The Sandhof Lily Pan is a clay plain in the southern region of Namibia near the town of Maltehohe, 300 kilometers from the capital Windhoek. Miracles happen whenever rainfall reaches 15-30 cm. Thousands of lilies bloom at the same time, turning the entire area into a sea of flowers.
In meteorology, virga is an observable streak or shaft of precipitation falling from a cloud that evaporates or sublimates before reaching the ground.
Shilin is one of the world’s most spectacular examples of karst landscapes. It is characterized by giant sinkholes and caves.
The Pitch Lake is the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world, located Trinidad.
Abkhazia is a partially recognized state on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. Currently, nature is reclaiming thousands of ruined buildings across the region, from the concrete skeletons of nondescript townhouses to the solemn grandeur of Tsarist-era sanatoriums and hotels.
Giant spider webs are the product of arachnids working together.
Opal is a mineraloid with a rave party inside.
Matsutake is a highly sought-after mushroom. The Japanese matsutake at the beginning of the season, which is the highest grade, can go up to $1,000 per kilogram.
Aloe pillansii is a critically endangered African tree that breaks sensitive hearts worldwide.
Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is a parasitoid fungus that infects ants such as Camponotus leonardi, and alters their behavior in order to ensure the widespread distribution of its spores. The fungus's spores enter the body of the insect likely through the cuticle by enzymatic activity, where they begin to consume the non-vital soft tissues. Yeast stages of the fungus spread in the ant's body and presumably produce compounds that affect the ant's brain and change its behaviour by unknown mechanisms, causing the insect to climb up the stem of a plant and use its mandibles to secure itself to the plant. Infected ants bite the leaf veins with abnormal force, leaving telltale dumbbell-shaped marks. A search through plant fossil databases revealed similar marks on a fossil leaf from the Messel pit which is 48 million years old. The fungus then kills the ant, and continues to grow as its mycelia invade more soft tissues and structurally fortify the ant's exoskeleton. More mycelia then sprout out of the ant, and securely anchor it to the plant substrate while secreting antimicrobials to ward off competition. When the fungus is ready to reproduce, its fruiting bodies grow from the ant's head and rupture, releasing the spores. This process takes 4 to 10 days. The changes in the behavior of the infected ants are very specific, giving rise to the term zombie ants, and tuned for the benefit of the fungus. The ants generally clamp to a leaf's vein about 25 cm above the ground, on the northern side of the plant, in an environment with 94-95% humidity and temperatures between 20 and 30 °C.