The ultimate guide to collective nouns for New Zealand birds

This post is for all of the New Zealand and global bird-lovers out there. New Zealand has some wonderful and incredibly intelligent birds that also tend to have rambuctious, mischievous and cheeky personalities. Check out this video of a kea being, well… a kea if you don’t believe me… Here are some little known collectiveContinue reading “The ultimate guide to collective nouns for New Zealand birds”

Exquisite Marine Invertebrates of the 19th Century

In this blog in previous years, I’ve talked about how humans and cephalopods are oddly similar, explored the underwater realm of Sydney Harbour in great detail, and the invisible realm of microscopic creatures rendered by Ernest Haeckel. But in terms of delicate creatures, the Blaschkas were the 19th Century heavy-weights. I originally posted this postContinue reading “Exquisite Marine Invertebrates of the 19th Century”

Featured Artist: Jen Muir’s Photorealistic Pet Portraits   

Jen Muir is an illustrator currently residing in Scotland where she crafts intricate, sublime and whimsical watercolours and pencil drawings. Although she’s always loved making art, Jen begun working as an artist when she took a year off University to do a visual communications course. “I usually use watercolour and graphite for making things, butContinue reading “Featured Artist: Jen Muir’s Photorealistic Pet Portraits   “

The Private Lives of Animals circa 1842

This collection of funny and witty animal fables was originally published in 1842 in French as Scènes de la vie privée et publique des animaux. The authors of these fables are a who’s who of literature in the mid 19th-century including Honoré de Balzac, George Sand. Also The Private Lives of Animals boasts some fine,Continue reading “The Private Lives of Animals circa 1842”

How animals would look in Minecraft

One clever coconut named Aditya has taken images from Unsplash and pixabay and created blocky, cube-shaped animals in novel art form known as Anicube. She created the images in Photoshop using the Liquify (Shift+Command+X) keys and then uploaded them to instagram. The comical and surreal results won her a lot of fans. See more of herContinue reading “How animals would look in Minecraft”

<3 The Internet: Fuglefjellet a remote island in Norway in 3D

In this unique and captivating 3D immersive storytelling tool, you can learn about the lives and habitat of birds living on the remote island of Fuglefjellet off the coast of Norway. Initially in Norwegian, the app has thankfully for us been translated into English. It’s a scroll through wet-dream of beautiful animation. I couldn’t thinkContinue reading “<3 The Internet: Fuglefjellet a remote island in Norway in 3D”

Amazing Human-Crustacean Architectural Collaborations

If you thought that the Auckland or NYC property market was hot right now, spare a thought for the tiny and unpredictable housing market of the hermit crab. They have a complex and sometimes cooperative and sometimes aggressive strategies for occupying shells aka homes for their fragile little bodies. Some of these strategies involve hostileContinue reading “Amazing Human-Crustacean Architectural Collaborations”

<3 The Internet: Dolphin Voices in the Sea

Dolphin Voices in the Sea is one for all the lovers of marine life. This lovely web based app is a bit dated but still delivers the goods with intriguing tidbits on different species of dolphins and spectograms of dolphins communicating with each other in the wild. The website features videos and scientists talking about their research efforts andContinue reading “<3 The Internet: Dolphin Voices in the Sea”

Asmrion the online generator of positive feelings

Asmrion is an elegant and beautiful ambient sound simulator that’s best enjoyed with headphones. It’s completely interactive and has a very natural, organic and soothing user experience with subtle buttons to shift up and down volume. It’s possible to attune yourself with these app tools to varying states of consciousness, all pleasant, reassuring and relaxingContinue reading “Asmrion the online generator of positive feelings”

<3 The Internet: eSkeletons of primates, monkeys and homo sapiens

eSkeletons is an ingenious online resource that compares the skeletons of primates and including the most notorious of the bipeds homo sapiens. Created by the Department of Anthropology at the Univrsity of Texas in Austin, eSkeletons provides an interactive environment where visitors can examine skeletal anatomy through an osteology database. It’s a very engaging andContinue reading “<3 The Internet: eSkeletons of primates, monkeys and homo sapiens”