The Singapore Blue(Lampropelma violaceopes) is a large, colorful arboreal Tarantula found in Malaysia and Singapore. They can measure up to a 25cm leg span and are popular as pets because of their color. There is a distinct difference between the two sexes as the male is olive green with faint yellow leg striation. Before sexual maturity both sexes will be a purplish-brown colouration. The deep royal purple will first be apparent with sexual maturity in the female and become increasingly deeper with each molt.
Photo credit: © Rick C. West
Ooh…a spider after my own heart.
#LITERALLY
(via mesatawe)
The Fukang Meteorite
Back in the year 2000, an incredible meteorite weighing 2,211 pounds was discovered near Fukang, a city located in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, China. Named the Funkang meteorite, it was identified as a pallasite, a type of stony–iron meteorite. With4.5 billion years in the making, its golden olivine mixed with silvery nickel-iron to create a stunningly beautiful mosaic effect.
Pallasites are extremely rare even among meteorites (only about 1% of all meteorites are this type) and Fukang has been hailed as one of the greatest meteorite discoveries of the 21st century.It has since been divided into slices which give the effect of stained glass when the sun shines through them. It is so valuable that even tiny chunks sell in the region for $40 to $60 a gram. An anonymous collector holds the largest portion, which weighs 925 pounds.
(via ceyren)
My favorite highlight during our recent camping trip was being still and listening to these sounds of birds.
“Researchers build miniature flying robots, modeled on Drosophila”
We may not be at fruit fly level yet, but researchers are giving the insects some competition. Today’s issue of Science reports on miniature flying robots that aren’t much bigger than a coin. The power and control are handled externally, but the tiny robots can still perform basic maneuvers, and they have enough lift to spare that they could fly under their own power for a few minutes if the right power storage were developed.
____________________
Noting the concept of Moore’s Law, you should be wonderfully afraid.
Lying just outside the Amazon Basin, the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in northeastern Brazil is subject to a regular rain season during the beginning of the year. The fresh water collects in the valleys between sand dunes creating lagoons for half of the year and almost completely disappear during the dry season.
(via 30casterlyrock)
Hunter Cole - Artist and Geneticist
Cole grows the bacteria in a liquid culture, and then uses the culture as her paint, applying it to a gelatinous augur in a petri dish, as if the augur were a canvas. When applied, the culture is clear, but over a 24 hour period it slowly begins to glow, becoming more visible. For the two weeks following the culture’s application, as the bacteria grows and dies, the drawing changes.
(via necro-romance)
d’awww!
(via goodgolly-missmolly11)
The official greeter in the Falling Water campground men’s restroom. FYI: the tile is one inch square.
The women’s restroom greeter was a bit more friendly.
Contrary to popular belief, meteor showers are not rare. It’s just that most of the time we don’t look up! So mark these dates on your calendar and make sure you don’t miss any more this year.
Meteor Showers Viewing Tips:
To answer the most common question: Yes, you can see these meteor showers from ANYWHERE in the sky, provided it’s clear and dark, away from all the city lights.
- The best times to view meteors or typically predawn and late evening. Partially because this is when it is darkest, but also because this is when Earth turns into the path of meteoroids as they enter the atmosphere.
- Meteors are visible with the naked eye and you don’t need any equipment to view them. Just spread a blanket on the ground and look up!
(via dead-until-dark)
Interesting concept. The execution is almost there but you can’t argue with the result.s
Incredibly smart and attention grabbing idea. WWF played their card right during a football match. They digitally “hijacked” an international match of the Brazilian Women’s National team, executing a progressive visual transformation of the pitch from green to brown, and paying off the message at the end of the game with an explanation of the take-over and the link back to the WWF website. The visits to the WWF website increased by 73% after the game, and even if the case-study video doesn’t mention it, I’m sure the social media effect has also been quite impressive. Agency is Grey 141 Brasil.
(via 30casterlyrock)
Live Fish Found in Japanese Tsunami Debris
by Stephanie Pappas
The strangest stowaways yet have arrived on U.S. shores via debris possibly from the 2011 Japan tsunami: live striped beakfish (Oplegnathus fasciatus)!
The fish, which live off the coast of Japan and Hawaii, apparently made their way across the Pacific in a drifting 18-foot (5.5 meter) skiff. Of the five fish that made the journey, one is still alive and is being kept at the Seaside Aquarium in Oregon.
“These fish could have been originally from Japanese waters, or they could have been picked up going close by the Hawaii coast,” said Allen Pleus, the aquatic invasive species coordinator at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife…
(read more: http://www.livescience.com/28468-live-fish-tsunami-debris.html)
(photos: Travis Haring, WDFW)
(via mesatawe)
