal setting that feels like it belongs on dry ground. That’s because for half of the year, that’s exactly where it’s at.