Chaga

Relatively unknown in the West, chaga is one of the strangest-looking fungi you will ever see. Hard, woody and found on birch and other trees, it looks like a hardened, crusty formation of burned charcoal. Despite its unseemly appearance, it possesses profound healing properties.

Found throughout northern parts of Europe, Asia and North America, chaga draws nutrients from the tree on which it grows. It is rich in antioxidant phenols, and in studies with mice has exhibited anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting effects. One of the most surprising benefits of chaga is the relief of psoriasis, a disease notoriously difficult to treat. In a 1973 Russian study, chaga was given to 50 people suffering from psoriasis and everyone saw improvement. “Nothing really works for psoriasis,” Kilham says. “But everyone in this study had their psoriasis resolved. There’s never been an effect like that for psoriasis.”

Chaga extract may also have anti-cancer effects, according to some laboratory studies. One 2008 study observed that chaga extract inhibited liver cancer cell growth, suggesting that this fungus may provide a new therapeutic option for treating liver cancer.

Sceletium

This succulent herb from South Africa was once used as a bartering currency, according to written records that date back to the 1600s. Since then it has made its way to North America and has been embraced for its reported antidepressant properties, including its ability to help elevate mood and promote relaxation and a sense of well being.

Sceletium contains alkaloids that interact with receptors in the brain, affecting the release of dopamine (a compound that affects pleasure) and serotonin (a compound that affects mood). “After you take it, you will feel its effects in about half an hour, and it feels great,” says Chris Kilham, a researcher and author also known as the “Medicine Hunter.” The herb produces an increased sense of clarity and an enhanced capacity for ideas and mental focus, he says. Sceletium may also be useful in decreasing anxiety, stress and tension.

Naples

Naples is the capital of the Italian region Campania and the third-largest municipality in Italy, after Rome and Milan. In 2015, around 975,260 people lived within the city's administrative limits. The Metropolitan City of Naples had a population of 3,115,320. Naples is the 9th-most populous urban area in the European Union with a population of between 3 million and 3.7 million. About 4.4 million people live in the Naples metropolitan area, one of the largest metropolises on the Mediterranean Sea.

Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Bronze Age Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium BC. A larger colony – initially known as Parthenope, Παρθενόπη – developed on the Island of Megaride around the ninth century BC, at the end of the Greek Dark Ages. The city was refounded as Neápolis in the sixth century BC and became a lynchpin of Magna Graecia, playing a key role in the merging of Greek culture into Roman society and eventually becoming a cultural centre of the Roman Republic. Naples remained influential after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, serving as the capital city of the Kingdom of Naples between 1282 and 1816. Thereafter, in union with Sicily, it became the capital of the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy in 1861.

Danakil Desert – Ethiopia

The Danakil Desert is a desert in northeast Ethiopia, southern Eritrea, and northwestern Djibouti. Situated in the Afar Triangle, it stretches across 100,000 square kilometres (10,000,000 ha) of arid terrain. The area is known for its volcanoes and extreme heat, with daytime temperatures surpassing 50 °C (122 °F).^[1] Less than an inch of rainfall occurs each year. The Danakil Desert is one of the lowest and hottest places on Earth. It is inhabited by a few Afar, who engage in salt mining.

Local geology is characterized by volcanic and tectonic activity, various climate cycles, and discontinuous erosion. The basic geological structure of this area was caused by the movement of tectonic plates as Africa moved away from Asia. Mountain chains formed and were eroded again during the Paleozoic. Inundations by the sea caused the formation of layers of sandstone, and limestone was deposited further offshore. As the land rose again, further sandstone formed above the limestone. Further tectonic shifts caused lava to pour out of cracks and cover the sedimentary deposits.

The Danakil Desert has a number of lakes formed by lava flows that dammed up several valleys. Among these is Lake Afrera, which has thick saline crusts on its banks. The area is flanked toward the east by the Danakil Alps, a tabular mountain system that has a few volcanic cones which peak in height in Mount Ramlo (2,130 metres (7,000 ft)). A deposit of salt up to 800 metres (2,600 ft) thick can also be found in the Salt Plain flatlands. Other local lakes include Lake Asale (116 metres (381 ft) below sea level) and Lake Giuletti/Afrera (80 metres (260 ft) below sea level), both of which possess cryptodepressions in the Danakil Depression. The Afrera contains many active volcanoes, including the Maraho, Dabbahu, Afdera and Erta Ale.

