• Tagged boys, boys being boys, dads, Father's Day, holiday, quotes, why boys need dads

Boys will be boys and who understands that better than a grown boy, a dad? He was once a boy in mischief, full of daredevil energy for fun misadventures. Here are photographic examples of boys being boys to show reasons why boys might need their father. Of course we’re not discounting the value and power of what moms can do in these same situations, but having once been a boy, now a big boy, dad might understand this in a different way. Sprinkle in some quotes and here is lighthearted tribute to dads. Happy Father’s Day! [42 Photos]

• Tagged China, phenomena, Shilin Stone Forest, South China Karst, Stone Forest, UNESCO World Heritage Site

Imagine 96,000 acres of forest, then swap out the trees in your mind’s eye for huge karst formations, some of which formed at least 270 million years ago, and that “stone forest” is Shilin in China. Since the Ming Dynasty in 1368-1644 AD, the collections of intricate karst formations and landscapes at Shilin Stone Forest have “bewitched” people; the site became known as the ‘First Wonder of the World,’ according to the China Travel Guide. South China Karst is not one Stone Forest, but made up of many such individual landscapes of all sizes. In fact, UNESCO says South China Karst has “outstanding universal value” and named two smaller stone forests, Naigu Stone Forest and Suogeyi Village, both as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Here’s a look at Shilin Stone Forest in China.
[35 Photos]

• Tagged angel headstones, architecture, cemetery, graveyard, holiday, Memorial Day, tomb, tombs, tombstones

No matter your religious beliefs or cultural background, we all mourn our lost loved ones. When remembering the departed, we can all be ‘haunted’ by ghosts and specters of memories. Some people are so bereaved that they erect elaborate statues for tombstones. The details and symbolism on headstones are usually created by those still living, weeping and mourning; the monuments capture that sense of loss and pain to be remembered for all time. Graveyards are eerie enough, but other tombs are topped off with curiously spooky and complex reminders, making the cemetery seem like it was created to be a totally creepy and morbid place. Having lost a beloved grandmother and great-grandmother this year, we can feel the pain of loss and the love that went into these grieving angel statues. Angels monuments often offer comfort to those still living, but when they too have passed on and the graves are forgotten, time and weather may play havoc on the tombstones. For Memorial Day, here’s a trip through cemeteries that seem eternally eerie by being haunted by weeping angels and other ghoulish statues standing guard for an eternity. [45 Photos]

• Tagged alien-looking landscape, bizarre, dragon's blood trees, environment, island, Island of Bliss, nature, Socotra, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Yemen

Enter a different dimension at Socotra, an unusually peculiar-looking world that was long ago called “The Island of Bliss.” Located off the Horn of Africa, in the Indian Ocean, Socotra is about 150 miles away from Somalia and the threat of real-day pirates; it’s a little over 200 miles away from its mainland Yemen. And the landscape makes it “the most alien-looking place on Earth.” Although Socotra has wide sandy beaches rising to limestone plateaus full of caves, some 4.4 miles in length (7 km), wind-swept cliffs and mountains over 5,000 feet high, the island’s iconic image is of the Dragon’s Blood tree; it’s deep red resin was once considered to be ancient dragon blood. Some people have suggested that Socotra might have been the original Garden of Eden. Currently every single Trip Advisor tourist review rated Socotra as “excellent.” Of course, there are high security threats like kidnapping and terrorism; the US State Department warned Americans against traveling to Yemen. In 2011, Somali pirates were using the island as a fuel base. Yet tourists call it a “hidden gem” for those adventurous souls not seeking a luxury resort. Most of us will never visit this out of this world island of Socotra. [42 Photos]

• Tagged animals, fish, leafy sea dragon, pipefish, scuba diving photography, seadragon, seahorse, underwater photography, weedy sea dragon

If you don’t live near an ocean or urban aquarium or even a zoo, then you might not have seen many seahorses and seadragons to realize how stunning these tiny sea creatures are. With a long face like a horse, they have an almost mythical appearance, but are far from immortal as none of the seahorse family are strong swimmers and they often die during storms. They excel at camouflage and many can change colors to hide themselves in their natural underwater surroundings. There are declining numbers as these creatures are used in Asian herbal medicines. Bizarrely, for seahorses, leafy and weedy sea dragons and even pipefish — a relative — males are responsible for childbearing. Here are some fun facts and sensational shots of these tiny “sea monsters” that are truly spectacular! [60 Photos]

• Tagged Caño Cristales, Columbia, liquid rainbow, most beautiful river in the world, nature, phenomenon, river, river of five colors, river that ran away from paradise

