nature

A toad ate a bat and someone got this creepy picture of it. Now it's been photoshopped, which is probably for the best. You may never get this horrible image out of your head but at least now you can imagine it in lots of fun situations!

This year marked the 45th year of Nikon's Small World microscope photography competition, called the Photomicrography Competition, and the winners have just been announced. In order to be valid for entry, photographs must be taken using a light microscope. The subjects of the competition entries range from animal embryos to cells to plants, but they all have one thing in common: these are not things we can see with the naked eye. And they are absolutely beautiful. Here are the top twenty photos from the competition, in order. Enjoy.

Finland has been named the best country in the world for wildlife travel by the True Luxury Travel's Global Wildlife Index 2019. The factors that made it win against it's 106 competitors included its "high levels of environmental sustainability, its unique and varied diversity of species, beautiful natural landscapes, and conservation efforts". Honestly, this is no surprise as Finlandis home to a number of animals that I, the author, have never seen in my life (and would love to see). Besides, 69% of the country is forest and the rest is filled with crystal clear lakes and quaint towns. Sounds pretty ideal to me. 

To show you just how diverse Finland's wildlife is, we've included 15 of the coolest animals that call Finland home. If you visit Finland, you're bound to see a few of these creatures. I'd be pretty happy if I saw one, to be honest! 

For 55 years, the Natural History Museum in London has run annual competitions for wildlife photography, and the finalists for the 2019 competition have just been announced. These photos of wild animals in their natural habitat are truly breathtaking, as are the skills of the photographers. Out of 50,000 entries, this collection of photographs made it to the finals - and we can see why! 

There's nothing we love more here than some random information. The world is full of interesting things, so why limit yourself to one topic? This article is jam packed with tidbits from very different topics, from evolution to bionic limbs. Absorb that info, my friends. 

In science news this week: ghost crabs growl. Yep. Weird, right? Although they aren't the most formidable of creatures (although I'm sure many people would disagree with me there), ghost crabs have the bonus of having decent claws AND a (cute) growl. If I were 2 inches tall, I would be terrified. 

Squirrels are generally thought of as cute yet devious creatures that will eat the contents of your bird feeder and annoy your pets. But new studies have found out that squirrels are smarter than we thought they were: squirrels listen to bird chatter to know if they are safe. Although this doesn't sound like much, it's actually a huge deal. 

So you've become a slave to the daily grind. Just a cubicle a monitor and whatever daily task you've been given. All you can think about is a breath of fresh air, and getting out of that stuffy environment. Well it looks like your instincts are more than boredom based and a desire to change, it looks like you NEED that in order to maintain healthy stress levels.

Tumbleweeds beware, they're is a new species in town, and it is spreading rampantly across the US. Able to grow to 6 feet tall, this new invasive species is even more hearty, and able to spread and reproduce even faster, due to it having a double set of its parents' chromosomes. 

On Sunday night, the ocean running alongside the East Coast Road in Chennai lit up with sparkling, luminescent water. Eyewitnesses were shocked and delighted to witness something so magical-looking and dubbed it 'sea sparkle'. But what they saw wasn't an undiscovered phenomenon - it's called bioluminescence and it actually occurs in many living organisms. That doesn't make it any less amazing though. Here's what 'sea sparkle' really is. 

Ok get ready for it internet. The zombie snail is back. After bursting onto the viral internet scene back in 2012, when National Geographic posted a video about the species. 2 years later, Wired did an article 2 years later on the natural phenomenon, dubbing these gastropods "Disco Zombies". They have taken the internet by storm, with Twitter blowing up with #nope hashtags after seeing the creepy crawly creature. 

Humans have interrupted a lot of natural processes. Highways divide forests, and dams interrupt the migration routes for fish. But that isn't to say that we haven't found solutions to some of the problems that we created. Wildlife bridges have been built over highways allow animals to cross the highway safely. And in a recent Twitter storm, the public has rediscovered an amazing apparatus that scientists released in 2014 which helps salmon migrate. It is called the Salmon Cannon. And as you can imagine, everyone is obsessed with it.