Mandalas Created by the Song of Whales and Dolphins

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The complexity and aural beauty of the song of the whales and the dolphins is being studied by marine biologists all over the world. The song is composed by a variety of sounds and meanings that have led many investigators to theorize that whales have their own language with a particular grammar and a hierarchic structure similar to the human sintaxis. Does this language based on frequencies resonating all over the seas and oceans as undecipherable and angelical songs hold the planetary secrets?

Beyond the semantic field of these songs, we can appreciate that this sound-based language contains the fractal language that permeates the Universe. If we can see the galactic spiral in the Fibonacci sequence, in fingerprints, in metereological systems or in a snail, it is also possible to observe part of this formal code in the song of the whales and dolphins, thus unifying the whole Universe under a geometric correspondence. It wouldn’t be exaggerated to say that inside those frequencies there are mandalas, mountains, galaxies and imperceptible elements that reflect the harmony underlying the matter. Sigue leyendo

The Spectacular Dance of the Starlings (video)

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Sophie Windsor Clive and Liberty Smith were having fun with their canoe when they witnessed the most amazing view they can remember. The result is Murmurationan astonishing and touching video that perfectly captures one of the most beautiful phenomena of Nature: the dance of thousands of starlings, just above the two of them.

Thousands of consciousnesses melting together, retaining their individuality, but feeling the wholeness; this creates an overwhelming beauty. Plants are aware of it, the birds and the mountains are also aware of it, and more and more people are starting to do so. We hope you enjoy this divine union! Sigue leyendo

Incredible Encounter with a Group of Wild Mountain Gorillas (video)

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This scene took place last month in the well-known Impenetrable National Park of Bwindi, Uganda. A group of explorers penetrated one of the very few areas of the Earth where these populations of gorillas in danger of extinction live freely. Suddenly, they run into a group of gorillas. From the minute 02:32 on, you will se the “typical” reaction of a father who realises that his son has stopped in order to explore and play.
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Superpowered Animals: 5 Animal Senses You Won’t Believe Are Possible

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The human imagination is pretty limited when it comes to animal senses. We call people with good vision “eagle eye,” and believe that toucan’s can smell cereal because they have big noses. It turns out the animal kingdom has plenty of creatures whose senses go beyond what we can conceive without our head exploding.

Silvertip Grizzlies Can Smell You From 18 Miles Away (And Across Time)

Silvertip grizzlies can smell your fear, just like any other predator. But unlike most predators, they can smell your fear over distances measured in double digits. In miles. These bears can smell a carcass from 18 miles away. When a silvertip enters a clearing, you’re screwed even if you left 48 hours before. And if you’re still there, all that sweating will be laying down a neon-colored trail for the bear to follow until you get tired.

Part of the reason for this is because, despite what some scientists would have you believe, predators are scavengers as well, and the ability to smell a dead body close to 20 miles away goes a long way toward helping get a free meal. Sigue leyendo

The Immortal Jellyfish

nutricula-turritopsisThe search for the fountain of youth has been ongoing ever since man decided that dying wasn’t all that appealing. And now, it appears that this elusive holy grail has been found, albeit by a species that is not ours! So who is the lucky winner of the everlasting life sweepstakes? None other than the humble and dime-sized jellyfish known as Turritopsis nutricula. This creature has accomplished what no other biological being on our planet has ever been known to do: reverse it’s aging to become young again after reaching full maturity! As early as 1992, scientists had observed this phenomenon in Turritopsis and research into its secrets was ongoing. However, a recent spike in the numbers and geographic distribution of this species has once again brought it to the attention of the greater scientific community because of the many important breakthroughs we have witnessed in stem cell research in the past decade. As regenerative medicine continues to grow into the future of medicine, it’s clear that this tiny jellyfish may hold the answers to not only addressing the many aging-related ailments we face, but also our own mortality!

In the picture below, you can see the typical lifecycle of a jellyfish. It starts out as a larva that eventually sinks to the bottom of the ocean and attaches to a sturdy substrate and continues development into a polyp that resembles a sea plant. The polyp then matures to become a free-floating medusa. 

ciclo-vida-medusa Not much excitement so far, but Turritopsis has put an interesting twist to this process. It undergoes development much like what I’ve described above and what many of its relatives go through. However, during times of stress like a shortage of food, Turritopsis responds by beginning to reverse the process before eventually becoming a polyp again. From this point then, it can again develop into a sexually mature medusa when conditions become more favorable. Theoretically, it can repeat this process indefinitely as its cells undergo a process called transdifferentiation, a rare biological process whereby any non-stem cell can become a different cell entirely. It is still unclear whether only specific cells can only become other specific cells or if any cell in Turritopsis has the potential to become any other cell.

Our Amazing Planet: Top to Bottom (Infographic)

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The Impressive Camouflage System of the Octopus (video)

Nature will never stop surprising us. This time we are given the chance to witness the impressive capacity of the octopus to mimic its environment.

The video only lasts one minute and we can see it in real time speed as well as in slow-motion. Speechless.

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Incredible Animal Kingdom: a Leopard adopts a Baby Baboon

An amazing piece of natural history footage. Lakadema, a 3 year old Leopard, cuddles a baby baboon whose mother she has just killed. This short clip is a great example of how the motherly instinct is present in every mother. The wisdom of the animal kingdom is simply magnificent.

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Save the Bees

beeThe U.N. on Thursday expressed alarm at a huge decline in bee colonies under a multiple onslaught of pests and pollution, urging an international effort to save the pollinators that are vital for food crops.

Much of the decline, ranging up to 85 percent in some areas, is taking place in the industrialized northern hemisphere due to more than a dozen factors, according to a report by the UN’s environmental agency. Sigue leyendo