MinuteColor

[suzukihara]

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words are the greatest weapon known to man.

~Unknown

[suzukihara]

Evil is not something superhuman, it is something less than human.

-Agatha Christie

[ocean-fact-of-the-week]

OFOTD #113

Orcas are the most widespread mammals second to humans.

[ocean-fact-of-the-week]

OFOTD #112

Giant isopods can roll themselves up into a ball to protect their soft bellies, akin to the protection mechanism of their on-land relative, the roly-poly.

[dark-kelta-deactivated-deactiva]

The fact that you properly identified them as roly polies warms my heart.

[ocean-fact-of-the-week]

It's the best name for them!! Roly poly is good because they roll. Pill bug implies that humans swallow pill bugs for a medical power-up, which is not something that they do or that I think that they should do.

[ocean-fact-of-the-week]

OFOTD #112

Giant isopods can roll themselves up into a ball to protect their soft bellies, akin to the protection mechanism of their on-land relative, the roly-poly.

[ocean-fact-of-the-week]

OFOTD #111

Lemon sharks live in highly complex social groups. These groups have social rules, dominance hierarchies, and are highly cooperative.

[crossstitchworld]

I’m just as surprised as this bird teapot that I got this done in time for my nephews birthday! Link below by Cbcwjw

[craftdiscoveries]

(via Koala Sewing Pattern to Support Australian Wildlife)

[theoreocat]

He’s doing what he does best 🤪

[pusheen]

[paulhendershotdesign]

A Mediterranean style garden. Landscape Designer Paul Hendershot Design, Inc.

[montereybayaquarium]

we love you boring clam

[montereybayaquarium]

Boring clams—they're actually really interesting!

These scale-sided piddocks bore their way into soft sediment, like Monterey Bay's abundant shale beds, using drill-bit-like shells. Frilly siphons extend out from the bored bunkers to filter food, and should the piddocks pass on to the great shale bed in the sky, they leave perfect hidey-holes for fringeheads, shrimp and other critters. 

So it's like they (we) say: Nobody rocks out like a boring clam—and honestly they're the life of the party!

[nasa]

Let It Snow for Science

When the weather outside is frightful…

Science in the field gets even more delightful. Two different missions are in the field right now, studying snow and how it affects communities around the country.

From our Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, the IMPACTS mission is flying up and down the East Coast, investigating how snow forms inside clouds. In Grand Mesa, Colorado, SnowEx’s teams on the ground and in the air are taking a close look at how much water is stored in snow.

Hate going out in the storm? The IMPACTS mission can help with that! IMPACTS uses two planes – a P-3 Orion and an ER-2 – flying through and high above the clouds to study where intense bands of snowfall form. Better understanding where intense snow will fall can improve forecast models down the road — helping prepare communities for snowstorms.

Cameras mounted on the wings of the P3 took microscopic images of snowflakes, like this one.

At the same time, the SnowEx team is in Colorado, studying the depth and density of snow. Researchers are making radar spirals with snowmobiles and working in giant snow pits to measure things like snow water equivalent, or how much water is stored in snow.

SnowEx is helping us better understand snow’s role in ecosystems and human systems, like irrigation for agriculture. If you want to bring some corn for popping, SnowEx’s science can help grow that crop.

Follow along with our teams as they brave the cold and snow: https://twitter.com/nasaexpeditions

 Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com 

[amnhnyc]

That’s no unicorn…it’s the Horned Screamer (Anhima cornuta)! This South American bird, which can be spotted in the lowlands of the Amazon forest, sports a bonafide horn on its head. Made of cartilage, the horn grows as the bird ages and sometimes even breaks off—then grows back over time. Both males and females have them, and they’re thought to be ornamental. Horned Screamers are mainly herbivorous, but do snack on insects. Photo: Wagner Machado Carlos Lemes https://www.instagram.com/p/B88G1thABTu/?igshid=10ken2flxw2mt

[amnhnyc]

The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) needs no introduction. This rambunctious animal is known for its bold temper, haunting calls, and impressive bite. It’s the world’s largest extant carnivorous marsupial, and it eats almost anything it comes across—bones and all! It mainly scavenges carrion, playing an important role in its ecosystem by helping to “clean up” any carcasses. But it also hunts small mammals, birds, and reptiles from time to time. Photo: Mathias Appel https://www.instagram.com/p/B8-gYMHAu6p/?igshid=32rk8w988o1s

[ghiblicentral]

“The wild girl whose soul the wolves stole. She lives to kill me.“

– PRINCESS MONONOKE (1997) dir. Hayao Miyazaki

[americasgreatoutdoors]

There’s some snow on the sand and the water’s a little chilly, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stop by and explore Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan. Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the park is home to lush forests, clear inland lakes, unique flora and fauna and the namesake sandy bluffs that tower 450 feet over the stunning blue waters of Lake Michigan. We love these gorgeous winter views almost as much as the free ranger-led snowshoe hikes. Have fun. Photo by National Park Service.