Tuesday, October 30, 2012

10 Most Disturbing Animals on Earth

Gumprecht's Green Pit Viper

This striking bright green snake, commonly known as Gumprecht's green pit viper, is found in the Southeast Asian region of Greater Mekong. 

The serpent, which has the formal name Trimeresurus gumprechti, was first described by scientists in 2002, although he doesn't look like he appreciates having been discovered.

Aye-aye

Considered by locals as a harbinger of misfortune, the Aye-aye is one of the world’s most rare and bizarre looking primates. To the Malagasy people, the aye-aye is magical, and believed to bring death to the village it appears in; therefore they’re often killed on sight. The aye-aye is the world’s largest nocturnal primate with an average head and body length of 16 inches (40 centimeters), a long bushy tail of 2 feet (61 centimeters) long, and weighs about 4 pounds (2 kilos). The Aye-aye has large beady eyes, black hair, and large spoon-shaped ears. It has 5-fingered hands with flat nails, with a middle finger up to 3 times the length of the others. 

Desert Mole Rat

The Desert Mole Rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is a burrowing rodent native to parts of East Africa notable for its eusocial lifestyle, nearly unique among mammals, and for a highly unusual set of physical traits that enables it to thrive in a harsh, underground environment, including a lack of pain sensation in its skin, and a nearly cold-blooded metabolism. Plus, it is horrible. 

Frilled Lizard

The frilled lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingi) is a yellowish-brown australian lizard has got a large frill of skin to the sides of the neck and throat. It is about 90 cm/35 in long, and when is angry or alarmed, it erects its frill, which may be as much as 25cm/10 in in diameter, thus giving itself the appearance of being larger than it really is. Frilled lizards are generally tree-living but may spend some time on the ground, where they run with their forelimbs in the air. 

Giant Isopod

This Predator look-alike is a Giant Isopod (Bathynomus giganteus), a carnivorous crustacean that spends its time scavenging the deep ocean floor, up to 6,000ft down on the seabed where there is no light. In the pitch black and cold, they survive by feasting on dead and decaying fish and other marine animals. 

Giant leaf-tailed Gecko

The Giant leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus fimbriatus) is endemic to Madagascar and the islands Nosy Bohara and Nosy Mangabe. These geckos live intropical rain forests and reach a total length of 330 mm. A large nocturnal gecko, by day it plasters it self to a small tree trunk and rests head down. If disturbed it will raise it tail and head, open its mouth and scream... and call his mom. 

Kerivoula Kachinensis

Another of the species found in one of the world's last scientifically unexplored regions, Asia's Greater Mekong, the Kerivoula Kachinensis is one of the most disturbing bats ever found. 

Star-nosed Mole

One of the most intriguing stars in the universe is right here on Earth: the eleven pairs of pink fleshy appendages ringing the snout of the star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata). From its appearance and location, one would think this star might be a supersensitive olfactory organ, helping the nearly blind mole negotiate its subterranean environment, or an extra hand for grasping prey or manipulating objects. Some researchers have hypothesized that the star detects electric fields, thus acting as a kind of antenna. But in reality, the star is an extraordinary touch organ with more than 25,000 minute sensory receptors, called Eimer’s organs, with which this hamster-sized mole feels its way around. 

Snakefish

In 2002, the snakefish (or Channidae) was described as “something from a bad horror movie” by US Interior Secretary Gale Norton. Some describe snakefish as having ”a voracious appetite, often consuming all other fish in a lake or pond and even eating its young. It can slither across land, staying out of water for up to three days, to find new sources of food.” Norton also warns that once on land ”snakeheads can eat almost any small animal in its path…. They have even attacked people in China who got too close to snakeheads’ egg nesting areas.” According to Wikipedia, snakefish can be up to over a metre in length and over 6 kilograms in weight. Most snakefish are 2-3 feet long. They’re also fast reproducers with no natural enemies outside of their native environments. Within their native environments, small snakefish are preyed upon by bigger fish, while full-grown snakefish are consumed by crocodiles and alligators. Because of their ability to move into new habitats and wipe out local ecosystems (and to then hop out of the water and mosey on over to another body of water and repeat the process) snakefish have been prohibited in 13 American states and other countries (e.g., Australia). 