Arctic Hydromedusa

Hydromedusae form the largest group of cnidarians and are generally smaller then the true jellyfish (typically only a few millimeters to centimenters at maximum size). Hydromedusae are distinquished from true jellyfish by prodcing their eggs and sperm under the bell, but on the outside of the animal, while true jellyfish produce eggs inside the gut.

Cnidarians can be found all the way from the surface to the bottom of the oceans, although most species have a specific range of depth over which they are found. Within the water column, hydromedusae they can be common, frequently being a large but variable proportion of the volume of zooplankton collected by nets. All Hydromedusae are predatory and eat smaller zooplankton. Some species have relatively few predators, while others are preyed on heavily by other cnidarians, and fish such as mackerel and chum salmon.

Sea Angel

Sea angels (clade Gymnosomata) are a large group of extremely small, swimming sea slugs, not to be confused with Hydrozoans (Jellies and other similar creatures), classified into six different families. They are pelagic opisthobranchs in the clade Gymnosomata within the larger clade Heterobranchia. Sea angels were previously referred to as a type of pteropod.

Sea angels are also sometimes known as "cliones" but this is potentially misleading because the family Clionidae is just one of the families within this clade.

Recent molecular data suggest the Gymnosomata form a sister group to the Thecosomata (other planktonic, weakly or nonmineralized gastropods), but this long-standing hypothesis has also had some recent detractors.

Christmas Tree worm

The worm is aptly named, both its common and Latin names refer to the two chromatically hued spiral structures, the most common feature seen by divers. The multicolored spirals are highly derived structures for feeding and respiration.

Spirobranchus Gianteius Peniez is similar to most tube-building polychaetes. It has a tubular, segmented body lined with chaeta, small appendages that aid the worm's mobility. Because it does not move outside its tube, this worm does not have any specialized appendages for movement or swimming.

The worms' most distinct features are two "crowns" shaped like Christmas trees. These are highly modified prostomial palps, which are specialized mouth appendages. Each spiral is composed of feather-like tentacles called radioles, which are heavily ciliated and cause any prey trapped in them to be transported to the worm's mouth. While they are primarily feeding structures, S. giganteus also uses its radioles for respiration; hence, the structures commonly are called "gills."

Weird and wacky geographical facts

CANADA HAS A LOT OF LAKES.

Canada is the second largest country in the world, so it may not come as a surprise that it has a lot of lakes. But it might shock you that the country has more than half of all the natural lakes in the world. An impressive nine percent of the country is covered in fresh water.

THE ENTIRETY OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION COULD EASILY FIT IN TEXAS.

If the entire world were as densely populated as New York City, the whole population would only cover 250,404 square miles. That means the entire world could fit into the state of Texas. For comparison, if the world had the same population density as Houston, Texas, it would cover 1,769,085 square miles. Even then, being able to hypothetically fit over 7 billion people in an area smaller than half the United States is pretty impressive.

AUSTRALIA MAY BE SURROUNDED BY WATER, BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE THE WORLD’S LONGEST COASTLINE.

Being its own continent and completely surrounded by water, you’d think Australia would easily have the honor of being the country with the longest coastline. However, that title goes to Canada. Canada has 152,100 miles of coastline, compared to Australia’s measly 16,000 miles. In fact, Australia ranks seventh on the list of the world’s longest coastlines, coming in behind Indonesia, Greenland, Russia, Philippines, and Japan.

MT. CHIMBORAZO IS CLOSER TO SPACE THAN MT. EVEREST.

Mount Everest is the tallest mountain on Earth, so it would stand to reason that the top of the mountain would be the highest point on Earth (and therefore closest to space). But when you remember that Earth is slightly oval-shaped, things get interesting. Our planet is slightly inflated around the equator, meaning countries like Ecuador and Kenya have a bit of an edge. With this added elevation, the top of Ecuador’s Mount Chimborazo (which is only 20,564 feet tall) is closest to the stars.

