The San Diego Zoo is home to different animals like lions, koalas, and giraffes. They also have a YouTube channel where they show how these animals live inside the zoo. In this video, the Zoo shares with us footage of how flamingos eat. Watch as these pink animals poke their heads in and through the water and suck in water and mud through the front of their bills, and pump them at the side. Thanks to the filters found in their mouths which trap tiny shrimp and small critters, the flamingos can have a decent meal as they scan the waters.
Niall Reid (@reidyr560) shows us how a truck can brew a proper cuppa tea. Pretty impressive, huh? Okay Niall, try doing that from the left side! -via Everlasting Blort
Love Jurassic Park? Flavia Cordula and Gabriela Queiroz of Florida-based design firm Own Place Interiors spared no expense to create the ultimate dinosaur-themed game room.
Paul Taylor is crossing Britain on a moped in a quest to raise funds for the Institute of Cancer Research in honor of his friend Alexis Leventis, who died of cancer. What is extraordinary about his tour are the places he is going. To draw attention, Taylor is stopping in as many places with rude names as he can manage.
The expedition will take place in August 2021 and starts in Shitterton in Dorset on the 18th and winds its way through salubriously named places such as Happy Bottom Nature Reserve, Ass Hill, Crazies Hill, Pishill, The Knob, Titty-Ho, Willey, Butthole Lane, Pensitone, Netherthong, Slack Bottom Road, Bedlam, Crackpot (I think I may have lived there in a past life) , Booze (there too), Pity Me (by this point you really should), Cocksburnspath, Wallyford, Brawl (and many others) before we arrive at the charmingly titled Twatt in the Orkney Isles.
The return journey includes delights such as Dull, Cockermouth and Cow Ark before our final destination , the aptly named Bell End.
At the turn of the 20th century, steamships had fairly well replaced sailing ships. Copper baron Thomas W. Lawson was still a fan of sailing ships, and have one commissioned for the purpose of showing how magnificent and useful they could still be. It was certainly large, the largest ever, magnificent, too, and it was dubbed the Thomas W. Lawson.
Launched on July 10, 1902, Thomas W. Lawson was 475 feet long and contained seven masts of nearly two hundred feet tall each, carrying 25 sails with a cumulative canvas area of 43,000 square feet. She measured 5,218 gross register tons, boasted a carrying capacity of 11,000 tons, and was operated by a crew of only 18, when a similar-sized steamer would have required anything up to fifty. This was possible because the work of the sailors was facilitated by various mechanisms. The schooner, while it did not have an engine, was equipped with a steam steering engine, steam winches, an electrical system and even a telephone network.
When fully loaded, the Thomas W. Lawson's draft was 9 meters. Curiously, at that time there was only one port in the United States capable of receiving such deep-seated vessels—the Newport News, in Virginia. As a result, her capacity was reduced to 7,400 tons in order to accommodate her into more ports. Even with reduced cargo, Thomas W. Lawson was so large that she was difficult to maneuver and sluggish. She tended to yaw and needed a strong wind to be held on course. Sailors likened her to a bath tub or a beached whale.
Ddangerous Ddave loves hard rides on his Norco Sight C7. Here he is on a forested mountain trail, going at high speeds through bone-breaking obstacles. He never falls, but he does have the sense to look at one jump and say, "That's not solo ride material." Yet, at another, seemingly more challenging jump, he takes his bike airborne.
Watch it all, if for nothing more than hearing his joyful laughter.
We love to see pictures of cute cats and cute dogs, and when these worlds collide, they are even more adorable. Some dogs hang out with cats, some were raised by cats, and some might even think they are cats. What else would you think, when a dog climbs a cat tree, squeezes into a box, or leaps to feline heights?
In April of 1897, after being shipped across the continent, 16 seas lions arrived at their new home, Starin’s Glen Island summer resort on the Long Island Sound. By the end of the day, three of the sea lions had escaped, crossing a metal rail and going over, or perhaps under, a six-foot fence. But it wasn't long before the seals were seen again. Just the next day, 13-year-old Willie Grogan went for a sunset swim in the sound.
