We Are Built To Be Kind

Drugs Under The Microscope

Saturn’s sponge-like moon Hyperion by europeanspaceagency on Flickr.

Feathertail Centipedes are an entire genus of centipedes from eastern Africa.

Their hindmost legs are amazing, bizarre and rather beautiful. They’re extremely long, often brightly coloured and always flattened into strange feather shapes.

The centipede uses these crazy legs to warn predators and other interfering beasts of their venomous presence.

Waving the legs from side to side causes them to emit a kind of rustling sound as one patch of leg rubs up against another patch of the same leg. It’s sort of like how crickets sing by rubbing their wings together.

They don’t, however, rub one leg against the other. Each leg makes the noise on its own… in more ways than one. The centipede can lop off one of its special legs and it will keep waving around making noise. Hopefully it will prove distracting enough that the Feathertail can make an escape.

It makes you wonder… how long before we get flying centipedes?

…Images: Frupus

7 Earth-Size Planets Identified in Orbit Around a Dwarf Star

Astronomers are excited by the discovery, which suggests that some of these exoplanets — planets around stars other than the sun — could support life and may be awash in oceans.

Not just one, but seven Earth-size planets that could potentially harbor life have been identified orbiting a tiny star not too far away, offering the first realistic opportunity to search for signs of alien life outside of the solar system.

The planets orbit a dwarf star named Trappist-1, about 40 light years, or some 235 trillion miles, from Earth. That is quite close in cosmic terms, and by happy accident, the orientation of the orbits of the seven planets allows them to be studied in great detail.

One or more of the exoplanets in this new system could be at the right temperature to be awash in oceans of water, astronomers said, based on the distance of the planets from the dwarf star.

“This is the first time so many planets of this kind are found around the same star,” said Michael Gillon, an astronomer at the University of Liege in Belgium and the leader of an international team that has been observing Trappist-1.

Continue Reading.

You may be surprised about what you are ACTUALLY eating!

And now, we shall pretend to be mathematicians.

Quantum mechanics lecturer on solving the Hermite equation (via mathprofessorquotes)

Flower Mushroom Coral - Ricordea yuma

Ricordea yuma (Corallimorpharia - Ricordeidae) is a species of soft coral belonging to a group commonly referred to as mushroom corals. These soft corals are very popular among aquarists due to their vibrant and varied color patterns. 

Ricordea yuma is found in the tropical Pacific. Like other Corallimopharians, this one has the ability to rapidly colonize available substrate.

References: [1] - [2] - [3]

Photo credits: [Top: ©Felix Salazar | Locality: nano reef tank, 2008] - [Bottom: ©Scott Cohen | Locality: reef tank, 2009]

20 THINGS YOU SHOULD DO EVERYDAY 1. Wake up earlier. Not only does this improve productivity but it also gives you more time to make a good, hearty breakfast. 2. Make your bed. Let’s be real, being welcomed to a tidy bed after a long day at work/school (or a long day in general) is probably the best feeling anyone will ever experience. 3. If you want, spend a little more time on your appearance. Take some time choosing an outfit, applying make up or whatever. Do what helps you boost your confidence and self-esteem. 4. Stay hydrated, folks. Keep a bottle of water with you wherever you go. 5. Stretch everyday or start yoga (or do both, why not?) 6. Create a playlist consisting of songs that make you happy and listen to it. Listen to songs for the mood you want to be in, instead of the mood you are in. 7. Compliment at least one person per day. This could be an acquaintance, co-worker, class mate, stranger, whoever! 8. Use your manners. If someone holds the door for you, lets you go first etc, they did it voluntarily and didn’t have to do it, so a “thank you” wouldn’t hurt. 9. Eat your fruit and vegetables and always choose the healthy version over the junk food. 10. Have a good laugh. Catch up with friends, watch some ‘Parks and Recreation’, go see some stand-up comedy, reminisce about funny moments that have happened to you. You don’t need to be a doctor to know that humour has many benefits. 11. Be optimistic. Always look at the positives. There’s no point on focusing on the negatives because that isn’t going to help anyones mood at all. 12. Exercise. It doesn’t have to be anything to intense. A run around the block, a walk with your dog or even a ‘Just Dance’ session will do the job.  13.Bring a book/magazine or collect the daily newspaper with you. Spend you spare time reading. 14. Try and learn something new everyday. This can either be an interesting fact you saw online or a new skill someone taught you. 15. Help others when you are able to. Help your classmates with school work or offer to help you struggling neighbour lift those heavy objects. 16. Stop procrastinating. No matter how unmotivated you are to, push yourself and complete what you need to complete. Do what you gotta do. You know you’ll love yourself for doing it. 17. Drink some tea, because that stuff is goooooood (and also beneficial). 18.Make time to do things that help you relax, whether that’s painting, having baths, doing you nails or going for a run. 19. Don’t dwell on your mistakes, but instead grow and learn from them. 20. And lastly, be kind to yourself. If you love who you are, everyone else will

Chloe for Native Moon Magazine (via nativemoonmag)

Sea Slug - Phyllodesmium serratum 

Phyllodesmium serratum (Nudibranchia - Facelinidae) is a colorful species of sea slug known from Japan, Philippines and Australia, whose color is dependent on the color of the food it is eating.

As seen in the photo, it has branched digestive glands that ramify into the cerata and dorsal surface of the body.

Although one of the most interesting adaptations found in this genus is the widespread participation in a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic dinoflagellates (zooxanthellae), P. serratum does not have such a relationship, and is unusual in feeding on a wide variety of octocorals.

References: [1] - [2] - [3]

Photo credit: ©Klaus Stiefel (CC BY-NC 2.0) | Locality: Kurnell, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (2013)