Created by Spanish artist Maximo Riera, The Octopus Chair waves a dismissive tentacle at questions like WTF!?
, Why?
and Where on earth would I put it?
. Who cares if it doesn’t match your other flat-packed fjürniture? So what if it costs more than Captain Nemo’s submarine? We guarantee almost any problem can be overcome when you have an enormous octopus watching your back — via Firebox.com
This solid antique bronze Octopus ear cuff gently grips the edge of your ear, it’s graceful and fluid tentacles flow both up and down along the contour of your ear. It is carefully detailed on the back side with all his suction cups and can be worn on either the left or the right ear — via Etsy
This unusual blackbird is attracting bird watchers to a Nottinghamshire country park.
The bird is leucistic, which is a genetic mutation that prevents pigments from being deposited normally in its feathers.
It has been residing for the last four years in the woodland of Rufford Abbey Country Park.
Each year, observers say, it has steadily shed its black feathers for white feathers.
Park rangers took this picture of the blackbird — which is now completely white with no visible pigmented feathers — in the summer of 2011.
Leucistic birds are often very vulnerable to predators, because of their bright white plumage. So the park’s managers are urging birdwatchers to keep an eye out for this unusual blackbird — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Artist Riusuke Fukahori’s London debut exhibition Goldfish Salvation
transforms ICN gallery into the world of goldfish. When struggling with artistic vision, Fukahori’s pet goldfish became his inspiration and ever since his passion and lifelong theme. His unique style of painting uses acrylic on clear resin which is poured into containers, resulting in a three-dimensional appearance and lifelike vitality
Every year over 100 unwanted Christmas trees become victims of big cat enrichment. Watch Lions, Tigers and leopards having fun with their trees, they love the pine scent and love to destroy them — via Big Cat Rescue
A rare first edition of the John James Audubon book The Birds of America, featuring more than 1000 exquisite illustrations by the great naturalist, has sold for $US7.9 million ($7.5 million) at auction in New York.
The sale at Christie’s was within the $US7 million to $US10 million pre-sale estimate and was the third-highest amount paid at auction for a printed book, a spokeswoman said.
In 2010 Sotheby’s sold another first edition of the book for a record $US11.5 million.
The buyer on Friday was identified as an American private collector — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Sirius is an elite navy unit — perhaps comparable to our Navy SEALs — the only military dogsled unit of its kind in the world. It’s been around since World War II, and to this day remains one of the most competitive military positions: For each rotation, there are only six two-man units, with about a dozen dogs to each unit. And it really is just men. According to National Geographic, no women have applied yet.
Over the phone, Hoffmann explains that he was interested in the relationship between man and animal — how they seem to have a rhythm and understanding with survival at the core. But capturing that is no easy feat — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Equipped with tiny sensors, insects could scout out buildings filled with noxious chemicals, check under rubble after an earthquake and go places no human spy ever could. In a first step toward making these technologically enhanced insects a reality, scientists have devised a way to power bug-robot hybrids by tapping into their own metabolism.
The secret: an implantable biofuel cell powered by a sugar the cockroaches make from their food — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A study has revealed that some small carnivorous marsupials in Northern Australia instinctively know how to avoid being poisoned by cane toads.
The University of Sydney’s Dr Jonathan Webb and his team have found that red-cheeked dunnarts from the Kimberley in Western Australia are naturally wary of cane toads — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Make Cthulhu a part of your every day life with this stylish fleece hat — via Etsy
On 8 January, this South American Tapir was born at Parque Zoológico Botánico Bararida in Venezuela, South America. This is the fourth offspring of parents Ezekiel and Shama. The baby is male and as of yet unnamed. This is the Zoo’s first birth of the new year — via ZooBorns
11 x 14 on Scratchboard — via deviantART
Brisbane vet Michael O’Donoghue has seen too many people have to give up, or put down, their pets because they could not find a rental property that welcomed animals.
It’s very heart-breaking, people euthanising their beloved pet because they can’t find accommodation,
he said.
The People and Pets veterinarian is pushing for more pet-friendly rental properties to be made available to encourage more families to adopt animals and stop the displacement of loved family members.
According to the RSPCA, 30 per cent of pets surrendered to the organisation are from owners who cannot find adequate accommodation — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The tropical forest in Papua New Guinea is a noisy place at night, filled with the calls from all sorts of living things: frogs, birds and insects, including especially loud cicadas. One particular call –— a high-pitched, cricketlike tink-tink-tink
— caught the attention of herpetologist Christopher Austin and his graduate student Eric Rittmeyer.
Together, they tried to locate the noisemaker, which they assumed was an insect. Four times, they attempted to hone in on the source of the calls, but each time they failed to find the creature in leaf litter on the forest floor. On the fifth try, they grabbed the dead leaves and dropped them in a clear plastic bag. Then, back at camp, they went through and began checking each of the hundreds of leaves they had picked up.
A tiny animal hopped off one of the leaves. This miniature frog, now dubbed Paedophryne amanuensis, has taken over the title of smallest vertebrate, an animal with a backbone. Though they discovered the frog in 2009, only now have they described their finding in a scientific journal — via redwolf.newsvine.com
This ring features a mini green octopus with crystal eyes. The band is adjustable. Cute, spooky and colourful — via Etsy
I thought that making a stuffed Hobbes doll would be a great gift for one of my sons (whose name coincidentally, is Calvin). However, I knew that the artist, Bill Watterson, famously refused to allow his characters to be licensed and sold as dolls and such, feeling that doing so would undermine the integrity of the strip.
So I was kind of hesitant to make this and offer a pattern and instructions for it online, out of respect for Mr Watterson. I concluded that it shouldn’t be an issue as long as the pattern is available free, for personal, non-commercial use. I’m not selling the pattern or the doll, and you shouldn’t either — via instructables
Winter in New York City can be hard to love with its frozen sidewalks, dirty snowbanks, and bare trees. But this winter I’m counting on my new cold weather friend, the Purl Bee Penguin, to help me through! Its happy ovoid shape and graphic palette are sure to remind me that joy really does exist in January. Just ask an Emperor Penguin — via the purl bee
A Dragon made entirely out of plastic kitchen utensils (spoons, knives, forks and cups glued together using a glue gun) — via deviantART
Philcoxia couldn’t look more unassuming. I’s a small herb that lives in Brazil’s Campos Rupestres region, a sparse plateau of rocky outcrops and white sands. All you’d see of it are a handful of twigs sticking out from the grains, topped with small purple flowers and even smaller leaves. You wouldn’t think that it’s the type of plant that can kill animals.
To find Philcoxia’s grisly secret, Caio Pereira had to look underground. The plant biologist from Unicamp, Brazil, found that the plant traps and digests tiny worms with sticky underground leaves — via redwolf.newsvine.com
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