According to The New York Times, Willie had just surfaced from a dive when he heard what sounded like a human cough. It was dusk, so he couldn’t see that well. He wasn’t supposed to be swimming there at that time, so he feared that a police officer had spotted him from the pier.
At first, Willie thought the cough was coming from a bald man with a long, droopy mustache. Thinking it was perhaps a local German saloon keeper taking a night swim, the boy yelled out, “Hello Dutchy!” The response was another cough.
Forgetting all of his fears of getting caught by the police, the young boy started to scream as he swam back toward the pier. All he could think of were sea serpents, sharks, and Jonah the whale.
The sighting set off a flurry of sea lion hunting, as the park had offered a reward for the escaped animals. Read the story of the great sea lion escape at The Hatching Cat. -via Strange Company
If you've ever wondered where to put that boxy HEPA air filter so it doesn't look so out of place in the room, then this is for you: IKEA has made a new side air purifier called Starkvind. It's an indoor air purifier with a 3-filter system AND a functional side table. Genius!
Freeskier, X-Games gold medalist and renowned parkour athlete Andri Ragettli got bored during the covid lockdown in 2020 so he combined parkour and human Rube Goldberg obstacle course into a DIY activity that you he can do at home (Note: Do NOT do this at home, kids!)
Presentation is an essential part when it comes to selling food, as it gives customers a good picture on how the food will taste, and maybe how the food is prepared. With this in mind, these buns from WuPaoChun Bakery in Taiwan are clearly a product of hard work, sweat, and tears.
Perhaps the most defining trait of the Shinto religion is its reverence for nature. This is why you’ll find Shinto shrines in places filled with trees and plants. Of course, when there’s flora, expect that there will also be fauna. It is normal to encounter them when you go to Shinto shrines. And, because fauna is also part of nature, the Shinto finds a way to co-exist with them in harmony. This Shinto shrine called Hitokotonushi, which is located in Ibaraki Prefecture, is a great example. When the shrine’s staff realized that bees went to the shrine to quench their thirst, they decided to make something for the latter.
...the shrine has installed a gorgeous miniature drinking fountain especially for them.
...the bees no longer have to cling precariously to the edge of the large water trough to get a sip of water — they can now quench their thirst in a more secure position, atop two mounds of wet moss.
... [the] staff have added a sign to let visitors know the bees are gentle and rarely sting unless provoked.
The sticky hairs found in the Triantha occidentalis (common name: western false asphodel) is a detail that has been overlooked, as there are also other plant species with similar features. These sticky hairs are usually used by plants as a defense mechanism to ward off insects that are harmful to the plants. And so when scientists took a closer look at the plant, they found something rather interesting.
… the hairs [of the T. occidentalis] attract the bugs, and then keep the ones unfortunate enough to wander too close stuck to the stem. Slowly, the plant releases an enzyme which breaks down the prey into liquified food that can easily be absorbed through the stem.
This only happens during the flowering process, however.
It is also worth noting that the bug trapping mechanism found in the T. occidentalis is located directly underneath its flower, which is very different from most carnivorous plants, like the venus flytrap, which has its trapping mechanism found further away from its snare. In other words, only insects unlucky enough to go too far before the flower will be trapped. Fortunately, the plant is considerate enough for insects such as bees and butterflies.
Instead of using force strong enough to hold down every single insect that enters it, the hairs are only mildly sticky, and will effectively only ensnare smaller insects while allowing the stronger ones to escape.
The question is, why would a plant who needs bugs for pollination also eat bugs? Scientists theorize that the plant needs bugs to make up for the fact that it grows in nutrient-poor locations.
More about this intriguing plant over at Mashable.
Q: Tired of totin' coffee pots from home? A: Yes! We can hardly get through our front door, what with all the coffee pots.
Some of the answers even have quotes or links for research purposes. You'll find page after page of answers to questions that no one ever expected to be answered. Don't get too hung up on the dates listed for the posts, because no one is going to explain it. There's also a section called Rhetorical Answers, Questioned. It's a little different but just as entertaining. -via Nag on the Lake