ANTARCTICA IS HOME TO ALMOST ALL OF THE WORLD’S FRESH WATER.

At 14 million square kilometers (about 5,400,000 square miles), the ice sheet in Antarctica is the largest solid ice mass on the planet. The enormous frozen structure contains about 90 percent of all the fresh water on Earth.

CHINA AND RUSSIA ARE BOTH BORDERED BY 14 COUNTRIES.

Although China is just a little more than half the size of Russia—the largest country in the world—they share the same number of land neighbors. The 14 countries bordering China are: India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Bhutan, and Nepal.

Geographical facts

• The largest city in the world – based on surface area, is Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia which is 263,953 km squared.

• The hottest temperature recorded on earth is El Azizia Libya at 136 F, the coldest was -134 degrees fahrenheit in Vostok Antarctica. The hottest average temp is in western Australia, it is 96 degrees year round on average.

• San Marino claims to be the world’s oldest constitutional republic – it was founded in 301 by a Christian stonemason fleeing persecution under Emperor Diocletian. Its constitution of 1600 is the oldest written constitution in the world. San Marino is pictured above.

• Though Mt. Everest is the highest altitude in terms of sea level on the planet, Mount Chimborazo is the closest to the moon. The Marianas Trench is the lowest place on earth.

• Alaska is the most Northern, Eastern, AND Western state in all of America. It is the only state that enters the “Eastern Hemisphere” making it also the most eastern lying and western lying state.

Vampire Squid

Vampire Squid

The vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis, lit. "vampire squid from Hell") is a small, deep-sea cephalopod found throughout the temperate and tropical oceans of the world.  Unique retractile sensory filaments justify the vampire squid's placement in its own order: Vampyromorphida (formerly Vampyromorpha), which shares similarities with both squid and octopodes.

As a phylogenetic relict it is the only known surviving member of its order, first described and originally classified as an octopus in 1903 by German teuthologist Carl Chun, but later assigned to a new order together with several extinct taxa.

With the largest eyes (proportionally speaking) of any animal in the world, this deep sea creature is born to live in the depths. And no, it doesn’t suck blood, in fact its tentacles barely have suckers at all. The name actually comes from its intensely red eyes and cloak like webbing. 

Red-bearded Titi

Red-bearded Titi

The Caquetá titi (Callicebus caquetensis), also known as the red-bearded titi or the bushy-bearded titi, is a species of titi monkey endemic to Colombia found in the Department of Caquetá region. Taxonomically, it is a member of the Callicebus cupreus group, following Shunsuke Kobayashi's Callicebus grouping. It was first described by Thomas Defler, Marta Bueno and Javier Garcia in 2010.  It is highly endangered due to habitat fragmentation and a small population.

As it appears the adorable bearded little things are critically endangered, with an estimated surviving population of less than 250. The red-bearded titi, like many primates, shares a surprising number of characteristics with humans.

One such characteristic is that they mate for life – an uncommon habit in the primate world. A typical couple has a baby every year, and males are responsible for a majority of the infant’s care. Couples have often been seen sitting together on tree branches with tails intertwined. 

Mantis Shrimp

Mantis Shrimp

Mantis shrimps, or stomatopods, are marine crustaceans of the order Stomatopoda. They branched from other members of the class Malacostraca around 400 Mya.  Mantis shrimps typically grow to around 10 centimetres (3.9 in) in length. A few can reach up to 38 cm (15 in). The largest mantis shrimp ever caught had a length of 46 cm (18 in) and was caught in the Indian River near Fort Pierce, Florida, in the United States.  

A mantis shrimp's carapace (the bony, thick shell that covers crustaceans and some other species) covers only the rear part of the head and the first four segments of the thorax. Varieties range from shades of brown to vivid colours, as there are more than 450 species of mantis shrimp.

They are among the most important predators in many shallow, tropical and sub-tropical marine habitats. However, despite being common, they are poorly understood as many species spend most of their life tucked away in burrows and holes. Also called the “sea locusts“, “prawn killers” and even “thumb splitters”, this is one of the most common predators in tropical and sub-tropical waters. 

