On very cold days, columns of light can appear to rise straight up from the ground or from streetlights into the sky.
These are light pillars, formed when flat ice crystals float in the air and reflect light. They look almost solid, yet they are made only of reflection.
Some of the most beautiful sights in the sky are made of nothing more than ice and light.
In Antarctica there is a waterfall that looks like it is bleeding.
Blood Falls pours iron-rich, salt-heavy water from a buried ancient lake onto the ice. The water has been sealed away for millions of years, and when it meets the air it turns a deep red.
There is a deep-sea fish whose head is almost completely transparent.
The Barreleye Fish has upward-pointing tubular eyes that can rotate, and a clear dome over its head that lets it look through its own skull. In the dark ocean it watches for the faint silhouettes of prey above.
Have you ever seen a creature that looked more like science fiction than real life?
There is a small desert fox whose ears are almost as long as its body.
The fennec fox uses those oversized ears not only to hear prey moving under the sand, but also to release heat in the scorching Sahara. It can live without drinking water at all, drawing everything it needs from its food.
Sometimes the most elegant solutions in nature are the quietest ones.
What desert animal do you find most perfectly designed?
Rich chocolate-scented petals open in deep maroon, smelling exactly like a bar of dark cocoa.
Blooming in the highlands of Mexico, the chocolate cosmos is a fragrant dream. It relies on its rare cocoa aroma to attract both insects and human admirers. 🍫🌼
A living desert tank covered in sharp spines drinks dew with its feet and rocks side-to-side when threatened. What is the absolute most bizarre lizard armour?
Shuffling across Australian outback sands, the thorny devil is a walking fortress. It relies on moisture-collecting skin and intimidating spines to survive extreme heat. 🦎😮
The Sea Angel is a tiny, translucent free-swimming sea slug that “flies” through the water with wing-like flaps and preys on sea butterflies.
Despite its delicate, angelic appearance, it is a skilled predator in the cold ocean. one of the most ethereal creatures of the sea! 👼
A living fortress of calcium carbonate opens its massive shell to farm symbiotic algae in clear tropical seas.
Anchored on Indo-Pacific coral reefs, the Giant Clam can live for over a century. It relies on photosynthetic partners and filter-feeding to grow into a living boulder 🪸✨