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Polydactyly
Polydactyly or polydactylism (from Greek πολύς (polys) 'many', and δάκτυλος (daktylos) 'finger'), also known as hyperdactyly, is an anomaly in humans and animals resulting in supernumerary fingers and/or toes.
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Bear-hunting suit from the 1800s
The armor now resides at a museum called the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas. The museum consists of collected artifacts and the private art of the Menil family.
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The proverbial “Eye of the Storm” seen from space
What a typhoon looks like from space (Typhoon Trami, 2018).
Credit: ISS, ESA/NASA-A.Gerst
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The original Michelin Man
Bibendum commonly referred to in English as the Michelin Man is the official mascot of the Michelin tire company. A humanoid figure consisting of stacked white tires, it was introduced at the Lyon Exhibition of 1894 where the Michelin brothers had a stand. He is one of the world's oldest trademarks still in active use. The slogan Nunc est bibendum ("Now is the time to drink") is taken from Horace's Odes. He is also referred to as Bib or Bibelobis.
While attending the Universal and Colonial Exposition in Lyon in 1894, Édouard and André Michelin noticed a stack of tires that suggested to Édouard the figure of a man without arms. Four years later, André met French cartoonist Marius Rossillon, popularly known as O'Galop, who showed him a rejected image he had created for a Munich brewery a large, regal figure holding a huge glass of beer and quoting Horace's phrase Nunc est bibendum. André immediately suggested replacing the man with a figure made from tires, and O'Galop adapted the earlier image into Michelin's symbol.
The 1898 poster showed him offering the toast Nunc est bibendum to his scrawny Brand X competitors with a glass full of road hazards, with the title and tag C'est à dire : À votre santé. Le pneu Michelin boit l'obstacle. The character's glass is filled with nails and broken glass, implying that Michelin tires will easily take on road hazards.
Bibendum's shape has changed over the years. O'Galop's logo was based on bicycle tires, wore pince-nez glasses with lanyard, and smoked a cigar. By the 1960s, Bibendum was shown running, often rolling a tyre as well, and no longer smoked. In 1998, his 100th anniversary, a slimmed-down version of him (sans glasses) was adopted. reflecting the lower-profile, smaller tires of modern cars. A computer-animated version of Bibendum has appeared in American television ads, with a pet puppy similar in appearance to him.
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Photographer finds Polar Bears that took over an abandoned building
In September 2021 A Russian photographer (Dmitry Kokh) captured a fascinating series of photos showing polar bears that took over the abandoned buildings of a meteorological station on an island between Russia and Alaska. The island is located in the Chukchi Sea, a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean.
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An osprey (𝘗𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘴) carrying a bonnet head shark (𝘚𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘳𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘰) in its talons
The osprey (Pandion haliaetus), also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than 60 cm (24 in) in length and 180 cm (71 in) across the wings. It is brown on the upperparts and predominantly greyish on the head and underparts.
The genus name Pandion derives from Pandíōn Πανδίων, the mythical Greek king of Athens and grandfather of Theseus, Pandion II. The species name haliaetus comes from Greek ἁλιάετος haliáetos "sea-eagle".
The osprey tolerates a wide variety of habitats, nesting in any location near a body of water providing an adequate food supply. It is found on all continents except Antarctica, although in South America it occurs only as a non-breeding migrant.
As its other common names suggest, the osprey's diet consists almost exclusively of fish. It possesses specialised physical characteristics and unique behaviour in hunting its prey. Its unique characteristics classify it in its own taxonomic genus, Pandion, and family, Pandionidae.
The osprey has several adaptations that suit its piscivorous lifestyle:
- reversible outer toes
- sharp spicules on the underside of the toes
- closable nostrils to keep out water during dives
- backward-facing scales on the talons which act as barbs to help hold its catch
- dense plumage which is oily and prevents its feathers from getting waterlogged.
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A peacock astonishing train rattling
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The peacock "tail", is known as a train, consisting not of tail quill feathers, but highly elongated upper tail coverts. These feathers are marked with eyespots, best seen when a peacock fans his tail. The peacock tail produces colours by thin-film interference.
These tail feathers, or coverts, spread out in a distinctive train that is more than 60 percent of the bird’s total body length and boast colorful eye markings of blue, gold, red, and other hues.
The large train is used in mating rituals and courtship displays. It can be arched into a magnificent fan that reaches across the bird's back and touches the ground on either side.
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Green meteor captured in Southern India
Photographer Prasenjeet Yadav was taking pictures in the Western Ghats in 2015 when he captured this breathtaking shot!
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A bottle falls off a shelf and seamlessly repositions itself
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Orcas attacking a Great White Shark
When you think of top ocean predators, you probably think of sharks. That’s wrong!
Originally orcas, which are the largest members of the dolphin family, where called killer of whales. Then the name transformed into killer whales, leading to people to believe that they belong to the whale family... Well they actually eat whales and sharks as well!
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Armadillo girdled lizard (𝘖𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘴)
The armadillo girdled lizard (Ouroborus cataphractus), also commonly known as the armadillo lizard, the armadillo spiny-tailed lizard, and the golden-armadillo lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Cordylidae.
The species is endemic to desert areas along the western coast of South Africa. It can be a light brown to dark brown in coloration. The underbelly is yellow with a blackish pattern, especially under the chin. Its size can range from 7.5 to 9 cm (3.0 to 3.5 in) in snout-vent length (SVL). It may grow to a maximum size of 20 cm (8 in) SVL.
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The largest super-massive black hole (blazar S5 0014+81) compared to our Solar System
A blazar is an active galactic nucleus (AGN) with a relativistic jet (a jet composed of ionized matter traveling at nearly the speed of light) directed towards an observer.
Blazars are powerful sources of emission across the electromagnetic spectrum and are observed to be sources of high-energy gamma ray photons.
Blazars are highly variable sources, often undergoing rapid and dramatic fluctuations in brightness on short timescales (hours to days).
In 2009, a team of astronomers using the Swift spacecraft used the luminosity of S5 0014+81 to measure the mass of its super-massive black hole. They found it to be about 10,000 times more massive than the black hole at the center of our galaxy, or equivalent to 40 billion solar masses
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Playtime in Rwanda
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I would probably break my ankles if I tried that!
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The Danakil Depression looks like another planet entirely.
Located near the boarder of Ethiopia and Somalia.