all nature and art: May 2012

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Unbelievable rarest flowers in the world


When spring is in full swing, there is no denying how beautiful the world looks. The trees get new leaves and with them come an array of colorful flowers. Butterflies and hummingbirds are everywhere as the sombre winter mood lifts. It’s my personal favorite time of the year. In this list we will take a look at some amazing flowers which, sadly, you probably won’t see this coming spring. These are the rare, endangered and in some cases extinct in the wild flowers. The reason most of these carry the title of rare, is because humans do not have the ability to work in perfect harmony with nature. For example, Humans build a dam, the dam prevents a specific river from flowing freely, which prevents a specific frog or fish from breading, which results in a specific kind of bird not getting food, which results in a specific kind of flower not being pollinated, which can eventually lead to the extinction of that plant. In that one scenario of building a dam humans have basically killed off three species, and history is filled with hundreds of similar occurrences. Regardless of what drove them to become rarities, the following plants are far and few between, and having the opportunity to see one for yourself should be a celebrated occurrence.
Middlemist Red
Middlemist camellia

This is probably the rarest flowering plant in the world as there are only 2 known examples. One can be found in a garden in New Zealand and the other is situated in a greenhouse in Britain. The plant was originally brought to Britain from China by John Middlemist (after whom the plant was named) in 1804. It has since been completely wiped out in China. The plant in Britain

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Sculptures by Michelle Bradshaw

This post features a collection of wonderful still life sculptures created by Michelle Bradshaw, a very creative female artist from United States. I would like to truly adore her sculptures because they are just beautiful and so inspiring.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Some evolution in action


Evolution is one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time. Armed with the knowledge of the interconnectedness of all life on earth, biologists have made startling discoveries. There is so much evidence in favor of evolution, that arguing against it is like denying that there is a moon in the sky. Yet people do still actively deny evolution occurs. Speciation, the formation of a new species from an ancestor species, takes a very long time yet there are evolutionary steps which can be observed. Here are eight examples, amongst many, of evolution in action.
Live Birth in Three-toed Skinks
The example of the peppered moth is a nice one for textbooks because it uses a single trait. Speciation involves many mutations leading to significant changes. The yellow bellied three-toed skink (Saiphos equalis) is a lizard of New South Wales, in Australia, that appears to be undergoing the change from laying eggs to live birth. Since these skinks can either lay eggs or give birth, it gives scientists the chance to study the adaptations necessary for live birth. Skink embryos encased in an egg have an extra source of calcium that the live born skinks lack. It turns out that this

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Wonderful eye manipulation

As you know photo manipulation is one of the oldest retouching techniques in the world of photography and deals with a combination of graphic design and photography. Because of this, most of the photos that have gone through this method of photo editing give an appearance of illusion that could mostly be found in photo art. Hope you will enjoy our collection of creative eye manipulation images.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Examples of species


A Lazarus species, or taxon, is one which is thought to be extinct, only to reappear. The coelecanth is possibly the most famous example, but this list looks at some of the more recent rediscoveries, to highlight that work is still going on and exciting discoveries are being made all the time. The list includes, mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles. It is far from being a definitive list, more a sample of what is out there. The species are listed in no particular order.
Bavarian Pine Vole
Microtus bavaricus
Thought extinct: 1962
Rediscovered: 2000/2001
Current status: Critically Endangered
The rediscovery of this small rodent, indigenous to the Alpine regions of Bavaria, Austria and Italy, is interesting as it shows how long it can sometimes take for a creature previously considered extinct to be recognized as extant. The mammal was last recorded in 1962, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, which at that time was the vole’s only known location. It was feared extinct in the 1980s, when the last of the meadows which it inhabited were paved over and built on. However, a population of the animals was discovered in the Austrian Tyrol in 1976/77, but these were not confirmed as being