Smartler - Smartler

the translucent skin of the northern glassfrog (hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni) allows us to see its internal viscera, and, in the case of the fifth photo, a mother’s eggs.

and yet, it is the male glassfrogs who alone provide the parental care, as the females flee the scene once the eggs have been delivered. it for this reason that these protective male glassfrogs can be extremely aggressive.   

to date, there is no clear explanation for the evolution of this transparency. most frogs are not transparent, as this would expose organs to the deleterious effects of sunlight and heat.

but the transparent underbelly of the glassfrog is covered in light reflecting organelles called iridiphores which could give the glassfrogs the ability to optimize their internal homeostasis.

some suspect this abdoninal transparency helps the glassfrog to blend into its environment, though no evidence as yet supports this crypsis hypothesis. 

photos by (click pic) alejandro arteaga, nicholas reusens, thomas marent, pete oxford, heidi and hans jurgen koch, joel sartore and geoff gallice

Homemade camera rig takes stunning close-up pictures of snowflakes

LOL, this whale popped out the ocean like, “Hey, what’s up, hello?!”

P.S. those kayakers are super soaked but totally fine.

You just scrolled over a high-res segment of the Andromeda galaxy. How does NASA get its photos to look so spectacular? The same way as everyone else.

For more amazing images and posts about how Astronomy is Awesome, check us out!

http://astronomyisawesome.com/

As always, please feel free to ask questions and we love it when you reblog!

#astronomy #space #nasa #hubble space telescope #nebula #nebulae #galaxy

Botanical Artist Uses Foraged Materials to Create Organic Works of Art

When can I see the supermoon eclipse tomorrow night?

On Sunday night, people in parts of western Europe, western Africa, North America and all of South America will be able to see a lunar eclipse. And this one’s extra special, because the moon will be at its perigee – the closest it gets to Earth. Not only will the moon turn red (learn why it turns red here) it will seem larger than usual.

In the first GIF I’ve listed the times the moon will enter Earth’s faint shadow (the penumbra) and then its darker, red-tinted shadow. You can figure out exact times for your location using the U.S. Naval Observatory’s handy calculator. 

The second GIF shows the eclipse from another perspective - looking down on Earth’s north pole. This is to scale. It always surprises me to see how far apart the moon (the white dot) and earth (the blue circle) really are. The sun is off screen to the right, casting a long shadow. The colored lines radiating from earth show the approximate horizon lines in the four time zones. Once the lines pass, the moon is visible. Everyone in the contiguous US will be able to see the eclipse, but only people in the Easter and Central time zones will be able to see it start.

(If you want this information in song, some awesome sixth graders from Old High Middle School in Arkansas updated my eclipse song from last year. Or check out this completely original and funny song by Scarlett Simmons).

The Solar System

For more on the Fermi Paradox and why alien life hasn’t found us yet. (Infographic via futurism)

New video on the Hubble Sequence! Had a lot of fun making this one, enjoy!