incredible
(Source: kiingofhearts, via hownowbrowncow09)
If this doesn’t make your day, you’re not hooked up right.
(via ifanyofthismakessense)
(via baadash)
George Carlin on the contraceptive debate.
“What about the carbon?”
An orangutan swings from a tree branch to take a drink. Photographer Konrad Wothe snapped away as the orangutan dunked its head in the water, seeming to wash its hair, before shaking off the drips and taking a drink.
(via fuckyeahorangutans)
BEAUTIFUL
(via permatech)
"I do not trust people who don’t love themselves and yet tell me, ‘I love you.’ There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt."
— Maya Angelou
(Source: myquotelibrary, via anyasquotes)
![sciencecenter:
Embryonic turtles communicate to coordinate when they hatch
Murray River turtles communicate with their siblings while they are still in their shells, buried under the soil, in order to coordinate when they hatch.
Achieving this synchronicity isn’t easy. Although the eggs are always laid at the same time in the same nest, those at the top of the nest near the sun-drenched soil develop much faster than those buried deeper in the cooler soil. However, Murray River turtles are able to tell whether their fellow hatchlings are more or less advanced and adapt their pace of development accordingly, allowing the slow-coaches to play catch-up. […]
The team concluded that the embryos must be able to communicate with each other while they are still in their shells, but it’s not clear how. They suggest that it could be down to changes in the nest that trigger certain hormones that change the turtles’ metabolism. Embryos produce more thyroid hormone when oxygen levels fall. The fast-developing embryos could use up the oxygen levels around the next and emit more carbon dioxide. The reduction in oxygen could cause the slower developers to produce more thyroid hormone and therefore grow faster.
I’m inspired. When’s the last time you put that much effort into cooperating with your siblings?](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvpwj1iitE1qgfmcuo1_500.jpg)
Embryonic turtles communicate to coordinate when they hatch
Murray River turtles communicate with their siblings while they are still in their shells, buried under the soil, in order to coordinate when they hatch.
Achieving this synchronicity isn’t easy. Although the eggs are always laid at the same time in the same nest, those at the top of the nest near the sun-drenched soil develop much faster than those buried deeper in the cooler soil. However, Murray River turtles are able to tell whether their fellow hatchlings are more or less advanced and adapt their pace of development accordingly, allowing the slow-coaches to play catch-up. […]
The team concluded that the embryos must be able to communicate with each other while they are still in their shells, but it’s not clear how. They suggest that it could be down to changes in the nest that trigger certain hormones that change the turtles’ metabolism. Embryos produce more thyroid hormone when oxygen levels fall. The fast-developing embryos could use up the oxygen levels around the next and emit more carbon dioxide. The reduction in oxygen could cause the slower developers to produce more thyroid hormone and therefore grow faster.
I’m inspired. When’s the last time you put that much effort into cooperating with your siblings?
Important bug news.
Second time I’ve seen this on my dash today and I feel the need to clarify: These are not a newly discovered species.
Giant wetas have been known for decades.
Also, this is terrible reporting by the Sun and the Telegraph. They describe this specimen as being the biggest ever found, yet provide no information about its size, minus wing span. The only characteristic we learn of it is that it “can eat carrots.” Body length, actual weight (“as much as three mice” is not a measurement), none of this matters because it “CAN EAT CARROTS!”
Fun fact about the weta: The largest known specimen was a female that weighed 71g (2.5oz) and had a body length of more than 85mm (3.4in), however they average roughly 35g.
Compare that with the Titan Beetle, which can grow to 16.7 cm (6.5in) long and weigh up to one pound and have mandibles that can break a pencil in half and cut into human flesh.
Here it is:
