A lovely comparison between Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus, Ohio and A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat

Lyuba is a female woolly mammoth calf who died 41,800 years ago at the age of 30 to 35 days. Lyuba is believed to have suffocated by inhaling mud while bogged down in deep mud in the bed of a river her herd was crossing. Lyuba appears to have been healthy at the time of her death.

By examining Lyuba’s teeth, researchers hope to gain insight into what caused Ice Age mammals, including the mammoths, to become extinct at the end of the Pleistocene era around 10,000 years ago

White Torture

This is a form of emotional and physiological torture. Instead of beating the victim, electrocuting them, or keeping them in a small box, the victim is tormented with sensory deprivation and isolation. (Source)

The German Chair

When a prisoner is captured, he/she is placed in a metal chair. Their legs and arms are secured to the metal seat while the back of the chair is pulled back and down toward the ground. This causes severe stress on the spine, neck, and other limbs, often causing permanent damage. (Source)

Strappado

While the strappado was used heavily during the Renaissance, it seems to have experienced a resurgence during the last century. This is a form of torture where a prisoner is hung by their arms, which are fastened behind their head, causing the arms to be slowly wrenched from the shoulder sockets by the weight of the body. When the prisoner finally becomes so tired they cannot hold themselves upright, their bodies fall forward and their breathing is impaired. (Source)

Skull With Leontiasis Ossea

Craniofacial fibrous dysplasia is one of 4 types of fibrous dysplasia and is characterised, as the name suggests, by involvement of the skull and facial bones. (More Information)

Hippo’s Sweat Red

The hippopotamus or hippo mystified ancient Greeks because it appeared to sweat blood. Although hippos do sweat a red liquid, it isn’t blood. The animals secrete a sticky liquid that acts as a sunscreen and topical antibiotic.

Initially, hippo perspiration is colorless. As the viscous liquid polymerizes, it changes color to red and eventually brown. Droplets of perspiration resemble drops of blood, although blood would wash away in water, while hippo perspiration sticks to the animal’s wet skin. (Source) 

A mermaid’s purse or devil’s purse is a casing that surrounds the fertilized eggs of some sharks, skates, and chimaeras. They are among the common objects which are washed up by the sea. They are made of collagen protein strands.

Because they are lightweight, they are often found at the strandline, the farthest point of the high tide. The egg cases that wash up on beaches are usually empty, the young fish having already hatched out.

Kintsugi or Kintsukuroi is a Japanese technique of repairing broken pottery with lacquer or resin mixed with powdered gold. They believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful. 

The Earthquake Rose 

When a magnitude 6.8 earthquake shook Olympia, Wash., in 2001, shop owner Jason Ward discovered that a sand-tracing pendulum had recorded the vibrations in the image above. 

Seismologists say that the “flower” at the center reflects the higher-frequency waves that arrived first. The outer, larger-amplitude oscillations record the lower-frequency waves that arrived later.