Yeti Crab

Yeti Crab

Kiwa hirsuta is a crustacean discovered in 2005 in the South Pacific Ocean. This decapod, which is approximately 15 cm (5.9 in) long, is notable for the quantity of silky blond setae (resembling fur) covering its pereiopods (thoracic legs, including claws). Its discoverers dubbed it the "yeti lobster" or "yeti crab".

Given the presence of a substantial quantity of silky blond setae, its discoverers were quick to dub it the ‘yeti crab’. The unusual little decapod reaches an average length of around fifteen centimetres (just under six inches) and lives around hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean.

It is for this reason that the fur-like setae contain filamentous bacteria, which allow the creature to detoxify poisonous substances emitted in the water by vents. It has been speculated that the yeti crab may actually feed on such bacteria – but it is generally believed to be a carnivore.

Glaucus Atlanticus

Glaucus Atlanticus

Also known as the blue dragon, this creature is a is a species of blue sea slug. You could find it in warm waters of the oceans, as it floats on the surface because of a gas-filled sac in its stomach.

These sea slugs are pelagic: they float upside down by using the surface tension of the water to stay up, where they are carried along by the winds and ocean currents. 

Glaucus atlanticus is camouflaged: the blue side of their body faces upwards, blending in with the blue of the water. The silver/grey side of the sea slugs faces downwards, blending in with the silvery surface of the sea.

Glaucus atlanticus feeds on other pelagic creatures, including the venomous siphonophore, the Portuguese man o' war. This sea slug stores stinging nematocysts from the cnidarian within its own tissues as defense against predation. Humans handling the slug may receive a very painful and potentially dangerous sting.

Umbonia Spinosa

Umbonia Spinosa

This uncommon creature has an official name that sounds like one of Harry Potter’s spells, but it is sometimes called a treehopper or thorn bug. This delightfully strange bug has scientists rather baffled as there hasn’t been a ton of intense research on them, though they believe it to be closely related to the cicada.

Though other thorn bugs have a shape that looks like, well thorns, this one seems to be sporting a strange helmet that appears to be more of a fashion statement than good camouflage.Like other bugs, they use their sharp mouthparts to pierce plants and stems and suck the sap inside them.

Because of their sweet diet, like aphids, they produce a sugary excrement which ants really love called honeydew. These thorn bugs are related to cicadas, and use their beaks to pierce plant stems to feed upon their sap. Their strange appearance still poses many questions to scientists. 

Walter’s Duiker

Walter’s Duiker

Walter's duiker (Philantomba walteri) is a species of duiker found in Togo, Benin and Nigeria. It was described in 2010. Its name commemorates Professor Walter Verheyen, who was the first to obtain a specimen of this species of duiker from Togo in 1968.

Walter’s Duiker is a fascinating little creature, officially discovered in 2010 in the Dahomey Gap, West Africa. when Walter Verheyen – the man after whom the species is named – retrieved a specimen in Togo.

One of the most interesting characteristics about the species is its small stature, measuring an average of only forty centimeters (sixteen inches) in height and typically weighing four to six kilograms. In addition to its small height, the duiker has hind legs which are longer than their counterparts up front. This is particularly interesting given that the duiker is not a grazing animal, and typically feeds on berries and other similar items of nourishment, which grow on plants.



Louisiana Pancake Batfish

Louisiana Pancake Batfish

Louisiana pancake batfish, Halieutichthys intermedius, belongs to the Ogcocephalidae family of batfish. It is native to the Gulf of Mexico, and was discovered in 2010. The known range of the species lies within the area of the Gulf of Mexico which was affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Belonging to the Ogcocephalidae family of batfish, the Louisiana pancake batfish is a bizarre looking creature native to the Gulf of Mexico. The species was discovered in 2010, during the cleanup process following the infamous oil spill in the gulf, which affected every kind of batfish.

The Louisiana pancake batfish’s name comes from its shape, which quite closely resembles that of a horrendously prepared pancake. The strange manner it has of moving along the ocean floor is described as being similar to the way a bat crawls. The pancake batfish feeds on invertebrates, which it uses chemical lures to capture.

