Categories
Animals Life on Earth

Watch a Killer Whale using bait fish to hunt a bird [video]

The orcas are amazing! They are known for their high intelligence, curiosity, playfulness, and ability to solve problems. But this female killer whale named Kalia who lives at SeaWorld San Diego takes it one step further: she uses a baitfish to hunt a bird!

Categories
Earth from Space Geology Life on Earth Places Planet Earth

Changing Earth: How Satellites Give us a Unique Perspective on our Evolving Planet

The ever-changing Earth: our planet is constantly changing over the years. Some changes are part of nature, and some of them are on humanity’s shoulders. Some scientists even suggest that the Earth has entered a new geological epoch defined by human impact, called the “Anthropocene“. Over the years astronauts have taken photos of the Earth from space and documented these changes. NASA’s World of Change series shows how our planet’s land, oceans, atmosphere, and Sun are changing over time.

Categories
Insects Life on Earth

Here’s how Japanese Honey Bees defend themself against the Japanese Giant Hornet [Amazing Videos]

In the insects world, the Japanese Giant Hornet (Vespa mandarinia japonica) is a real beast. It is one of the subspecies of the Asian Giant Hornet (Vespa mandarinia), which is the world’s largest hornet. As its name suggests, it is endemic to the Japanese islands, where it prefers rural areas where it can find trees to nest in.

Using its scissor-like teeth that can wreak havoc on its prey, a single Japanese giant hornet can kill up to 40 European honeybees a minute. So, a few of them can decimate an entire colony containing 30,000 European honey bees. Compared to honeybees, it is really a giant: adults can be more than 4.5 centimeters (1.8 inches) long, with a wingspan greater than 6 centimeters (2.4 inches).

But, the Japanese honey bees have developed an amazing defense against these giants during their evolutionary process.

Categories
Animals Life on Earth

The Incredible Story of Chito and Pocho: “The Man Who Swims with a Crocodile”

A unique friendship between a man and a crocodile: nicknamed “Chito”, Gilberto Shedden, a Costa Rican fisherman, and naturalist had an unusual friend: “Pocho”, a huge crocodile longer than 5 meters (16 feet 5 inches), with a weight up to half a ton.

Categories
Animals Life on Earth

10 Amazing Kangaroo Facts

Kangaroo is an iconic marsupial that is indigenous to Australia and New Guinea. Marsupials are mammals that carry their young in a pouch. Here are 10 amazing kangaroo facts.

Categories
Animals Life on Earth Oceans

10 Amazing Mobula Ray Facts

Mobula is a genus of Batoidea, which is commonly known as rays. Mobula rays (scientific name: Mobula tarapacana) are also known as “flying mobula”, “flying rays”, “eagle rays”, or “devil rays”. Here are 10 amazing Mobula ray facts.

Categories
Insects Life on Earth

Giant Weta: the heaviest insect on Earth [10 amazing giant weta facts]

In the small islands of New Zealand, the world’s heaviest insect lives – The Giant weta. There are 70 types of species of weta in the genus Deinacrida of the family Anostostomatidae.

Giant weta is the heaviest insect on Earth. Fully grown species can even be heavier than a mouse or sparrow.

Giant weta is endemic to New Zealand and is an example of island gigantism, which is a biological phenomenon leading to a larger size than their mainland relatives because of their isolation and lack of large predators. A female giant weta filled with eggs can reach up to 70 grams (2.47 oz.) or more!

Categories
Earth from Space Astronomy Life on Earth Solar System Space Exploration

Pale Blue Dot

The farthest spacecraft from Earth, NASA’s Voyager 1 (see notes 1) probe took a photo of planet Earth on February 14, 1990, from a record distance of about 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles, 40 AU (see notes 2) from Earth. The photo is known as the Pale Blue Dot. In the photograph, Earth is shown as a fraction of a pixel (0.12 pixel in size) against the vastness of space. It was a part of the Solar System Family Portrait series of images.

The Voyager 1 spacecraft, which had completed its primary mission and was leaving the Solar System, was commanded by NASA to turn its camera around and take a photograph of Earth across a great expanse of space, at the request of Carl Sagan (see notes 3).

It quickly became the most iconic photo of Earth taken from space.