A river in Columbia is beautifully exotic and home to a natural phenomenon that earned it many complimentary names like ‘the river that ran away from paradise.’ You can only visit the Caño Cristales river from July to December. Within that time frame is a shorter period when the conditions are perfect to cause blooms in the water that showcase a ‘liquid rainbow’ of ‘yellow, green, blue, black, and especially the red of the Macarenia clavigera.’ During the rest of the year, the water looks like any other river, surrounded by fantastic rock formations that are so steep they are said to hide away the view of numerous waterfalls and natural swimming holes. The rock formations look remarkably similar to Moon Valley in beautiful Brazil, but Rio Caño Cristales has been bestowed with many titles such as “The River of Five Colors,” “The Liquid Rainbow”, “the river that ran away from paradise,” and even “The Most Beautiful River in the World.” [37 Photos]

• Tagged glasswing butterfly, glasswinged butterfly, glasswings, Greta Oto, insects, macro photography, nature, transparent butterfly

Nature has better tricks than even Photoshop, as these translucent glasswing butterflies illustrate. [42 Fabulous Photos]

• Tagged animals, de-extinction, dinosaurs, Dodo, extinct animals, flightless birds, Jurassic Park, Mastodon, paleontology, Quagga, saber-tooth tiger, science, Steller's sea cow, T-Rex, woolly mammoth

Resurrection of extinct species is no longer science fiction, according to National Geographic in an article about de-extinction. If the science is there, should we bring animals back into living, breathing specimens? But even if they can bring these animals back from extinction, should they? Is it playing God, or the utilization of science? With the Jurassic Park movie coming out 20 years later in 3D, our first thought was a what-if they could create it for real? However even if successful, there is still not the science to eventually give into temptation, resurrect dinosaurs and recreate Jurassic Park. Revive & Restore says it is “working with de-extinction scientists worldwide to build a roster of potentially revivable species.” These are the candidates . . . with a few dinosaurs and Jurassic Park movie clips tossed in just because they are cool. [30 Photos, 5 Videos]

• Tagged Bakharden Cave, bizarre, camels, Darvaza, Darvaza Gas Crater, Derweze, Door to Hell, Great Kyz Kala, Karakum Desert, Kow Ata, Merv, phenomena, Silk Road, Turkmenistan, underground sulphur lake

Out in the middle of a hot, dry Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan, along the ancient Silk Road, Soviet-era scientists found a cavern of natural gas and started drilling. But the drill hit another pocket in the cavern, right before the ground collapsed, and the entire drilling rig disappeared into the huge Darvaza Gas Crater. Then poisonous gas started to pour out. So what did the scientists decide to do in order to avoid a potential environmental disaster? Burn it off. Genius! That was in 1971, but the flaming natural gas crater is still burning 42 years later. The locals dubbed it, “The Door to Hell.” Derweze can also be spelled Darvaza and that translates to “gate,” so it is sometimes referred to as “Hell’s Gate” or the “Gates of Hell.” [35 Photos]

• Tagged animals, black lions, exotic big cats, jaglion, leopons, liger, liliger, lion hybrids, lions, tiglons, tigons, white lions

From mythical black lions, lions made black by mud, to marvelous white lions and mystical lion hybrids, here’s a look at what is myth and what real . . . even if some of these lion hybrids seem like they might not be real like ligers, tigons, jaglion, leopons, and lil-ligers. [49 Photos]

• Tagged algae, algal blooms, bioluminescence, ecosystem, environment, harmful algal blooms, phenomena, phenomenon, Red Tide, science

While you might not stop to think on it, water is full of algae and aquatic microorganisms that play a vital role in marine and fresh-water ecosystems. Not all algae is harmful, but when microscopic algae grows too quickly, then it can cause a phenomenon commonly called “red tide.” Scientists prefer the term algal blooms. Not all of these “red tide” algal blooms are red or dangerous, some even appear to glow with bio-luminescence, but harmful algal blooms can poison shellfish, fish or other wildlife. It’s no longer cool to call these “red tides” because red tides are very often not red; many have no discoloration at all. Red tide also is not the same thing as the wide variety of algal bloom species that are often mistakenly called red tides. Yet when the water appears blood red, which is rare, and dead fish are floating on the surface or the beach, then it freaks people out and rumors start flying about the “end of the world.” There are varying opinions about if it is “safe” to swim in a “red tide” which often comes in a rainbow of algal bloom colors . . . and shades of harmful algal bloom. Would you swim or fish in these waters? [38 Photos]

• Tagged aerial of heart shapes, giant hearts, heart lakes, heart shapes, heart-shaped woods, hearts in nature, holiday, man-made hearts, Valentine's Day

In part one, 38 Great Hearts in Nature, we saw that there are heart shapes all around us if only we take the time to notice. There are also hundreds of giant hearts all over the Earth’s surface, but you must be looking down from above to see the heart shapes. This is a collection of giant heart-shaped nature-made and man-made lakes, woods, ponds as well as aerial and Bird’s eye map views hovering over the Earth’s hearts. [48 Photos]