15 Photos That Will Make You Rethink Your Knowledge of Nature and the World (16 photos)

The world is full of strange, beautiful, and inexplicable things. Somewhere, foxes turn jet black and are photographed once every ten years. Somewhere, birds choose their mates by the brightness of their paws. And somewhere, at a festival, people are wrapped in cloth from head to toe to prevent mountain spirits from accidentally carrying them off.





Today's selection features a melanistic fox (meeting which is like winning the lottery), blue-footed boobies with their grotesque wedding dances, and the Indian Raulen festival, where participants don't have a single patch of exposed skin. And that's just the beginning.

1. 4 Shades of Blue in Antarctica



2. Lahaina Noon





Twice a year in Hawaii, the sun passes exactly at its zenith. This phenomenon is called Lahaina Noon (Lahaina Noon). At this moment, objects cast no shadows.

3. The photo was taken when the phone was turning off due to low battery.



4. Space potatoes grown on the ISS



5. Cologne Cathedral compared to its neighborhoods



6. Women's self-defense gloves, 1850s, London



These leather accessories with claws were intended to help women fend off street muggers. However, they remained a niche and commercially unsuccessful idea and never gained widespread popularity.

7. Blue-footed Booby



This is a seabird from the Galapagos Islands whose feet are bright blue. This isn't just a sign of beauty, but a clear indicator of health. The bluer the feet, the more attractive the partner. Males perform a funny "dance" by raising their feet high, and if the female is pleased, the pair will stay together for life.

8. The Struggle for Survival



A weasel, a small but ferocious predator, latched onto the back of a green woodpecker. This is unusual behavior, as woodpeckers are not typically part of their diet. The bird took off, attempting to escape the attack, carrying the predator on its back. All ended well for the weasel: after landing, the weasel became confused, and the woodpecker managed to escape and fly away.

9. Raulen Festival in Kalpa, Himachal Pradesh, India



In the Indian village of Kalpa, participants dress up as brides and grooms to send off the mountain spirits. One of the main traditions is to completely cover their bodies and faces with cloth, and hide any visible skin, so that the spirits don't "take" them away.

10. The melanistic fox is a rare animal that is a cross between a silver fox and a red fox.



11. Close-up of an ant



12. About two thousand years ago, a Roman toddler stepped on this clay tile before it had time to dry, leaving a mark in Stories



13. Legalized Service of Cats



In the mid-20th century, not only people but also cats served on ships. They were taken on voyages to catch rats and protect supplies. And to ensure the animals could cross borders without hindrance, they were issued a real passport. Instead of a signature, the owner would leave a paw print. Such documents were even officially issued, for example, in the UK, where cat passports were in use until the late 1970s.

14. A day on Venus is longer than a year



Venus takes about 243 Earth days to complete one rotation on its axis. However, the planet completes a full orbit around the Sun faster, in about 225 Earth days.

15. Shanghai Rescuer



At the top of the Shanghai Tower (the second-tallest building in the world) hangs a giant mass stabilizer—a 1,000-ton sphere made of steel and concrete. Its purpose is to swing away from the building during a typhoon or earthquake, dampening its vibrations. Without it, the tower would wobble, but with it, the skyscraper stands as if it were a glove. Tourists are allowed inside the sphere, and there's even a museum and observation deck inside.