Goliath Bird Eating Spider

Goliath Bird Eating Spider

The Goliath birdeater spider (Theraphosa blondi) belongs to the tarantula family Theraphosidae. Found in northern South America, it is the largest spider in the world by mass and size, but it is second to the giant huntsman spider by leg-span. It is also called the Goliath bird-eating spider; the practice of calling theraphosids "bird-eating" derives from an early 18th-century copper engraving by Maria Sibylla Merian that shows one eating a hummingbird. It only rarely preys on adult birds.

 The species was officially discovered in 2006 during an expedition to Guyana. It is a burrowing spider, feeding primarily on invertebrates, though it has also been observed eating small mammals, lizards, and venomous snakes (surprise surprise). Fully grown specimens can reach a horrific weight of around six ounces.

The goliath bird eater is a species of tarantula, and has relatively weak venom, which causes mild swelling and pain for a few hours. But the thing that poses the biggest threat to us humans is the goliath’s ability to expel urticating hairs from its body. These tiny, nearly invisible hairs float through the air – and have an awful tendency to stick in the eyes.

Tonguefish

Tongue-fish

Tongue-fishes are flatfishes in the family Cynoglossidae. They are distinguished by the presence of a long hook on the snout overhanging the mouth, and the absence of pectoral fins. Their eyes are both on the left side of their bodies, which also lack a pelvic fin. This family has three genera with a total of more than 140 species. The largest reaches a length of 66 cm (26 in), though most species only reach half that size or less. They are found in tropical and subtropical oceans, mainly in shallow waters and estuaries, though a few species found in deep sea floors, and a few in rivers.

This handsome fellow is a species of tongue-fish, which are usually found in shallow estuaries or tropical oceans. This one lives in the deep sea, and was trawled from the bottom of the western Pacific earlier this year. 

Interestingly, some tonguefish have been spotted around sulphur-spewing hydrothermal vents, but scientists are unsure of the mechanism that allows this species to survive the conditions there. Like all bottom-dwelling tonguefish, both of it eyes appear on one side of its head. Unlike many tonguefish, however, they happen to look exactly like googly eyes from a golliwog.




Carnivorous Coral

Carnivorous Coral

Chondrocladia lyra, also known as the lyre sponge or harp sponge, is a species of carnivorous deep-sea sponge first discovered off the Californian coast living at depths of 10,800–11,500 feet (3,300–3,500 m) by Welton L. Lee, Henry M Reiswig, William C. Austin, and Lonny Lundsten from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI).

The species was listed among the Top 10 New Species 2013 discovered in 2012 as selected by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University out of more than 140 nominated species. The selection was publicised on 22 May 2013.

Most corals obtain nutrients from photosynthetic algae that live within the coral’s tissue. That also means that they have to live within 200ft/60m of the surface. Well, not this species, also known as the harp sponge.

It was discovered in 2000 off the coast of California, but only confirmed to be carnivorous this year. Shaped somewhat like a candelabra to increase its surface area, it traps tiny crustaceans with tiny Velcro-like hooks and then spreads a membrane over it, slowly digesting it with chemicals. As if that wasn’t weird enough, it reproduces using “sperm packets” – see those balls at the top of each branch? Yes, those are packets of spermatophores, and every now and then they float away to find another sponge and reproduce.

Squat Lobster

Squat Lobster

Squat lobsters are dorsoventrally flattened crustaceans with long tails held curled beneath the cephalothorax. They are found in the two superfamilies Galatheoidea and Chirostyloidea, which form part of the decapod infraorder Anomura, alongside groups including the hermit crabs and mole crabs. They are distributed worldwide in the oceans, and occur from near the surface to deep sea hydrothermal vents, even occurring above water in caves . More than 900 species have been described, in around 60 genera. Some species form dense aggregations, either on the sea floor or in the water column, and a small number are subject to commercial fishery.

Looking rather unnervingly like a headcrab, these unique lobsters were found on the same dive that discovered the polychaete worm, but a little deeper, at around 4,600 feet/1,400 metres. Although the squat lobster was already known to science, this particular species had never before been seen. Squat lobsters live as deep as 5,000 metres, and are distinguished by their large front claws and compressed bodies.

They can be detritus-feeders, algal grazers, scavengers or predators. Not much is known about this particular species, except that it was almost exclusively found near deep-sea corals.