ichthyologist:

Spring-Loaded Hood Orchids

Some orchids of the genus Pterostylis have adopted rapid plant movement as a method of ensuring pollination.

Male fungus gnats are attracted to pheromones exuded by the flower and try to copulate with the dark, furry structure known as the labellum. The labellum is attached to a sensitive elastic strap that flips upwards in response to disturbance.

If a gnat lands on the labellum, the whole surface springs back and traps the pollinator in the hood. To escape, the insect must crawl through a small opening in the hood, brushing against the orchid’s pollinia in the process. These sticky packets of pollen adhere to the insects back.

The insect, now carrying pollen, visits a new flower and goes through the ordeal again. This time, the pollen on the insect’s back brushes past the new flower’s stigma while the pollinator escapes, which fertilises the flower.

(Pterostylis longifolia shown)

via Flickr

(via somuchscience)

sirhobbesy:

sacred-fox:

peashooter85:

Flintlock sporting rifle owned by Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia and brother of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.

Dat’s a beee-yootiful shoota, bozz.

Needz mo’ dakka tho

aresnakesreal:

my aunt’s dog went to day care and they gave her this report card which i’m really happy about

featherwurm:

‘The Cat Who Stole the Sky’

letsbuildahome-fr:

Jun Aoki - SIA Aoyama Building, Maebashi 2008. Photos (C) Daici Ono. 

travelingcolors:

Calleja de las Flores, Córdoba | Spain (by Nacho Coca)

(via letsbuildahome-fr)

spaceplasma:

Dirty thunderstorms

A dirty thunderstorm (also, Volcanic lightning) is a weather phenomenon that occurs when lightning is produced in a volcanic plume. A study in the journal Science indicated that electrical charges are generated when rock fragments, ash, and ice particles in a volcanic plume collide and produce static charges, just as ice particles collide in regular thunderstorms.

(via necromorph-slayinglovemachine)

beautifulindianbrides:

Photo by: Pardeep Singh

(via sirhobbesy)

(via fuckyeahsciencefiction)

rossexton:

When a newt loses a limb, cells in the region of the wound de-differentiate into stem cells, which then form a mass of cells called a blastema, from which the limb regrows. 

(via New Scientist)

(via molecularlifesciences)