Opal
Opal is a mineraloid with a rave party inside.
Matsutake
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
Aloe pillansii is a critically endangered African tree that breaks sensitive hearts worldwide.
Ophiocordyceps unilateralis
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.
Lake Kaindy
Lake Kaindy is situated 2,000 meters above sea level. It was created by the result of an enormous limestone landslide.
Jeita Grotto
The Jeita Grotto is a compound two separate but interconnected limestone caves spanning an overall length of nearly 9 kilometres. The caves are situated north of the Lebanese capital Beirut. Though inhabited in prehistoric times, the lower cave was not rediscovered until 1836. It can only be visited by boat since it channels an underground river that provides fresh drinking water to more than a million Lebanese.
Yucatán underwater caves
In the jungles of Yucatán Peninsula, crystal clear cenotes fuel their surrounding ecosystems with fresh water. Numbering in the thousands, these flooded sinkholes are unique to this region of Mexico, and were principal water sources for many Maya settlements.
Atolls
An atoll is an island of coral that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.
Ecological dead zones
Dead zones are low-oxygen areas in the world's oceans, the observed incidences of which have been increasing since oceanographers began noting them in the 1970s. There are 146 dead zones in the world's oceans where marine life can't be supported due to depleted oxygen levels. Some of these are as small as a square kilometre, but the largest dead zone cover 70,000 square kilometres.
Chinese scholar rocks
Chinese scholar rocks are small shaped or naturally-occurring rocks appreciated by Chinese scholars from the Song dynasty onwards, and quite frequently found in traditional Chinese gardens.