Oct 14
I really want to to explore the Cueva de los Cristales.
Oct 14
Scientists recently tracked a bar-tailed godwit that flew 7,145 miles from Alaska to New Zealand, the longest distance ever measured. I guess anything named a ‘bar-tailed godwit’ is gonna be awesome.
Jul 26
Enigmas
by Pablo Neruda
You’ve asked me what the lobster is weaving there
with his golden feet? I reply, the ocean knows this.
You say, what is the ascidia waiting for in its transparent
bell? What is it waiting for? I tell you it is waiting for time, like you.
You ask me whom the macrocystis algae hugs in its arms?
Study, study it, at a certain hour, in a certain sea I know.
You question me about the wicked tusk of the narwhal,
and I reply by describing how the sea unicorn with the
harpoon in it dies.
You inquire about the kingfisher’s feathers, which tremble
in the pure springs of the southern tides? Or you’ve found
in the cards a new question touching on the crystal architecture
of a sea anemone, and you’ll deal that to me now?
You want to understand the electric nature of the ocean spines?
The armored stalactite that breaks as it walks? The hook of the
angler fish, the music stretched out in the deep places like a thread
in the water?
I want to tell you the ocean knows this, that life in its jewel boxes
is endless as the sand, impossible to count, pure, and among the
blood-colored grapes time has made the petal hard and shiny,
made the jellyfish full of light and untied its knot, letting its musical
threads fall from a horn of plenty made of infinite mother-of-pearl.
I am nothing but the empty net which has gone on ahead of human
eyes, dead in those darknesses, of fingers accustomed to the triangle,
longitudes on the timid globe of an orange.
I walked around as you do, investigating the endless star,
and in my net, during the night, I woke up naked and
the only thing caught was a fish trapped inside the wind.
Jul 01
A recent study of psychedelic mushrooms has found that rather than causing insanity, immorality and death, as is popularly believed, in fact they can often have long-lasting beneficial effects. It is even theorized that psilocybin, the active chemical in the mushrooms, may prove useful in helping to treat alcoholism and drug dependence, and in aiding seriously ill patients as they deal with psychological distress. Here are the listed effects of mushrooms, taken from Erowid:
POSITIVE
* mood lift, euphoria
* giggling, laughter, giddiness
* creative, philosophical or deep thinking : ideas flow more easily
* boring tasks or entertainment can become more interesting or funny
* sensation of insight
* life changing spiritual experience
* intense feelings of wonder
* paradoxical feeling of a normalcy and deep alteration of psyche
* may interrupt cluster sequences in those suffering from cluster headaches
NEUTRAL
* feeling more emotionally sensitive
* general change in consciousness (as with many psychoactives)
* time perception alteration
* time seems to pass more slowly (minutes seem to take hours)
* lights seem brighter, sensitivity to light
* starring and rainbow patterns around pinpoint lights
* increased detection of motion in peripheral vision
* closed-eye visuals (common at medium or stronger dose)
* sleepiness, lethargy
* pupil dilation
* sensation of energy or buzzing in the nevous system/peripheral limbs
* memories come to life
NEGATIVE
* intense feelings of fear
* headache, usually as effects wear off, sometimes beginning the next day, lasting for up to 24 hours
* nausea, gas, gastrointestinal discomfort, especially when dry mushrooms eaten raw
* mild to severe anxiety
* dizziness, confusion
* lightheadedness or fainting (in cases of lowered blood pressure)
* can precipitate or exacerbate latent or existing mental disorders
* working memory disruption (reduced ability to do tasks requiring current remembering and attention)
Another good article on this study can be found here.
Jul 01
Yesterday was the anniversary of the Tunguska Event, a massive explosion that occurred in Russia in 1908. Wow.
Jun 26
This fella was caught in Thailand. Also check out these photos of a mass migration of rays off the coast of Mexico.
Jun 20
We’ve just got to give newly-discovered plant and animal species all the media attention they can get. Introducing the top ten new species of life discovered in 2007.
Jun 12
This may be bogus, but apparently a 28-foot, 1-inch alligator was recently found and killed near Centre, Alabama. He was found snacking on a full-grown deer.
Recent Comments