Some scientific theories state that without our moon our days would have been too short to evolve life. Overall it seems our lifes are deeply connected to our lunar companion …

*Thanks to Edosan for sending me this great image*

Many nations have one important water life line. India has the Ganges and China has the Yangtze.

Thanks to overpopulation and rampant industrialization the Yangtze is heavily polluted and has the lowest water level in about a 100 years. The building of the Three Gorges Damn didn’t help either.

Many different species of fish have disappeared and the beloved River Dolphins are also almost gone.

But the Chinese Government has hardly done anything to reverse the effect - but the people have started to protest in recent years. In many areas there were public demonstrations against new factories that would pollute the river and the surrounding areas.

But it will take many decades to repair the damage - if it can be repaired at all.

Interesting video - didn’t know that Sir Attenborough also did porn voice overs. Overall I am happy that my penis isn’t located behind my head - although sometimes it feels like my head is located in my penis. And another note: you can show almost any animal fucking on national TV - except homo sapiens … why is that?

*Thanks to Olivia for that scientific video*

I think dirt can make you very happy. Pigs and Kids enjoy playing in water and dirt - and why not? Nature is dirty.

Modern society is too obsessed with hygiene and “clean” fun.

Life is dirty.

We humans are so often amazed by natures inventions - but we often fail to see that many creatures and plants are just transitions from one “model” to the next.

Only a few of natures experiments have been around for a long time and proven themselves worthy to continuing: the shark is one of the oldest “models”, so are the bees and crocodiles.

We humans are pretty new and I am not sure if we make it for several million years like the sharks have …

You know that ugly, terrible, totally annoying and nerve wrecking itch right between your crotch and your butt - and you are on the street or in a meeting. So you can’t whip down your trousers and simply scratch it or ask some other human to do that for you.

Chimps can. Mutually grooming, scratching, caring and cuddling is an important part of their - and many more primates - favorite social event.

I wish we would be more social like that. Our human culture could use some more backslapping, cuddles and scratching …

Thanks to our technical inventions we can prevail against big predators. But we still haven’ won against the really small ones: bacteria and viruses are still the biggest threat for humans. And boy do they love to eat and infect us!

After Knut now Flocke (Flake) - another Polar Bear Mania sweeps the country. So many shops sell stuffed bears, the news and magazines can’t get enough of this cuddly something (image gallery here). Flocke even has her own official YouTube channel.

Madness.

Tree Kangaroos are pretty amazing and cuddly. I really envy the countries down under for all their strange and rare animals.

Forests need small fires to ‘clean’ themselves - but since most of our Forests no longer are in a natural condition fires sometimes get totally out of hand. Climate change and extreme weather increases the disastrous effects even further.

Another problem is that we humans have intervened before the fires in a bad way and do so after the big barbecue. Instead of supporting nature to rebuild itself - we use the new ‘free space’ for property development or farming.

Not good.

Click image for an even bigger bang.

BBC - on this Day: Now that was a big bang and all the dust contributes to global warming today. It’s not only we humans that pollute the atmosphere, but also events like this - although volcanic eruptions are pretty rare and lame compared to some earlier earth periods.

More? Wikipedia entry and don’t miss the 1980’s section with some great images! Then you can ‘feel’ how massive that explosion was.

I am not a 100% sure but I think this is evening in Europe. Since the planet rotates counter clockwise this should be the transit into darkness.

Documentary / Channel 4 / 55+ minutes

It’s always good to check from time to time who you are and who we are. Some nice insights about humans, apes, brains and our heritage in this documentary.

Once should never forget how fragile life is in some areas. Egypt is a big country - but only with a very small fertile strip to populate.

Climate Change, reduced consumerism, no more cheap flights to your favorite party location, less cheap petrol, more expensive food, responsible consumerism, less convenience food, less lead and cheap toys, more reusing things - less shopping for new stuff …

Sure all that complicated and a serious effort for humans.

But how would you explain to those two chaps why we fucked up the whole planet. Most animals will simply be destroyed by more and extreme climate change. Sure nature will survive and produce some new amazing species after we have killed ourselves and the rest of the inhabitants of planet earth.

We need change - but not at a snails pace and with much more brains. Aren’t we always saying we are the smartest life form on earth? Time to prove it.

It is amazing how much effort people put into visiting fish and water mammals like dolphins and whales. If we continue to eat, pollute and destroy their habit as effective as in the last 200 years there won’t be much to see in a short time.

Cute baby Knut.

Very Knute.

Super cute Knute.

Not so cute Knute anymore.   

So - now Kute is one year old and no longer so small and harmless. The media is hardly interested in him anymore and so are the kids.

Modern Media Cuteness doesn’t like the natural way: polar bears get bigger and more dangerous. So all the Knute merchandise will show him as a baby forever, even when he is an old fart and maybe has eaten his care taker …

Not all animals are created equal, especially not in terms of intelligence. Nobody would consider Cows, Chicken or Snakes as especially smart.

Very different to Elephants, Squid, Chimps and most of all Dolphins. Recent stunning experiments with Dolphins have revealed that they ‘understand’ basic concepts of language and can answer questions with the capability of small kids.

Click any image to get an impressive view on Saturn.

I already envy future generations, who can jump into their spaceships and take a weekend trip around our solar system. Boy, I would love to fly by Saturn or Jupiter. That must be most amazing.

Click image to zoom into Africa (warning this image is big).

It is scary that has less and less green spots. The Sahara is growing every year and the water is a scarce resource even in ‘green’ areas.

Africa is like South America one of our last remaining green lungs. We have to be careful or it turns into another barren land like most of Australia.

Pretty, but still fucking cold. I hate them, but I am surrounded by billions of them. Help!

Although we all know that Flash & Thunder are ‘just’ natural events we are still deeply impressed by them. Thunderstorms are amazing. Don’t fuck with this form of Shock & Awe.

Contrary to popular belief only one species of bees dies when they sting you (actually the quite common Honey Bee). But not to worry which ones they are - because if the bee dying continues they will be gone in a few years. And so will we if there is nobody to pollinate our crops.

The whole Colony Collapse Disorder really scares the honey out of me. Bees occupy such a specific niche in our ecosystem, that they can’t be substituted by any other insect.

Space … the final horse?!

Uhhh … scary! Nothing Hollywood invents will ever beat natures billions of years of experimentations …

Click image for more Australia.

Click image for Australia without clouds.

A great many good people and fascinating animals live down there. I should visit this awesome place someday!

Get a HUGE satelite image via Wikipedia.

Dedicated to my great StumbleFriend Lisabal and thanks for our many interesting discussions.

Click Moon for more detail.

I must admit I am addicted to space pictures. Gimme any old rock in space and I am happy to look at it for hours.

Click image for a larger valley.

Normally we humans are not patient enough to watch the gentle play between the sun, mountains and clouds in their full glory.

Photographer: unknown - can anyone help?