Puss Caterpillar



The puss caterpillar is the most poisonous caterpillar in the United States. Its poison is hidden in hollow spines among its hairs. This hairy caterpillar is found in the southern states, ranging west through most of Texas and north to Maryland and Missouri. It feeds on shade trees such as elm, oak, and sycamore. Puss caterpillars vary in size from 1.2 in.(32 mm) to 1.4 in.(36 mm). Its video below it's a must-see.

The Salt Hotel: Please do not lick the walls


In the dining room of the Salt Hotel of Bolivia, the salt is always on the table. In fact, the salt is the table. 

Along with photographer Robert Dam, Oddee's crew went on July 2008 to this unique hotel located over the Uyuni Flats --world's largest salt flat--, in the southwestern part of the country. 

The hotel was built in 1993 by a salt artisan who saw a mint in the number oftourists looking for places to stay while visiting the flats. The lodge has 15bedrooms, a dining room, a living room and a bar. 

The buildings's roof, and bar are built of salt and even the floor is coveredwith salt granules. The walls are made of salt blocks stuck together with a cement-like substance made of salt and water. During rainy seasons, the walls are strengthened with new blocks, while the owners ask the guests to avoid licking the walls to prevent deterioration. 


The Hotel's Swimming pool. Really.

Please don't lick the... too late 





Oh come on, it was begging for it...

World's Most Extreme Piercings


Every year during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar(September / October), Thais celebrate the Vegetarian Festival. It is believed that the festival and its accompanying sacred rituals bestow good fortune upon those who religiously observe this rite. 

During this time, local residents of Chinese ancestry strictly observe a 10-day vegetarian or vegan diet for the purposes of spiritual cleansing and merit-making. Sacred rituals are performed at various Chinese shrines and temples and aesthetic displays, such as walking barefooted over hot coals and ascending ladders with bladed rungs are performed by entranced devotees known as "Ma Song". 

The festival started in 1825 and its paricipants are not allowed to eat meat or have sex at the time of the festival. For obvious reasons participants are asked to use only sterile blades, spears and guns. 

Meet Thailand's Phuket Vegetarian Festival. 












































Monday, October 29, 2012

12 Funniest Billboards



fake, according to businessweek --thanks Brian! 







Cemetery advertising 




20 of the World's Most Beautiful Libraries

For some people it’s castles with their noble history and crumbling towers, for others it’s abandoned factories or lost cities. But for those who enjoy reading, a huge beautiful library is a place of endless pleasure. Meet 20 of the biggest and most beautiful libraries around the globe, as presented byCurious Expeditions. You can find this and more fascinating pictures onCandida Hofer's Libraries book. 

Abbey Library St. Gallen, Switzerland

Real Gabinete Portugues De Leitura, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil 

Trinity College LIbrary, AKA, The Long Room, Dublin, Ireland

Melk Monastery Library, Melk, Austria 

Jay Walker's Private Library 

Rijkmuseum Library, Amsterdam 

Biblioteca Geral University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal 

Wiblingen Monastary Library, Ulm, Germany

Stiftsbibliothek Klosterneuburg, Klosterneuburg, Austria

Central Library, Seattle 

Library of the Benedictine Monastery of Admont, Austria 

George Peabody Library, Baltimore, Maryland, USA 

Library of Parliament, Ottawa, Canada 

Strahov Monastery - Theological Library, Prague, Czech Republic 

Herzog August Library, Wolfenbüttel, Germany 

National Library, Belarus 

Riksdagen Library, Swedish Parliament Library, Stockholm, Sweden 

Sansovino Library, Venice, Italy 

Old British Reading Room, British Museum, London, England 

Library of Congress, Washington, DC, US